Film Don’t Look Up

[hungrywing]

I liked it, though it took me a little while to realise. I didn't know what I was watching at first, and so found the opening 20 minutes annoying. Good film though, and I disagree with the idea that it was too unsubtle. I don't think it's a film that would have benefitted from subtlety at all. Throwing it in our faces seemed to be the whole point. Also the first film I've ever liked Jennifer Lawrence in.

Are you me. Especially the Jennifer Lawrence thing.

I don't get the 'it wasn't funny' reviews from professionals. Those 'weird' joke timings were cut/edited in ways that strongly hint at 'feck laughing, we're way past stopping to laugh, there is nothing funny about this situation'. It really seems they meant for it to mostly feel like a despondent activist chucking a pile of redundant pamphlets at you one by one for two hours of mutual exasperating frustration and mirthless laughter.

 

[arnie_ni]

I really enjoyed it. I hadn't realised that it was meant to be a global warming thing as I instantly thought about covid and the anti-vax thing. It was clever and pretty funny.

It could actually be about anything and I'd imagine each viewer would liken it to/ resonate it to... something different

It definitely hits home to me about covid.

Edit i know its about climate change, but it could be about any major world event and still have the same script as such

 

[Mickeza]

Enjoyed it. Had a bit of ‘Wag the Dog’ about it.

Now wag the dog is a brilliant satirical comedy. Haven’t seen that in years.

 

[calodo2003]

Now wag the dog is a brilliant satirical comedy. Haven’t seen that in years.

Never a bad time to rewatch it. I’ve penciled it in for tomorrow night.

 

[Idxomer]

Are you me. Especially the Jennifer Lawrence thing.

I don't get the 'it wasn't funny' reviews from professionals. Those 'weird' joke timings were cut/edited in ways that strongly hint at 'feck laughing, we're way past stopping to laugh, there is nothing funny about this situation'. It really seems they meant for it to mostly feel like a despondent activist chucking a pile of redundant pamphlets at you one by one for two hours of mutual exasperating frustration and mirthless laughter.

This is the film that couldn't resist ending with that stupid Jonah Hill post-credits scene instead of the only good scene in the whole thing.

 

[hungrywing]

This is the film that couldn't resist ending with that stupid Jonah Hill post-credits scene instead of the only good scene in the whole thing.

Did you feel it was trying to crack a cheap 'look at the dumbass with the selfie' joke? I felt it was trying to satirize the idea of even joking about the situation.

Maybe I'm giving them too much credit. But the continuous use of those fast cutaways after the 'jokes' - he's a proven comedy director, so he knows those timings are 'weird' - really seems like a deliberate technique trying to say something.

 

[Tarrou]

A comet hitting earth is too different from climate change for the analogy to hold. That's my main issue with the movie. I liked it because it was funny and I liked the arc of the main characters, but I don't think it has much value as a legitimate polemic against climate change politics.

why not? seems a fitting analogy to me

what does it matter that the disasters are different in nature? they both need man-kind to pull together to solve, so the parallels are easy to draw and of course it helps the movie to have a much faster moving disaster

 

[Idxomer]

Did you feel it was trying to crack a cheap 'look at the dumbass with the selfie' joke? I felt it was trying to satirize the idea of even joking about the situation.

Maybe I'm giving them too much credit. But the continuous use of those fast cutaways after the 'jokes' - he's a proven comedy director, so he knows those timings are 'weird' - really seems like a deliberate technique trying to say something.

I felt they just thought it was a hilarious bit to end the film on. They even had him still holding his mom's purse, a joke stolen from Veep which is a far superior satire.

 

[villain]

I really enjoyed it & thought it was hilarious, particularly the recurring call backs Lawrence made had me bursting with laughter.
It’s definitely a weird film because it’s so extremely ridiculous yet, there’s a lot of reality mixed in with the reactions people had to the news as the danger loomed more & more.
Is it an accurate portrayal of what we’re currently living in? Well no, especially because it was such a microcosm that only fixated on primarily on two places in the world, both in America. However the President flip flopping on issues in order to stay in power is relevant. The scientists not being listened to or understood is relevant. The news focusing on the light hearted aspects & making a celebrity out of someone is relevant. The general population not having much idea about the truth & only shitposting memes is definitely relevant too.

Overall I thought it was a great watch, not a great movie, but it was entertaining & made me laugh all throughout.
Lawrence (amazing mullet), Di Caprio & Blanchett were the standouts. I was disappointed in Streep, Hill was decent, as was everyone else really. It didn’t need a fully packed cast, but I guess familiar faces also helped with the familiarity of the whole film amongst the ridiculousness.

 

[nimic]

why not? seems a fitting analogy to me

what does it matter that the disasters are different in nature? they both need man-kind to pull together to solve, so the parallels are easy to draw and of course it helps the movie to have a much faster moving disaster

Yep, agree completely. It's a very obvious global warming analogy. An avoidable problem that humanity fails to deal with. That's reinforced at the very end with the "we had it all" (or whatever) line.

 

[crappycraperson]

Thought it was pretty good, if slightly overlong. The massively polarised reactions are weird.

Exactly what I thought. Some of the vitriol from critics is way OTT.

Look at the below two for example. I think people have raised it too harshly against the supposed superstar stacked cast. Perfectly fine not to like a movie but don't get the visceral hate some have for the movie.

"We are a dumb, doomed species, too perpetually distracted and misinformed and gullible to endure. The world will end not with a bang, but with a meme and some lolz and way more concern with what pop star broke up with which D.J. than our own survival. And also, should this movie be any indication, a righteous two-hour lecture masquerading as a satire. … As for DiCaprio and Lawrence, they both take turns channeling the voice of the movie’s creator, yelling and bellowing and losing their cool repeatedly over the fact that No. One. Seems. To. Get. It! We keep blowing whatever little chances we have to fix this. It’s a sentiment familiar to a lot of us, so much so that, at a certain point, you want to throttle this movie back and match it decibel for decibel: No. Need. To. Keep. Screaming. This. In. Our. Faces!.. .. Don’t Look Up is a blunt instrument in lieu of a sharp razor, and while McKay may believe that we’re long past subtlety, it doesn’t mean that one man’s wake-up-sheeple howl into the abyss is funny, or insightful, or even watchable. It’s a disaster movie in more ways than one. Should you indeed look up, you may be surprised to find one A-list bomb of a movie, all inchoate rage and flailing limbs, falling right on top of you.” — Rolling Stone

A disastrous movie, “Don’t Look Up” shows McKay as the most out of touch he’s ever been with what is clever, or how to get his audience to care… McKay begins to needle the viewer with the joke that no one cares about the end of the world as much the latest distracting scandal… it does not say anything new about how misinformation became a political cause, or about how scandals are the true opiate for the masses, whether it involves a pop star or the president. It certainly has little to offer about the role technology plays in this, with Mark Rylance playing a half-Elon Musk, quarter-Joe Biden tech guru who calls the shots even more than POTUS. “Don’t Look Up” thinks it’s pushing many savvy political buttons, when it’s only pointing out the obvious and the easy, over and over…” — RogerEbert.com

 

[nimic]

A disastrous movie, “Don’t Look Up” shows McKay as the most out of touch he’s ever been with what is clever, or how to get his audience to care… McKay begins to needle the viewer with the joke that no one cares about the end of the world as much the latest distracting scandal… it does not say anything new about how misinformation became a political cause, or about how scandals are the true opiate for the masses, whether it involves a pop star or the president. It certainly has little to offer about the role technology plays in this, with Mark Rylance playing a half-Elon Musk, quarter-Joe Biden tech guru who calls the shots even more than POTUS. “Don’t Look Up” thinks it’s pushing many savvy political buttons, when it’s only pointing out the obvious and the easy, over and over…” — RogerEbert.com

That's such a bad fecking review

 

[Godfather]

Really good movie, enjoyed it a lot.

 

[hasanejaz88]

Copied my rant from the general movies thread:

I can't believe it was highly rated on IMDb and Rotten tomatoes. Such a sh*te, dumbed down, movie that looks like it was written by a 15 year old. Couldn't bare to watch more than 45 mins of this tripe.

I compare this movie to Four Lions, which tackles an even more sensitive issue in terrorism. Four Lions is such a brilliant movie in how it portrays terrorists in a way that makes you both laugh and think. 'Don't look up' doesn't make you do either.

 

[fergieisold]

 

[chris123]

A satire that isn't funny which at the same time is basically yelling at you to take it seriously for the entire two and a half hours. The comparisons to Strangelove are kinda insulting. I didn't really like this at all. The only time it really worked for me is the ending and that dinner table scene which was actually quite powerful. Thought Rylance was great but outside of that, I think most of the actors were pretty mis-cast.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

I've always sounded like a misery guts when talking about Adam McKay films, I find his brand of satire unsubtle and irritating rather than funny and smart. This felt like so much less than the sum of its parts; for me an interesting and very timely premise wasted by a filmmaker I don't get at all.

 

[nimic]

I've always sounded like a misery guts when talking about Adam McKay films, I find his brand of satire unsubtle and irritating rather than funny and smart. This felt like so much less than the sum of its parts; for me an interesting and very timely premise wasted by a filmmaker I don't get at all.

You didn't like The Big Short?

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

You didn't like The Big Short?

Not as much as most people did. I'm honestly not being contrarian for the sake of it (at least I don't think I am ); the subject matter was interesting and obviously it was smartly put together but the brash style of it made me feel queasy. I preferred Vice because of Bale and Rockwell's performances even though it had very little to say when all was said and done.

Outside of his satirical stuff I didn't really like Step Brothers and Anchorman (once I was out of my teens) either, so I've got a long history of just not digging his stuff and I'm aware it's my problem.

 

[SirAF]

If the right winger nutters doesn’t like it, then it must be good!

 

[Jev]

Very much with the critics on this one. Thought it was a terrible film. Heavy-handed, clunky, obvious, unfunny, a movie that thinks it's clever but is actually just dumb. At least 35 minutes too long. Possibly the worst waste of a cast I've ever seen. I really liked The Big Short but McKay has lost all touch with Vice and especially this one. 4/10.

 

[Amar__]

I thought table scene was nice, and post credit was funny. Everything else was a mess.

What a waste of talent. When the movie started I thought it was Scorcese's film because of the actors involved, but Mckay stole him the cast and made a mess out of it. It only lacked Margot Robbie instead of Lawrence.

Also when is Jonah Hill going to become funny again? He is playing absolutely the same guy in every movie.

 

[moses]

I'm kinda glad someone made this film. I wasn't expecting the lefty hippies that would to be the moneymen at Netflix. The comparisons with Deep Impact etc are off in my opinion. This film wasn't humanity v catastrophe, as it's implied we have the solution, but decide to risk it all for profit, so for me the climate change analogy which people see as a stretch is pretty spot on.

I liked it, and it made good points, but maybe not too well, and in the tumult of the postmodern morass, it won't be any more than just another opinion. It could have been a bit more "I'm Mad As Hell and I'm Not Gonna Take This Anymore!" but it wasn't.

 

[Carl]

Enjoyed it. Was funny

 

[diarm]

You can't be subtle and sophisticated in satirising people who aren't subtle or sophisticated.

Otherwise it doesn't make sense.

Clever and subtle satire was great when we had clever and shrewd politicians or world leaders to poke fun at, but those days are gone.

I enjoyed the movie. Blanchett and Rylance were particularly brilliant and I loved the recurring gag about the snacks.

 

[lefty_jakobz]

Great cast shit film.

 

[Vidyoyo]

I'm probably not going to watch it so can somebody tell me if they ever look up? Post in spoilers if you have to

 

[calodo2003]

I'm probably not going to watch it so can somebody tell me if they ever look up? Post in spoilers if you have to

DYOR

 

[Volumiza]

I’ll probably end up watching out of curiosity but the trailer looks pretty annoying.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

I liked it. It perfectly matched how idiotic the human race can be. You can be damn sure that is how people will react to such an event.

Global warming is not being spoken about enough despite the insane data showing it. It’s astonishing how people still don’t believe it, or sadly don’t care about it.

 

[Mr Pigeon]

Thought it was good. Maybe a little too slapstick at times and it makes me wonder how someone like Iannucci would approach the story, but it was a fun attempt at a very serious issue.

 

[Igor Drefljak]

I'm surprised this is getting so many positive reviews in here.

I thought it went to shit the minute they were waiting for the president...

I guess I was expecting people to take it serious rather than all joking about it from the off... That being said, maybe it is realistic... After all, we have Boris in charge

 

[nimic]

Thought it was good. Maybe a little too slapstick at times and it makes me wonder how someone like Iannucci would approach the story, but it was a fun attempt at a very serious issue.

Iannucci isn't a stranger to a good bit of slapstick himself, I think. The Death of Stalin had a lot of silliness, but it was wonderful.

 

[Mr Pigeon]

Iannucci isn't a stranger to a good bit of slapstick himself, I think. The Death of Stalin had a lot of silliness, but it was wonderful.

Oh God I'm just getting flashbacks of Zhukov and his flapping cape

The comparison I'm trying to make (and I guess failing) is related to how tight his dialogue usually is.

 

[Heardy]

Expected better having read initial reviews. Quite disappointed.

 

[nimic]

Oh God I'm just getting flashbacks of Zhukov and his flapping cape

The comparison I'm trying to make (and I guess failing) is related to how tight his dialogue usually is.

 

[Walrus]

I liked it. Felt like it broke the mould a bit and subverted some expectations for a “Hollywood” sort of movie.

 

[Igor Drefljak]

It felt like a Wayans brothers film to me.

it was comical version of something like Armageddon in the same way scary movie was a piss take of scream

 

[Dirty Schwein]

I loved it.

Ron Pearlman was great in the few scenes he had.

"And to all you gays out there... "

 

[Organic Potatoes]

Just a Hollywood superstar circle jerk. Like a single episode version of the also poor Space Force from Netflix.

J Law’s hair was lit though.