Glenn Kenny was the chief film critic of Premiere magazine for almost half of its existence. As for its title character, the writer Herman J. Mankiewicz, a New York journalist and wit who sought fortune, and found dissolution, in Hollywood—until the prospect of authoring, or co-authoring, what some might call The Great American Screenplay offered a shot at redemption—“Mank” does not chronicle his fall from grace. I do know that with Gary Oldman in the title role and a superb supporting cast, Fincher has crafted an entertainment that’s provocative, pointed, ruthlessly entertaining, and in some respects, particularly near the end, a little bit infuriating. Roger Ebert once wrote in his review of Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life about how no other film had quite connected with his own personal experience, often to an uncanny degree. “Better Luck Tomorrow” premiered at Sundance 2002, four years before Ebert lost his voice to cancer. Mark reviews the new film and DVD releases every week on the BBC News Channel The life and times of famed film critic Roger Ebert, from his early days at the Chicago Sun-Times, to his fame on Siskel & Ebert, to his ultimate illness and passing. And Kane refuses to accept any attendant humiliation stemming from this course of events because he can afford to. You can read the full review where it was originally posted online. The bosses do unto the director, and the director does unto, well, the writer. Next 25 results. Forgot account? If you’re a man whose idealism and sense of social justice has been trampled by dark forces ruled by a ruthless media tycoon, and you contrive to get a form of payback by writing a movie about that tycoon, wouldn’t it stand to reason that you include the relevant precipitating incident in that movie? The virtuosic American director David Fincher gets credited with quite a bit, but one quality he’s not credited enough for is playfulness. Review: ‘Mank’ is a grand contribution to Hollywood history. Toggling between these remnants of the past and Mankiewicz’s creative efforts—which eventually are speeded to an inspired completion via a smuggled box of real booze, and include a famous bit in “Kane” that is an outstanding highlight of what Mank will recognize as his best work—the movie is at its most engrossing and credible. This review of The Front (1976) was written by Roger Ebert and published by Chicago Sun-Times on 22 October 2004. While David Fincher’s recent Netflix film “Mank” adamantly sticks to Welles’ co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz’s bitter viewpoint on how he came to write “Citizen Kane,” Benjamin Ross' 1999 HBO movie “RKO 281” mainly presents director and co-writer Orson Welles’ viewpoint on the classic film's production. One with Mayer, another with the media magnate William Randolph Hearst (Charles Dance, in an energetic sketch of magisterial rot) and his mistress Marion Davies (played by Amanda Seyfried, the only actor in the picture who could be said to extend some affection to an Old Hollywood type), a fine film comedienne who Hearst wanted to transform into a dramatic diva. Whoopi Goldberg is a Reno singer who - after witnessing a mob murder - is stashed in protective custody in a San Francisco nunnery. Hemingway wrote something years ago that returns to my memory from time to time: "Isn't it pretty to think so." View Photos ... AKA: richard l ebert, orichard l mank, rick l mank, rick mank, richard l mank, richard lee mank. Watch Martin Scorsese and Ebert give this Coen Brothers classic two thumbs up. Message. After Kane, Before Mank: Revisiting RKO 281, Spike Lee Receives American Cinematheque Award, America Has to Come to a Reckoning: Director Sam Pollard on MLK/FBI, The TV Homages of WandaVision are an Amusing, Unfulfilling Distraction. Review: "Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father" Matthew Lucas December 08, 2008 5 Comments There are some things that can never be done justice through words. As movie fans go, they don't get much bigger or more knowledgable than Martin Scorsese and the late, great film critic Roger Ebert. You can read the full review where it was originally posted online. The problem isn’t with actor Tom Burke, who does a better than fair approximation of Welles in that era. Hearst is still a powerful man, and can ruin him. Find where to watch The Marriage of Maria Braun in Australia. And, 23 years ago, the two paired up to … Mank is a 2020 American biographical drama film about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his development of the screenplay for Citizen Kane (1941). Showing all 250 external reviews. Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. Nevertheless, when the movie swings, it brings you with it. Mank (2020) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Without telling his boss what he was going to do, Ebert’s lieutenant Philipp Scheidemann left his soup, went out onto the balcony and off his own bat proclaimed the republic. A walk and talk between Herman and Hearst at their introduction to each other happens while Hearst is traveling on a gigantic camera dolly, overseeing a Davies picture. Scott] 25 Years Later [Don Shanahan] ... Film Freak Central Review [Walter Chaw] Film Paradiset [Tommy Pedersen] (Swedish) And so too we can see Fincher’s mastery of film language as a form of play as well. Thankfully, this Blu-ray's presentation is of the highest caliber. Directed by David Fincher. Although quite different from each other in many aspects including tone and style, these two movies show and tell us a lot of things about “Citizen Kane” via their respective fictional narratives, and you may appreciate more of the sheer genius of “Citizen Kane” after watching them together. Again: Some “love letter.”. If Ebert wants to betray his own ineptitude, let him. Additionally, the black and white here is not a sharp Gregg Toland black-and-white, nor a deep-dark Stanley Cortez black-and-white. Seongyong Cho writes extensively about film on his site, Seongyong's Private Place. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The best movie news and TV news, movie reviews and TV reviews, celebrity interviews and guides to filmmaking. This week, Siskel and Ebert took time out to reveal their individual lists for the best films of 1991. Having been one of Hearst and Davies’ regular guests for years, Mankiewicz surely knows some interesting personal facts about them, and he doesn't hesitate to include a reference the pet name for Davies’ certain body part. It was more of the usual. I’ll be honest with you: after two viewings I’m not yet entirely sure. The opening pre-credits prologue of Netflix’s Mank sets all the stages you need. Jack Nicholson's performance towers over what is otherwise only an averagely told biopic about Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa. In this image released by Netflix, Gary Oldman portrays Herman Mankiewicz in a scene from "Mank." Over the coming weeks and months, I will be joining a set of contributors in adding these reviews to the channel. CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on January 15th, … My friend was momentarily taken aback but finally nonplussed. Mank is a 2020 American biographical drama film about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his development of the screenplay for Citizen Kane (1941). Create New Account. Mank is director David Fincher’s true passion project. And for all that, this frame through which we see his version of the 1930s is a wide one rather than a nearly square one, hewing to the form first presented by CinemaScope, the wide-gauge celluloid format not introduced to audiences until 1953, the year this film’s title subject died at age 55. She, a German housekeeper, and then-Mercury-Theater-overseer John Houseman (Sam Troughton) are the writer’s keepers during his process, and part of Houseman’s mission is to keep the alcoholic scribe dry. Roger Ebert is the best-known film critic of our time. As movie fans go, they don't get much bigger or more knowledgable than Martin Scorsese and the late, great film critic Roger Ebert. Considered one of the greats in German cinema, Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1979 classic follows a widow in the rubble of post-war Berlin He has written for a host of other publications and resides in Brooklyn. Normally, when an admired, respected and beloved auteur brings forth such a thing, the response is enormous, and such has been the case with Mank , a movie directed by one of the most revered talents in the business, and one that happens to be written by his own deceased father. Top News Videos for roger ebert. Although it must be pointed out that Logan’s screenplay frequently takes artistic liberties with its real-life story (Welles was actually never invited to Hearst’s manor, and it was in fact Mankiewicz who first conceived the story idea of “Citizen Kane”), the story and characters in the film are vividly presented under Ross’ competent direction, and his main cast members are uniformly excellent on the whole. Please watch it prior to our Zoom Hearst seems to sense that Welles is not so different from what he once was many years ago, even though he is still regarding Welles with anger and contempt. See more of Roger Ebert on Facebook. Mank Review: David Fincher's ... Roger Ebert Dies After Battle with Cancer ... Roger Ebert's new movie review TV show will premiere Jan. 21, the film critic announced.Roger Ebert (more…) Story follows the fictional romance - between a rich girl (Winslet) and a poor bohemian (DiCaprio) - set against the historic sinking of the Titanic, whilst on her maiden voyage in 1912. To this end, we learn that Orson Welles has gifted Mankiewicz with a private stock of what looks to be whisky but is actually Seconal, to be administered at the end of a day’s work. It’s a creamy, dreamy black-and-white, at times nearly Lynchian. Whether with or without honor in Hollywood, he is no prophet. If this old man who should know better is intent on acting like a twelve-year-old Internet troll, that is his prerogative. Because of that and many other incidents on the set, Schaefer and RKO executives have constant headaches everyday, but they have no choice but to keep tolerating Welles as legally bound to their contract with him. By about two, a gigantic crowd had gathered outside. REVIEW: But while the then-24-year-old Welles is referred to as a “Wunderkind” throughout, the idea that his expertise extended to pharmacopeia is a particularly ostentatious stretch in this film of stretches. And because of the richness of “Kane” itself, turning over the argumentation of this particular scenario about a part of its making (the movie proper ends before the first scene of Welles’ movie is shot, after all) reveals some curiosities. Directed by George Sluizer. David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. The opening pre-credits prologue of Netflix’s Mank sets all the stages you need. This review was originally published on November 6th and is being republished for the film's Netflix premiere. Roger Ebert [Glenn Kenny] Sight & Sound [Henry K Miller] San Francisco Examiner [Jeffrey M. Anderson] New York Times [A.O. Q Night at the Movies presents Marlon Brando's lauded performance in the 1954 crime film On the Waterfront. There, masquerading as a lady of the cloth named Sister Mary Clarence, she shakes up the established order of the sisters' lives, particularly … Charles Foster Kane is never shown steamrolling a socialist’s gubernatorial campaign; rather, it shows him losing his own bid, on what we can infer was a progressive platform, because of his own personal indulgences and some attendant political blackmail. At one point fussy Houseman, played extra fussily by Troughton, says of his boss, “Don’t be fooled, he’s a showman, busker, reveling in sleight of hand.” Come on. I’m thrilled to be launching 3-Minute Reviews on Escapist Movies. MANK-- 4 STARS. Yet, as to manipulation, so deeply and mordantly treated in Fincher’s last feature film, 2014’s “Gone Girl”—that is in a sense a form of play. The conflict between Hearst and Welles in the story eventually culminates to a coincidental private encounter between them not long before the eventual premiere of “Citizen Kane” in New York City in May 1941. Again: Some “love letter.” This review was originally published on November 6th and is being republished for the film's Netflix premiere. After the feature, learn more about Texas playwright Terrance McNally, followed by interviews with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Other members familiar to RogerEbert.com readers include Assistant Editors Nick Allen & Matt Fagerholm, and contributors Peter Sobczynski, Robert Daniels, Allison Shomaker, Collin Souter, and Mark Dujsik. Some pieces of this movie’s puzzle aren’t an entirely comfortable fit. While David Fincher’s recent Netflix film “Mank” adamantly sticks to Welles’ co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz’s bitter viewpoint on how he came to write “Citizen Kane,” Benjamin Ross' 1999 HBO movie “RKO 281” mainly presents director and co-writer Orson Welles’ viewpoint on the classic film's production. It’s right there in the presentation. While he did his best at completing the screenplay within a short period of time as demanded by Welles, Mankiewicz is also well aware of the big danger of what he and Welles are attempting to do. Movie Reviews Great Movies Collections TV/Streaming Features Chaz's Journal Interviews ... Mank Glenn Kenny Black Bear Sheila O'Malley The Deer Hunter Roger Ebert The best movie reviews, in your inbox. What follows is a rather brief but exhilarating passage that offers a closer look into the production of “Citizen Kane.” We see Welles thoroughly studying and analyzing John Ford’s “Stagecoach” (1939) along with his cinematographer Gregg Toland (Liam Cunningham), and "RKO 281" then serves us a series of amusing moments on the set, including the instance when Welles and Toland dug a hole in the floor to get an extreme low-angle shot exactly envisioned by Welles. The opening pre-credits prologue of Netflix’s Mank sets all the stages you need. Blog Cabins Movie Commentary And. Summoned to pitch a story to studio executive David O. Selznick and director Josef Von Sternberg, Mank and his merry men troll him with an improvised “Frankenstein” variant. I’m thrilled to be launching 3-Minute Reviews on Escapist Movies. Community See All. But then, serendipitously, he is invited to the big manor of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst (James Cromwell) in San Simeon, California. or. And the YouTube title sells it short: “Roger Ebert yelling at Sundance.” Mank 15/2 The Trial of the Chicago 7 8/1 Best Director. And, 23 years ago, the two paired up to talk about one of our favorite movies ever, Fargo. Mankiewicz’s isolation (underscored potently by, among other things, a poignant music score by Fincher regulars Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor) gives Fincher the opportunity, in the movie’s last third, to concoct discrete narrative modules in which Mankiewicz is visited by various personages who entreat him to abandon his folly. Known for his psychological thrillers, his films have received thirty nominations at the Academy Awards including two for him as Best Director.. Born in Denver, Colorado, Fincher … 1 of 5. The problem is the petty material with which he has to work. And with these tools, Fincher constricts himself to a black-and-white image, and even puts little circles in the corners of frames to create the illusion of old-time reel changes. Right off the bat he’s a lost soul. The bosses do unto the director, and the director does unto, well, the writer. With Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Tom Pelphrey. Whatever it is, “Mank” is not, as several have proclaimed, a “love letter” to old Hollywood, or to the movies themselves, and I can’t fathom why anyone would think so. (Netflix via AP) 1 of 5. Fincher’s usual mode of cinematic discourse is on commendable display in the shot depicting writer and Mankiewicz crony Charles Lederer’s introduction to Hollywood: a closeup of the telegram, in Lederer’s hand, containing Mankiewicz’s invitation to Tinseltown (“Millions to be made here and your only competition is idiots,” which is what Mankiewicz actually wrote to Ben Hecht, who unlike Mank practically did make millions). But while the then-24-year-old Welles is referred to as a “Wunderkind” throughout, the idea that his expertise extended to pharmacopeia is a particularly ostentatious stretch in this film of stretches. With Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege, Gwen Eckhaus. This review of The Front (1976) was written by Roger Ebert and published by Chicago Sun-Times on 22 October 2004. Mon, Dec 14, 2020, 4:00 PM: *DECEMBER MOVIE DATES CHANGED TO DEC 14 AND 28 DUE TO HOLIDAYS!!! So clearly “Mank,” which credits Fincher’s journalist/essayist father Jack Fincher as the screenwriter (although one of its producers, Eric Roth, who wrote Fincher’s 2008 “The Curious Story of Benjamin Button,” had a hand in scripting, if I read this movie’s attendant interviews correctly) is not trying to recreate the feel of a movie that might have been made during the heyday, such as it was, of the man who is co-credited with writing the screenplay for Orson Welles’ 1941 Hollywood groundbreaker “Citizen Kane.”. Check Reputation Score for Richard Mank in Oakwood, IL - View Criminal & Court Records | Photos | Address, Email & Phone Number | Personal Review | Income & Net Worth ... Review. By the time Lime finally appears we have almost forgotten Welles is even *in* the movie. Ebert] on Amazon.com. Directed by Jim Murphy. Not Now. Except maybe mogul Louis B. Mayer, whose pleasure derives from his venality: Speaking of the individual moviegoer, Mayer (played by a very animated Arliss Howard, who is made up to look not just like Mayer, but like Mayer as a wizened homunculus) proclaims: “What he bought still belongs to the man who sold it. Roger Ebert is the reason I’m a film critic. Movie reviews. While watching “Mank,” I was reminded of an essay the critic and filmmaker Kent Jones wrote for Film Comment in 2016, called “The Marginalization of Cinema.” Specifically, its opening: “About a year ago, a director I know invited me to watch a movie on one of the old Hollywood lots. Note: Managing Editor Brian Tallerico is the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association and Publisher Chaz Ebert is a member. As a TV movie, “RKO 281” looks plainer than “Mank,” but it's still worth a watch thanks to its engaging storytelling and performance, and it will certainly make a wonderful double feature show along with Fincher's film. But there was also nothing quite like reading a Roger Ebert review of a … She's a fairly good Hollywood actress who is quite different from her tragically untalented fictional counterpart in “Citizen Kane,” and the film makes her reflect more on many unhappy aspects of her relationship with Hearst, which becomes more strained than before thanks to his battle with Welles’ movie. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor. Its tendrils suggest themes from “Chinatown” and “Shampoo,” and also have slight echoes of Wim Wenders’ “Hammett”—a story of a detective writer working on a case of his own. *Our next movie is "Mank" which premieres on Netflix Friday, December 4. In college, just as I was beginning to review films for the school paper, I wrote my idol. I think the most productive way to look at “Mank,” a new film about Hollywood in the 1930s and ‘40s, and about the screenwriter of a particularly famous and iconic work, is to understand it as Fincher’s most playful work. In his labors, Herman also recalls a peculiar tangle of relationships. Log In. Directed by David Fincher, based on a screenplay by his late father Jack Fincher, the film was produced by Ceán Chaffin, Douglas Urbanski, and … Presiding over a writer’s room full of other Algonquin Round Table types, Mankiewicz places extravagant bets on coin flips while poor brother Joe tries to work on dialogue with a stenographer who seems to have come straight from a side gig at a burlesque show. In the case of Davies, she is also not so pleased. It also pays some attention to Mankiewicz and several other real-life figures revolving around Welles, resulting in a vivid and compelling presentation of that troubled history behind the making of “Citizen Kane.”. Over the coming weeks and months, I will be joining a set of contributors in adding these reviews to the channel. While he surely made a big impression on the folks of Hollywood with his glorious entrance, Welles, played by Liev Schreiber, soon finds himself running out of time without anything to be greenlit by RKO and its current president George Schaefer (Roy Scheider). Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here. Movie Review: Mank. A new biopic explores the writing of one of the greatest films of all time .
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