The Big Picture · Discussion
December 4, 2020/ 90 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda talk through David Fincher's 'Mank': the backstory, the black-and-white choice, the cast, the phony Orson Welles controversy. Then they handicap a 2020 Best Director race almost nobody has seen yet.
23 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
'Mank'
Fincher's 11th feature, from a script by his late father Jack, about Herman Mankiewicz writing 'Citizen Kane.' Fincher first tried to make it in the late '90s with Kevin Spacey and Jodie Foster; Netflix finally bankrolled it. Sean's most-anticipated movie in years; both say it clicked on a second viewing.
The text 'Mank' is in dialogue with, structurally and stylistically. They recommend a rewatch, and cite Pauline Kael's 'Raising Kane' as the disputed source for the Mankiewicz-vs-Welles authorship question.
Sean's twin to 'Mank': same contempt for people who don't understand the power they wield, same willingness to bend fact for a good dramatic beat. Also the Fincher/Sorkin echo, with Jack Fincher now up against Sorkin at the Oscars.
Held up as the Fincher with the great first five minutes, and possibly his masterpiece; a movie they think would land bigger in the Oscar conversation now than it did in 2007.
Ranked above 'Mank' by both; cited for the kind of slick modern Fincher 'Mank' deliberately is not.
The emotional Fincher comparison, made not long after Jack Fincher's death, and the San Simeon walk recalls its piazza sequence.
Sean would still take its anarchy over 'Mank'; Amanda is the lesser fan.
The Fincher breakout that put a chip on his shoulder in the mid-'90s. 'There are no serial killers in Mank, I promise you.'
Around when Fincher first wanted to make 'Mank.'
The early-career struggle that preceded 'Se7en.'
Gary Oldman's actual Oscar win, which they call peak Oscar bait, versus the fuller inhabiting they see in his Mankiewicz.
Amanda Seyfried's calling card; a critic's note that she'd be the first 'Mean Girls' Oscar winner if 'Mank' lands it.
The 2020 awards racehandicapping Best Director off the Gold Derby odds
Chloé Zhao neck-and-neck with Fincher at the top of the Best Director odds; the contrast they keep coming back to.
Lee Isaac Chung; loved out of Sundance but barely seen, like most of the field.
George C. Wolfe directing a play well, but not where they expect the narrative to land.
Spike Lee, who still has never won Best Director despite the 'BlacKkKlansman' screenplay win.
Florian Zeller; Sean saw it at Sundance and is lukewarm, though Anthony Hopkins is a Best Actor threat.
Paul Greengrass in classical old-Hollywood mode; Sean thinks it plays.
Aaron Sorkin — the perverse prospect of him competing against Fincher's father for screenplay.
Regina King; another well-directed play.
Shaka King, a 100-to-1 long shot nobody has seen yet.
Lee Daniels, the other unseen 100-to-1 entry.
Reznor and Ross's other 2020 score, raising the odds of a double nomination.
Also mentioned raised along the way
Old Hollywood the writers came from All About EveThe Front PageHis Girl Friday
In passing Little WomenThe IrishmanRomaPossessorThe SouvenirTriple FrontierThe ClimbRedsMoneyballPanic RoomFord v FerrariOnce Upon a Time in HollywoodParasiteJokerThere Will Be BloodNo Country for Old MenBlacKkKlansmanWest Side Story
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Emily in ParisThe CrownGame of ThronesSense8The Queen's Gambit
Podcasts Chapo Trap HouseGarbage Crime
Ads CarvanaBoar's HeadFanDuelWhole FoodsNOS EnergyFIFA World Cup Launch Edition