Fincher's 'Zodiac' worth a second look

David Fincher is one of the world's most obsessive directors, so it's no wonder the filmmaker was attracted to "Zodiac" (Paramount, 2007, R), the tale of the obsessive hunt for the notorious Bay Area serial killer known only as the Zodiac.

The film came and went in the theaters, but for all its flaws (including its epic running time and actor Jake Gyllenhaal's persistent resistance to old-age make-up) "Zodiac" really sticks with you.

It's a movie about tiny details, and Fincher spent a considerable percentage of his budget getting those details right. To that end, the director reportedly enjoyed the privilege of final cut anyway, so this so-called "director's cut" is more of a minor tweak to a movie that was probably as good as it gets the first time around. Indeed, the new version adds less than five minutes of footage. That said, any excuse to return to the masterful (if not masterpiece) film is a good one, especially as "Zodiac" goes largely overlooked in all the 2007 retrospective tallies.

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"Eastern Promises" (Universal, 2007, R): It's not just the coincidence of casting Viggo Mortensen again that makes "Eastern Promises" feel like a companion to David Cronenberg's previous film, "A History of Violence." The films share some of the same themes, too. It's too bad that Cronenberg's not on hand to discuss them on a commentary track. There's not much in the way of other supplements, either, which is too bad -- it would have been interesting to learn how much work it took to plan out Mortensen's already infamous wince-inducing nude fight scene.

"Shoot 'Em Up" (New Line, 2007, R): "Shoot 'Em Up" presents itself as no-holds-barred, morality-free comic book-styled chaos, and that's exactly what it delivers. Whether that makes the movie worth watching is another matter entirely, especially when so many -- yes -- comic books have done what "Shoot 'Em Up" attempts to do, only better and with more panache. Presiding over this misfire is writer/director Michael Davis, who has a lot to say about such a forgettable exercise on the scattered supplements.

"The Kingdom" (Universal, 2007, R): Peter Berg's "Friday Night Lights" showed the former actor has some pretty strong directing chops, and producer Michael Mann barely needs an introduction when it comes to rich procedurals and action films. So how does "The Kingdom" go so wrong? Because it tries to have it both ways, appeasing supporters of the endless "war on terror" while simultaneously playing to the skeptics, ending in a bit of machine-gun driven wish fulfillment that finds its American protagonists mowing down anonymous brown-skinned bad guys.

"3:10 to Yuma" (Lionsgate, 2007, R): The original "3:10 to Yuma" is the kind of rusty old western that had just enough going for it to make it a fondly remembered favorite of aficionados. The big-budget remake scrubs away the rust and throws in a pair of great turns from the reliable Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, but somehow the movie never quite gels, a problem magnified by a perplexing, unsatisfying conclusion.Squished down to TV size, the flick feels more than ever like a rote cable movie.