2. Zodiac (David Fincher)
Gets Lost in the Shuffle Of: Fight Club, The Social Network, Se7en, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Fincher is easily one of the most sought directors working in Hollywood today, and I think that
Zodiac is the finest film to the director's attention to detail. It's altogether taut, enlightening, and sometimes just downright petrifying. While
The Social Network might be his landmark film,
Fight Club his cult film, and
Se7en his rite of passage, it's
Zodiac that truly turned Fincher into a director with the promise that he puts story over glimmer and glitz, and his ability to turn a lengthy production like this one into a droning, exasperating thrill ride is a great testament to his talents. Also, a pre-
Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. gets to flaunt his stuff, following behind fantastic leads in Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo. It's certainly not a feature for everyone, but if you can stick with it, you'll come out incredibly and wonderfully shaken.
"You wouldn't happen to have any animal crackers, would you?"