Zodiac

The Arthur Leigh Allen interrogation is the final favorite after an unusually deep field spanning murders, investigation scenes, and character exchanges.

Folgers coffee and the difficulty of coordinating investigations across cities are the two explicit 1970s markers; the discussion then turns to the film as Gen X art looking back on that era.

True-crime culture, period San Francisco, Downey, the protagonist shift, Graysmith’s internet-like obsession, Fincher’s catalog, and several craft details populate the aged-best field.

Lake Berryessa, the opening fireworks, a phone booth, the Golden Gate Bridge, and rebuilt San Francisco compete for the most cinematic shot.

Avery’s Riverside detour, the missing first murder, and reliance on Donald Cheney’s claims are the main weak-link concerns.

The abrupt four-year title card, too little Downey–Gyllenhaal time, their fictionalized friendship, Anthony Edwards’s wig, and the film’s persuasive Arthur Leigh Allen framing draw aged-worst objections.

The panel offers two major takes: Zodiac is the greatest American crime film, and the Zodiac killer is the greatest serial-killer brand or legacy.

John Terry, Charles Fleischer, and numerous veteran supporting actors are discussed without a clean single winner.

Clea DuVall wins the heat check over Charles Fleischer, John Carroll Lynch, Brian Cox, and Belli’s housekeeper.

The panel audits Fincher, Ruffalo as a detective, Gyllenhaal, San Francisco movies, Chloë Sevigny, Fincher villains, John Carroll Lynch, Donovan, wooden dildos, and Zodiac within Fincher’s filmography.

The panel role-swaps both actors: one audible choice favors Hanks and another favors Cruise, then the discussion explicitly says they do not really have to choose.

Asked for a sequel, prequel, prestige-TV version, or all-Black cast, the panel answers that the prestige-TV version became Mindhunter.

David Fincher is the choice if the film could receive only one Oscar.

The I Am Not Paul Avery button leads proposals including the houseboat, letters, scrapbook, and an explicitly rejected dildo.

Two explicit lessons are offered: “it’s not finished until you type it up,” likened to movies being abandoned rather than finished, and a sarcastic instruction to keep investigating even at the cost of family and sanity because Fincher may adapt it.

David Fincher wins through three explicit affirmative responses; the Zodiac killer is then raised as a provocative alternative because the film burnishes his myth.