Tag: zodiac

"The people have a right to know. Toddy?"

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Nellie’s out for dinner with friends, so I’ve had a quiet night on my own. I watched the newly-released director’s cut of Zodiac, which I like more every time I watch. I’m just amazed at how perfectly Fincher (and his art director) made the film look like the early 70s.

I also find Zodiac much creepier than Seven. Granted, I’ve probably watched Seven more than any other movie that didn’t involve a lightsaber, but I don’t remember ever finding it creepy…just awesome. But Zodiac usually gives me the willies.

If you haven’t seen it, then for pity’s sake, invest the 150 minutes.

Maybe I should invite a personal trainer over next

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Nothing like hosting a few social gatherings to put our asses in gear. After painting last weekend we spent this weekend acquiring new lighting and hanging pictures. It’s actually starting to look like someone lives here.

.:.

Yesterday, when I called No Country For Old Men one of the best movies I’ve seen all year, it got me thinking…what other 2007 films did I see that were good? It’s hard to think back to January…fortunately I keep my feathers numbered a database for just such an emergency.

The five best I’ve seen this year would probably be The Bourne Ultimatum, Gone Baby Gone, Superbad, Zodiac and, of course, No Country For Old Men. I saw others that were pretty good, but those are the ones I’d consider really good films. I was about to say that it seems like a pretty light year, but I guess I haven’t seen any of The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Control, The Darjeeling Limited, Eastern Promises, Inland Empire, Into The Wild, Iraq In Fragments, The Kingdom, Lars And The Real Girl, The Lookout, Michael Clayton, Once, Sicko, This Is England or We Own The Night yet. So I’ll get back to you.

[tags]condo decorating, no country for old men, best films of 2007, bourne ultimatum, gone baby gone, superbad, zodiac[/tags]

"Jesus Harold Christ on rubber crutches, Bobby!"

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Once I finished my paper yesterday I actually had a little free time. Wasn’t quite sure what to do with that. We ended up watching Zodiac (imdb | rotten tomatoes). I really liked it; I have a thing for David Fincher films anyway, but this was really good work. Gripping, creepy, detailed, even funny in parts, and always interesting, despite the 2.5 hour running time. It was amazing how much like the 1960s/70s he made it feel. Highly recommended.

.:.

So, it looks like our condo repairs are very nearly done. Today they came in (without telling us) to repair the kitchen floor damaged in the toilet-flooding back in May, so they just have to fix the baseboards they tore up today. Still one or two things left like improperly mounted blinds — but at least we finally have our blinds — but they finally seem to be fixing everything. And all it took was pressure from Tarion: we followed the conciliation process because the condo hadn’t fixed most of the stuff on our 30-day list, which they seemed surprised by. I don’t know if I buy their excuses (“We thought all the problems in your unit had been addressed”; “We sent you a letter to confirm…didn’t you get it?”) but the alternative is that they vindictively blacklisted us because of how embarrassed they were by the gas leak fiasco. Hopefully it’s the former; I prefer to think that people aren’t that sinister.

.:.

Here’s an op-ed piece from Mogwai‘s Stuart Braithwaite on Radiohead‘s new business model. Especially delightful are the shots he takes at Madonna near the end.

“The braveness of [Radiohead’s] move was juxtaposed perfectly with the fact that last week Madonna signed her new record deal with Live Nation aka Clear Channel aka the bastards that got George W Bush elected. But since she speaks with a fake upper class English accent and kills animals for fun they frankly deserve each other.”

[tags]zodiac, david fincher, condo repairs, mogwai, radiohead, madonna[/tags]