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A Brief Review Of ZODIAC!
Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.
Boy, I hope I see ZODIAC soon.
I can’t even read this review. I don’t want to know anything. I don’t want to see anything. I just want to walk in cold and see what Fincher’s done.
Here’s someone I hate because they’ve already seen it. I’d give them a spy name, but I hate them. Grrrrrr.
This is Memflix writing in to let you film lovers know a bit about David Fincher’s Zodiac. I have posted reviews here before, but under a different moniker. From here on out, I will be known as Memflix.
I was a freshman in college when I saw ‘Seven’ in the theater. The college was in a podunk town and I knew no one. The theater was where I found my company. It was a rather lackluster year compared to the previous one, but all that changed when Seven was released. I was blown away. I loved films before this, but Seven made me really see how a genre, when approached from a fresh angle, could be completely turned inside out. I have loved every one of his films since, with the exception being Panic Room. It was a solid thriller, but I felt the story could have been told by anyone. I wanted something much heftier.
It was almost as if Fincher felt he owed more to the genre than he had supplied.
Seven was geared towards the theatrics of the serial killer genre, where “Zodiac’ seems more concerned with telling a well rounded and detail (maybe too much at times) oriented story. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the plot, it is based on the book by Robert Graysmith. Graysmith was a cartoonist at the San Francisco Chronicle back in the late sixties. Around that time, a serial killer made himself known by sending in a letter and a cipher. He called himself ‘Zodiac.’
I haven’t read the book, but I would be surprised if this film wasn’t a faithful adaptation. There doesn’t seem to be a climax in the movie. It flows like a written account of the events that unfolded over years and years. That may sound boring, but it wasn’t. At least not until the halfway mark. It started to seem a bit too tedious after sitting in there for over an hour. I knew how long it was going in, so I was starting to look at my watch every 5 minutes. However, once Graysmith starts piling all of the evidence into his book, the steam picked up. As with a lot of films, the middle is its weakest point, but Zodiac shouldn’t be faulted for this. It stayed true to the style it started. it was a good overall film. It isn’t my favorite Fincher film, but if you go in expecting an extremely well-made retelling of a horrific time in San Fransisco’s history, then you should have no problem enjoying it.
There were good performances by the cast. The standout here is Robert Downey Jr. He played an arrogant, alcoholic, drug addicted reporter. I’m sure several comparisons to his off screen lifestyle will be made, but it would be a shame to overshadow his brilliant portrayal of a man during a downward spiral. The big surprise here is Ruffalo. I grew tired of his schtick in the first movie I saw him in, You Can Count on Me. Up until now, I thought that was his entire bag of tricks. I was wrong. He has far more range than most actors working today.
There were only a few scenes where you could see the Fincher from Seven standing proud and that was when we see ‘The Zodiac Killer’ earning his name. The murder scenes are the most intense and suspenseful bits of film I’d seen in quite awhile. The most bone chilling scene involves Ione Skye and her characters baby. The scene alone should revitalize her career.
It wasn’t exactly an ‘out of the park’ addition to Fincher’s resume, but it is definitely a different film than we are used to expecting from such a talented director. It is always inspiring to see a director drift away from the comfort zone.
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Hur hur! Fincher is God.
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Is that a special kind of baby? Missing apostrophes aside, this movie looks good, and the review was decent, too...
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I have a good feeling about this one. Good to hear that Fincher is trying something a little different in his approach. Sounds like Downey will be playing an alcoholic in every movie now...
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Um, except I don't think he is anymore.Anyway, I'm looking forward to this one quite a bit, and thanks to the few reviews I've read I'm keeping my expectations in check. I know Fincher is a big fan of seventies cinema, so I'm hoping for an All The President's Men feel to Zodiac rather than the more stylised approach of Seven or Fight Club. If it's anything like that, I'll be pretty happy.
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I have nothing else good to say about him or his work.
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I can't wait to see him venture into new territory.
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As I said, last year, this film will make bank. Damn good script. A tight page turner. The theater scene is also memorable.
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His main suspect (who *is* very interesting) has been eliminated by DNA and some of his sources are fabricated. This is "JFK" for serial killers. As such, I'm there - I loves me some Zodiac. Make sure to wear some nice buttons.
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zodiac is boring. saw a screening a few months ago & it's a slavishly conservative procedural. it's like he decided that in order to be taken seriously, he had to make everything as dry & uninteresting as possible. there's the usual fincher precision, but only in the service of the period; his aesthetic adds nothing to the emotional impact of the film. such a disapointment.
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Epic, long and detailed. I love films like that, but not in the cinema as I suffer horribly from 'bum numb'.
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Which movie is more UNDERrated...Unbreakable or The Game? Please discuss.
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is BY FAR the scariest scene in the book. I'm glad it has been done justice. FUCKING SCARY SHIT.
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It's just not the "Fincher" film you think it's going to be. Wellbrick is right is indeed a "slavishly conservative procesdural. You wonder half way in why they are making the film since there is cearly not much story to tell. A documentary would have been far more interesting. I'm not kidding when I say that even the characters in the film seem to stop giving a shit whot he Zodiac is and move on with their lives. Downey does some excellent work here though and once he stops being the focus of the film the movie loses steam fast. I'm not sue if I would go as far to say that it's a bad film but I would say it ties Panic Room for Finchers weakest. Also like Panic Room you just wonder why this is a story a great director like him felt he needed to tell.
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Now Im pretty negative toward this film but I will say a few of the actual murder scenes are very well done. Especially the couple by the lake because it is shot so uncinematically, so real, and matter of factly its easy to put yourself in that place. I will say the baby scene is well done but i have a question for anyone who read the book or maybe saw something I missed in the movie. SPOILERS for anyone unfamiliar with the story. So if that woman was in the Zodiac's car, sitting two feet away from him, and having a conversation, then lived to tell about it, how come she couldnt ID him? She literally sat right next to the guy and talked to him for a good spell. As far as I could tell they never even attempted to talk to her. Maybe there was a line in there "We tried to talk to the girl but shes too traumatized to remember anything." or some such thing, but if there is I missed it. it's been one of my major questions since seeing the film and since a few of you seem to have seen it or read the book I would appreciate some clarification.
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I think he's dating a supermodel
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Its one of the odd things about the book. There are multiple examples of people sitting next to this guy in the beginning of the book for a long time yet cant remember his name or describe him accurately! Its bizarre and makes for a scary book. But supposedly alot of graysmiths facts have been attacked by people who know the case well.Many Zodiac "enthusaists" dont like the guy or his book.
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Is WAY underrated! I fell in love with his style when I saw Alien3, and I think he just gets better and better... No one working today knows how to take less than stellar material and make it great.. Panic Room in the hands of anyone else would have been terrible! Im really looking forward to this and Benjamin Buttons.. Really glad he's working hard again!
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He shot Fincher's The Game as well as Gus Van Sant's death trilogy and The Yards. I like his use of shadows and brown colors, as well as sodium vapor street lamps. He and Fincher seem like a good team.
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Oh, and go Fincher. Yay.
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Mmmmmmmmmm!
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In the real case the lady in the car did in fact provide an indentikit sketch of what the guy looked like...as did several police men who saw him after he'd murdered the taxi driver...however it didn't help them catch him
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The Zodiac dies after eating a poisoned roast beef sandwich from a local San Francisco Arby's. There. I ruined the whole movie. Now nobody has to go see it!
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did not get me excited. My fiance was not really interested either and she is. a big fan of Fincher. It just did not feel right
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We're curious to know from anyone who actually viewed the final cut of ZODIAC - Did the kids who play Jake's kids - 2 boys (Sauers) & 1 girl (can't remember her name), make the final cut. They'd be seen in 3/5 portion of the film. Love to know. It would help put some anxious hearts at rest. Thanks.
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