ON DVD > WATCHING AT HOME.Byline: ROB LOWMAN > ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR "Zodiac"> David Fitcher's "Zodiac" is a compelling tale of obsession. The true story of the serial killer serial killer Forensic psychiatry A person who commits serial murders Prototypic SK White ♂ age 30; 97% are ♂; 80% are sociopaths. See Dahmer, Depraved heart murder, Ice Man. Cf Megan's law, Son of Sam law. who terrorized the Bay Area in the late '60s and and early '70s, "Zodiac" has no punctuated, final ending like "Dirty Harry," the classic Clint Eastwood cop film that borrowed its plot from real-life events. No one ever paid for the crimes of the Zodiac, the name the killer, who brutally gunned down or stabbed people, gave himself in letters to newspapers. "Zodiac's" trio of obsessives are played by Jake Gyllenhaal Jacob Benjamin Gyllenhaal[1] (born December 19 1980) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at 11 years old. , Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo. Downey plays Paul Avery, a hard-imbibing (many poisons) newspaper reporter who pursues the murderer in print. Ruffalo is the smooth Dave Toschi, the flashy San Francisco police detective Steve McQueen modeled his character after in "Bullitt." Gyllenhaal is the amateur -- the cartoonist-turned-writer Robert Graysmith, who can't let go even after the trail has gone cold. Fitcher never lets up on the tension, even though you know no one will be caught. At the end, although a real person is suggested as the killer, there is no closure. In "Zodiac," the case is like a fresh wound. "The Number 23"> The obvious joke with "The Number 23" is that it doesn't add up. Jim Carrey plays a man who -- thanks to a book his wife bought -- is obsessed ob·sess v. ob·sessed, ob·sess·ing, ob·sess·es v.tr. To preoccupy the mind of excessively. v.intr. with 23, believing it holds some sort of mystical power. He also believes that he is the character in the bizarre pulp detective novel, called "The Number 23," which is driving him crazy and causing him to hallucinate hal·lu·ci·nate v. hal·lu·ci·nat·ed, hal·lu·ci·nat·ing, hal·lu·ci·nates v.intr. To undergo hallucination. v.tr. To cause to have hallucinations. . Slick but empty direction from Joel Schumacher and Carrey's likability carry the film at times, but too often it plows unheedingly into the preposterous and unintentionally comic. "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer"> The Patrick Suskind novel "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" was a genuinely creepy, sarcastic book. Director Tom Twyker's film adaptation is mostly just creepy, with some flashy performances from British actor Ben Whishaw as the main character and Dustin Hoffman as a powder-wigged perfumer. Whishaw plays Grenouille, a perfumery per·fum·er·y n. pl. per·fum·er·ies 1. Perfumes. 2. An establishment that makes or sells perfume. 3. The art of making perfume. Noun 1. apprentice in 18th-century France, born with an obsessive desire to bottle the scent of a woman. This odorous and odious desire leads Grenouille to murder young women and, from their essence (you can guess how), create popular perfumes. Unfortunately, Twyker's overly pungent and long film overwhelms the delicate essence of the novel. A whiff can go a long way. "The Host"> You can see why the loopy Korean horror flick "The Host" got raves, but it's a bit too loopy to really score. Admittedly, I watched half the film in a silly dubbed version before switching over to subtitles, which were much better. A sort of Godzilla with social commentary, "The Host" involves a giant fish-like creature that rises from a river where the U.S. government had poured pollutants. The mystery creatures uses its short arms, tentacles and prehensile tail to crawl on land and create havoc. Instead of addressing the problem, though, the government launches a cover-up (sound familiar?), preventing the dysfunctional Park family from getting their little girl back after the monster takes her and deposits her in a sewer for a snack later. Through goofy at times, it's easy to admire 37-year-old South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho's visual flair and his ability to tap into real-life paranoia about environmental disasters and man's ability to screw it up more. "Stargate SG-1 -- Season 10"> "Stargate SG-1" ended its 10-year-run recently, not with a bang Not with a Bang was a short-lived British television sitcom produced by London Weekend Television in 1990. It ran for seven episodes, each 30 minutes long, before being cancelled due to poor ratings and a stagnant plot. but not exactly with a whimper either. Its final season was fairly standard. The best sci-fi gives its audience a chance to look at our world (our lives) from a different perspective. And then there is the space cowboy stuff, or the shows that get too lost in their own mythology and pseudo-science. "Stargate SG-1" fell in between. The show lost some steam when Richard Dean Anderson Richard Dean Anderson (born January 23 1950 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American television actor. He played the eponymous hero in the television series MacGyver and, more recently, Jack O'Neill in Stargate SG-1 (also a producer) left the lead role for an occasional cameo, despite bringing in Claudia Black and Ben Browder from "Farscape." Still, fans will enjoy the last hurrah. Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker picked up another Emmy nomination Thursday for best actress in a comedy series for her role in Showtime's "Weeds." As Nancy Botwin -- the suburban mom who took to dealing pot after her husband suddenly up and died, leaving her with no money -- Parker brings the right combination of skepticism, weariness and determination to the part. Season two pushed the darker edges of the comedy, giving it more resonance, and Parker has wonderful co-stars -- particularly Elizabeth Perkins, an Emmy nominee for best supporting actress. also this week> >Television Stargate SG-1 -- Season 10 (MGM MGM in full Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. U.S. corporation and film studio. It was formed when the film distributor Marcus Loew, who bought Metro Pictures in 1920, merged it with the Goldwyn production company in 1924 and with Louis B. Mayer Pictures in 1925. ; $49.98) Weeds -- Season Two (Lionsgate; $39.98) Star Trek Fan Collective -- Captain's Log (Paramount; $38.99) Tales From the Crypt: The Complete Sixth Season (Warner $39.98) Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law is a comedic American animated television series created by Williams Street that airs on Cartoon Network during its Adult Swim late night programming block. , Vol. 3 (Turner; $29.98) Benson -- The Complete First Season (Columbia; $29.95) The Jesse Stone Film Collection (Stone Cold/ Death in Paradise/ Night Passage) (Columbia; $58.95) The Real McCoys: Complete Season 1 (Infinity $39.98) A Bit of Fry and Laurie
Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are a successful English comedy double act mostly active in the 1980s and 1990s. -- The Complete Collection ... Every Bit! (BBC BBC in full British Broadcasting Corp. Publicly financed broadcasting system in Britain. A private company at its founding in 1922, it was replaced by a public corporation under royal charter in 1927. Warner $79.98) Land of the Giants -- The Full Series (Fox; $229.98) Shakespeare Retold re·told v. Past tense and past participle of retell. (BBC Warner; $34.98) >New films Zodiac (Paramount $29.99) Perfume -- The Story of a Murderer (Paramount $29.99) The Number 23 (New Line; $28.98) The Host ($29.98 and $34.98 for HD or Blu-ray) >Older films Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory, Vol. 2 (The Pirate/ Words and Music/ That's Dancing/ The Belle of New York/ Royal Wedding/ That Midnight Kiss/ The Toast of New Orleans) (Warner; $59.98) The Monster Squad (Lionsgate; $19.98) The Bourne Bourne, town (1990 pop. 16,064), Barnstable co., SE Mass., crossed by Cape Cod Canal; settled 1627, inc. 1884. Bourne Bridge (1935), across the canal, made the town an entry point to Cape Cod and a resort and commercial center. Identity (Universal; $29.98 for HD) Jean De Florette/ Manon of the Spring (MGM; $19.98) Hard Boiled -- Two-Disc Ultimate Edition (Dragon; $24.95) Raise the Red Lantern Raise the Red Lantern (Simplified Chinese: 大红灯笼高高挂; Traditional Chinese: 大紅燈籠高高掛; pinyin: Dà Hóng Dēnglóng Gāogāo Guà; literally (MGM $19.98) Ivan's Childhood (Criterion $29.95) Les Enfants Terribles (Criterion $39.95) To Live (MGM $19.98) >Family/kids The Ultimate Underdog Collection Volumes 1 and 2 (Classic Media $12.95 each) The Woody Woodpecker woodpecker, common name for members of the Picidae, a large family of climbing birds found in most parts of the world. Woodpeckers typically have sharp, chisellike bills for pecking holes in tree trunks, and long, barbed, extensible tongues with which they impale and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection (Universal; $39.98) Baby Einstein -- Discovering Shapes (Disney; $19.99) also new this week> >VIDEO GAMES Guitar Hero: Rocks the '80s Swing your fake ax with hair bands. $49.99, PS2. Rating pending. Mario Strikers Charged Mario Strikers Charged (マリオストライカーズ チャージド Soccer meets nunchuks. $49.99, Wii. E 10+. Shin Megami Tensei Shin Megami Tensei(真・女神転生) is a console role playing game by Atlus that was released October 30 1992 on several platforms. It was originally released on the Super Famicom and was later released on the Sega CD. : Persona 3 20+ social links make life interesting at the supernaturally powered hero's new high school. $49.99, PS2. Rating pending. Final Fantasy II For information regarding the game originally released in North America as Final Fantasy II on the SNES, see Final Fantasy IV. Final Fantasy II ( Remastered 1989 classic with updated graphics and content. $29.99, PSP (PlayStation Portable) See PlayStation. . Teen. Drake & Josh Nickelodeon's leading men aim to win a talent show. $29.99, Nintendo DS. E. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1) Crime reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) gets a tip in his hunt for a serial killer in "Zodiac." (2) Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw) surveys a "coffret," a special case containing the bottles of scents that are his tools, in "Perfume." (3) Mary-Louise Parker was nominated for an Emmy for her role as Nancy Botwin in Showtime's "Weeds." |
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