Come anticipate David Fincher's "Zodiac"

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oh wait i'm wrong. it's the first h'wood movie not to shoot to film or tape.

― s1ocki, Thursday, 1 March 2007 07:10 (seventeen years ago) link

and i can't make him do anything he wouldn't actually do when he's not hypnotized.

― s1ocki, Thursday, 1 March 2007 07:10 (seventeen years ago) link

maybe if we put our collective psychic powers together we can make him grow a chin,

― kenan, Thursday, 1 March 2007 07:14 (seventeen years ago) link

smoke some more pot kenan

― s1ocki, Thursday, 1 March 2007 07:15 (seventeen years ago) link

hey, it don't take drugs to start wishing that george lucas had a chin. that poor bastard. it's sad, really.

― kenan, Thursday, 1 March 2007 07:22 (seventeen years ago) link

time out new york gave this six out of six stars.

This is generally not a good sign (nor is using a 6-star scale, wtf).

Mark Ruffalo calls Jake's NY Times complaints "weird sour grapes":

http://www.thereeler.com/premieres_events/finchers_going_to_eat_you_for_breakfast.php

― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 1 March 2007 14:40 (seventeen years ago) link

So how IS Jake's perf?

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 1 March 2007 15:44 (seventeen years ago) link

i thought he was great!

― s1ocki, Thursday, 1 March 2007 15:47 (seventeen years ago) link

His sideburns and hair are way too perfect for the seventies, though...

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 1 March 2007 15:50 (seventeen years ago) link

...

― s1ocki, Thursday, 1 March 2007 15:52 (seventeen years ago) link

Fincher Hater for Eternity Armond labels it a remake of the "stultifying" All the President's Men, and finds JG and MR to be "nerdy, soft-voiced males."

― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 1 March 2007 15:59 (seventeen years ago) link

"soft voiced" = "femmy"

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 1 March 2007 16:04 (seventeen years ago) link

I had no idea the Kubrick-Fincher analogies existed. I've never seen them. But there hasn't been a Fincher film that hasn't bored me or grossed me out after 20 minutes anyway.

But: The Smiths’ haunting “Suffer Little Children” – that maudlin piece of crap?

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 1 March 2007 16:07 (seventeen years ago) link

the kubrick thing in zodiac is pretty hard to miss.

― s1ocki, Thursday, 1 March 2007 16:08 (seventeen years ago) link

He uses tracking shots?

Since I am a paranoid whiteboy I guess that's why Se7en and Fight Club mostly work splendidly for me (The Game and Panic Room were disposable crap).

― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 1 March 2007 16:16 (seventeen years ago) link

the movie has a very kubricky structure.

you should see this morbius. you might like it.

(for the record i thought the game and panic room were disposable but fun)

― s1ocki, Thursday, 1 March 2007 16:18 (seventeen years ago) link

The Game was disposable crap of the best kind – it's probably my favorite.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 1 March 2007 16:22 (seventeen years ago) link

I hated Seven and Fight Club, fell asleep during The Game and semi-enjoyed Panic Room. The only movie of Finchers I really liked was probably Alien 3. All that said I just read a couple of reviews of Zodiac (figuring what the hell they can't give away anything I don't already know haha) and it sounds really interesting so I am definitely going to see this despite my misgivings above.

― Alex in SF, Thursday, 1 March 2007 16:24 (seventeen years ago) link

as an alex in sf you should see this at least for the sf, alex.

― s1ocki, Thursday, 1 March 2007 17:01 (seventeen years ago) link

i see what you did there

― kenan, Thursday, 1 March 2007 17:02 (seventeen years ago) link

Fincher has always been deceptively shallow to me which is why, after reading the script, I thought 'The Game' was better than I thought it was going to be, though still fatally flawed. 'Seven' was the worst kind of paranoid porn and I never bothered with 'Panic Room', though I've seen parts of it. I remember liking 'Alien 3' but I don't rememer much. I like that he's used Harris Savides for DP again.

― Michael White, Thursday, 1 March 2007 17:16 (seventeen years ago) link

i want to see this.
i love The Game and how Alien 3 looks. no desire to see Seven again (though i've seen it twice) and i haven't seen Panic Room. i kind of hate 'true crime' though...

― rrrobyn, Thursday, 1 March 2007 21:27 (seventeen years ago) link

what slocki said x 1000000

Tho I didn't catch any Kubrick, that scene in the factory, w/ all the straight-on one-shots, was oh so Demme.

― David R., Saturday, 3 March 2007 03:23 (seventeen years ago) link

Nice to see Philip Baker Hall in a GOOD movie about the Zodiac killer, too.

― David R., Saturday, 3 March 2007 03:24 (seventeen years ago) link

the way the movie had such distinct acts—journalism movie to cop movie to... obsessed man on a mission movie... the way it discarded characters it was done with... all of this felt pretty kubricky to me.

― s1ocki, Saturday, 3 March 2007 04:07 (seventeen years ago) link

I think there was a good movie in here somewhere, but I think it's time to re-evaluate Fincher because Zodiac was complete half-assed. First 45 minutes were terrific. The remaining 90 minutes were disjointed, out of place, and, well, half-assed.

At the very least, Chloe Sevigny's shrill Sissy-Spacek-In-JFK "you're too obsessed!" routine needed to be deleted

― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 3 March 2007 08:03 (seventeen years ago) link

what? sevigny wasn't shrill at all!

it was a similar kind of role as Spacek in JFK for sure but what struck me is how un-shrill her take on it was.

i thought this was great. really absorbing!

― latebloomer, Saturday, 3 March 2007 08:58 (seventeen years ago) link

A bit disappointing, this. Scene to scene it's gripping, and the murders are shot in an off-kilter manner vaguely reminiscent of David Lynch (I looked away several times). Probably Fincher's best.

But this Greengrass-ian docudrama schtick is getting puritan and tiresome; why do directors assume that asceticism equals realism? I can't remember a single memorable line. It makes perfect sense that Fincher cast the boringly efficient Anthony Edwards in a big part.

Downey, Jr was predictably entertaining; he and Brian Cox were the only ones allowed actorly flourishes. Jake was miscast and stunningly groomed (he's never looked better), although makeup artists didn't even bother aging him (atoning for the Brokeback Mountain porn 'stache?).

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 3 March 2007 20:56 (seventeen years ago) link

Best movie I've seen in five years, maybe more. I'm sure the Coen Brothers fan club here will gag on it, if the mongrel shits can grasp it at all.

― Dr. Morbius, Saturday, 3 March 2007 23:08 (seventeen years ago) link

Alfred, are you seriously bitching about this movie because it wasn't showy or quotable enough?

― David R., Saturday, 3 March 2007 23:11 (seventeen years ago) link

I'm pretty sure Domino's playing on a Cinemax station, if you're looking for that sort of thing.

― David R., Saturday, 3 March 2007 23:16 (seventeen years ago) link

I'll take a masterpiece over a catchphrase. No surprise in seeing the plebian element voicing otherwise. Maybe Klinger should stick to his Tarantino video game garbage.

― Dr. Morbius, Saturday, 3 March 2007 23:17 (seventeen years ago) link

No surprise in seeing the plebian element voicing otherwise. Maybe Klinger should stick to his Tarantino video game garbage.

Who the fuck are you talking about and what the fuck are you talking about?

― Rock Hardy, Saturday, 3 March 2007 23:21 (seventeen years ago) link

I didn't sense the obsession in the Graysmith character to support some of the Borges-sian ironies in the script and Fincher's direction; his ardor

Best scene: the interrogation of Leigh Allen in the distillery. John Carroll Lynch was quietly amazing.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 3 March 2007 23:22 (seventeen years ago) link

*er, "his ardor" = his ardor seemed more like doggedness.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 3 March 2007 23:24 (seventeen years ago) link

I'm pretty sure Domino's playing on a Cinemax station, if you're looking for that sort of thing

Look, there's no fucking point in comparing two very different movies for the sake of a joke.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 3 March 2007 23:26 (seventeen years ago) link

Stuff I loved:

(1) The staging of the murders

(2) How Fincher serves the material instead of injecting hysterics: the fucked-up bureaucratic haggling, how Paul Avery and Graysmith never develop a friendship (their last scene is brutal).

(3) Graysmith and his wife's marriage. Chloe Sevigny is NOT Mrs. Jim Garrison; that mooncalf docility she specializes in is put to good effect.

(4) No attempt to "humanize" characters, a la Brad Pitt playing with his dogs in Seven.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 3 March 2007 23:45 (seventeen years ago) link

Look, there's no fucking point in comparing two very different movies for the sake of a joke.

Point taken, but given that you seem to like the down-tempo, restrained nature of the flick (serving the material, lack of hysterics, etc.), I was kinda surprised you zinged it for being that very thing.

Fake Dr. Morbs needs to go back to the drawing board & whip up better zingers.

― David R., Sunday, 4 March 2007 00:43 (seventeen years ago) link

Best scene: the interrogation of Leigh Allen in the distillery. John Carroll Lynch was quietly amazing.

otm!

my other favorite scene:

gyllenhall with Charles Fleischer in the basement, so creepy/hilarious

― latebloomer, Sunday, 4 March 2007 03:33 (seventeen years ago) link

(2) How Fincher serves the material instead of injecting hysterics: the fucked-up bureaucratic haggling, how Paul Avery and Graysmith never develop a friendship (their last scene is brutal).

Yeah, it seemed affected and mandatory. None of the Robert Downey Jr. stuff stuck with me at all. I don't think the movie would've suffered one lick if he hadn't been in it.

(3) Graysmith and his wife's marriage. Chloe Sevigny is NOT Mrs. Jim Garrison; that mooncalf docility she specializes in is put to good effect.

'Mooncalf docility?' What the fuck? I like my maidens mooncalf docile, right? Sevigny does nothing except wear a pair of ugly glasses. 'Mooncalf docility' sounds pretty, but it seemed plainly a lethargic performance, not a lethargic character. Further – the whole obsessed-writer bit was distracting and self-serving, and went nowhere.

(4) No attempt to "humanize" characters, a la Brad Pitt playing with his dogs in Seven.

Saying that the characters weren't 'humanized' and this somehow adds to the movie's merit is creepy and wrong. They were adequately humanized – but if there had been more character-wise to the film, emotional engagement would've been more, well, engaging. At times Zodiac felt like it hewed so closely to arcana and verifiable fact, and that it was trying to solve the mystery, that it lost the edge of transportiveness that has been so effective in (some) of Fincher's other work.

― remy bean, Sunday, 4 March 2007 03:59 (seventeen years ago) link

I don't recognize his "humanized", it sounds like a horrible idea, I wunna see Zodiac without empathising with its grotesques.

― Noodle Vague, Sunday, 4 March 2007 04:03 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh no...SEVIGNY. Will the Jakenhall and the MERDeR detract?

― Abbott, Sunday, 4 March 2007 06:18 (seventeen years ago) link

I would also prefer me some arcana and veritable fact to transportiveness. And IIRC from preview some Gyllenhall sideburange! Oh '90s hipsters, all I miss is your sideburns.

― Abbott, Sunday, 4 March 2007 06:22 (seventeen years ago) link

On a tangesnt, has anyone seen an ad for the movie about the most DANGEROUS murderor who has killed over 300 people? And then it's a fucking alligator? Nein, bitte!

― Abbott, Sunday, 4 March 2007 06:24 (seventeen years ago) link

If Fincher's competing with any director here, it's Michael Mann. The very opening hi-def shot of the Bay Area at night and the overhead taxi sequence are both one-upped versions of shots from Collateral, the obsessive men following bureaucratic procedures recalls The Insider, and "Hurdy Gurdy Man" has creepiness not unlike "In A Ga Ga Da Vida" in Red Dragon. These kinds of films that combine frame-by-frame beauty, subtle conversation, and a grand scale - I eat this stuff up, especially in a cineplex with state-of-the-art picture and sound.

― Eazy, Monday, 5 March 2007 05:26 (seventeen years ago) link

Plus, "Hurdy Gurdy Man" has the perfect psychadelic combination of belligerent and absurd.

― Eazy, Monday, 5 March 2007 05:28 (seventeen years ago) link

I wonder what Pandora will recommend for me if I like "Hurdy Gurdy Man".

― Eazy, Monday, 5 March 2007 05:39 (seventeen years ago) link

i made that same comparison – eazy – between fincher and mann. i think there's a point to be explored by somebody more articulate than myself about their equivalent grasp and appreciation of a, shall we say, poetically elegant urban environment?

― remy bean, Monday, 5 March 2007 05:46 (seventeen years ago) link

At times Zodiac felt like it hewed so closely to arcana and verifiable fact, and that it was trying to solve the mystery, that it lost the edge of transportiveness that has been so effective in (some) of Fincher's other work.

Generally, this sums up my objections; however: (a) It's a large part of the film's effectiveness that it's aware of how increasingly absurd Graysmith's quest is. It doesn't want to solve the mystery; (b) I THINK I know what you mean by "transportiveness," but if I do, then give me low-key. Fincher isn't very good at -- nor has he any interest in -- people.

Two days later, I'm liking the film more and more.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 5 March 2007 12:25 (seventeen years ago) link

...if the mongrel shits can grasp it at all.

Cousin larry asshole, quit the act or I will strangle you with yr own intestines, fuckface.

― Dr Morbius, Monday, 5 March 2007 14:23 (seventeen years ago) link

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Love him, but he'll never top It's Always Sunny. He really chews up the scenery in those appearances.

Used to be married to Melanie Lynskey too, but she's with Jason Ritter now.

― dan selzer, Friday, 22 March 2024 13:48 (four weeks ago) link

honestly never saw him in anything else! glad to report he was just a remarkably nice guy.

― omar little, Friday, 22 March 2024 16:41 (four weeks ago) link

emmy material https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7HURhtyHgE

― dan selzer, Friday, 22 March 2024 17:17 (four weeks ago) link

also find it humrous that young Mageau was the nerdy kid from One Tree Hill

― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Friday, 22 March 2024 17:22 (four weeks ago) link

way overdue for a rewatch of this movie.

― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Friday, 22 March 2024 17:23 (four weeks ago) link

xpost and MINKUS ON BOY MEETS WORLD WTF I NEVER MADE THE CONNECTION

― CEO Greedwagon (Neanderthal), Friday, 22 March 2024 17:24 (four weeks ago) link

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