What does it sound like?:
Netflix [and to a lesser extent] Amazon are keeping me entertained in a way that I never thought TV could. The recent Films of 2017 thread got me thinking about why I don’t go to the cinema very often. Part of it is to do with the fuckwits, but part is to do with wanting more than cars blowing up and robots and CGI. Now, I know that not all cinema is like that, and maybe I’m falling foul of a laziness that infects my friends who ‘like’ music, but don’t know where I find the stuff i listen to – like I’m going off grid some how, rather than just having an above average interest in the medium. I probably just need to make more of an effort.The reason for this post is that Netflix have done it again, ‘Mindhunter’ is great TV. No, Mindhunter is great film making. Or great story telling. Or, I don’t know, all three. It focuses on the F.B.I’s attempts to understand and profile serial killers. Based on agent John E Douglas’s 1995 book ‘Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit’, Holden Ford [Jonathan Groff] is the [relatively] rookie agent who is paired with the older Bill Tench [Holt McCallany]. Holden believes the bureau must find ways to profile men who kill. That there are patterns and behaviours that can be studied and applied to the apprehension of future killers. The older Bill is reluctant at first, resisting Holden’s attempts to lure him from the golf course on his off days to join him in interviewing subjects who have agreed to talk about their crimes. Gradually Bill comes around and enlists the help of Dr. Wendy Carr, a psychology professor [Anna Torv] who [eventually] becomes part of the team. All three leads are superb, the wide eyed Ford [channelling the detached weirdness of Michael C. Hall’s ‘Dexter’] Grizzled veteran Tench [seemingly concerned that his adopted son might be a little too much like the killers they’re hunting], and ice cool expert Carr [who understands what they need to do more than the agents, but who quickly realises that there is a gulf between theory and practice] Between them they try and find a new way of solving the most heinous of crimes. That it isn’t a particularly gruesome series only adds to the appeal, it’s not called Mindhunter by accident, and the scenes with the serial killers are fascinating, as the two agents attempt to refine their approach and methods to catch up with this new wave of killer. A second series has already been commissioned.
What does it all *mean*?
I admit that lately I harbour concerns that some of these series could do with being constrained by the standard film running length of 90 – 120 minutes, but Mindhunter has restored my faith in the long form medium that we now take for granted.
Goes well with…
Another episode of Mindhunter
Release Date:
Might suit people who like…
To engage the grey matter
Forgot to mention, forgot to mention Memphis – [sorry]
The involvement of David Fincher [producer/director] and Charlize Theron [producer]
I just finished this and thought it was excellent.
Thanks for the excellent review. This is next on the list after I’ve finished ‘The Crown’.
(TV/Netflix is more interesting to me that films at the moment, too.)
This is next on my list too. Another advantage Netflix shows have over movies is running time – most movies aren’t constrained by the 120 minutes you mention these days either! My telly box is full of films I want to watch, but by the time I finally slump on the sofa of an evening, there’s no way I’ll stay awake for a 2 hour-plus movie. Easier just to dip in for an episode (or two) of something.
Ha ha, my missus loves a boxy because of the constraint too. In reverse. Demanding instant gratification, she can’t stand the one episode a sitting, devouring them all in mammoth all waking hours burst of concentration.
There are things I could say here…. I won’t.
I’ll add it to the list
Anybody else watching (and getting a huge kick out of) The Good Place?
YES! It’s fantastic. Ted Danson is just brilliant – completely magnetic. Makes me want to watch ‘Cheers’ re-runs.
I watched the first ep but wasn’t sufficiently hooked to continue. I shall go back and try again – Cheers!
Yes! It’s a grower. Danson is brilliant.
In real life I run a university course on forensic psychology and have that professional background. Normally I avoid these sorts of programmes as they they tend to be either nasty, superficial, or both (and yes, as I always get asked, I HAVE met a serial killer). This, however, was rather better, and I’ve enjoyed the 5 episodes I’ve watched. The only downside is I look rather like Ed Kemper as in the show. However, that gives the students a laugh when I point it out.
Interesting to note that Netflix, which came to be known as the home of the “just one more episode” binge, has, since the final season of Breaking Bad experiment, chosen* to drip feed more and more of its content (such as The Good Place) – could be that series 2 of Mindhunter (top review btw, agree with everything – although you neglected to mention the recording equipment porn shots at the start which cause one to linger over the opening credits) will go the same way..?
(*Maybe this is, in fact, at the wish of the programme makers? Although I’d guess it’s the ‘Flix trying to be up to speed rather than dropping all their content post-buzz..)
I think we get some stuff drip-fed because it’s not produced by Netflix – The Good Place is an NBC production and is still shown week by week, we get it afterwards. It was the same with Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. The Netflix Originals we get all at once.
Additional thought: The Good Place is the latest in a series of “high concept” U.S. sitcoms (The Last Man On Earth, Braindead, People Of Earth and one that shared a lot of ideas with TGP, which was The Neighbors). Meanwhile the Beeb is remaking Porridge and Open All Hours and pushing throwback material like Citizen Khan and Mrs Brown’s Boys. Budgets, I suppose..
Budgets indeed – Amazon have snapped up the rights to film The Lord of The Rings as a six series show. The mooted $1bn cost – $250m for the rights, $750m to film is pretty staggering.
MIni non-Plot related spoilers to follow.
I really enjoyed Mindhunter and loved the use of music in the show. LedZep in the final episode was a brilliant bit of telly.
Two episodes into Mindhunter and it is very good indeed. Netflix does know how to do good telly.
Just finished bingewatching this series. Excellent telly. Interestingly, the main character of Holden Ford is based on John E Douglas – a name I’d already come across regarding the Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito trials (he’s convinced of their innocence). Here’s an interesting interview with him about that case:
http://womanonawire.blogspot.it/2011/09/unarresting-arrested-famed-fbi-profiler.html
Just splurging thru’ it too, and it is great, once you get past a semi-stodgy scene setting first episode.
Heads up for dark, a german netflix show about ripping the fabric of time etc. Better in german with subbies than the vile dubbed option.