Zodiac (2007)

In the late 1960's to early 1970's, a serial killer, known as Zodiac, tormented and killed in and around the San Francisco area. The mystery officially remains unsolved, however the film Zodiac comes to its own conclusions as to the real identity to the killer.


The film storyline follows the exploits of both the police and the local paper in trying track down the killer, who bragged about the murders and tested the media and police by sending cryptic letters to the San Francisco Chronicle. A newspaper crime reporter, Paul Avery (Robert Downey, Jr.) and the political cartoonist/riddle solving hobbyist (Jake Gyllenhaal) work with and, at times, independently of the police detectives (Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards) assigned to solve the case.

The film is reminiscent of All the President's Men, in that the bulk of the story follows a pair of journalists who start with a small story, which, in turn, evolves into a massive, historic one.

Redford and Hoffman in All the President's Men

The cast is top notch and director David Fincher (Se7en, The Game, Panic Room) has the wonderful ability of making seemingly normal things very, very creepy. His distinctive style works well with such an iconic, evil figure as Zodiac, and Fincher seamlessly interweaves characters and story lines over a 20 year journey.

Downey, Jr. and Gyllenhaal in Zodiac

Zodiac did not set the world on fire at the box office, however, I think it will become one of those movies, like All the President's Men and The Hunt for Red October that, when I stumble across it on television, I am transfixed and will watch it through to completion. Once you start, the story pulls you in and you can't turn away.

Zodiac is very good film with subtle, effect directing and excellent performances.

Clearplay DVD Player - Get It

If you have kids under 17 and love movies, you should get the Clearplay DVD player, period.

I was walking through Target and saw the Clearplay DVD on sale for under $60 and decided to take a chance on it. The way the Clearplay DVD player works is simple and brilliant. You download and install filters for the movies you want to watch. These filters can eliminate foul language, violence, sex, blasphemy and nudity as well as such things as dishonoring parents, dishonoring the flag, or even mushiness.

How does it eliminate these things? Simple. The filters have documented when these potentially offensive material appears on screen and will either skip it or, if it's language, mute it. When you load in the DVD it recognizes the movie and asks if you want to watch it for Normal viewing (no filters) or Clearplay viewing (with filters).

This does not break any copyright laws because the original content is available for viewing and the filtering process does not alter the original content.

The system comes with over 2000 filters with the purchase of the DVD player. To have access to new filters created for the latest DVD releases, a membership is required. The DVD player included a 40% off coupon and for an annual membership, so I ponied up and paid an additional $50 for a years supply of latest filters. All told, I spent just over $100 and will be able to watch with my kids just about any DVD I receive from Netflix.

Right after opening it up, I downloaded the filter for Wedding Crashers and sat down to watch it with my 14 year old daughter. I picked Wedding Crashers on purpose because there is a LOT of ranchy stuff in that film.

The DVD player asked me if I wanted to watch it with or without the Clearplay filters. I chose Clearplay filters and DVD player skipped and muted as promised. And, to top it all off, the movie is still very funny without all of that material. Granted, its intended to have a sexual-romp aspect to it and those parts are funny for adults, but I was both amazed and delighted to see that I could watch such a flick with my kids and know that they were going to see anything I wasn't comfortable with them seeing.

So, if you have kids, I strongly suggest you invest a few dollars into this product. For years I've heard parents complain about the trash Hollywood puts out and how parents can't control what their kids see. Well, Clearplay solves a lot of those problems. Support the company and help your family.

You can see a demo and get more information at the Clearplay website, located at http://www.clearplay.com.

Tourney and Beach Time

Well, the long Labor Day Weekend is over. We spent the weekend in Cocoa Beach at a baseball tournament where teams from Venezuela, Jamaica, Virgin Islands, and all around Florida came to play against one another.

Gabe's team was over matched, for the most part. Scheduled to play four games over the weekend, Gabe's team started out good, winning 9-5. Gabe played well in the field and at bat (1-1 with two walks), but struggled on the mound. The tournament follows AAU rules, which means kids can steal bases, the base paths and pitching mound are longer distances, etc. Gabe struggled pitching from the stretch and learning NOT to throw strikes. He would quickly put the batter in an 0-2 count, but he was then asked not to throw strikes, but near-strikes, so the batter would swing and miss. Gabe wasn't used to this and his pitches would miss the target. But, a win is a win.

The second game, Gabe made the best contact with the ball and hit a solid shot to the second baseman, who made the out. But, he then struck out twice, ending the day 0-3. He didn't pitch. They lost 4-0, his team only mustering up one hit.

The third game was painful. Completely outmatched, Gabe went 0-2 with two strike outs. He didn't pitch and the team from Miami slaughtered them 17-3 in four innings. One inning included two grand slam home runs and two other multi-run home runs.

Gabe was scheduled to be the starting pitcher in the fourth game, but, due to a lot of rain outs during the tournament, our game was canceled as we were not playing for a championship.

So, we spent Monday morning at the beach and had a great time boogie boarding to the bid Atlantic Ocean waves. We also spotted a small shark in the water about 10 yards away from us. We gave him his room and he left us alone.

The cost of this trip was a bit much, considering the expected return on the baseball field, but the non-baseball events were fun. Everyone stayed in the same hotel and the kids played on the beach and in the pirate-themed pool until late in the night. So, we'll have to decide whether to invest in this trip next year.

I'll post some pics from the event later.