White Noise (Noah Baumbach) [Netflix]

pixelburp

Noah Baumbach does the apocalypse; sure, why not?

The trailer alone passed the 'aul 6 laugh test, so hopefully they're not showing all the jokes. Usual crack with Netflix: cinemas for a week then on the service December 30...

https://youtu.be/SgwKZAMx_gM

pixelburp

For anyone curious, this dropped today.

emo72

They said this book was unfilmable. They were probably right. I didn't enjoy this at all.

Shelga

Tried watching this with my boyfriend tonight. We mutually agreed to abandon it after 40 minutes. Pretentious, tonally odd, not entertaining or enjoyable.

JP Liz V1

I couldn't stick it out

emo72

I actually watched it till the end. I thought it was some type of endurance test.

yabadabado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120067441#Comment_120067441

So did I.

It is rubbish.

RocketRaccoon

Yet to hear of anyone who stuck it to out to the end, let alone enjoy it.

Royale with Cheese

I sat through it all, do I get a medal?

Probably one of the worst films I've ever seen.

Slydice

😁

It's almost like the film has something in it to tell people to come post about how back it is!

bodhrandude

Best thing about it was the LCD Soundsystem track at the end and the dance routine in the supermarket, otherwise not worth your trouble.

johnny_ultimate

Caught it in the cinema just before Christmas. I don't think it works (well, a good chunk of it doesn't), but I am glad I saw it and am amused that it was made.

I haven't read the book - Underworld, whilst great, was enough DeLillo for me for a couple of years! - but my understanding is that the dialogue here was often taken directly from the book, which in turn was taken directly from other sources. It's a bold move, but I don't think it works for the most part as the actors, as great as they are, are clearly struggling to make it sound natural or even punchy. What does work much better though is the overlapping soundscapes and frantic editing - the chaotic breakfast scene near the start, for example, does a great job at capturing the sheer overwhelming, numbing assault of sound and images that often defines modern living.

The film is definitely at its most consistently strongest during the Airborne Toxic Event sequences, which have the vibe of an eccentric disaster movie haunted by fear of death. It sometimes manages to grab at that stuff again as it goes on, but it just meanders without ever quite coalescing into something successful again. Cool final dance sequence, though.

I'd call it a noble failure - Baumbach cashing in that Netflix cheque he was obviously afforded after Marriage Story was such a success. It feels ill-at-ease on Netflix of all platforms though - more a sort of arthouse curio or a Mubi release than something to just be dumped in the endless stream of algorithmic recommendations. In that sense and given Netflix's apparent shift away from prestige auteur awards fodder, it shows Netflix's folly in funding those wildly indulgent passion projects but also that at least someone is paying ludicrous amounts of money to get this sort of expensive curiosity made. A mess by any standard, but hey sometimes we need a hot mess - the failures here certainly aren't from lack of trying something.

loyatemu

^^^ I'd like to see them attempt "Underworld" - who wouldn't want to see a 6 hour movie about baseball and waste management (there may be other stuff in the book, I can't remember. It's beautifully written but not exactly riveting).