Last movie watched...

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

Snowed in today, so I watched The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Had the DVDs lying around, they were a Christmas gift, and I'd never watched them. Only ever saw it at the cinema. The most interesting thing for me was the CGI. The first one hadn't aged well, but it was top notch by the third. It was kinda cool to see how much the technology developed, and the massive strides the series took in the field of computery special effects

[ThryllSeekyr]

I just finished watching Terminator Three: Rise of the Machines on SCIFI channel on the telly and yesterday I went saw Jack the Giant Slayer at the Theatre. It was a fun movie.

[Charlie boy]

I watched Zodiac for the first time on BBC2 last night. Thought it was a good film, interesting how people were desperate to find out who he was but were unable to for various reasons. One of the most interesting things for me was the fact it looked like the killer took his name and symbol from a watch advert.

[Mabs]

I watched Zodiac for the first time on BBC2 last night. Thought it was a good film, interesting how people were desperate to find out who he was but were unable to for various reasons. One of the most interesting things for me was the fact it looked like the killer took his name and symbol from a watch advert.

That's the David Fincher film isn't it? It's a thing of beauty - an odd choice of word one might say, but the whole look and feel of the 70's is captured expertly by Fincher. There's an almost sepia toned feel to the film which recalls other works from that period, such as Taxi Driver and Serpico. There's a feeling of dread which permeates through the film, and which is demonstrated to such gasp inducing effect when the Zodiac strikes upon the picnicing couple. That was one of the most powerful scenes which i've ever encountered in a Fincher film, other than Se7en's infamous 'head in the box' moment. The actor's also pull in a hell of a shift (which is to be expected when you have Fincher at the helm of the film!); Ruffalo, Gyllenhaal and Downey Jr are all terrific, as is Chloë Sevigney as Gyllenhaal's longsuffering wife. It's one of my favourite films about serial killers, and the fact that the Zodiac killer was never captured, sends a chill down the spine.

[Frank]

Aye, I think that's why it's the definitive (and hopefully the last) serial killer film. What shot serial killer fiction to mainstream popularity in the late eighties/early nineties was the myth which John Douglas built up around the efficacy of criminal profiling in his memoir Mindhunter, and the dramatic innovation of the race against time to solve the clues and stop another victim being killed (most expertly handled in Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs). What Fincher does in Zodiac is explode that myth and the dramatic form built up around it by showing all those techniques (in incipient form) being applied in a real world case by dedicated professionals and - as in the vast majority of investigations - leading absolutely nowhere and resulting in more deaths.

As Anal Moore observed regarding the Ripper murders, it's the fact they were never solved which makes them such perfect fodder for fiction - it's the way the author chooses to resolve a story which usually lets it down (trying to force an ending to the story is the undoing of so many characters in Fincher's film), and without a clear ending to the narrative the reader/audience are free to carry on endlessly speculating about the clues they're given (which is the real appeal of the genre). It's really a story about the way in which the narrative resists and rebels against the attempts of the author and the reader to impose order, meaning and an artificial resolution to fiction and real life. I think it's Fincher's best film, which is saying something.

[Mabs]

I agree, sauchie. I also feel it's Fincher's best film, although Se7en does come quite close. But the fact that Zodiac was based on real turn of events, whereas Se7en was more or less a work of fiction, makes the former more vital...and chilling to boot.

Sauchie, just noticed something; 'Anal Moore'? I doubt it's a typo! Not a fan i take it?

[Frank]

Sauchie, just noticed something; 'Anal Moore'? I doubt it's a typo! Not a fan i take it?

I'm an embarrassingly huge fan, but there's many a true word spoken in jest. I think Ian Gibson and Dave Gibbons might agree that while Moore's principled stand on creators' rights is admirable, there comes a point where it's less about the ideals and more about self-defeating intransigence.

[Tiplodocus]

Still think that cave troll in Fellowship is brilliantly realised.

We enjoyed JACK THE GIANT SLAYER today. It takes a while to get going and is twenty minutes too long but the cast is likeable, the plot and script is knockabout and the last thirty minutes is perfect for this kind of film.  All the twelve and thirteen year olds I was with declared it awesome. Especially the very first giant appearing.

I would have preferred to see more of Eddie Marsan as oppose to Ewan Macgregor but you normally don't get that sort of expectation reversal in these sort of movies.

[MR. ELIMINATOR]

I watched southern comfort, bloody hell that's a good film. Couldn't believe i'd never seen it before. If had to describe it, I would say it was a bit alien, a bit predator, and a bit deliverance. 

[qtwerk]

I watched Zodiac for the first time on BBC2 last night. Thought it was a good film, interesting how people were desperate to find out who he was but were unable to for various reasons. One of the most interesting things for me was the fact it looked like the killer took his name and symbol from a watch advert.

I've read the books which Graysmith wrote about The Zodiac, and the film is a great representation of those. And as mentioned, it has a fabulous, seedy 70s vibe. It's certainly of that era. If anything there are one or two horrifying bits in the book(s) that didn't make it into the film, but as a real-life serial killer film it's as good as the genre gets. Not as viscerally thrilling as Se7en or Fight Club, but just as memorable because he was never caught.

He's possibly more fascinating because of that fact, but it's also interesting trying to figure out motivations and even intellect of The Zodiac. There are conflicting bits of evidence about how clever he really was, and how his elusiveness was due to possibly being in jail for a time.

And I also love Zodiac because he inspired the protagonist of one of my favourite films Dirty Harry

[Buttonman]

A fun night in with Walter followed by the mirth free The Infidel

[Mabs]

A fun night in with Walter followed by the mirth free The Infidel

Great reviews as always, Buttonman! Normally when i read a scathing (and in your case, funny aswell) review for a film, it gets me intrigued enough to see it for myself. But Walter? No thanks. You've convinced me to stay away from it! 

[Buttonman]

Too kinds Mabs - were you my first ever Google G+1? Next stop the two line reviews in the Paisley Express!

Historical themed double bill now with The Vikings and the Gods awful Wrath of the Titans

[Mabs]

Too kinds Mabs - were you my first ever Google G+1? Next stop the two line reviews in the Paisley Express!

Historical themed double bill now with The Vikings and the Gods awful Wrath of the Titans

Sadly i wasn't, Buttonman, but i've fixed that for you! 

[Colin YNWA]

Historical themed double bill now with The Vikings and the Gods awful Wrath of the Titans

Uh I've not seen the Vikings for ages. Love that movie, must dig it out.