tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post7713906682857252044..comments2024-03-29T00:03:18.432-07:00Comments on VINYL IS HEAVY: ZodiacRyland Walker Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-66773610138052930032007-03-20T21:24:00.000-07:002007-03-20T21:24:00.000-07:00The style of presentation struck me as amoral. As...The style of presentation struck me as amoral. As in, without a moral dimension. Fincher seems lacking in a moral vision. A storyteller with a moral response lends a layer of meaning to the suffering, helping the audience feel the loss of life in a murder scene.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-45787628704727372452007-03-08T17:10:00.000-08:002007-03-08T17:10:00.000-08:001. Not "amoral" but "immoral". 2. What "truth" are...1. Not "amoral" but "immoral". <BR/><BR/>2. What "truth" are you hoping will come of the search? Graysmith finds a "truth" that suits him, in the end, even if it's fraught with its own complications and inconsistencies. The muddy ending seems more honest than the tidy finale of, say, SE7EN or other procedurals. It's why people kept watching TWIN PEAKS and got turned off when "Bob" was more than pure apparition. It's also what's frightening, at bottom, and keeps the story relevant.<BR/><BR/>3. <A HREF="http://mattzollerseitz.blogspot.com/2007/03/darkness-visible-david-finchers-zodiac.html" REL="nofollow">Matt's review</A> is pretty good.Ryland Walker Knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-17182449528576479312007-03-08T16:34:00.000-08:002007-03-08T16:34:00.000-08:00I found the killings typical for Fincher. No cont...I found the killings typical for Fincher. No context for the suffering, just an opportunity to fry the nerve endings of his audience. I agree, Ry, the filmed carnage struck me as amoral. Your insight about the second half rings true for me, too. The impact of the murder spree lasts for decades, and Graysmith's quest is about truth more than justice. Only problem: truth never arrives.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-48707552221162935442007-03-05T16:26:00.000-08:002007-03-05T16:26:00.000-08:00I think I could have predicted both of your reacti...I think I could have predicted both of your reactions.<BR/><BR/>I like the movie, no doubt, but I think there's something morally wrong in showing the killings in such an explicit manner. What makes it better than SE7EN, though, is the respect felt for the case and its dogged pursuers, if not its victims. It's the whole reason why I like JARHEAD so much: it's an anti-war movie because <B>there's no fucking war</B> in the movie. (Also, it has the best male ensemble acting since JARHEAD.) ZODIAC, then, gets great in the second half when its all about identification and naming. The details of how Graysmith spends his time, going "down a long-ass hallway, through a rainstorm, past peddlers, juggles and Jehovah's witnesses" are what make the film better as it progresses. And the fact that writing the book is supposed to be an end but it proves no end, only a slight victory -- for him alone. They can't even pin the thing on Leigh after the eye-witness "IDs" him!<BR/><BR/>Also, Robert Altman directing a three-hour episode of CSI sounds fucking tight and definitely apt. CSI is a horrible show but ZODIAC is a first-rate procedural that succeeds precisely because it complicates what an "ending" or a "solution" can be for whomever is searching.<BR/><BR/>And yeah, I think that's there in "Finish the book" but it's more personal than that: it says, you aren't foolish if you finish the book. We will never "solve" this thing but, at least, there will be <B>some</B> record.<BR/><BR/>Definitely the best movie of 2007 that I've seen (it may be the only proper 2007 release I've seen!) but it's also unbalanced and problematic. Not because of any "absence of a dramatic arc" though: it's unbalanced on purpose and in its teeter totter construction, it feels completely motivated and thought out. In that, the precision is deadly and unnerving. Yet I was thoroughly engaged the entire running time. I'd like to see it again.Ryland Walker Knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-78591649086931518252007-03-05T15:04:00.000-08:002007-03-05T15:04:00.000-08:00The movie is a masterpiece, from where I sit. Finc...The movie is a masterpiece, from where I sit. Fincher has a character desperately pursuing a need in every scene, and he invents myriad plausible, exasperating roadblocks to each little itch getting scratched. If Gyllenhal's character has to run a document over to somebody, Fincher makes sure he has to go down a long-ass hallway, through a rainstorm, past peddlers, jugglers and Jehovah's witnesses, before he gets there. Screenwriting and directing students could pull a rich semseter out of this flick.<BR/><BR/>And I think “finish the book” was Ruffalo's way of saying, "Nobody gives a shit about Zodiac anymore. If you want this case resurrected, your only hope is to get it back in the media spotlight by publishing a bestseller." Three words in this movie speak law library volumes. Great screenwriting.Boonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02857832534463228577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-64772246465808010712007-03-04T19:03:00.000-08:002007-03-04T19:03:00.000-08:00I enjoyed your review much more than the movie exp...I enjoyed your review much more than the movie experience. I don't blame Fincher for the misfire... I suspect the source material is the problem. Individual scenes are well-executed, but the lack of conclusion (and no compelling central character--Graysmith isn't strong enough) underscores the absence of a dramatic arc. What makes the movie worth seeing (on DVD at least) is its ability to keep so many strands of narrative lucid. Perhaps the best I can say is that the movie played like Robert Altman directing a three-hour episode of CSI.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8347718.post-64024702781641694212007-03-01T06:38:00.000-08:002007-03-01T06:38:00.000-08:00This is fresh. After not knowing anything about th...This is fresh. After not knowing anything about this film other than ads on the subway, I am kind of pumped to go see "Zodiac" this weekend.Leile Onehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01025772776851448499noreply@blogger.com