Alien³ (1992)

 

Ripley continues to be stalked by a savage alien, after her escape pod crashes on a prison planet.

Although it has a good premise, all the necessary ingredients and some great visual moments, this movie is from beginning to start incoherent, basically a total mess.

On re-watching: the longer so-called Assembly Cut is a major improvement and offers a more stringent narrative than the original theatrical release.

Halliwell (no star): "Grim, grey sequel that struggles, and fails, to add something new to the now familiar story."

Maltin**: "More-of-the-same sequel...Good performances, some scares, but a definite feeling of deja vu hangs over the proceedings."

 

Mank (2020)

 

1930s Hollywood is reevaluated through the eyes of scathing wit and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish "Citizen Kane."

David Fincher has meticulously assembles a detailed, multilayered, maybe a bit overladen account of 
Mankiewicz' contribution to Citizen Kane, beautifully photographed in black-and-white, full of witty dialogue, enhanced by great performances, but probably can only only appreciated with some knowledge of Hollywood history - repeated viewing.

Gone Girl (2014)

Alien³ (1992)

Ripley continues to be stalked by a savage alien, after her escape pod crashes on a prison planet.

Although it has a good premise, all the necessary ingredients and some great visual moments, this movie is from beginning to start incoherent, basically a total mess.

Halliwell (no star): "Grim, grey sequel that struggles, and fails, to add something new to the now familiar story."

Maltin**: "More-of-the-same sequel...Good performances, some scares, but a definite feeling of deja vu hangs over the proceedings."

Mindhunter, Season 2 (2019)

Amid sweeping changes at the BSU, Holden deals with severe repercussions from his close encounter with Ed Kemper.

The second season successfully remains as excellent as the first and expands the dimensions and social implications in its exploration of the criminal mind.

Mindhunter, Season 1 (2017)

In the late 1970s two FBI agents expand criminal science by delving into the psychology of murder and getting uneasily close to all-too-real monsters.

Excellent TV series manages to create 70s period with atmosphere, and the plot centers more on the development of forensic psychology than on crime detection,  but is nevertheless suspenseful. Cameron Britton's performance as the serial killer Ed Kemper is especially chilling.

Zodiac (2007)

In the late 1960s/early 1970s, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.

Unusually long, but suspenseful investigation not just of a mysterious killer, but also the obsessions it caused to three men involved with the case.

On rewatching: remarkable how subtle and intense the 70s settings are created; and the performances all around are excellent.

Maltin***1/2: "Riveting drama...Focus more on the manhunt than the crimes and shows how this frustrating case consumed the lives of reporters and detectives alike...Superbly made on every level,with meticulous re-creations of the 70s..."

Gone Girl (2014)

With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.

Produced with the usual excellence in all departments one would expect by the director, the highly complex and irreal, dreamlike story seems to have something to say about gender relations, but actually doesn't - and it outstays its welcome.

Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015)

Filmmakers discuss how Francois Truffaut's 1966 book "Cinema According to Hitchcock" influenced their work.

This documentary provides not much new about the famous book and the two directors, but you'll find more insight from the invited guest directors.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015)

Filmmakers discuss how Francois Truffaut's 1966 book "Cinema According to Hitchcock" influenced their work.