No, not films made in Boston. Simply films I've seen since I've arrived. Three, to be precise. I'm being somewhat fair and giving each pic its own entry.
First to unspool before my eyes - though, if I remember correctly, it was digital projection, so no spool - David Fincher's Zodiac. Fairly solid Fincher fan I am. Se7en and Fight Club are late twentieth century masterpieces. The former, the last word on the serial killer genre - except for maybe Kiryoshi Kurosawa's Cure, which I recommend highly. The latter, a testament to staying human - even if your risidual self-image looks a lot like Brad Pitt - in an increasingly corporate world.
Fincher made a misstep with his last picture, the stylish-to-the-point-of-self-immitation Panic Room. Zodiac is better, but only faintly grasps at greatness that has come before. The director adamantly stated that he didn't want to try and outdo Se7en in any way. He didn't want to make a serial killer pic ever again. He wanted this to be more like a newspaper film, his All the Zodiac's Men. While he succeeded in that regard, the resulting film is little more than an expertly crafted police procedural that squeezes in as many facts about the case as possible in it's 2.5 hour runtime.
So that I don't ramble on.... Solid cast - Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Brian Cox, and more of a who's who of modern "indie" film. Sadly some are wasted - Chloe Sevigny as "the girlfriend/wife". Movie looks really nice and Fincher does an excellent job of capturing the changing looks of San Francisco, from the late-'60's to the mid-'80's. Unfortunately, when the film tries to take a break from the case, more often than not the characters and their relationships fall flat, the dialogue dries up, and a craving for a box of animal crackers is passed off as a character trait.
Not bad, not good. Netflix if you like this sort of thing.
First to unspool before my eyes - though, if I remember correctly, it was digital projection, so no spool - David Fincher's Zodiac. Fairly solid Fincher fan I am. Se7en and Fight Club are late twentieth century masterpieces. The former, the last word on the serial killer genre - except for maybe Kiryoshi Kurosawa's Cure, which I recommend highly. The latter, a testament to staying human - even if your risidual self-image looks a lot like Brad Pitt - in an increasingly corporate world.
Fincher made a misstep with his last picture, the stylish-to-the-point-of-self-immitation Panic Room. Zodiac is better, but only faintly grasps at greatness that has come before. The director adamantly stated that he didn't want to try and outdo Se7en in any way. He didn't want to make a serial killer pic ever again. He wanted this to be more like a newspaper film, his All the Zodiac's Men. While he succeeded in that regard, the resulting film is little more than an expertly crafted police procedural that squeezes in as many facts about the case as possible in it's 2.5 hour runtime.
So that I don't ramble on.... Solid cast - Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Brian Cox, and more of a who's who of modern "indie" film. Sadly some are wasted - Chloe Sevigny as "the girlfriend/wife". Movie looks really nice and Fincher does an excellent job of capturing the changing looks of San Francisco, from the late-'60's to the mid-'80's. Unfortunately, when the film tries to take a break from the case, more often than not the characters and their relationships fall flat, the dialogue dries up, and a craving for a box of animal crackers is passed off as a character trait.
Not bad, not good. Netflix if you like this sort of thing.
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