+16
Zodiac was #24 on my ballot. Here's what I wrote on it a while back:
Zodiac is is a suspenseful and thoroughly intriguing tale on obsession. Through a mixture of clues and details surfacing as more information is revealed, various suspects and leads resulting in nothing but dead ends, and some truly unnerving and rather disturbing encounters with the Zodiac killer, Fincher cleverly wraps you up into the film's conflict as you become just as determined to discover who the killer is as the main character Robert Graysmith, a San Francisco cartoonist whose determination takes up over a decade of his life and often leads to him putting himself in danger to accomplish his goal (conveyed most strongly by the famous basement scene). This characterization makes him act as our proxy who we eagerly follow throughout the film, hoping for him to satisfy the obsession which steadily builds up throughout the film's 2 1/2 hour run time. Those who feel unsatisfied by the ending's lack of closure are feeling the full extent of what Fincher intended as the feeling of unsatisfied obsession hits you quite immensely and lingers with you long afterwards. Overall, while this film certainly has the potential to be great, I'm still sort of hanging in the very good camp as, while I enjoyed the first half quite a bit and was by no means bored with it, it wasn't until the second half that I was truly invested into the film, in which the obsession angle went into full effect (although, I don't mean to imply that the film which came before it was unnecessary by any means). Regardless, the masterfully executed obsession angle and other charms such as some strong performances (Gyllenhaal, Downey, Ruffalo), some occasional bits of humor, and some well-executed sequences of violence makes this movie one of the most powerful crime films of the 21st century.
1. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (#78)
2.
3.
4. Children of Men (#17)
5.
6.
7. A Serious Man (#66)
8.
9. 28 Days Later (#45)
10.
11. Memento (#11)
12.
13. Shaun of the Dead (#20)
14.
15. In the Mood for Love (#12)
16. Requiem For a Dream (#16)
17.
18. The Pianist (#31)
19.
20. Moon (#48)
21.
22.
23. Sunshine (#88)
24. Zodiac (#9)
25. The New World (#99)