Cheezwiz

Yeah, I think he had a bit of resurgence with "Blue Jasmine" which had Cate Blanchett in the lead (she won the Oscar for it). And people were eager to work with him again after that, but the Me Too movement sort of slowed things down once again - he hasn't been able to get US distributors for his films recently.

I think Mia has serious mental problems that go far beyond simply wanting to have a large family like the one she grew up in. To me it almost seems similar to the compulsion that drives people to hoard animals. I can't imagine bringing even more kids into that maelstrom. The thing is, I believe each of the children's recollections of their upbringing by Mia are probably true. I think some were neglected/abused and treated as the "help", while others had loving care.

This was a very disturbing episode to watch. I't clear that even if Woody is no serial pedophile or perhaps more typically attracted to teenagers, it does not mean he never abused Dylan. Again, he was caught in questionable situations with Dylan by others outside the family unit well before his relationship with Soon Yi became known. He had been censured for his obsessive interest in his adoptive daughter. It's clear from his own words along with Mia's recollections, that he is a narcissist and a control freak. Not all people who harm others fit neatly into predictable behaviour patterns (the Nightstalker mentioned above is a good example of this). Woody's thing is clearly about POWER, and controlling others, not just sexual compulsion & gratification. It may be in a much more subtle manipulative way than what we might typically imagine, but he's a text-book abuser. His separation of Mia from other friends, her agent, and potential employers is a standard tactic, as is the gradual chipping away at her self-esteem. Whatever my feelings about Mia (and I do think she's got serious mental issues on her own), I found this almost as chilling as Dylan's testimony. As others have speculated above, I almost wonder if part of his motivation for affair with Soon Yi was to provide perfect cover for even worse impulses. Something that wasn't shown in this episode (which surprised me) were the recollections of Mariel Hemingway, who played his teenaged paramour in Manhattan. She has stated in interviews that once Manhattan wrapped, Woody pursued her avidly, and wanted to take her on a trip to Paris. Although interested in travel, Hemingway was extremely wary, and rightly assumed that she would be expected to share a room with him if she went. When she questioned him on the room arrangements, Woody avoided answering. Mariel told her parents hoping they would back her up and refuse to allow her to go. To her horror, they rather than putting their feet down, they were mildly encouraging of the trip. She wound up saying no in the end. Woody is a creep. Full stop.

Yeah, I had no idea that they had adopted and raised two daughters together ((shudder)). I wonder how long it will be before one of them writes a tell-all.

Holy sh**balls! I didn't think it was that many! I thought it was maybe 9 or 10 max! I also didn't realize she had 3 biological kids with Previn - for the longest time I always thought they just had one kid together. For me, that just reinforces how much of a nutter she must be. Even with $$$ and paid helpers, there's no way you can properly look after that many children in a household - especially when several of them have special needs. There would have been huge gaps in the ages of the kids too, which would explain their differing impressions of their upbringing. Those poor kids.

Agreed - I'm curious to see what else the filmmakers will be revealing in future episodes. Even the cursory glances at the comments sections of news articles have been disappointing. Armies of people still defending Allen as an innocent victim. What frustrates me most is that so many people seem to be incapable of comprehending that two things, or even multiple things can be true at the same time. Personally I think both Allen & Farrow are BOTH completely nuts. The only victims are the children who had to grow up in that effed up dynamic. My guess is that Mia is not the saintly United Nations Mom she liked to portray herself as. I find both Moses' & Soon Yi's accounts of her behaviour towards them credible and compelling. I think it's entirely possible if not probable that she had a hierarchy for her children, and meted out abuse to her international adoptions. It's not uncommon for children within the same family to have completely different impressions of their growing up years. Why people (even those with means) would be allowed to adopt that many children is beyond me. I have actually been unable to keep track of the total number of adopted and biological kids under Mia's care. To me, this speaks of compulsion and ego burnishing. Three of the International adoptions wound up dead as young adults under tragic circumstances. Allen had been displaying extremely odd possessive smothering behaviour towards Dylan that several others had noted well before the Soon Yi scandal broke. He attended therapy sessions over this for god's sake. From his own memoir and Mia's description of their relationship, it's clear he was a narcissistic turd. Numerous people around the household caught him in compromising positions with Dylan. He was also clearly not an occasional arms-length guest who dropped in once in awhile, he absolutely had a parental role in all of those children's lives. He was in a prime position to groom someone neglected like Soon Yi. I also think it's entirely possible he could have molested Dylan at some point, but things are so warped and tangled, no one will ever know for sure, unless someone comes out with it and confesses. I do 100% believe that Dylan is speaking her truth as she recalls it, and is not trying to pull one over on anyone - I don't get the impression she's being dishonest at all, and I believe her younger brother Ronan is simply trying to support her. I also believe Moses's account of his upbringing, but I think he was looking for validation (and who knows, perhaps financial support?) from a father figure, so he's now firmly in Allen's orbit. Both Allen & Farrow have people in their camps who they could have manipulated.

The children definitely do seem like little props to show off designer wear. They may grow up alternately spoiled with material things and neglected emotionally.

Yes! I just watched it recently on Sundance. The series was well done, if a bit too long. I'm actually old enough to remember when the incident originally happened - it was featured on 60 Minutes, and I then saw a network TV Movie about it which starred Brian Dennehy as the bad guy murdered by the townspeople. I too am very opposed to vigilante justice, but man, those people in the town really were left without any recourse. I never kept up with the story afterward, so the update in the Sundance documentary about the town''s declining fortunes was a bit of a jaw-dropper. I didn't mean to derail the thread, but I think that was kind of the point the filmmakers were trying to make with this installation of "Crime Scene", that sometimes even when things are eventually found to be tragic accidents with no perpetrator, they can often take place in locales that have been marinating in despair or darkness. A sort of vortex of negativity, if you will. @MerBearStare The example you gave of coming home to your roommates is an excellent one. I really do think certain buildings/locales can absorb the energy of bad things that have happened there. I have also experienced the opposite - on an annual heritage home tour I have gone on, a couple of homes made a huge impression on me, not just because of their architectural beauty, but just a special ambiance that made me feel really warm & happy, and wish I could LIVE in them, or at least come back for repeat visits. I really think those homes were loving ones. Thank you all for coming to my woo-woo Ted Talk!

Yes, the conclusion the show came to was close to what I figured likely would have happened. I never delved too deeply into the conspiracy theories after the story hit the media, and the coverage eventually petered out. Very sad, she was obviously a sensitive introvert who was wrestling with some very serious mental issues. It sounded like she was having a major psychotic break while she was at the hotel. I did like how they systematically debunked all of the conspiracy stuff in the final episode, and even the one YouTuber guy admitted a lot of the keyboard theories were ridiculous. I wish they hadn't devoted as much time to the amateur internet sleuths - the show could have easily been condensed into 2-3 episodes and been much better for it. That one weird obsessive guy they kept interviewing who wanted a photo of her grave was certainly side-eye worthy. I felt bad for the Mexican death-metal guy - he was correct when he said The Cecil Hotel claimed both him and Elisa, just in different ways. I'm not saying there are literal ghosts wandering the hotel stalking people, but I do believe that energy collects in certain places and affects those immersed in it, much the same way heat gets absorbed into a wall and bounces off on people. The sheer amount of awful stuff that has happened there (and I don't mean the standard miserable OD's which are bad enough) is sort of staggering. Interestingly, I watched another documentary recently called "No One Saw A Thing" which kind of plays with a similar theme: a bunch of townspeople shoot a man who had been terrorizing the town for years to death. This man was admittedly heinous, but no one came forward, and no one was ever charged. Immediately afterward, the town's fortunes began to nose-dive, and a series of other ghastly high-profile crimes - which would normally be statistically very unlikely - happened there. It will be interesting to see what happens to the hotel under new owners. Really, given its history, I think the best option would be to set a match to the place.

I thought everything about her was a bit odd - she seemed to still have a bit of an aura of "stunned bumpkin" about her, and a weird devotion to the hotel years after she had left. Given the hotel's awful neighbourhood and sordid reputation, maybe there was just a real dearth of applicants?

YES! That's exactly what she was reminding me of, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it! She does seem like a misplaced Coen Bros. character! I could sort of understand why she initially took the job - hotel was meant to be cleaned up and turned into a generic Best Western type chain operation. But I'm baffled as to why she stayed so long. Ten years? TEN YEARS! I would have run screaming from that place after Day ONE! Edited to Add: I too would have preferred more time on the history rather than the internet sleuths.

Yay! Glad someone started a topic on this. I've only watched the first episode, but I've enjoyed what I've seen so far. I'm from Vancouver, so you can probably imagine the press this story got at the time. I was initially hoping this story was going to wind up on the new Unsolved Mysteries re-boot at some point, but lo and behold, a whole mini-series has appeared just on this case. I must say, I was a bit stunned so many heavy-hitters were involved in making this: Ron Howard and Brian Glazer? Joe Berlinger? When I heard the announcement about the show, I was honestly expecting some indie low-budget doc that Netflix had snapped up, so the glossy production values were a surprise. Apparently this is the first in a series of Crime Scene shows that Joe Berlinger has planned, that will focus on the locales of notorious crimes. I really like the concept - it reminds me of a great series that used to air on A&E called "City Confidential". Crimes don't happen in a vacuum, so I love learning about the context and history around incidents like this. Curious to see what he chooses next as his subject matter. Re: the hotel, yikes! What a contrast between that stunning lobby and the rest of of that dump! I feel sorry for anyone who got fooled by first impressions and stayed there. L.A. is certainly a weird place, there is literally almost nothing worth seeing downtown, and unfortunately a lot of tourists don't realize this. It was like that when I visited as a kid (there was lots of car traffic, but it was like a ghost town in other respects), and it appears to be the same now. I honestly don't know what to make of the woman who was the former hotel manager. She seemed almost comical to me - as if she were still working for the hotel and trying to uphold some shreds of propriety? Especially when she expressed shock and disbelief that the cops would ask about the employees and garbage disposal routine. Like, seriously, lady? You've worked in this flop-house for a decade, and you're shocked the cops would be investigating how a body might be disposed of in this classy establishment? Looking forward to watching the remaining episodes.

I just finished all of the episodes, and was totally entertained. It's definitely staged and scripted, and it reminded me a lot of Selling Sunset in its watchability. These people are ridiculously over-the-top, but most of them, even if they're a bit dim and obsessed with material goods seemed surprisingly not awful. I think I enjoyed watching Kane the most - the world is his playground, and he loves to have fun, but he's not arrogant or mean-spirited, and is very supportive of friends when they need it. He seems more observant and intelligent than he's given credit for. He totally cracked me up when he was jumping up and down and waving at the Confederate flag paraders in Charleston. Kevin is great looking, and I guess supposed to be the audience surrogate as the token "poor", but he's... not very bright. I wanted to like him, but I found his badgering of Kelly when it was clear she wasn't interested in him really off-putting. Kelly seemed nice enough, but not terribly intriguing apart from the on/off again romance with the Power Ranger guy. She needs to kick him to the curb pronto, but probably never will. They'll be locked in a continual cycle of breaking and making up. It has to be incredibly frustrating for her friend group to witness. That guy is seriously unhinged - not only was the Paris footage upsetting to watch, but he was so scary when he started interrogating her about her dating after they'd "broken up". I hope she leaves him before he starts abusing her physically (if he's not already doing that), or before she gets pregnant and is tied to him forever. Agree with the poster above that she needs to go to therapy on her own. t seems like she's only with him because she's physically attracted to him, and he just keeps reeling her back in after his rages. Just the little glimpses we saw on a scripted show were really disturbing. Kim - definitely looks like a lost Kardashian/Jenner. She seemed okay, but it was frustrating watching her refuse to grasp that her behavior at Anna's was rude and inappropriate. I was curious as to what happened with her family - how her parents split up. Did the Dad just abandon the family, or did the Mom choose to leave? I wondered if "Michael" was just an assumed name that Tony took, and the Dad's second wife calling Kevin & Kane with the news about him was just a cover story so he could go on with with his life and not have to see KIm. Wouldn't the PI have uncovered the real info if it were true? Cherie/Jessy - Cherie looks just like an anime character to me. Sweet and clueless. Man, Jessy did NOT look happy when she proposed to him publicly. Good for her for drawing a line in the sand. Dude, you have two kids with this woman, what are you waiting for? Christine - got the villain edit, but her many outfits were fun to watch. It was more fun to watch Anna shrug her off like the try-hard annoyance she is. Ugh, her kid is going to grow up to be an insufferable little emperor. Anna intrigued me the most. To me, she looked like a hot mess when she first appeared. I think it may have been her odd posture and overdone plastic surgery, (also the sledgehammering of her closet) but she seemed impaired/stoned at first. Instead, she wound up having some very sane observations about the people around her, and decent advice. For the daughter of an arms-dealing oligarch, she was surprisingly impressive in her attitudes - eccentric but very warm and generous. Ultra-secure and confident, because she literally does not have a care in the world, yet not lording her status over others. I think she would be fascinating to talk to regardless of her wealth - I wish the other cast members were more respectful around her. I'd like to know more about her background. Her son appeared briefly in a couple of scenes and looked totally normal. On a shallow note, I was mystified as to how someone that epically wealthy can have such terrible hair?! Jamie - I didn't understand the point of her at all. She barely spoke, and when she did, she wasn't interesting. She probably comes from lots of money, but to me, looked like she should be clerking in an insurance office. I would definitely watch if there were a second season.

I thought this series was quite well done. I only vaguely remembered hearing about this case when I was a kid, and didn't know the particulars at all, so it was an interesting watch for me. I really liked how the show provided a lot of socio-economic background & context for the murders. My God, what neglected impoverished looking areas those were where some of the victims were discovered. Little wonder some women felt desperate enough to engage in occasional prostitution on the side to feed their families. I would have liked more background on some of the women, and how they were mis-identified. I felt incredibly sad for those who had left behind young children. I read that one of Wilma McCann's daughters committed suicide as an adult, because she felt haunted and dogged her whole life by her mother's murder. Unbelievable how badly the cops botched things because of their misogyny and tunnel vision. Imagine being approached by surviving victims who had been attacked with the same MO and had good descriptions, and totally ignoring them because they didn't fit the profile. And the perpetrator was interviewed NINE times and always managed to escape detection. I was curious about the one woman who was an art student, who was attacked in an alley way near her college and survived. From her account, it almost sounded as if once the perpetrator had finally been arrested, she realized that she knew him, or had met him prior to the attack - but the show never returned to that thread.

I finally got around to watching this and really enjoyed it. I agree the happy ending was a bit pat, but I enjoyed the performances and the cinematography. I haven't seen Paul Bettany in anything in years, and thought he was fantastic, playing someone who was coolly sophisticated on the outside and deeply troubled on the inside. I also thought Peter Macdissi was wonderful as his long-time partner - just a lovely performance. I totally believed them as a couple. Definitely worth a watch if you're in the mood for something touching and heartwarming.