Mank (2020)

Don’t know what everyone’s babbling about half the time but it’s able to coast on its sharp editing and performances in the dia(not mono)logue scenes (see the excellent back and forth at the b-day party). Mank’s journey through the shifty politics of movie studios in the 30s is much more interesting than the process of his screen-written response to it later though (especially when the connections aren’t always clear), so the film would’ve done better to just make the flashbacks the whole movie.

5

Citizen Kane (1941)

Following the death of a publishing tycoon, news reporters scramble to discover the meaning of his final utterance. (IMDb)

A lengthy newsreel inserted early on here fumbles the artful intrigue of the opening sequence and is eventually rendered unnecessary as the film basically repeats the same information from that point on–and the spoilers, along with the jumpy script (although the interview format is cool) make it hard to fully immerse yourself in the life of Kane, as interesting as it is. That said, this film is so impeccably and beautifully filmed–and well-acted to boot–that it’s still well worth the watch.

7.5/10 (Really Good)