Eclipse
1. When I took my seat I decided that if the Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil was played at any time in Zodiac (it’s the right era after all), I would walk out. It wasn’t played.
2. Alien 3, Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac. I wonder how David Fincher would fare at a movie set in broad daylight.
3. Zodiac is not like Se7en. It’s not a police mystery thriller. It’s not a crowd pleaser. It’s a procedural. It walks you through the stages of a criminal investigation, including the blind alleys and dead ends. If you’re into detail and deductive reasoning, this is for you.
4. One thing it has in common with Se7en, other than the fact that you wish someone would turn on the light sometimes, is the flagging of certain books, an interest in what the criminal may have read.
5. The film stars three excellent actors: Jake Gyllenhall, Robert Downey, Jr, and Mark Ruffalo. When two or all of them are onscreen, the one the eye is naturally drawn to is Robert Downey, Jr. It is not simply a matter of physical beauty. (It’s not just the lust factor either, or Ruff! Ruff! Ruffalo would be it.) Downey seems to have a lot going on inside his head, and you want to know what it is. True, maybe it’s just “I can’t remember my next line” or “I’m dying for some coke”, but that’s what increases the voltage.
6. How could Mark Ruffalo and Benicio del Toro have been classmates in acting school? Wouldn’t the school have melted from hotness?
7. Many fine actors casually turn up in small roles: Brian Cox (my favorite Hannibal), Chloe Sevigny, Philip Baker Hall, Dermot Mulroney, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, Clea Duvall and others.
8. Zodiac is really about the nature of obsession: how it consumes your waking hours, assumes paramount importance in your life, and alienates you from the people around you. Outwardly your life may seem to be falling apart, but what other people don’t get is that in your own way, you’re happy. Your life has meaning and purpose. You’re on track; it’s the rest of the world that’s floundering.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
May 31st, 2007 at 08:11
Hmmm, mapanood nga.
May 31st, 2007 at 09:19
for those of you who like mark ruffalo, try to watch one of his lesser known films. “we dont live here anymore” with naomi watts. laura dern and peter krause. it’s based on two short stories by andre dubus.
the movie is about two couples who cheat on each other.
the argument scenes are so realistc that its like watching your married neighbors fight through the window…..
May 31st, 2007 at 13:13
man i so love everything about this movie! it has the right mix of gore, wit, humor, and suspense. the scene in vaughn’s house really scared the hell out of me!
david fincher and danny boyle really scored big time in 2007!
June 1st, 2007 at 10:31
“Brian Cox (my favorite Hannibal)”
Preach it! He’s the BEST Hannibal.
Maybe there should be an Oscar recall for Sir Tony for making Hannibal and Red Dragon.
I’m not keen on David Fincher’s style, but I love how he built an atmosphere of absolute dread with common, everyday parts (so to speak). No gimmicky stuff.
Robert Downey, Jr possesses an inner magnet. He’s always good.
June 6th, 2007 at 12:44
nice point, about the obsession thing. quite comforting for obsessives like me. and may I add: other people also don’t seem to put much importance to the intensity and passion with which obsessed people may experience life. these concepts are just not in the vocabulary of their humdrum existence. good performance from jake gyllenhall.