Zodiac Trailer (Post below)

Zodiac

2007
Directed by: David Fincher

Starring:
Jake Gyllenhaal - Robert Graysmith
Robert Downy Jr. - Paul Avery
Mark Ruffalo – Inspector David Toschi
Anthony Edwards – Inspector William Armstrong
Chloe Sevigny – Melanie
Brian Cox – Melvin Belli
John Carroll Lynch – Arthur Leigh Allen

California, late 1960s - a serial killer strikes a young man and woman parked near a lake. He kills her and seriously injures him. Weeks later a young couple is stabbed to death near a resevoir. Later a San Fransisco newspaper gets a letter. In it is detailed the killings and specific information that only the police would know. The writer identifies himself as the killer and gives himself the name of Zodiac. He says he will commit more murders unless they print his letters. They do so but Zodiac kills anyway, or at least says he does.
Zodiac has a knack for staying a step ahead of the police and the detective, his partner and the staff at the newspaper rack their brains trying to piece together the murderer. They make an appeal for any information leading up the arrest of the Zodiac and they get hundreds of leads. One though is quite interesting. It leads them to a man who fit’s the bill almost perfectly. He mentions things in the letters and on top of that carries a Zodiac watch. It however all “circumstantial” evidence. There just isn’t enough linking him to the crime scenes. The only thing nuttier than this guy is his squirrel-infested trailer. They find guns but they are all the wrong types for the crimes.
When Robert Downy Jr ‘s character (Paul Avery) has a breakdown because he is targeted by Zodiac, and the detectives pretty much give up on the case because the killer hasn‘t been caught, Robert Greysmith takes it into his own hands to catch the Zodiac. Will the killer be caught and brought to justice? Or is Zodiac, like some people believe just taking credit for crimes he didn’t commit? As with any good who-done-it I make it a habit of not spoiling the ending. What good is watching or reading a mystery if in your mind the crime is already solved?
Jake Gyllenhaal’s character is genuine enough and you’ve got to give his character credit for sticking with it even thought the killer ominously calls him on the telephone. Robert Downy Jr, is excellent as the journalist who gets a little too involved with his subject.
From what I’ve read, most of the night scenes in this movie (and there are quite a few) where shot on green screens and the backgrounds made to look like 1970’s San Fransisco. If this is the case they certainly did a good job as I couldn’t tell the point where the set ended and the green screen began. As you may recall 300 did this same thing except I think Zodiac would be much harder as they are dealing with intricate city streets and not a featureless background. The story is based on true events as the cartoonist and make character went on to write a real-life best selling novel on the murders. The movie itself does a good job of telling the story from graphic killings - to portraying the various forms of obsession that inhabit the main characters in their effort to solve the case.
2 ½ stars

Seven

Directed by David Fincher

Cast:
Morgan Freeman - Detective Lt. Somerset
Brad Pitt - Detective Mills
Kevin Spacey - John Doe
Gwenth Paltrow - Tracy Mills

John Doe, the serial killer in Seven, weaves a string of killings so well thought out and executed that Hanibal Lectur himself would be jealous. However the true master work in this film is the way in which each scene is presented. The cinematographer must have done a painstaking job getting the lighting just right and the camera angles just perfect. Together with a fine acting job by Freeman, Pitt and Spacey make this a movie, that despite its gruesome subject matter is worth seeing.
Brad Pitt is the quintessential rookie know-it-all cop, just moved to the city with his wife Tracy (Paltrow). He is paired up with Somerset a long veteran of investigating who has seen his fair share of inhumane cases and it starts to show. Whereas Pitt is jittery and somewhat naiive about human nature, Somerset has a more hardened down-to-earth view. Both have never encountered a case like this one though. They encounter a string of murders that are linked in that each are executed in a way fitting to one of the seven deadly sins - for instance the obese man killed by gluttony was forced to eat until he literally exploded. Their killer can’t be traced as the bodies pile up and the list grows shorter.
Both Somerset and Mills have their own way in which they handle the case. Somerset spends his nights researching the library while Mills stares at photographs and reads cliff notes on Dante. As you might guess one is more productive than the other. After a stroke of insight they almost catch their killer but lose him - that is until he hands himself in. This is all part of his master plan however. He says he will deliver the last two bodies on condition that Mills and Somerset accompany him. The ending is both shocking and intense. This is one of those endings that just can’t be spoiled so I won’t say anything more about that.
What I will say is that this movie is very well thought out. Going through the rooms of the killer was like a trip through the killers mind itself. The scenes where the murders take place allude to not only the crime but to the people who were killed themselves. In the killer’s mind each of these people has committed one of the seven deadly sins and must be made an example of. And they really do make a statement. As the killer says himself no one will listen to you anymore if you tap them on the shoulder - you have to hit them with a sledge hammer to take notice. As time goes on the “sledge hammer” only gets larger. Just think of terrorists using airplanes instead of bullets and you get my picture.

4 stars

Memento

2000
Directed by Christopher Nolan

Starring:
Guy Pierce - Leonard
Carrie Anne-Moss – Natalie
Joe Pantoliano – Teddy Gammel

Memento is probably not like any other movie you have ever seen. In it uncharacteristic of your usual film in that it doesn’t follow a linear point from beginning to end. Actually the story is cyclical - the end is at the beginning and also at the end. The story runs backwards & it definitely confusing; about as confused as the main character who after a head injury is suffering from short-term memory loss. Imagine forgetting why you started a conversation with someone after you’ve been talking to them for a few minutes yet remembering all your past events before a certain time. This is the problem Leonard (Guy Pierce) faces. On top of that he is seeking revenge for his wife’s death. In addition to killing his wife the head injury the killer gave him left him with his “condition.”
In order to remember his mission and keep his clues straight he keeps notes written down and tattooed on his body. He also takes Polaroid pictures of people to let him know who they are and if they are to be trusted or not. Each day he wakes up not knowing where he is or what he did the previous day. An undercover cop, Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) is keeping an eye on Leonard and his personal vendetta and using him to nab some crooks on the side.
But then again everyone seems to use Leonard. Teddy leads Leonard to Natalie (Carrie Anne-Moss) and her drug dealing boyfriend with clues that convince him he is his wife’s killer. As he doesn’t write a note he forgets but it comes back to hurt him later when Natalie finds out he killed her boyfriend. Just one word: PEN.
Leonard thinks, or makes himself think, he is in control the whole time since he has a “system” that keeps him organized from one day, one hour to the next. But, he is no more than a puppet on strings, getting pulled one way and then the other. I thought the movie was very well done. In addition to a compelling and out-of-the-box plotline the actors did a fine job of bringing out the worst in their characters personalities when they had to and hiding their intentions the rest of the time.
Also, there is something to be said about the way the movie made me second-guess myself. If Leonard was a puppet on strings then I as a viewer was equally so wondering who to believe and who not to. I wasn’t even close to expecting the clincher at the end.

4 stars