The First "Mank" Trailer Reshapes the Narrative Around "Citizen Kane"

Scene from Mank (2020)

If you ask anyone to rattle off a list of the best movies ever made, there is a good chance that Orson Welles' 1941 film Citizen Kane will be on that list. For reasons that I don't need to get into, it has been praised and reassessed for almost 80 years, finding new audiences appreciating the craft that goes into telling a compelling story about a tycoon. Even if there's plenty of great stories behind its making, one has to ask if there's anything worth making an entire movie out of. 

Apparently on that list is David Fincher, making his cinematic return for the first time since Gone Girl. With one of the few major Fall releases still on the docket, Mank looks to be a period piece that captures the dark drama in full detail, making you understand the pain and sacrifice that goes into making cinema. It's a story of the screenwriter, Herman L. Mankiewicz, and his battle to get recognition for his script. While this sounds like Oscar-bait on its surface, Fincher's increasingly proficient, technologically-groundbreaking works don't take these stories lightly. One has to wonder what drew him to this story. If nothing else, the first official trailer looks to promise one of the most visually astounding works of 2020, if not the Citizen Kane (some pun intended) of recent Hollywood biopics. 

Theory Thursday: "Mirror Mirror" is Underrated

Scene from Mirror Mirror

Welcome to a weekly column called Theory Thursdays, which will be released every Thursday and discuss my "controversial opinion" related to something relative to the week of release. Sometimes it will be birthdays while others is current events or a new film release. Whatever the case may be, this is a personal defense for why I disagree with the general opinion and hope to convince you of the same. While I don't expect you to be on my side, I do hope for a rational argument. After all, film is a subjective medium and this is merely just a theory that can be proven either way. 

Warren Beatty Returns After 18 Years With Underwhelming "Rules Don't Apply" Trailer

Scene from Rules Don't Apply

It has been awhile since we've heard from the multi-talented Warren Beatty. For a man whose career has given us cherished films such as Bonnie & Clyde and Reds, he seems to have become quiet in recent years. So quiet that we haven't seen him on the big screen since 2001's Town & Country, and behind the camera since 1998 with the rapping politician satire Bulworth. However, his long gestating film about Howard Hughes has finally broken his silence. With many wondering what's in store from one of cinema's richest voices, it's Rules Don't Apply: a film that looks far more comedic and slapdash than one could imagine for a director known for his meticulous nature. However, it looks to be good, even if it isn't quite the welcome home party that people waiting 18 years would want.