Film Don’t Look Up

SmashedHombre

Memberus Anonymous & Legendus
Joined
Mar 29, 2004
Messages
31,851
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.
 

Zaphod2319

Full Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2020
Messages
4,209
Supports
Chelsea
So what was your best film of 2021 then?
Goodnight, that is an excellent question. 2021 had so many releases that were delayed because of Covid. If this does not have its own thread, it should. There were two stand outs for me.

CODA (children of deaf adults)
tick tick BOOM Andrew Garfield was absolutely sublime.
 

AaronRedDevil

Full Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2018
Messages
9,573
Armageddon is straight up rubbish. Don't put the masterpiece that is Deep Impact in the same sentence as it. Deep Impact also followed science, kinda.
Armageddon is a Masterpiece :(. Don't WANNA CLOSE MY EYES!!! :lol:
 

e.cantona

Mummy, mummy, diamonds, I want them too
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
2,564
Funny idea. Kinda. Poor first half movie, can't see the second half being much better. DiCaprio and Lawrence just isn't very funny.
 

Tarrou

Full Member
Joined
May 13, 2013
Messages
25,635
Location
Sydney
Goodnight, that is an excellent question. 2021 had so many releases that were delayed because of Covid. If this does not have its own thread, it should. There were two stand outs for me.

CODA (children of deaf adults)
tick tick BOOM Andrew Garfield was absolutely sublime.
i loved tick tick boom too
 

Neil_Buchanan

Cock'd
Joined
Nov 18, 2006
Messages
3,539
Location
Bolton
Can’t say I’m enjoying this low grade satire, not at all funny or particularly clever. Surprised they managed to get such a high profile cast for something like this.
 

Zaphod2319

Full Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2020
Messages
4,209
Supports
Chelsea
Can’t say I’m enjoying this low grade satire, not at all funny or particularly clever. Surprised they managed to get such a high profile cast for something like this.
I think I get why they wanted to do the movie. The presidential character is a parody of Trump (not that you need to parody Trump, he is a clown) all the high profile stars have been very outspoken throughout his presidency. If it was edited better it could have been good, I don’t think the script was ever going to be great.
 

predator

Youth NITK
Joined
Feb 11, 2013
Messages
6,774
Location
South Manchester
I am fascinated by comets and always wondered just how the earth would react to a planet killer heading our way. I would've preferred an actual serious movie showing this and all the politics that would come with it but instead this movie was a political satire.

I think Caprio is very very good at comedy. Some parts of the film made me laugh out loud which is a rare occurrence for me watching modern movies
 

Reditus

Lineup Prediction League Winner 2021-22
Joined
Aug 10, 2019
Messages
5,565
Was a lot of fun I thought.

Netflix movies are great at 7/10 type films

Also watched Power of the Dog yesterday…another good 7/10 movie
 

Scarlett Dracarys

( . Y . )
Joined
Apr 22, 2007
Messages
33,216
Location
New York
Loved it. 8/10
What an amazing cast and the acting was spot on.
I love the similarities the ruling regime has to the Trump regime. Even their hats are the same as the Trump hats. No wonder everything went to shit. I love the message that we already have it all but take it for granted.
 

TheLiverBird

Full Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2014
Messages
1,708
Enjoyed it, although probably more so for the message it is trying to give as opposed to the quality of the film itself.
Nailed it

The message is what’s important about this film, it’s the message that was quite stark to the world we all actually live in.

We live In a World today where the none important stuff has become the important, and the important stuff has become none important.

The Agendas and image of the powers that be are far far more important than any important truths that may actually better our World and everything on it.

When you get that and understand that, you can kind of get passed the shodyness of the film, it’s purposely been made this way, it’s not meant to be a serious film, it’s just a mockery of the world we live in and it’s tragically quite truthful too.

If you don’t get that then I can entirely understand why someone would think it’s a god awful film, because it is in all honest exactly that had it not been for the message. I enjoyed it.
 
Last edited:

Fortitude

TV/Monitor Expert
Scout
Joined
Jul 10, 2004
Messages
22,832
Location
Inside right
I don''t know if you can satirise the world we live in anymore. Even the things they were trying to parody, you see dumber people who beggar belief outdoing with a quick daily scan of Twitter and other social media (or this site's own hypernormalisation thread). You also cannot outdo Trump, which made Streep kind of redundant for me. Who was Hill supposed to be? Or which amalgamation of real world idiots?

They were also way off in how the world would react to such news or if it'd be prudent to air it. There'd be absolute anarchy and debauchery, so that didn't really hit the spot with me, either.

Blanchett and Di Caprio gave the best performances and allegories for me, but overall, this kind of film just cannot work with the way the horse already bolted from the stable a few years ago.

Something like Idiocracy works because the world isn't already that stupid and far gone so it gives a sense of foreboding; this may as well be a documentary for the state things have descended to by now.
 

Zlatattack

New Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2017
Messages
7,374
Great film, a real parody of politics of our time and as someone mentioned earlier, reflects exactly our current approach to climate change.
 

horsechoker

The Caf's Roy Keane.
Joined
Apr 16, 2015
Messages
52,340
Location
The stable
I don''t know if you can satirise the world we live in anymore. Even the things they were trying to parody, you see dumber people who beggar belief outdoing with a quick daily scan of Twitter and other social media (or this site's own hypernormalisation thread). You also cannot outdo Trump, which made Streep kind of redundant for me. Who was Hill supposed to be? Or which amalgamation of real world idiots?

They were also way off in how the world would react to such news or if it'd be prudent to air it. There'd be absolute anarchy and debauchery, so that didn't really hit the spot with me, either.

Blanchett and Di Caprio gave the best performances and allegories for me, but overall, this kind of film just cannot work with the way the horse already bolted from the stable a few years ago.

Something like Idiocracy works because the world isn't already that stupid and far gone so it gives a sense of foreboding; this may as well be a documentary for the state things have descended to by now.
Combination of Trump kids, real world idiot and Trump himself as it seemed like he wanted to feck his mum while Trump wants to feck his daughter.
 

Mockney

Not the only poster to be named Poster of the Year
Joined
Jan 27, 2009
Messages
40,957
Location
Editing my own posts.
Thought it was pretty good, if slightly overlong. The massively polarised reactions are weird.
 
Last edited:

rcoobc

Not as crap as eferyone thinks
Joined
Jul 28, 2010
Messages
41,701
Location
C-137
Thought it was good. Thought it was a good metaphor for the shit going on in the world, pre-covid and post-covid.

But.

After processing the film for the last day or say I've come to the conclusion that I don't really agree with the message in one regard. It makes a lot of unsubtle points on not listening to experts and fatigue of government lies and deceit, but I don't think it really presses home how important the science is. The science is there briefly at the start, glossed over and not explained.

If we're to get out of this place where most people don't trust those running the place, I'm sure science is the answer - not politics. People will naturally fall all over the political spectrum, but if we can learn to love science as a group we've got half a chance of agreeing a commons ground to begin with.



don't really know what my point is, but as Mark Watney would say, it's time to science the hell out of this.

TeamScience
 

anant

Correctly predicted Italy to win Euro 2020
Joined
Feb 28, 2015
Messages
8,259
Liked the movie a lot. Proper parody of today's times and I'd expect a similar reaction from everyone should someone say that there's going to be a comet strike in not so distant future - we're seeing exactly the same reaction with COVID and environmental crisis as well
 

balaks

Full Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Messages
15,335
Location
Northern Ireland
Supports
Tottenham Hotspur
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.
 

Berbasbullet

Too Boring For A Funny Tagline
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Messages
20,278
Liked the movie a lot. Proper parody of today's times and I'd expect a similar reaction from everyone should someone say that there's going to be a comet strike in not so distant future - we're seeing exactly the same reaction with COVID and environmental crisis as well
Exactly, it felt too close to the bone for me and 100% how people are currently reacting to climate change.
 

AaronRedDevil

Full Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2018
Messages
9,573
Watched this movie for the second time and now it's depresses me. That Di Caprio freakout scene hit me. We really are completely stupid and completely fecked aren't we.
 

jackal&hyde

Full Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2018
Messages
4,220
Loved it!

It is a film that will be too close for comfort for many people. What I did not expect and was pleasantly surprised is it took jabs at both the right's irrationality as well as the left and not least of all at high tech (that openly pretends a care for equality and well being to be of highest importance but actually has profit as the be all end all).

Equally hitting at all sides with their respective irrational thinking is going to mean that it will not have a consensus on either side to sing it's praises and instead all sorts of made up faults are going to be made.

Climate change might be the focus, but the theme is wider imo. and that is the anti-intelectualist movement and the anti science that we see so much in society from all sides.
 

F-Red

Full Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2008
Messages
10,913
Location
Cheshire
Really enjoyed this, the underlying messages are pertinent to today’s misinformation battle on social media.
 

Raees

Pythagoras in Boots
Joined
May 16, 2009
Messages
29,469
Fun film. Could it have been better? Yes - Streep in particular was disappointing but Lawrence and Di Caprio made me chuckle and Jonah Hill funny as always.

Lacked subtlety but I have a feeling it was deliberately done in this manner as the modern era of politics and the anti intellectual movement is anything but subtle.
 

jeff_goldblum

Full Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2011
Messages
3,917
I enjoyed it and the fact that it's wound up some journalists shows that the satire was partially effective. I guess my frustration with it is similar to my frustration with a lot of Hollywood efforts at satire or speaking out on issues generally, which is that it's largely preaching to the choir, comes off smug and so on-the-nose with the political commentary that there's no chance it would cut through with anyone who wasn't already broadly on board.

I honestly think if the aim is to make a political point in a way that might lead to change, it'd be more effective to make a normal action/drama film with the same basic plot, or at least a more subtle satire, rather than this. If the aim is to encapsulate the problem in a way that will entertain like-minded people and have a lot of fun in the process they've hit the nail on the head.
 

stevoc

Full Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2011
Messages
20,414
I am fascinated by comets and always wondered just how the earth would react to a planet killer heading our way. I would've preferred an actual serious movie showing this and all the politics that would come with it but instead this movie was a political satire.

I think Caprio is very very good at comedy. Some parts of the film made me laugh out loud which is a rare occurrence for me watching modern movies
We'd all panic then die would be my guess.
 

Iker Quesadillas

Full Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
4,005
Supports
Real Madrid
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.
 

anant

Correctly predicted Italy to win Euro 2020
Joined
Feb 28, 2015
Messages
8,259
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.
But there are climate change deniers. There is also a group that feels that as long as this crisis can keep/bring jobs, they're fine with that as well.

Similarly, in case of COVID - you had a group that still believes that this is a conspiracy and the virus doesnt exist. The vaccine is govt's way of filling pockets of Big Pharma and controlling them.
 

Iker Quesadillas

Full Member
Joined
Mar 12, 2021
Messages
4,005
Supports
Real Madrid
But there are climate change deniers. There is also a group that feels that as long as this crisis can keep/bring jobs, they're fine with that as well.
I thought "we are for the jobs the comet will bring" was a funny line. But in reality, fighting climate change also brings jobs: clean energy jobs and things like that. So the joke is muddled if you try to extend to a situation beyond 'this comet will kill us all.'

People with money and power can afford to ignore climate change because it isn't going to kill all life on earth, and because it is a long-term problem.
 

OnlyTwoDaSilvas

Gullible
Joined
Feb 4, 2013
Messages
21,681
Location
The Mathews Bridge
I enjoyed it, but it was a bit bloated in its pacing and sequencing. It kind of felt like a miniseries which didn't pause for breath. Probably could have worked better as a 4 episode arc or something.

One thing that I didn't think was inline with the reality they were satirising was when the deniers were chanting "don't look up", and then one of them does, sees the comet and then they all flip. As we see right now, tangible proof of the the actuality isn't enough to make certain people change their stance. Even when the world is on fire and parts of Antarctica don't exist anymore, there is still climate change denial. Hell, people still want to think the world is flat, despite limitless evidence that it isn't and literally zero evidence that it is.

Still, a good, beak watch. Jonah Hill is always good on screen. Di Caprio as well.