When it comes to new movies that I want to go see, I try to do my research on its background and plot summary beforehand. So, in preparation for David Fincher's latest crime drama/thriller, Zodiac, I busted out the ever trusty Wikipedia to bone up on the case of the Zodiac Killer. But at the risk of sounding  dumb, I think that I should admit that I had never heard of the Zodiac Killer until now. I suppose the case was more than a little before my time, but I can't help but feel left out of this tremendously interesting bit of Americana.
    
Though maybe that was a blessing in disguise. By knowing little more than a brief summary of the events of the case going into it, I think that I probably got more out of Zodiac the film than someone who was more experienced in the case. Because wow...the story absolutely blew me away. Not only was the movie itself expertly crafted, but the complexity of the Zodiac Killer case was like nothing I had previously experienced.
   
Here's a brief recap of my review of David Fincher's Zodiac:

Movies are a lot like pastries sometimes. Some are like cookies--mostly soft filler with bits of sweetness sprinkled throughout. But then there are those fancy cake movies, layered in all kinds of frostings and intricate designs. You may not be in mood for something so rich and elaborate all of the time, but in the right occasion, there's really no beating it. Zodiac is definitely one of these kinds of films.

This movie is thick. With layer upon layer of characters, locales, and twists, there is certainly plenty to keep you interested in the elaborate plot. Clocked in at nearly 3 hours, it in fact feels closer to double that. And therein lies both Zodiac's greatest strength and its most glaring weakness. There's nothing better than a great movie that is also quite long, but also nothing worse than a long movie that you aren't in the mood for.

Long story short, I loved the crap out of this movie.

So you can only imagine my excitement after reading on the Coast to Coast AM schedule that the Zodiac Killer would be the topic of Monday, March 19th's episode. I was even more excited when, at the start of the show, host George Noory announced that it would in fact be one of his patented 'roundtable discussion' episodes. Though as I sat through the top of the hour newsbreak before the interview, I began to wonder why now, some 3 weeks after Zodiac's release, George would do a show on the subject. Before long, I had my answer.

Expecting a discussion on the merits and accuracy of Fincher's Zodiac, I was more than a little surprised to discover that all 3 members of the roundtable--Ed Neil, Tom Voigt, and Michael Butterfield--were pretty big haters when it came to the movie. Even more surprising, what little talk there was about it came only in the final hour before George opened up the phone lines. And, to make matters worse, Noory didn't even know that the movie was out yet. Suffice it to say, I was kind of disappointed.

After a day of thinking it over, I think I've decided exactly what I didn't like about this episode. The hating on David Fincher's Zodiac definitely didn't help, but I like a lot of movies that people generally don't, so that didn't really bother me. No, what bothered me were these guests. They had a sort of smarminess about them--talking over each other, making poor jokes, and being genuinely uninteresting to listen to. So enthusiastic I once was about this episode, it wasn't long before I got sidetracked with other endeavors. Likewise, as a host, George Noory dropped the ball on this one, too. Of all the roundtable discussions in the past, I'd have to give this one the dubious prize of being the least entertaining.

I realize George has the difficult job of having to get knowledgeable and interested in a plethora of different subjects each week, but it seemed to me that he was less prepared for this episode than usual. Though I must give him props for opening up a 'Zodiac Confession' hotline at the end of the show. I didn't stick around to see if he would actually call up, but I thought that was a pretty good idea by ol' Noory.

So if you didn't catch this one on Monday night, and are contemplating perhaps finding a copy of it to listen to, I'd advise against it. Besides, you'd be better off spending the nearly 3 hours watching the movie. If you can still find it at your local theater, it will be well worth the extra effort and cash.