I'm trying to watch it, but what I've been doing is watching maybe 20 or 30 minutes and stopping, then starting again on another day. I think I've had 4 bites of it on a sequence of days, but I'm still far from the end.
I'm interested, but I get annoyed. I think it's badly written and badly directed. The timing is wrong. I don't know. I'm fascinated by the character who talks like Jordan Peterson — Mark Rylance as Peter Isherwell. I think Jennifer Lawrence is good as the "We're all gonna die!" girl. Leonardo DiCaprio's character is interesting enough, and Meryl Streep is reasonably funny as the ditzy President.
Here's some of what Mark Rylance does:UPDATE: I finally got to the end. The end was handled well. Spoiler alert: The meaning of life is to sit down to dinner with your family, say grace, and show the love.
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So boring i ended up asleep. Could have been goods, but the parody was not actually funny. They needed actors who can perform comedy.
My wife and I both watched it and enjoyed it. It's not a great movie. Not even close. It's campy. And I suspect, purposefully so (though I read something from the writer of this that made it sound like he had grander views on his work). The redeeming, and I think on-target aspect of it, is how little our society pays attention to the important things, because we cannot focus for more than a minute, or we refuse to pay attention to things that don't get enough clicks.
DiCaprio, as usual, was great. I hate his smarmy political stances, but he's the best actor of his generation, no matter the material. Streep, as usual, was unwatchable for me. Aside from "Sophie's Choice" I've not been able to watch her in anything without annoyance. Jonah Hill's character, to me was hilarious and the focal point for our societal view these days. It pretty much skewered as many things as possible, including my old school.
It was light, fun, and who doesn't like end-of-the-world comedies?
No. Nothing about it interests me. My rejection starts with the premise that a meteor is standing in for “climate change” in about the hundredth stupid “global warming” allegory the shell that is Hollywood has foisted on Americans, who don’t deserve such bad and repetitive art thrust in their faces.
"I'm fascinated by the character who talks like Jordan Peterson — Mark Rylance as Peter Isherwel."
Interesting. I found Rylance's performance to be much more like Apple's Tim Cook than Jordan Peterson. Surely the phones were a tell. Besides, Peterson is never timid or uncertain during one of his presentations.
I thought Mark Rylance was great as Richard II
https://youtu.be/NfVcqswZmDw
I thought the “Jordan Peterson” character was more like a cross between Andy Warhol and Steve Jobs
It provoked a bit of discussion in our household, but as satire, it did not even come close to the sheer madcap joy of Netflix' Medical Police.
I thought Cate Blanchett was great, as usual
I was surfing around Netflix a few weeks ago, when no one had ever heard of it, and decided to watch it simply because I couldn't find anything that appealed to me. It was hammy and just plain dumb - what will be called "campy", of course -- and I cannot believe that it has apparently become the "It" movie in the last few days. I will concede that the closing scene was great.
Rylands looks a little more animated than his usual mumbling, shuffling, stumbling characters do. I'm no judge of actors, but/so I didn't see much difference between his 16th century Thomas Cromwell and his mid-20th century Rudolf Abel.
Adam McKay peaked when he filmed his two year-old saying the f-word and put it online. I'd sooner watch Don't Look Up, the 1996 Japanese horror film.
What is "Don't Look Up?"
Interesting. I found Rylance's performance to be much more like Apple's Tim Cook than Jordan Peterson. Surely the phones were a tell. Besides, Peterson is never timid or uncertain during one of his presentations.
Agreed. While the character has a similar speaking style as Jordan Peterson, I thought it was more supposed to be a "generic billionaire" who's fucking up the system, more than a specific person.
Given the Global Warming/Anti-Trump flavor I thought they were going for Peter Thiel.
It sounds typical of the Netflix strategy of quantity over quality and politics over plot, all on a fuck you money budget…
I’m gonna miss it but I’m not gonna miss it.
I watched it in segments too, because I don’t do well with long movies, but I enjoyed it for what it is.
The French Dispatch will be watched as soon as my mil moves out…
I doubt I will be able to avoid watching it sooner or later, but I have no interest. It sounds like a typical left-wing revenge fantasy, ludicrously analogizing climate change to a meteor as though a physical rock whose path can be mathematically calculated is the same as predicting (and manipulating) long-term climate trends.
"In comedy, every minute over 90 minutes feels like two minutes." -- Billy Wilder.
"Don't Look Up" is 138 minutes.
the other guys and perhaps some parts of anchorman 2
I make it a point never to watch anything with Leonardo DiCaprio or Merrill Streep in it.
Similar experience. I watched it in bits and starts. Never quite bad enough to abandon but never quite good enough to continue watching. Some of the jokes were good, but, given the pedigree of the people involved, it was more often a disappointment.....The Matrix movie was worse and even more of a disappointment....I got through the Lucy movie in one take so I guess that one wins Overpriced Streaming Holiday Movie Award.
Unserious, unfunny and in my case, unfinished. Nobody on screen appeared to be enjoying themselves in the least. I should think as an actor the chance to chew the scenery when you are regretting the role your agent accepted for you must be one of the minor pleasures of their cossetted lives.
T.
I make it a point never to watch anything with Leonardo DiCaprio or Merrill Streep in it.
Not a horrible rule but Meryl is occasionally perfect, as in Death Becomes Her. I also thoroughly enjoyed her in Adaptation where she played Susan Orleans of The Orchid Thief.
Maybe a wannabe alternate universe "Atlas Shrugged"? I mean: Starting with a deranged premise makes it harder to deal with the rest of it.
Watched it and I thought it was not funny at all - if it is suppose to be a satire - it should at least cause some chuckles along the way, but nothin' from me. Could be the writing - actors - or I just don't think even our government is that blind!
an incoming comet, is a real threat unlike skydragons,
This is where people who are too right-leaning fail by being just as preemptively judgey as the left.
It is likely that most of the people in this movie thought they were making a satire of the right. And I get why people on the right would think that and say, "no thanks".
But the truth is, if that's their intent, the movie itself becomes an unintentional self parody of the left. The jabs at the right are largely superficial and, to the extent they're there, they apply just as much to many left wing figures. The implicated jabs at the left, however, are deeper, and to the extent they're committed unintentionally makes them that much more meaningful.
As such, it's both a brilliant takedown of pretty much everyone and, because of that, it's hated by everyone.
I'm fascinated by the character who talks like Jordan Peterson...
Plus a little Daniel Day Lewis as Lincoln.
I don't like Merrill Streep, at least not in this movie. I like Leonardo DiCaprio, I think he's a good actor.
To me, "Don't Look Up" was a movie that didn't really know what it wanted to be, and lacked a sharp bite.
Primarily a production for which the producers & director could score Hollywood bragging rights by garnering a large number of A-listers for campy roles.
While the apocalyptic premise has been touted as a liberal climate change screed, it could be just as easily interpreted as a conservative COVID screed. Self-absorbed gov't leaders interested mostly in their political futures -- Trump or Biden? And the heavy-handed elitism and educational snobbery could apply to many in both political parties. It reminded me of "The Hunt", in which elites preyed upon deplorables. Leftist training film or satire from the right?
If the writing had been a lot better, Don't Look Up might have been memorable. But I found it to be typical Netflix dreck.
Jersey Fled,
"I make it a point never to watch anything with Leonardo DiCaprio or Merrill Streep in it."
DiCaprio is one of those actors who repeatedly surprises me by showing he can actually act; at some point I shouldn't be surprised anymore. He was great in The Departed.
As for Meryl Streep, I'll throw out Defending Your Life. Her character is a little too perfect, but she's charming.
MikeDC,
Interesting. You've just made me much more likely to check this out.
"the character who talks like Jordan Peterson"
Huh? Not getting that at all. Not in tone, not in content.
But I do think a smart prog could make a great comic/tragic movie based on Peterson. Really, if it's done well, not smugly preachy, it could appeal to left and right.
I liked all the satire about modern entertainment and media. I liked the weirdness of everyone in power. It flagged once it got to the "Don't look up" campaign; that was the weakest part of the movie. Some things the movie got completely wrong, like economic incentives, but that's a typical artifact of Hollywood. Some things it got completely right, like the disaster-themed pop song performance. I watched it at a good time, having recently finished a Christmas red meat reading binge of Neil Postman.
I thought Mark Rylance was funny. The joke they gave him about the president's death gave away the ending for me, but it didn't matter. I don't think the end was supposed to be a surprise.
Hard to pinpoint why I found the movie so unsatisfying. Not completely bad, but flat and tepid. Astonishing that so much talent was packed into the movie and yet it is so flat and uninteresting. DiCaprio, Streep, Lawrence, Hill is a lot of talent.
Bottom line, I think it needed to be madcap and zany because the characters were such caricatures, but instead, it was flat-footed. And overlit too. DiCaprio and Streep are just not very good at comedy. Lawrence is flat-footed even at her best. Jonah Hill is very good at comedy, but not zany.
It also seemed out of date. The presidential caricatures were aimed at Trump, but Trump is gone, and now we are being trained to think of the president as serious and down-to-earth. I suspect that drained a lot of energy from the film.
Also seemed out of date because of the casting. Almost all white. Maybe that's why they got so much top talent, because there are fewer roles for white actors.
Plus, the writing was atrocious. Completely ridiculous that word about the comet gets out and causes a riot because the scientists blab to a few random bar patrons.
Oh, I forgot ... SPOILER ALERT.
When something is tough to read or watch, stop reading or watching.
I think it's badly written and badly directed.
Adam McKay is a very competent writer and director.
Unfortunately, politics corrupts art.
I just watched a little bit of the movie, I'll probably give it another try.
Good Lord there is a lot of talent in the movie.
In addition to the headliners DiCaprio, Streep, Lawrence, and Hill, there are Cate Blanchett, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothee Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande (!), and Melanie Lynskey.
That's 11 solid actors stuffed into 1 half-assed movie.
@ MikeDC 1/10/22, 11:00 AM - As I understand it, the movie was written by a Bernie Sanders supporter who hates the non-Sanders part of the Democratic Party as much as he hates "the right". Thus, a "takedown of pretty much everyone".
It's a mashup - Mars Attacks!, The Day After Tomorrow, Deep Impact
night of the comet, had a similar premise, it was turning people to dust, some into zombies, the observers had let the vents in, and they were using children as guinea pigs
Hard pass.
How did they make this movie without masks on? Does Dr, Falchi know about this film?
@ Roger Sweeny 11:34
Yeah, I think that the writer is fairly assessed as an extreme lefty, but I'm also pretty sure a lot of the implications of his movie are unintentional. Like, he's probably consciously trying to attack the media, but I've read that he was consciously trying to make this an anti-global warming movie. That is, he wants people to equate the comet hitting Earth with global warming.
But to me, this blows up in his face. Why? Because the movie clearly shows why we can't just "trust the science". The scientists (not just the two protagonists) equivocate, lie, have their own agendas, and fuck up just like everyone else.
And this is over a clear cut issue of complete annihilation. So if they can't be trusted to keep their priorities about a literal life or death issue of mathematical certainty, they definitely can't be trusted with the nebulous predictions and uncertain science of global warming.
After 20 minutes, my wife looked at me and said: "why are we watching this crap?"
Rewatching any entertainment endeavor that I couldn't completely watch the first time through is a concept that blows my mind. On the other hand, I do enjoy rewatching favorites many times over time.
As for out-of-orbit rocks hurdling through space, I couldn't watch any of them completely and the theme is far to common among bad movies. I couldn't even finish Bruce Willis in the Armageddon asteroid film and I watch about everything he does.
I saw it in the Theater. Yes, good but not great. It has it's moments. I'm going to see Licorice Pizza tomorrow, probably. That's my most anticipated movie for about the last three months. It's unlike me to not already have seen a movie I really want to see when the movie has been out three weeks, but we traveled during Christmas then got Covid in New Orleans like half the people I know who were there. I'm clear of it now and will venture out. I'll describe my Covid symptoms in the open post later for anyone who is interested in such things.
Jordan Peterson? I thought he was a mix of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Steve Jobs.
Meryl Streep's politics are odious, but she nailed her role in "Doubt" like no actor I have ever seen.
Badly written? Well, my "Frankenstein, Part II" is well-written. That I can tell you.
Raylance was superb in Bridge of Spies. Such a different look in this film. And as others have said, he wasn't a Jordan Peterson character. He is Jobs and Jack Dorsey like.
I thought Rylance perfectly played a combination of Zuckerberg with a heavy dose of Elizabeth Holmes
Based on this post, I checked out some footage of Jorda Peterson, and surprisingly the character is very similar. I thought he was supposed represent the tech billionaires like Musk and Zuckerberg, with a bit of Andy Warhol thrown in, which seems fitting, but I guess what I was reading as Warhol is actually Peterson instead.
Didn't even know about it ... which is fine since I have a problem putting money into the pockets of people who hate me.
I watched both of those clips. Not pulling me in. I detest Meryl Streep - so it's difficult to want to watch it anyway.
Strangely - I just got off the phone with a friend who loves it, and insists I should watch it. eeeee.
I found it to be good satire, once I realized that if I placed the people where they really are in the world (Streep as Liberal President, Head of Science as Fauci, Media as the Main Stream Media, Rylance as Steve Jobs/Richard Branson, etc) everything worked. I'm sure that wasn't the writer's intention, and that added to the irony level.
"I thought the “Jordan Peterson” character was more like a cross between Andy Warhol and Steve Jobs"
Yes, but I believe the actor adopted the idiosyncratic vocal style of Jordan Peterson.
I fucking love fingerling potatoes.
I dislike Decaprio in real life, but he can act. Sadly, all he was asked to do in this movie was to play a perfect Leonard Hofstadter. Which he did. It was eerie.
I thought the movie was better than I was expecting.
I went into it expecting to see the right lampooned. What I saw was everyone being lampooned. Social media culture took the biggest hit.
Good, funny, forgettable movie. I hope they didn't spend a lot on it.
"Not a horrible rule but Meryl is occasionally perfect, as in Death Becomes Her. I also thoroughly enjoyed her in Adaptation where she played Susan Orleans of The Orchid Thief."
It's Susan Orlean — no s — and the character she plays in "Don't Look Up" is also named Orlean — President Orlean.
Anyway, if you like those 2 movies, you might like "She Devil." Note: the man character is Roseanne Barr.
DeCaprio looks like Jonah Goldberg.
To repeat: My point about Jordan Peterson is solely about the way he talks. I did not mean to imply that his ideas, his behavior, or his values were the slightest bit like Peterson's. No need to argue with me about that. I didn't even consider saying that and thought it was so obvious that it wasn't something that had to be said explicitly. I thought "talks like JP" was all it took. I regret the confusion.
"I'm going to see Licorice Pizza tomorrow, probably. That's my most anticipated movie for about the last three months...."
Isn't that about a 25 year old in a sexual relationship with a 15 year old? I saw the trailer, and I just can't see warming up to the sweet charm of that!
"DeCaprio looks like Jonah Goldberg."
That's what I said when I saw the trailer — blogged here — last September.
I recall detesting Streep In Sophie's Choice. The movie where everyone fawns over her.
I thought her accent was irritating and fake. I find her grating in every direction.
When she became political, I realized - wow - I can hate her openly without feeling guilty about it.
I watched The Devil Wears Prada - and I felt the same about her. (Why do so many people think she's so great????) I remain puzzled.
She did a good job but someone better could have done a better job. True - I can't think who.
"In addition to the headliners DiCaprio, Streep, Lawrence, and Hill, there are Cate Blanchett, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothee Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande (!), and Melanie Lynskey."
Oh! It just sank in that that was the actress from "Heavenly Creatures"! — Melanie Lynskey. Now, there was a great movie!
Ann - I forgot about that. Perhaps you planted the seed? Honestly, seeing DiCaprio today - boom, Jonah G.
I just gave in a couple of weeks ago and signed up for Netflix. Not enough good or current content on Amazon Prime Video. I watched the movie straight through. It was entertaining. Jennifer Lawrence playing Jennifer Lawrence. I do not like Meryl Streep’s phony social political stance but I did get a kick out of the hairstyle she wore in this movie. Making fun of all the women on Fox who have the same hairstyle. Kat Timpf is always commenting on the extensions in her hair in a negative way. This makes me think that the management at Fox wants their female employees to look “sexy” with this long fake hairstyle. It makes the women look less serious when they all have the same long hair style which is more suitable to college cheerleaders. The women anchors at Fox do not have this ridiculous look, e.g. Sandra Smith, Dana Perino, Martha McCallam, Shannon Bream, so they look more mature and serious. Anyway, just one of my pet peeves that someone else noticed. I’m glad that Don’t Look Up referenced this topic.and I had a good laugh.
Damn. Maybe I should now wait for the Director's Cut with alternate ending.
I have not yet seen Licorice Pizza but have read enough to know that there is no sexual relationship between the two leads. More put off by what I read about using a very appealing white character actor to play a buffoonishly racist character spouting fake Japanese accents.
At one of my screenwriting conferences, they told us that Amazon Prime and Netflix pay differently. Big price disparity. Or at least there was about 3 years ago.
Tried to watch it. Got about 30 mins in and thought it was a waste of time. If it was supposed to be funny I wasn't laughing much. We have a pretty big queue of much better fare in our watchlists on several streaming services so we cut it off and moved on to something better.
Isn't that about a 25 year old in a sexual relationship with a 15 year old? I saw the trailer, and I just can't see warming up to the sweet charm of that!
The girl is 25, the boy is 15, and there is nothing shown to indicate their relationship was sexual.
> Ann Althouse said...
Oh! It just sank in that that was the actress from "Heavenly Creatures"! — Melanie Lynskey. Now, there was a great movie!<
And as it happens, Melanie Lynskey was the single shining light in the wretched "Don't Look Up."
According to IMDB, the worldwide box office gross for "Dont' Look Up" was $782k. I think that's just for the opening weekend. That's terrible.
Get woke, go broke. That's for the producers; not the actors. They all got paid.
I make it a point never to watch anything with Leonardo DiCaprio or Merrill Streep in it.
A good rule. The Devil Wears Prada and Doubt, however, are both worth seeing
It is a strange one. It seemed to expose our leaders as incompetent fools with zero self awareness and no purpose. But made it seemed OK because, like in real life, we all just die anyway. That is the childless death culture’s mind in action.
NB: No one in the situation had grand children to care about, which is the purpose of human lives.
I haven't watched it. I doubt Ill watch it.
reality check: When a new comet is 6 months away, it is literally not possible for you to predict that it will hit the Earth with any degree of certainty.
Between gravitational effects from everything else in the Solar System, and the resolution you can (can't) get at that range taking pictures and tracking its movement, anyone claiming "I know this is going to hit the Earth" is lying.
So, as a metaphor for "climate change" it doesn't tell the story they want to tell
I don't think Raylance speaks like Peterson at all. He speaks like Jack Dorsey. Peterson has a sharp, crisp, cadence. Dorsey has the hushed, liberal voice like the Raylance character.
I really liked it. I only fell asleep twice and, best of all, when I awoke I realized I hadn't missed a thing. It is derivative; twice too cute and one-half creative.
I thought it was tediously long. But the prayer at the end, the table grace, that was a touching scene. Then they were all obliterated.
While watching this long bore, I kept thinking this was a cheap knock off "Dr. Strangelove" which had a few good laughs. None to be had here....however, the ending was good because it was the end of the movie.
Note: the man character is Roseanne Barr.
I think you meant "main," but I guess that works too.
I didn't read the novel, but it seemed like Faye Weldon and Roseanne Barr don't come from the same universe. Back then, I thought the same about John Updike and Jack Nicholson
'DeCaprio looks like Jonah Goldberg.'
Yes, unfortunately. I noticed that too.
I hope to God it's just the makeup.
Leo is a weird guy and a fraud on climate issues but a great actor.
God of the Sea People said...
I fucking love fingerling potatoes.
Peculiar fetish,but to each his own.
What annoyed me is that they thought only the USA could solve the problem of a killer asteroid, and the US MSM/cable networks were the only game in town to get out the story.
This is not true and hasn't been true for years.
Last year, China released a movie where they actually zapped a similar asteroid. And China's space capability is growing. Guess that news hasn't reached Hollywood.
I assumed while watching that Rylance modeled the voice on Peterson. Sounded spot on.
We survived that movie.
Freeman, Thank you for your intellectual honesty and integrity.
When something is tough to read or watch, stop reading or watching.
1/10/22, 11:13 AM
Jean Kerr, married to (I believe) an NYT theater critic, put it this way: when her husband saw a bad play, he thought, "This is a very bad play. Why is that?" When she had to accompany him, she thought, "This is a very bad play. Why was I born?"
I didn't think it was parody so much as a prequell to Idiocracy.
I started watching the movie knowing nothing about it beyond what was in the description on Netflix. I had interpreted it to be a satire regarding COVID (particularly the emphasis on SCIENCE!!1!), I thought the Jonah Hill character was poking fun at Hunter Biden, I did get the MAGA vibe in that last big montage, but the president felt like an amalgamation of the last 30 years worth of office holders.
So overall it got a few chuckles out of me, but man did it drag in throughout.
I admire what the film is trying to do, but, as you say, it is badly done...self-congratulatory, flabby, badly written, inconsistent in tone, lacking restraint, impressed with itself, "hammy," as Ice Nine above points out, etc., etc.
"I started watching the movie knowing nothing about it beyond what was in the description on Netflix. I had interpreted it to be a satire regarding COVID...."
And global warming, and the exploitation and exhaustion of our finite natural resources, and pollution (and destruction) of our environment, and the whole jumble of combined disasters heading our way.
It was about how every issue is denied, distorted, corrupted, misused, and/or exploited by the political/corporate entities who serve, in all cases, only their own ends.
It does not end with the dinner scene... After some of the credits it continues to the real conclusion with Meryl Streep in the get away space ship- remember that? - a truly horrible, cringey but funny end...
Yes, I was tipped off to keep watching.
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