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Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel: Lost in Los Angeles (2021)
This documentary is taking you for a mug
I do like suspension and I do understand a compelling true crime documentary can't give you all the facts at once, it needs to make you guess and puzzle a bit.
But what this 4 episode ordeal is doing is boring, absurd and straight up dishonest.
We're presented over and over with the most weird and outright spooky circumstances of the case.
All the while, any and all facts that were known early on in the case and pretty much explain it are withheld from us, so as not to let the whole 'mystery' fall apart. To fill the void, obnoxious self proclaimed "web sleuths" are brought on screen to come up with the most outlandish, flatearth-level absurdity conspiracy theories. At least we get to see the damage these self important wisenheimers inflicted on an innocent young man.
The big disappointment comes at the end, when we learn that no game changing discovery was made, no conspiracy uncovered, no surprise evidence found. Everything needed to know what happened was known from the very beginning, we just weren't told. It's the world's most boring magic trick.
2 stars for the sociological foray into the history of Skid Row.
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer (2021)
Truly tedious crime
I was looking forward a lot to this 4 part documentary series - the neo noir looks and the promise of a whiff of the 80ies Los Angeles lifestyle seemed quite intriguing.
I was prepared for a wild ride - what I got was a long drive through a tunnel. Not looking left, not looking right, repetitive.
The two detectives take us from crime scene to crime scene, location, victims, photos of blood and bodies, some evidence. In between, generic "LA skyline at night" shots, cars driving through dark streets. Sheer luck, not great police work, bring us out of the tunnel to the light.
Everything is very linear and from one perspective: the detectives' rather monotonous, often frustrating work. There is not a glimpse into the killer's mind: how did he become a monster, what motivated him, how did he chose his victims, was he afraid of getting caught or did he feel untouchable?
I'll rad the Wikipedia article about the case now for a probably much more thrilling true crime experience.
Peep Show (2005)
Tickety-boo
Even better than watching "Heat" on DVD. If you put this pilot on your 32'' plasma, you are seriously looking at this pilot.