Don't Look Up (Adam McKay) [Netflix]

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118379586#Comment_118379586

100%.

A producer (in the general sense) of the movie, celebrating on social media, that the movie is a commercial success, is a total admission that the trope of the movie is correct

sydthebeat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118178350#Comment_118178350

Thus the premise of the movie

Akrasia

Would you look up?

Akrasia

It's guaranteed that if a comet was found to be heading straight for earth, people would say 'I'm not denying comets, comets have always existed but...'

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118373391#Comment_118373391

We get it. Do you get climate Change?

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118373996#Comment_118373996

The fact that making fun of Trump is 'already old' is an idea that deserves its own 2 hour long satire to explore that mentality

Table Top Joe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118380554#Comment_118380554

Not until I saw this movie no. The first 10 times the movie beat me over the head with its message didn't really work for me, but by the 20th time it was really starting to sink in(eh what? did you get that?), really made me think...

I don't know what's worse about this thread by the way, the fact that so many people felt the need to explain the Mark Rylance character, or the fact they may have had to for some other people...

If Brendan O'Carroll had delivered this muck with the cast of Mrs Browns Boys it would have been slated for being so heavy handed and lame, but its a sexy Hollywood movie with A listers so here we are

Ficheall

Enjoyed it. Too realistic, unfortunately.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118379586#Comment_118379586

Jesus Christ. I 100% agree that our climate is in collapse and requires action now, but that tweet couldn't be more obnoxiously sanctimonious if it tried. And will only drive people away from the cause; 25 years ago South Park mocked this kind of Hollywood liberal, amazing it still remains.

amidr

It was a little lengthy, but I liked it. Completely captured how society has evolved/is evolving.

Kirby

Knew nothing about this going in. Enjoyed it.

It's not outlandish, to be honest. Covid has proven without a shadow of a doubt that if a comet was headed towards us, we would have a bunch of people denying its existence and claiming it is a tool to control us.

Tomredz

Enjoyed it too, funny in parts and a decent attempt to get their message across

Penn

It was okay, but as others have said it at times tries to be a satire and at times a parody, and usually fails at both because at times when they clash they work against each other with the more ridiculous parody elements undercutting the satire.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118380886#Comment_118380886

Yeah, and with climate change we have already seen how an entire generation of people will ignore unequivocal evidence of a grave threat if the solution to that threat involves collective action or government intervention.

We have seen how manipulation of social media through gatekeeper algorithms can infect the psyche of a population and get them to vote entirely against their own interest as directed by viciously anti social political parties and corporations

It's a movie that definitely has a political message. That we should listen to experts and take science seriously, and not worship celebrities and politicians and we should not allow corporate interests unlimited access to politicians to the point that they are puppeteers that definitely pull governments strings.

COP26 just ended. Thousands of oil and gas lobbiests swarmed the event and it even had corporate sponsorship. As heavy handed the movie may have seemed, the movie was less ridiculous than the reality of politics right now. We can't have a subtle satire when the real world has jumped the shark and we are hurtling towards 2.5c warming by the end of the century while the entire Republican party are firmly committed to ending the world as we know it, one corrupt arsehole Democrat senator is blocking action on climate change and the Democrats are barely trying to persuade him to get out of the way

The movie is not subtle but reality is not subtle, it's batsh1t insane right now

Trump may be a ridiculously easy target, but he hasn't gone away you know, and he has shown that the US is teetering on the edge of reason. The world is being run by the worst people you can imagine

The film didn't propose any solutions, spoiler alert, we all die

'Just look up' was not enough to get through the thickest skulls.

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118380799#Comment_118380799

If people are driven away from action on climate change by one tweet then we are unbelievably screwed

johnny_ultimate

I hope nobody criticising this film is downplaying the very real and grave threat of climate change - I certainly am not. The film is entirely correct that political inaction is an existential threat for this planet. It is the greatest challenge of our time, shamefully neglected by so many people in power.

But the film has to function as a film as well, and that’s where it falls flat on its face. Politically, it’s also completely bloody useless - sanctimonious and obvious messaging designed solely to make those involved feel like they’re doing something important. One Letterboxd review described it as ‘Gal Gadot’s Imagine video but three hours long’. Quite.

The film’s complete lack of imagination to offer solutions is a particular weak link - the actually useful leftist / progressive message in the current era is to push for urgent action and revolution and show the actual benefits of an all-encompassing response to the climate crisis, not to wallow and complain about how **** everything is. Dr Strangelove gets away with its unrelenting cynicism because it has a director completely in charge of tone and form. McKay is not Kubrick. He’s not even bloomin’ Michael Moore, to be perfectly frank.

The film is also completely blind to both the general populace - at best portrayed as mere sheep, at worst as bumbling morons. Who do they think they’re trying to convince with that sort of portrayal, other than those who are already on board with the need for climate action? That’s why Timothee Chalamet’s character is most interesting - a younger generation that’s more hopeful and decent than their elected leaders. But he shows up too late, and by that stage the writers have spent the vast majority of the running time shooting easy targets with badly written and directed jokes.

When the makers of the film are out there just reinforcing every uncharitable reading of it, that just reaffirms for me that this is a project with a theoretically important message, but with the worst possible way of communicating it.

Akrasia

Not so much on this forum, but you can be sure 'owning the libs' is the primary reason for a lot of the 1 star reviews on the internet

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118381388#Comment_118381388

The movie is cynical on purpose. It doesn't offer solutions because in the timescale of this movie, its too late to make the changes needed to save the world

There are 3 attempts made to save the planet. All of them were sabotaged by deeply hubristic elites who prioritised their own interests over the welfare of the planet on the mistaken belief that they had a backup plan that allowed them to escape the consequences of their failures

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118381304#Comment_118381304

The film didn't propose any solutions, spoiler alert, we all die

Well, as we are seeing with the American Right, many are now pivoting from "climate change isn't real" to "climate change is too far gone now, let's just close our borders when the waters rise" so, I don't agree we'll all die. My instinct says those who can, will persist. But the price paid will be incalculable tragedy while the West and rich nations build dykes.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118381314#Comment_118381314

But you know this how it is, we've had the guts of 10 years of discourse reduced to tweets; en entire American presidency run through social media (remember Trump's various "hereby announce..." Moments?). Christ this forum is an outlier among a sea of glib reduction. Antagonising the middle, or those wary of celebrity sanctimony, is a terrible tactic and just makes you look like another zealot. The fight is for the middle, the undecideds and those not invested or aware of things.

Mad_maxx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118381237#Comment_118381237

lost its way about forty five minutes in , liked the farce element up to that , at least thirty minutes too long but I got enough out of it all the same

completedit

I think your view on this movie will depend on your view of Hollywood. I just don't like Leonardo Di Caprio(the celebrity) he strikes me as someone who has enjoyed all the luxuries that our systems have generated and now after years of indulgence and opulence, wants to turn the tide and put humanity on course to salvation. But then no matter what his actions, it seems limate change is real and that pote tially man-made activities have contributed and brought on its onset. So whatever about Hollywood or DiCaprio's hypocricy it doesn't negate the need for action. Alternatively, mass media such as a Netflix blockbuster can touch on subjects ams make people think about things that they might otherwise not have. I think for the general public the message is about climate change but there are deeper truths in there too such as power and influence, misinformation in the age of the Internet and so on. But perhaps the asteroid hitting was the realisation that climate change is here and it doesn't really matter what we do now. It's too late and we would have to do so much so soon for ant discernible difference so why not just deal with its consequences like our ancestors would have done. All we have is the here and now.

It was also cool to see a Hollywood movie take a swipe at big tech. I didn't think the character was good but in the age of glorification of the CEO and misunderstanding of genius, it was nice to see how they too can be wrong, even if their ideas seem ingenious and bold.

But also, was it ever mentioned how many people would die if the Zuckerburg/Musk/Gates character plan worked? I feel that the way the movie dealt with alternative solutions to the crisis was a bit reductive. I've read some books from some scientists in which they mention that scientific developments will be able to alleviate some of the harsher aspects of climate change. They even mentioned blowing up the asteroid so when the plot used this I was like that's interesting but thought the obvious tone the movie would take is that this would affect the poor parts of the world disproportionately.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118381388#Comment_118381388

I really struggle to understand your hammering of this Johnny, I don't get your logic about solutions. This is an artists portrayal of how he sees the world at the moment, its a commentary and satire on society. Its not up to him to come up with solutions to the issue, he is not a world leader, nor are the actors involved. How is it in any way fair to expect this from a film?

If I look at many of my all time favourites, Network, The Insider, Platoon, Wall Street these are all films highlighting something in society that is or was rotten, Sidney Lumet, Michael Mann or Oliver Stone are not or were not presenting solutions to the world, they are artists and dramatists presenting things in the form of film the public needs to see at least in their opinion, and ultimately they were successful in highlighting.

I remember you didnt like Vice either, a film I absolutely loved so I guess there is something about McKay that turns you off, but the slaughtering of this from a pure film aspect I find bizarre, the director is technically good, maybe horses for courses in terms of style, but he is a filmmaker at his core which is something to be commended.

My question to you is did you feel like he is patronising us all in his commentary? Is this ultimately the reason for disliking it, no pun intended? :D

If not why have such an aversion to a satire that so accurately sums up the 'state of the nation' of America today? Everything he touched on is kind of embarrassing. And its not like any of us are not guilty of at some point indulging in some of the stuff he has portrayed throughout the film. I felt it couldn't have more accurately summed up the culture of the masses in western culture today.

Still stihl waters 3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118382633#Comment_118382633

I think it's as simple as looking at a film and coming up with an essay of pretentiousness to seem like an informed critic who can see the bigger picture compared to the numptys who enjoy films like Wayne's world and idiocracy, it's the reason I pay no attention to critics who "pan" certain films that go on to be hits, reading critics reviews is like Gordon Ramsey giving a bad review to macdonalds expecting Michelin star food

Table Top Joe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118381388#Comment_118381388

The more I think about it the more I think its because I believe in "the very real and grave threat of climate change" that the film irritated me so much. It felt like a a 2.5hr lecture where if the lads had shut up for 5 seconds they would have heard myself and most of the audience say "Your right, couldn't agree more", but it was more like they ended the lecture the second it finished, ran to their limos and hoped their message reached the thickos.....

As regards that tweet, Jesus.....where to start, its a movie released at a time when a massive amount of viewers of the biggest streaming platform on earth are off, in semi-lockdown (or full lockdown or "I cant believe its not lockdown" etc) and are presented with a movie with more A listers than you could shake a stick at, it could have been about stamp collecting and it would have sailed to number 1 most viewed....

Anyway.....judging by the negative reviews I've seen by normal people (you know, like me, or not part of the media) on twitter, Facebook etc most are like myself, on board. I've seen very few bad reviews from Trump supporters, climate change deniers, general nutters....and why? because they didn't bloody watch it!

The people this movie needed to reach (and its pretty clear they wanted to reach people) were the people who really matter when it comes down to it, Trump supporters and the like. There will be no change until Trump fans and Republicans get on board, how do we get them on board? haven't a notion, but it sure as **** isn't by making fun of them. If the movie was half as clever as it thought it was it would have appealed to more people than the kind of people who already agreed with them....

Table Top Joe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118382730#Comment_118382730

I don't know what that makes me as I watched "Waynes World" (and part 2!) just a month or two back, still enjoyed them as much as when they were released and I thought "Don't Look Up" was shite *shrugs shoulders*

Still stihl waters 3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118382865#Comment_118382865

I don't know what it makes you either, what does it make me that I enjoyed both of them

Table Top Joe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118382633#Comment_118382633

I realise this wasn't addressed to me but I'll admit, you've made a good point with those movies. 'Network" is in my top ten movies of all time, and I like the others too (and lord knows Oliver Stone doesn't do subtle.....I'm also the proud owner of "The Insider" soundtrack believe it or not)

I think with "Network" it was simply a better story and a far more compelling actor (I like Leo as an actor...but he isn't one of the greats for me, it mightn't even be his fault but I always take awhile to get past the fact that I'm watching Leo "THE MOVIE STAR!" Dicaprio if you know what I mean).

I think with "Network" as well is its from the 70s, before 24/7 news channels, before 150 channels to choose from and all that (and obviously well before the Internet) so it doesn't feel as obvious in what we're being told......I don't know, maybe there were some in the 70s who saw it and thought "Jesus, tell me something I don't know!"....maybe if "Don't Look Up" was made 10 or 20 years ago it would seem more impressive, now to me at least it just feels like ..."meh...tell me something I don't know"

Midlife crisis man

I enjoyed it.

How was this about climate change? It was about a meteor hurtling towards earth and had a dose of unsubtle political satire in it (the film not the meteor). Meteors aren't caused by global warming dum dums.

If they were making a film about climate change then they should have made a film about actual climate change.

Best disaster movie since armageddon. 5/5 asteroids from me.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118382977#Comment_118382977

Because both DiCaprio and Adam McKay have admitted the film is an intentional allegory for climate change; or least, works as one but the director saying it is kinda closes the door.

https://www.space.com/dont-look-up-adam-mckay-comet-climate-change

https://www.breakingnews.ie/entertainment/leonardo-dicaprio-dont-look-up-is-important-film-for-this-particular-time-1233868.html

TheSheriff

Just watched.

Thought it was a great bit of entertainment, not sure why it's getting such negative reviews.

It's what a movie should be, entertaining.