Zodiac Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Well, it's just about 'All Hallows Eve' and if you're anything like me, then you have already depleted your candy supply and you've been watching as many horror movies as you can get your hands on. And as I've watched everything from The Wolf Man to 13 Ghosts I've been thinking how few movies actually scare me -- the rise of torture porn was nauseating, sure, but scary? Not really. Over at Den of Geek they've compiled a list of movies that scare them and it has inspired me to think about what flicks have given me the honest to goodness heebie-jeebies over the years.

Usually when I watch horror, it's with an eye for comedy and usually the lamer the film, the better. But occasionally there's a film that actually does what it's supposed to: scare the crap out of me. But as much as I tried to find a common denominator for what scares me on the big screen, I came up empty. In fact, there's never really any way to tell just what is going to hit the right buttons when it comes to horror, but I guess that's what makes it so much fun.

After the jump: 5 movies that guarantee me a 'bad night's sleep'...

Well, I bet I can name one awards ceremony that won't be picketed this year, home-skillet. Yup, the WGA (Writer's Guild of America) have announced their nominees in three different screenplay categories today, and while there weren't any big surprises, one film did stand out among the rest. Nominated for best original screenplay was something called Knocked Up, written by Judd Apatow. Not sure where that one came from; I haven't seen it nominated for anything else this year, so perhaps there's a mistake somewhere. Maybe I'll write a letter:

Dear WGA: I think you're mistaken in nominating this film called Knocked Up for best original screenplay. No one else is nominating it for anything because I believe it's too funny. And, c'mon, if something is that funny, it certainly doesn't deserve a special award, right. Please remove it from your list like everyone else has been doing. Good Day.

Anyway, joining Knocked Up in the best original screenplay category is ... JUNO ... and then a bunch of other films. Do their names really matter; can't we just skip all this junk and name Diablo Cody Screenwriting Goddess of the Decade? In the best adapted category, we have names like Ethan and Joel Coen (No Country for Old Men), Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will be Blood), Ronald Harwood (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Sean Penn (Into the Wild) and James Vanderbilt (Zodiac). Wait. Zodiac? Holy sh*t! Someone actually remembered that film. Nice. The WGA will hold simultaneous awards ceremonies in LA and NYC on February 9.

See all the nominees after the jump, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter.

UPDATE: Variety now tells us that the WGA-W has canceled its own awards ceremony in Los Angeles, while the WGA-E is still deciding whether they will also cancel the awards ceremony in New York.

3:10 to Yuma
You can't do too much better for a dusty, gritty western than two of the top actors gracing movies today -- Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. Remade from the 1957 film (that was one of Elmore Leonard's first projects to hit the big screen), 3:10 to Yuma is about a man desperate for cash who agrees to deliver an infamous outlaw to a train that will take the man to trial. Oh, if only these cowboys had cars. But they don't, so Bale's Dan Evans has to bring the outlaw Ben Wade (Crowe) to the train himself -- an act that includes full-service transport -- he brings the outlaw killer into his own home where his wife and son live.

The DVD has a few features to chew on along with the dust -- there's a commentary with director James Mangold, a making-of documentary, deleted scenes, and even a few more featurettes.

Check out Ryan Stewart's Review | Buy the DVD


Zodiac -- Two Disc Director's Cut
Sure, the movie has already been out on DVD, but now you can trade up for the big leagues -- 2 discs with the excellent film and a whole slew of special features. In case you somehow missed it when it hit theaters or DVD, Zodiac is David Fincher's film about the Zodiac murder in Northern California during the late '60s. Although the crime remain unsolved, the film is a great, complete crime drama that stars Jake Gyllenhaal as journalist Robert Graysmith and Mark Ruffalo as police inspector David Toschi -- both of whom try to piece the puzzle together and stop the killer.

As for those special features -- just about everyone weighs in on the commentaries -- David Fincher, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Brad Fisher, James Vanderbilt, and James Ellroy, there's a seven-part documentary on the making of the film, a visual effects featurette, a four-part feature-length documentary on the facts of the case, and even more!

Check out Kim Voynar's Review | Buy the DVD

Other New DVD Releases (January 8)

Death Sentence (Unrated Edition)
Evil Roy Slade
Dragon Wars -- D-War
Personal Best
Joshua
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Boogeyman 2
White Noise 2
Mammoth

Check out Peter Martin's Indies on DVD and Asian Films on DVD for even more new releases.

Last year, it was pretty easy to nail down a Top Ten list. I knew pretty much what was going to be in there after Toronto, and while there was a little shuffling, it didn't change all that much. This year was another story entirely ... so many good films from which to choose, so many films I loved for different reasons. Culling that down to ten films was hard this year, and I agonized over my endlessly shifting list, trying out different films in my top ten like a woman hunting for the perfect little black dress for New Year's Eve. I finally managed to get it molded into a Top Ten which, if I wasn't ever going to be completely satisfied with, I could at least live with. So, here they are, the ten films. There are some excellent films from the fest circuit that could have just as easily ended up there, had I been in a different mood or had one more (or one less) cup of coffee while I was writing this. I'll be talking about them in my last Film Clips column of the year.

The Top Ten

1. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly -- The top two films on my list shifted back and forth at least a dozen times before I finally settled on Julian Schnabel's moving piece about a vibrant man paralyzed by a stroke. The film is based on the true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered a massive stroke at the age of 42 that left him completely incapacitated by "locked-in syndrome." Bauby dictated a book about his experience one letter at a time by blinking his left eyelid to assistants. There are no car chases or gunshots, no serial killers or abortions in this film, but it is so full of heart and the redemptive power of the human spirit, and so beautifully made, that it deserves to be in the top slot of my list.

2. Juno -- As far as comedies go, Juno was executed to almost perfection from its sharply written script by newcomer Diablo Cody to the tight direction by Jason Reitman. It's harder than most people realize to make smart comedy, and Reitman does comedy very, very well. From his earlier short films (especially Consent) to his first feature Thank You for Smoking, Reitman has set out to prove that good comedy can also be good filmmaking, and with Juno he exceeds his freshman effort and ups the ante for what comedic films should be. In a year heavy with serious dramas and an abundance of depressing Iraq war flicks, Juno was the leaven that lightened it all up a bit, and it's one of the few films this year that I can watch repeatedly and never tire of.

The rest of the Ten, after the jump ...

My second film critic's group, the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle, just wrapped up year-end voting, and I'm pretty happy with the final results, even if the film that came out on top was not my personal first pick. The group as a whole went with No Country for Old Men for the top film -- an excellent film, to be sure, it just wasn't my top choice. The group also went with the Coens for Best Director. I was glad to see Juno way up there in second place. Go, Juno! Side note: Roger Ebert is totally boss for making Juno his #1 pick, over the many oh-so-serious choices among all the excellent films this year. He's taking some heat for it, but it takes balls to call a quirky little film like Juno your top pick, knowing you're bound to take a heap of crap for it from what Jeff Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere likes to call the "smarty pants" crowd because you didn't put No Country at the top of your list like everyone else.

Juno also scored marks from the OFCC for Ellen Page, as Best Breakthrough Performance (expected that one) and as Best Actress (she was my pick for that, but I've been on the minority on that category generally, so glad to see others felt as strong about her performance as I did). Rounding out the top five films were Zodiac (great film), Atonement (meh), and Michael Clayton ( I can live with that one). The top three films are all in my own top five, so I'm glad to see them make a strong showing with this group. Best Actor went to George Clooney for Michael Clayton; I have no quibbles with that one, as I generally enjoyed that film and think Clooney's performance in it is largely under-appreciated. Best Supporting nods went to Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone and Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men.

The complete press release, including a list of all the awards, is after the jump ...

The Golden Globe nominations were released this morning, and I take it you first read all about it right here on Cinematical, right? Because you love us, right? Anyway, there weren't any major surprises to be found. I'm happy to see The Simpsons Movie land a nod for best animated feature, and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story came away with two nods ... which should help bolster its box office take. Same goes for the other films on the list that still haven't arrived in theaters; most notably Sweeney Todd, The Great Debaters, There Will be Blood and Charlie Wilson's War. Thankfully, Amy Ryan was thrown a bone for her excellent supporting performance in Gone Baby Gone (though the film as a whole was missing from the other, larger categories) and -- whaddya know -- Juno got a whole lotta love.

Atonement looks to be this year's "Best Film That No One Will See," while it almost sickens me to see John Travolta (for his drag performance in Hairspray) listed in the same category as Javier Bardem (for No Country for Old Men). The best motion picture drama category features a whopping seven films, though Michael Clayton and The Great Debaters probably could've been left off. Shockers? How about Don Cheadle coming away empty following his terrific performance in Talk to Me? Personally, and I know a lot of people will argue against this, I thought Joaquin Phoenix in Reservation Road was better than Viggo Mortenson in Eastern Promises. How many lines did Viggo actually have in that film? Seven? I imagine Across the Universe hypnotized people into believing it belonged in the best motion picture (musical or comedy) category, with all its wacky colors and what not. Once is not even mentioned, well, once. And where is the nomination for Waitress? Did I miss it. Oh wait, it's not there. But Cate Blanchett is there -- twice -- for both I'm Not There and Elizabeth: The Golden Age. You're telling me both Hairspray and Across the Universe were better than Waitress? And where's Zodiac? Do you agree with this? Should we write a letter?

So, what do you think?

And for much much more on this year's Golden Globes, be sure to check out Moviefone's official Golden Globes page.

Last night I was having drinks with a Manhattan film critic who told me that he was putting both Zodiac and Black Book on his end of year list, no matter what the establishment thought of their awards chances. I was very happy about the latter, since I'm sure that it's one of the best films of the year, and although I didn't see Zodiac until recently, I also feel that it would be absurd if that film loses a slot in awards consideration to lesser (and later released) films like American Gangster or Enchanted. The Academy is, of course, notorious about forgetting what came in the January -- April period of the year, but sometimes they can surprise you, especially in a weak year for Best Picture like this one is. (Aside from No Country for Old Men and Atonement, what other sure bets for a Best Picture nomination are there?) Zodiac in particular seems to be catching some late momentum -- today Jeff Wells of Hollywood-Elsewhere has released his top ten list and declares Zodiac to be the best of the year. I doubt he really thinks that, but putting it at the top spot may succeeded in the true goal -- getting it noticed.

When we take a look at The Envelope's Buzz meter -- the most comprehensive awards buzz calculator known to man -- we see very few early year contenders, except for Julie Christie for Away from Her. In fact, every movie on The Envelope's Best Picture slate is a movie I've seen in the last few weeks, except for Atonement, which I caught at a festival. A great film like Black Book isn't even a blip on The Envelope's horizon at this point. What early 2007 films do you think are being overlooked?

Every Friday morning, when I'm surfing the new movie reviews and I flip over to Ebert's site, I'm always a little surprised to see a new review for some movie that came out back when he was sidelined by cancer. Atop each of these retro reviews -- which I think I own the copyright on -- he affixes the following simple tag: "Doubling back to pick up some titles I missed while ill." This past Friday, he panned Spider-Man 3, giving it a weak two-star review. He cites his displeasure with the film's lack of a compelling villain and goes into detail about his problems with the symbiote, which he didn't enjoy at all. He also doesn't like Mary Jane anymore.

Children of Men and the Dixie Chicks documentary Shut up and Sing have both been retro-awarded high marks -- I agree with the latter verdict. The Fountain, a movie that was on my top ten list of that year, is mildly panned although what's most interesting about the review is that Ebert spends much of it musing on the concept of a retro review in itself. "Although as a doctoral candidate in English I was advised to be familiar with the existing criticism on a work before venturing to write my own, as a film critic I am usually writing before other reviews have even been published," he writes.

The Lives of Others and Zodiac get four stars -- Ebert's been a little too generous with the four star rating since his return, by the way -- while Grindhouse is panned for being "an attempt to recreate a double feature that never existed for an audience that no longer exists." I haven't pinned down the exact dates that Ebert was absent, so I have no idea how long his retro-reviewing will go on, but it's fun to read.

Say what you will about David Fincher's work, but I've been with him the whole way. Yeah, I even liked Alien³, at least at the time. Okay, I have to admit a lot of my attraction to Fincher's movies is actually to the cinematography of Darius Khondji and Harris Savides (now that I look back, I'm surprised to see they only shot two Fincher titles each). But hey, at least the guy can pick a DP, right? Well, I do appreciate Fincher's directorial talents, as well, and regardless of how few films I've seen this year, I continue to consider his Zodiac to be the best of the year. Fincher recently wrapped his next feature, The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons, which reunites him with Brad Pitt. Now that that's done, he may choose to direct an adaptation of a French graphic novel titled Le Tueur (The Killer). According to Variety, Paramount has bought the rights to the comic, written by Matz and illustrated by Luc Jacamon, with Fincher in mind. Producer Allesandro Camon (American Psycho) is writing the screenplay, and Pitt's company, Plan B, and Alexandra Milchan (Chapter 27) are producing.

Despite the need for a title change, and the fact that we have too many hitman movies coming out these days, the graphic novel should make for an interesting adaptation. Publisher's Weekly compared it to the films of Godard and Melville and the illustrations of Darwyn Cooke and even addressed Jacamon's placement of the camera (maybe Fincher should recruit him to be the film's DP). So, it already sounds like a cinematic story. Unfortunately, PW also claims there's too much "self-consciously cool narration," which can really ruin this type of pic. Another opinion of The Killer, this one from The Comic Book Bin, relates the graphic novel to American Psycho (nice, then, for Camon's involvement) and Leone/Eastwood westerns. Dark antihero with a gun? We see them every day. But with Fincher at the helm, I have higher hopes than usual.

With Spider-Man 3 arriving on DVD today, it's fitting that we should receive a major announcement regarding Spider-Man 4. Entertainment Weekly reports that James Vanderbilt (who penned the very awesome Zodiac) has been hired to write the script for Spidey 4, and Sony plans to swing the fourquel into theaters in 2009 (most likely early summer). Whether or not Vanderbilt will be the only writer to take on the project is not known; I wouldn't be surprised if this thing passes through the hands of at least two more writers before it moves ahead. Personally, I don't see the impending writer's strike lasting too long (if it happens at all), and so Vanderbilt should start plugging away almost immediately ... if he hasn't already done so. Most likely he pitched his idea to Sony with a full outline, and so I can't see it taking that long to punch out a draft or two.

What we don't know at this moment is whether Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Sam Raimi will return to the franchise. Raimi has already stated that he wants to be involved in some capacity (most likely as producer), and after taking a critical lashing following Spider-Man 3, it'll be interesting to see if Raimi decides to direct one more. Of course, it probably depends on Maguire and Dunst to a certain degree, but if you ask me, I'd like to see them start from scratch with a new cast and director. Feel free to continue the storyline, but this franchise could use some new blood. There's a writer. There's a potential release year. What say you?

[Thanks Steve]