The Film Reporter

October Sky (1999) is a an inspirational drama set in the era of the cold war where Homer Hickham (Gyllenhaal) is a young man who gained inspiration from the Sputnik launch. What makes this a great film is also the fact that this is based on a true story, a story about a young man who had a dream, and fought for it, however much is father is against it, (childish he says). 

This is also one of my favourite performances by Jake Gyllenhaal, and was a mark for a young talent emerging into Hollywood, and is now renowned as one of the worlds best. An inspirational film that will no doubt fascinate you into the complex world of space exploration and physics.

Paul/Downey: Ok, this can no longer be ignored, what is that your drinking?

Robert/Gyllenhall: It’s an Aqua Velva, you wouldn’t make fun of it if your tried it.

David Fincher’s Zodiac really is a masterpiece to behold with it’s occasional moments of comedy like above. His dark approach to this slow crime investigation builds slowly with suspense as we progress from the late 50’s to early 90’s, and in my opinion is one of the best scripts I’ve ever witnessed on screen, as well as a pretty damn good job by Fincher.

• Zodiac
(2007)
• Dir. David Fincher
• I need to know who he is. I need to stand there, I need to look him in the eye, and I need to know that it’s him.

Zodiac (2007) an absolutely fantastic film that spans the decaded from the late 60’s to the early 90’s. Surprisingly this is a fiilm that many have never heard of. Zodiac was directed by the great David Fincher and starred a brilliant cast including Jake Gyllenhall, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Dwoney Jr. The image seen above is a letter word for word which The Zodiac murderer himself once wrote. 

An interesting bit of trivia I spotted on the IMDB website was was “Scenes of Dave Toschi and Robert Graysmith watching Dirty Harry were filmed inside the Mann National Theatre in Westwood, CA. The garish color schemes of the movie theater were not added by the art department. The very retro interiors of the theater have remained unchanged since 1969, when the National was first built. Interestingly, “Zodiac” played at the Mann National Theatre in mid March of 2007. Thus, moviegoers watched other moviegoers occupy their seats - on the National’s trademark large screen. The theater has since been torn down.”