Stereoactive Presents - ‘Mank’ // a movie discussion

‘Mank’ // a movie discussion

Explicit content warning

12/11/20 • 40 min

Stereoactive Presents

Mank tells the story of the writer behind arguably the best movie in cinematic history, Citizen Kane. Famous for his wit, Herman Mankiewicz was one of the highest paid screenwriters of the era. His charisma earned him invites to newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst’s extravagant dinner parties, which gained him firsthand experience that he could draw upon when writing Hearts’s thinly veiled facsimile, Charles Foster Kane. Mankiewicz was a complex man with unrespectable habits and honorable values. Although he was an alcoholic and a gambler, he helped Jewish refugees escape Nazi persecution and was seemingly the only one at MGM to stand against the company's deceitful propaganda that influenced California's 1934 gubernatorial race. Although Mank is more than the making of Citizen Kane, it parallels the film in its non-linear portrayal of a tortured man who stood by his values till the end. It reveals the corruption within Golden Age Hollywood and acknowledges the still present abuse of power by the highly influential through the eyes of a man whose only capacity to fight was, in his words.

J. McVay and Jacqueline Soller discuss Mank, a film directed by David Fincher and distributed by Netflix.

Mank stars Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, and Lily Collins.

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Episode Credits:

Producer/Host: J. McVay

Guests: Jacqueline Soller

Music: Hansdale Hsu

Originally released as part of a previous podcast on 12/11/20

Now released and distributed by Stereoactive Media

J. McVay and Jacqueline Soller discuss Mank, a film directed by David Fincher and distributed by Netflix.

Mank stars Gary Oldman, Amanda Seyfried, and Lily Collins.

===

Episode Credits:

Producer/Host: J. McVay

Guests: Jacqueline Soller

Music: Hansdale Hsu

Originally released as part of a previous podcast on 12/11/20

Now released and distributed by Stereoactive Media

Previous Episode

‘The Blair Witch Project’ // a 1999 film retrospective

With this, their seventh episode in a series, J. McVay, Jacqueline Soller, and Charles Hinshaw continue to look back on movies released in 1999, discussing how they stand up 20 years on...

Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, ‘The Blair Witch Project’ presents itself as a documentary pieced together from video, 16mm film, and audio discovered in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, one year after three film students disappeared there while attempting to make a film about a local legend known as the Blair Witch, who supposedly haunts the area. The film, as presented, follows Heather, Josh and Mike as they first speak to citizens of the town about the legend, then trek into the woods to find evidence of the legend. Each night, they’re confronted with increasingly bizarre occurrences outside their campsite, while each day they become more and more unsure of their path forward. Eventually, this cycle leaves them both completely lost and at odds with each other.

The film premiered at Sundance in January of 1999 before being released commercially on July 14th, later that year. In advance of the opening, the filmmakers mounted a marketing campaign that called into question whether the events and circumstances depicted in the movie were actually real or contrived. This campaign, in conjunction with the film’s website, were largely credited for the cultural and financial success it earned at the time, resulting in a movie with a budget of only $60,000 ultimately earning more than $248 million at the box office.

The critical response was largely positive, though not unanimous, with most of the negative responses seeming to hinge largely on considering the premise of the film some version of gimmicky. In terms of awards, the film garnered what I would call a strange or interesting mix of nominations or wins from groups focused on either independent or popular films, which perhaps speaks to its crossover status. And, of course, the film is pretty generally considered to have popularized the concept of the “found footage” film, which has been done in various ways since then.

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Episode Credits:

Producer/Host: J. McVay

Guests: Jacqueline Soller, Charles Hinshaw

Music: Hansdale Hsu

Originally released as part of a previous podcast on 9/27/19

Now released and distributed by Stereoactive Media

Next Episode

‘On the Rocks’ // a movie discussion

J. McVay and Jacqueline Soller discuss On The Rocks, a film written and directed by Sofia Coppola and distributed by A24 and Apple TV+. On The Rocks stars Bill Murray, Rashida Jones, and Marlon Wayans.

Laura and her husband Deane have hit a rough patch in their marriage. Dean is spending too much time away on work trips and leaving Laura to take care of their two young daughters alone. When Laura finds a woman's toiletry bag in Dean's luggage, suspicions arise. Laura's father, Felix, drawing from his own experience as an adulterer, is quick to assume that her husband is having an affair. The pair have fun playing private investigators, following Dean around to try to catch him in the act. At its heart, On the Rocks is a story about a father and daughter spending quality time together after a difficult past, which leads to perhaps a new understanding between the two about why her father did what he did and ultimately broke their family apart. It is a relationship that is rarely seen on screen, and despite the film being centered on an upper class family with access to enough wealth to use on frivolous things like a vintage convertible for a late night car chase through the streets of New York City and a last minute trip to a tropical resort, there's still the universal experience of a child wanting to turn to her parent for help and see him as a good person whom she can trust despite childhood scars.

===

Episode Credits:

Producer/Host: J. McVay

Guests: Jacqueline Soller

Music: Hansdale Hsu

Originally released as part of a previous podcast on 12/11/20

Now released and distributed by Stereoactive Media