Mank (available on Netflix)

[Blinder Data]

I gave this tryhard Oscar-magnet a whirl. It's directed by David Fincher so obviously it looks amazing. Scripted by his dearly departed dad, the dialogue is whipsmart. I thought I would hate but it was refreshing to hear dialogue that CRACKLES for once.

The posh English accent of the girl who helps Mank isn't that convincing but the actress is Phil Collins' daughter! Something must have gone awry. Otherwise the performances are solid (yer man Cormorant Strike does a good turn as Orson Welles).

I can't help but enjoy the 30s/40s Hollywood setting. The only annoying things are the super-cheesy typewriter sounds, contemporary jazz score that brings it close to pastiche, and the appearance of "cigarette burns" that indicate a change of reel (I'm watching this on telly and it was filmed on RED cameras - you're not fooling anyone, Fincher!).

Granted I haven't watched the last 30 mins but it's a decent watch so far.

What you make of Mank? Wank?

[Sebastian Cobb]

Want to watch this but I suppose I should get round to watching CK first.

[Blumf]

What you make of Mank?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1AHDNTXYSA&t=102s

[madhair60]

whipsmart is it? crackles does it?

[Blinder Data]

whipsmart is it? crackles does it?

indubitably!

[Small Man Big Horse]

A poorly titled original thread is here: https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,83895.0.html

[Dusty Substance]

I fucking LOVED Mank. Easily one of the best films I've seen from 2020 - It impressed me so much that I watched it three times the week it landed (sorry) on Netflix.

It's the perfect combination of production - The sets, costumes, sound design, cinematography were all outstanding, the script was utterly superb and every performance was compelling.

It definitely helps to have even a small amount of knowledge about the making of Kane, or an appreciation of 30s/40s Hollywood. It's no coincidence that some of those who didn't like Mank are also the same types who thought Avengers Endgame was the best film of 2019.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I do plan to watch this at some point but hear that it's not particularly truthful, at least according to a fair few articles that I've read about the film, and I'm not sure I can be arsed to watch a film that isn't all that accurate about what really happened.

[EOLAN]

It definitely helps to have even a small amount of knowledge about the making of Kane, or an appreciation of 30s/40s Hollywood. It's no coincidence that some of those who didn't like Mank are also the same types who thought Avengers Endgame was the best film of 2019.

Haven't watched it myself. From reviews I heard; and as someone who likes old movies; it just sounded I was better off catching up on good movies from this era than watch this.

[Dusty Substance]

I do plan to watch this at some point but hear that it's not particularly truthful, at least according to a fair few articles that I've read about the film, and I'm not sure I can be arsed to watch a film that isn't all that accurate about what really happened.

Each to their own but that never really bothers me. If I want truth and accuracy, I'll watch a documentary.

Haven't watched it myself. From reviews I heard; and as someone who likes old movies; it just sounded I was better off catching up on good movies from this era than watch this.

You could do both!

[chveik]

A poorly accurately titled original thread is here: https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,83895.0.html

[Small Man Big Horse]

Each to their own but that never really bothers me. If I want truth and accuracy, I'll watch a documentary.

That's sometimes the case with me, but I've a long standing love affair with Welles and so on this occasion falsehoods would annoy, especially given the inaccuracies over who actually wrote Citizen Kane is apparently a big part of the film.

A poorly accurately titled original thread is here: https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,83895.0.html

I guess what I should have said that it was a title that wouldn't help if searching the site via google, but it may well be accurate regarding the content.

[Glebe]

I thought it was okay. Lamest review ever I know.

[Mr Banlon]

His grandson talks about it on Gilbert Gottfried's podcast : https://www.gilbertpodcast.com/ben-mankiewicz/

[Hand Solo]

Want to watch this but I suppose I should get round to watching CK first.

Is Mank what CK refers to as his Mandatory Wank?

[Blinder Data]

Fun fact: the guy who plays Upton Sinclair is Bill Nye the Science Guy!

[dissolute ocelot]

I liked all the old Hollywood stuff and Upton Sinclair politics, but didn't really give a shit about Gary Oldman drinking far too much, again. The idea that someone's heroic for pulling this kind of shit is lame. Was it just justification for David Fincher's dad being an asshole? I didn't see the point in making the film, it didn't feel particularly convincing psychologically, and if it's not even true, then why bother? There are lots of good books and other better films about the same era.

[Keebleman]

Watched this last night to mark the eightieth anniversary of Citizen Kane (of course it would have been more appropriate to watch Kane itself but I had lent a friend my DVD of it) and was underwhelmed.  The scene of Mank arriving in Hollywood and immediately finding himself on a backlot crammed with extras in varying period costumes and scene-shifters lugging elaborate flats around was such a cliche I thought we might be in for a rug-pull, such as it actually being part of a half-hearted pitch Mank was making.  The writers' room full of brilliant but playful minds almost effortlessly creating magic is also way too familiar, but not as familiar as the hard-drinking intellectual full of wisdom and decency and self-loathing, which of course was in every scene.

I liked Charles Dance as Hearst, and the guy playing Welles was terrific - I was very disappointed there wasn't more of him.  Marion Davies looked too young, Irving Thalberg looked too healthy and Louis B Mayer looked a lot like Everett Sloan as Bernstein in Kane.  The fictional subplot with the director making the fake newsreels was ludicrous.

I should imagine that any viewer coming to it with no knowledge of the characters or contexts would be utterly bewildered.

And Oscar or no, I did not like the cinematography.  That pristine, hyper-real sheen and the frequent starbursts from any light source in shot quickly palled for me.  Give me some grain!