Zodiac (dir. by David Fincher)
2007, 158 minutes
w/ Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo
[Fincher's return to form non-fiction thriller was the first film I saw of the new year and nine months later holds that spot. A sprawling, long but well-paced crime investigation that stuffs in barrells of information and periodic scenes of genuinely creepy atmosphere. Jake Gyllenhaal stars and gives an effortless turn while Robert Downey Jr. provides comic relief and Mark Ruffalo expands upon his similar role in Collateral. Pic covers over three decades and while Gyllenhaal doesn't exactly age convincingly, it's hardly thought of as Fincher returns us to scenes of the Zodiac killer's murders and suspenseful snooping trips by Gyllenhaal (a scene towards the end in a creaky cellar is creepier than anything else this year...) and never in the least strays towards crowd-pleasing exaggeration or propaganda techniques. Fincher's best and most complete work to date without having seen Alien 3.]
****
Vacancy (dir. by Nimrod Antal)
2007, 80 minutes
w/ Luke Wilson, Kate Beckinsale, Frank Whaley
[Despite good, Hitchcockesque intentions and a fresh step away from recent horrors that rely on gore rather than suspense, Vacancy adds nothing to the genre and leaves little to be remembered. Still, before it seems I'm trashing the film, it has thirty minutes or so of honest suspense and doesn't overstay its welcome. Neither Wilson or Beckinsale seem completely comfortable with their dialogue and by the time the annoying opening ten minutes of bickering is through, you can't wait for some havoc to be wreaked upon them. Vacancy quickly becomes a chase pic with only a few annoying contrivances (involving backup cops or lackthereof...), but then soon ends and the credits roll and while you got your few scares, its forgotten and ultimately not too impressive. ]
*1/2
The Ten (dir. by David Wain)
2007, 93 minutes
w/ Winona Ryder, Paul Rudd, Gretchen Mol
[Disappointingly uneven comedy with ten short comedic episodes based on each of the Ten Commandments from a couple minds behind TV programs (a personal favorite) The State and (one I've never seen) Stella. The film starts off well with Adam Brody being stuck in the ground from a parachuting accident and becoming a star, which pokes fun at a lot of reality shows and magazines and is followed by a Gretchen Mol trip to Mexico where she falls in love with Jesus (funny perf from Justin Theroux). The film unfortunately doesn't keep this consistency and has more than one absolutely horrendous takes that are cringe-worthy (Oliver Platt's Ah-nold and Ken Marino's one joke "I made a goof..." in particular). Winona Ryder's long love scenes with a ventriloquist dummy are probably the climax (pun not..) as she continues her nice little comeback. The movie's worst offense are the embarrassingly written interludes between commandments hosted by Paul Rudd, who is as inversely funny as he was in Knocked Up, babbling on and on to the audience for way too long. Also why the hell was Michael Ian Black so underused, easily the funniest person involved in this project and he only got one, creepy but meh scene.]
**
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