Zodiac

[Vanessa]

Due to the release of a new David Fincher film today, The Social Network, I thought it might be appropriate to open a discussion about Zodiac & put up links to a couple of blogs that have posted about either Zodiac or the films of DF.

I personally loved this movie. I remember when I heard about it being made & was anxiously waiting for it to come out since it had 3 of my favorite actors in it, plus it was supposed to be about the true story of the Zodiac killer. I have always been intrigued by serial killers, since I first heard about the Manson family many years ago, (I am also a serious Dexter fan, a serial killer that kills serial killers, how cool is that?). Anyway, another b movie called The Zodiac was released prior to our Jake's Zodiac movie, which I promptly rented when the DVD came out in 2006, wanting to know as much as possible about the story. Was quite disappointed in it, although it had a couple of pretty decent actors in it. So, needless to say, I was REALLY looking forward to the release of Zodiac in 2007. & that also made our Zodiac that much sweeter when I finally did get to see it. Of course, it didn't hurt that Jake was excellent as the extremely obsessed Robert Graysmith. I thought his performance was spot on, & had me cringing at times when he couldn't contain his obsession even to the detriment of his marriage & also compromised his family's safety.

Let's hear some other opinions about Zodiac, Jake's performance, David Fincher, or all of the above...

& for further reading about other's opinions of Zodiac & David Fincher here are 2 links:
flickeringmyth.blogspot.com/2010/09/thoughts-on-zodiac-2007.html

theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/10/films-of-david-fincher-retrospective.html[/b]

[joelliea]

I'll just copy my own comment posted somewhere else: "Despite of the stellar casts involved in this movie, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Jake Gyllenhaal, Chloe Sevigny .. with David Fincher directed them .. this certainly not my kind of movie. It tells story of the unsolved case of Zodiac Killer. I couldn't take the brutal murder scenes, ooooh the horror. I felt like being trapped in a dark room without any sign of hope for almost three hours. Not even the lightest character, Robert Graysmith, could help. Well, yeah maybe he could. But that doesn't change me to like this movie. I could say that based on Jake's performance only, he's a little bit awkward with not enough screen presence at the first half of the movie. But at the second half when his character grew and stepped up to the lead, now that is when I feel the movie's very lucky to have Jake Gyllenhaal in it."

;D

[Prophecy Girl]

I have really mixed feelings about this movie...in fact, I wrote an entire chapter in a certain book as to why I have those mixed feelings.

But the subject matter (I'm fascinated by serial killers, too, Vanessa!), the fact that it was the first Jake movie post-BBM, and the first Jake movie to be released during the life of Jake Watch made me SO EXCITED for it. I think it's beautifully done, I think the storyline is riveting, but I agree with joelliea that Jake was a little awkward in parts of it. I know his character is somewhat of a nerd, but I didn't feel Jake loving his craft throughout the movie. Maybe I'm tainted because I know it was a hard shoot for him...

Or maybe because it was a hard shoot, he really wasn't loving doing it...

Nonetheless, I ranked it among my top 5 Jake movies and there is stays!

[Vanessa]

Any Zodiac &/or David Fincher lovers out there, here is a 3 part post by Flickering Myth on both appropriately titled "Killer Talent: A David Fincher Profile"

Here is part 1 - flickeringmyth.blogspot.com/2010/09/killer-talent-david-fincher-profile.html

Part 2 - flickeringmyth.blogspot.com/2010/10/killer-talent-david-fincher-profile.html

Part 3 - flickeringmyth.blogspot.com/2010/10/killer-talent-david-fincher-profile_13.html

I haven't had a chance to read through these yet, but I am a very big fan of David's & have seen most of his movies, so it is next on my list to read. I especially loved The Social Network. If you haven't seen it, I HIGHLY recommend it & go read Prophecy Girl's post about it on the ISJ blog here > www.imstalkingjake.com/2010/10/prophecy-girl-goes-to-seattle-and.html