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Arts & Entertainment 20 March 6, 2007 THE RETRIEVER WEEKLY Arts & Entertainment Nothing puzzling here: Zodiac is killer Coming to Theaters This Week The fi lm begins with a shot of Graysmith the fi lm, the chemistry between Gyllenhaal and By Jeremy Hentschel GABY AREVALO taking his young son to school, and then entering Downey is endearing, with comical scenes in Retriever Weekly Staff Writer the newsroom. Graysmith is clearly an outcast which the sweetly innocent Graysmith does not 300 (R) Ð It appears, in a wise move, among the rest of the editorial staff, most of whom realize how drug-addled and corrupt Avery is. no other production companies decided Imagine a serial killer on a ten-month killing are stuffy older men who pay no attention to him. The movie also follows the many police to release their fi lms on the same day as spree through four counties with no visible Yet when the paper receives the fi rst letter from the offi cers involved in tracking down the killer. Mark 300. Hyped up to be a visual masterpiece, pattern. The only information the police can killer, Gyllenhaal’s character grabs the attention Ruffalo is brilliant in his sorrowful portrayal of this fi lm adaptation of Frank Miller’s obtain on him is what he divulges through letters of a senior newsman named Paul Avery (Robert Inspector David Toschi, a man whose career is classic graphic novel tells the story of King to the press. Unfortunately, this actually happened Downey, Jr.) when Graysmith cryptically states defi ned by the Zodiac killer. Incredibly passionate Leonidas and his most loyal 300 Spartan about his job, Toschi throws himself soldiers who stood up to overwhelming fully into the investigation, to the odds to protect all of western civilization questioning glances of his partner, from the invading forces of the god-king William Armstrong (Anthony Xerxes. Hold on to your loincloth Ð when Edwards). Because the Zodiac this opens, we’re in for one wild night! killer struck in several counties, Toschi and Armstrong are forced to work with police offi cers from to portray his character, he is strong and convincing other towns. The tense rivalry and the age factor can be easily overlooked. between the different departments The most interesting character in the fi lm, can be felt as the offi cers, instead of the Zodiac killer, gets very little screen time. Yes, helping each other catch the killer, the fi lm revolves around him, but the audience choose to barter information in does not see him much, and when he is shown, his the hopes that their prospective face and body are hidden. The eerily calm killer police department will be the one is far more terrifying than say, an axe wielding that catches the Zodiac. murderer because the Zodiac does not seem to The all-star cast of characters care who he kills, and quickly relays to the police gives this fi lm depth, with each that he kills for the fun of it. It is as if the whole role being fi lled by a competent thing is a cat-and-mouse game to him. The Zodiac actor. Chlöe Sevigny’s portrayal is mysterious and elusive, and throughout the fi lm of Graysmith’s wife is an has the audience frustrated with his slippery ways. understated depiction of a patient With its tight shots and evocative plot, Zodiac and supportive woman who is a brilliant look into the people who are affected understands the importance of her by a killer. Clocking in at over two hours long, husband’s seeming obsession with Zodiac is not for the impatient, but the long fi lm is [Courtesy of Paramount Pictures] The Most Dangerous Animal: Robert Downey Jr. and Jake Gyllenhaal track the Zodiac killer. catching the killer. Clea DuVall, defi nitely worth watching. in a small but signifi cant turn in Northern California between December 1968 that the killer will not reveal his name through a as the sister of a Zodiac victim, is poignant and and October 1969. The fi lm Zodiac chronicles cryptogram he included with the letter. The paper moving. Downey is charismatic as an over-the- Gaby Arevalo is a Staff Writer for The these events through the eyes of Robert Graysmith publishes the cryptogram, and when Graysmith top journalist who seems unable to take anything Retriever Weekly and can be reached for comment (Jake Gyllenhaal), an editorial cartoonist for the turns out to be correct, Avery takes an interest in seriously, especially when it comes to his personal at [email protected]. San Francisco Chronicle. the quiet cartoonist. Throughout the course of life. Though, at times, Gyllenhaal seems too young Swords and sandals will rule box offi ce this weekend from 300, page 18. “make sure you do what you feel passionate about. how the Spartans fought. “Heroes usually have he would sit there and say, “So that’s what was You have to want to get it done every day.” to tread a moral path,” he said, but the Spartans going on,” in each scene. Alexander and Troy “paved the way,” as Snyder Gerard Butler, who plays King Leonidas in had a “lack of compassion” that was “exceptionally After speaking with both the director and said, he hoped 300 would “reinvent the swords 300, told us a lot about what it was like to prepare brutal.” Their philosophy was “do anything you the lead actor, I would be lying if I said I was not and sandals genre” in a new light. for this movie. It was tough both mentally and can to win,” said Butler. He said that this will excited to see 300. The way both men spoke so I asked Snyder if he had any advice for up physically, he said. The two go hand in hand, to fi ght for what is right by any means necessary passionately about the fi lm and graphic novel and coming fi lm makers because he seemed to be according to Butler. “Physicality leads to strength made the characters feel a lot more human than really hit me. Snyder and Butler both really respect a huge success story. Prior to Dawn of the Dead, he of character,” he said, “like a fi re that burns inside the usual heroic characters. the original work, and I think that drive to bring did not have hardly any movies on his resume. I of you.” He said that it was amazing - training for Butler commented on the fi lmmaking the graphic novel to life will be the determining asked how he hit it so big, and if there was a secret months to look like a Spartan, physically, because, process itself when asked about actually creating factor in how the movie turns out. See for yourself, he could fi ll us in on. He replied that he went to at times, he said, “it felt like (he) really could take the movie’s intense action scenes. As far as acting 300 opens nationwide this Friday. fi lm school, and then he just did some work on on a million men.” He laughed, saying that you style, he said “the more that can be said in silence, commercials and music videos in the nineties. He “can’t feel more manly” than he did making this the better.” The movie’s dazzling special effects Jeremy Hentschel is the Assistant Arts & said there was no real secret to his sudden success, movie. wowed even Butler, who laughed and said the Entertainment Editor for The Retriever Weekly he was just persistent and “single minded.” He When speaking of the Spartan lifestyle and movie was “all fi lmed in one bloody warehouse, so and can be reached for comment at jhentschel@trw. said to succeed you had to do the “right work” and his character, he said it was very interesting to see that was weird.” After seeing the fi nished product, umbc.edu. PiledPhD Higher and Deeper By Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com.
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