Nearing Grace (sure, why not?)

I once had this dream in which I was wearing a short plaid skirt and dating a lesbian super-villain named Lucy Diamond, who looked exactly like Jordana Brewster. And then it turned out that I was actually supposed to capture her rather than consort with her, and then Holland Taylor was chastising me and.. Oh, no, wait, I’m mixing that up with DEBS! And that wasn’t me, it was Sara Foster! Bummer. Well, that explains a lot, since I don’t ever wear skirts.

Anyway, my point is that ever since I saw DEBS, I decided that every movie with Jordana Brewster in it must be worth watching. Turns out, though, that her performance is a lot less thrilling if she’s being all slutty and kissing guys instead. But I digress.

The movie is basically about Henry Nearing, played a little too smoothly by Gregory Smith (I didn’t know him either), and how he meets Grace Chance (Jordana Brewster), who’s dating Lance (Chad Faust, who I disliked much in The 4400) but isn’t completely repulsed by the idea of having a fling with Henry (although I don’t see why, he’s not very charming or cute and he’s not very funny either). And then, let’s not forget Henry’s best buddy Merna Ash, played by the cute Ashley Johnson, who we already really liked in Fast Food Nation. And oh, amazingly, I do remember her short role in that one episode of Roseanne 12 years ago.

The script wasn’t particularly well-written: I was missing some character growth and also, maybe, a surprise element. It was about as predictable as “amen” in church and came like any old movie with some big speeches and ostensibly profound wisdom. However, it was a pleasure to watch Ashley Johnson, and I’ll even say she outshined Jordana in that movie. Sometimes, she looked like a young Uma Thurman. So while this isn’t a movie I’d explicitly recommend as a must-see, it is good for a rainy afternoon.

Zodiac (does creep me out)

Zodiac tells the story of Robert Graysmith,  a cartoonist for a newspaper who becomes very involved in trying to solve the Zodiac murders.

Robert Graysmith, who lives very much in his own world and doesn’t attract much attention to himself, is played wonderfully by the very adorable and talented Jake Gyllenhaal, who we (should) all know from Donnie Darko (preferrably the Director’s Cut) and of course from his role as Jack Twist, a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain that should have got him is first Academy Award (but didn’t quite).

Robert Downey Jr. plays the drunkard journalist that covers the murders, which might not even have required much acting on his part. He was mumbling throughout the whole movie, and somehow it seems to me that all his roles are alike, which bores me. A lot more interesting were Anthony Edwards of ER fame and Mark Ruffalo (Just Like Heaven, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, My Life Without me) as police inspectors working on the case, and not to forget Chloe Sevigny, who had a nice but comparatively minor part in the movie. She’s another actress I’ve had a soft spot for eversince I saw her in If These Walls Could Talk 2 and then Boys Don’t Cry and then Shattered Glass. (I’m trying to forget I ever watched that horrible Demonlover.)

I was slightly bothered by the graphic violence in that movie, even though it was reduced to a few scenes, but other than that the movie was suspenseful and well-acted. The time frame of things was impossible for me to follow but didn’t play a major part, really, and one scene in particular had me really at the edge of my seat. I’ll say again that Jake Gyllenhaal was really a pleasure to watch throughout the movie, and while I’m not generally much into thrillers, I’ll say if this is a genre you enjoy, I absolutely do recommend Zodiac.