Episode 64 - Mank

What's going on guys! You know, it has been a long and pretty rough year. A year of reflection, of self absorption. Of looking at the other guy. So what better way to celebrate that than to look at a movie that examines the origin of cinema itself. And it's also a momentous occasion because people, David Fincher is back! That's right, the guy who kick started the Netflix revolution with House of Cards has return to feature filmmaking, with quite possibly the best movie of the year, his most introspective movie yet, Mank! Mank is the story of Herman J. Mankiewicz, the co-writer of Citizen Kane. Similar to the aptly titled classic, the film cuts back and forth through time, chronicling Mank's experiences in Hollywood from the late 30's to the early 40's, dealing in the studio system, other stars and his own alcoholism. The film takes a look at everything in the time period from the way that movies were made, to the studio system, to the various and assorted figureheads that made the magic happen and so much more. In this episode, Dom & Chris get more introspective than they've ever been. They discuss Fincher's mindset in making this movie, his long and very well known chip on his shoulder when it comes to making movies in the studio system, as well as his attempts to pay homage to his late father, who wrote the script. It's a black and white film with so many layers that they couldn't possibly cover in an hour, because to quote Mankiewicz from this movie: "You can't capture a man's life in two hours. You can only hope to get the impression of one."