Don't Look Up (2021) Netflix

[Lewman]

Noticed there wasn't a topic about this so thought I'd start one.

Really enjoyed Adam McKays previous films (Big Short, Vice, Anchorman) so was looking forward to seeing this.

Maybe a little overlong but enjoyed it overall.

Jennifer Lawrence really stood out for me while I was watching.

Thoughts?

[olliebean]

I bet she did etc.

[flotemysost]

I enjoyed it, but found it a bit too obviously... pleased with itself, given it's not saying anything especially groundbreaking (the eventual destruction of the planet is inevitable! Politicians are slimy! Commercially-driven algorithms are controlling our lives in increasingly sinister ways!). Felt a bit like it could have just been an extended episode of Black Mirror, and one aiming at some pretty obvious targets at that.

The drama between the characters was compelling enough, and I thought the individual performances were good, but overall the kind of smug knowing tone (which I thought worked far better for Vice and The Big Short because the protagonists there were largely so unsympathetic, from what I remember) felt a bit misplaced here, IMHO.

Also found the

Spoiler alert

VIP naked utopia ending

[close]

pretty unnecessary.

[up_the_hampipe]

It was a bit too long and the ending was silly, but still mostly good. I did enjoy several of the performances, namely Jonah Hill and Mark Rylance, the latter being one of the creepiest performances I've seen in a while. It's the first time I've seen Timothée Chalamet in a film, and I'm not seeing the hype whatsoever, but maybe he was given a half-arsed role. Ariana Grande parodied herself quite well, she's shown on several occasions that she's a good comedic performer, so maybe she should be in more things.

I don't know if I agree about a smug knowing tone, I thought the whole thing was actually very angry. Leo's rant obviously emphasised that in an on-the-nose way, but everything about it just seemed to come from exasperation.

[Replies From View]

I never agreed that Don't Look Now ever needed to be turned into a trilogy, but the argument always given was that it worked for Look Who's Talking.

[bgmnts]

Liked Big Short loads but didnt really get on with this.

Jennifer Lawrence drags almost any film down for me so that probably didnt help.

[kalowski]

I never agreed that Don't Look Now ever needed to be turned into a trilogy, but the argument always given was that it worked for Look Who's Talking.

Beautiful. I'm just imagining a superb series of films now.
Don't Look Now
Don't Look Now Again
Don't Look Abroad Now
Don't Look Down
Don't Look Down and Out
Don't Look Up

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Don't Look Back in Anger

[touchingcloth]

Is Netflix's process for buying content to speak with studios and say "what've you got that's scored under 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic?"?

[kalowski]

Don't Look Back in Anger

The latest in the Don't Look Now series sees hapless John Baxter (Donald Sutherland) continue his madcap adventures with Laura Baxter (Julie Christie), this time in Manchester in 1993. Following their premonitions to the small suburb of Burnage, John meets aspiring musician Chip Hankley (Noel Gallagher) and watches with amusement as Chip allows the red coat wearing evil dwarf (Liam Gallagher) to sing. It's non stop hilarity and a worthy addition to the series.

[Dr Rock]

There is a movie called Don't Look Back. It stars Bob Dylan as a twat.

[kalowski]

There is a movie called Don't Look Back. It stars Bob Dylan as a twat.

The Don't Look Now series went downhill when it started introducing more and more "guest stars". It's like the awful made for TV one, "Don't Look, Skywalker", with Mark Hamill and David Prowse.

[oy vey]

It was okay. I'll have to rewatch it sober. I can't warm to Jennifer Lawrence no matter what she's in. She needs to get older and more rugged for me to take her seriously. Do a Leo, basically. I'm also not convinced of Meryl Streep's comedic chops. I would have cast Sigourney Weaver but what do I know. Otherwise I did kind of like it. Reminded me of Network.

[touchingcloth]

The Don't Look Now series went downhill when it started introducing more and more "guest stars". It's like the awful made for TV one, "Don't Look, Skywalker", with Mark Hamill and David Prowse.

I've always been fond of that one featuring Gandhi at a joint session where the Indian National Congress and Muslim League agreed to work towards Indian autonomy together, Don't Lucknow Pact.

[ImmaculateClump]

"Don't look who's talking too" was the best.

[mjwilson]

The one good thing in this is the running joke about

Spoiler alert

charging for free snacks

[close]

, the rest is just ham-fisted and obvious.

[Crenners]

Hypothesis: Netflix 'films' aren't really films.

[evilcommiedictator]

The writers are very clever and the Climate Change subtext is spot on, but yes, it's very shiny and upper-middle-class.

Still, the asteroid bringing us jobs is quite funny. And taking the piss out of the faux Steve Jobs/Bezos/Musk. Surprised no-one has talked about how COIVD will employ more lab testers, care nurses and gravedigger jobs into the economy, as well as freeing up jobs

[Head Gardener]

I liked Jennifer Lawrence in Mother! but agree she's no great shakes in this.

[Crenners]

The writers are very clever and the Climate Change subtext is spot on, but yes, it's very shiny and upper-middle-class.

Still, the asteroid bringing us jobs is quite funny. And taking the piss out of the faux Steve Jobs/Bezos/Musk. Surprised no-one has talked about how COIVD will employ more lab testers, care nurses and gravedigger jobs into the economy, as well as freeing up jobs

Fuck me this sounds exactly as shit as I thought it would be if not more shit

[up_the_hampipe]

Fuck me this sounds exactly as shit as I thought it would be if not more shit

Well it isn't, so don't fret.

[Crenners]

Well it isn't, so don't fret.

Looking forward to Ariana Grande's self-parody. 👍👍👍

[monkfromhavana]

My girlfriend watched this whilst I had the headphones on. I'd take off my headphones every half hour or so to check what was going on and to see if it matched what I'd thought in my mind, which it did.

It was ok, but I dunno, these films just seem to lack any depth and grit to them.

[Lord Mandrake]

Jonah Hill and Mark Rylance, the latter being one of the creepiest performances I've seen in a while.

I half arsed watched this and yes, worth it for Rylance, absolutely nailing that Bezos/Musk insidiousness. Not so much Jonah Hill being Jonah Hill. I liked Streep's psychotic energy but she wasn't given enough to do. 

[Dickie_Anders]

I found it pretty smug and annoying, even though its heart was in the right place. It reminds me of the worst stuff Charlie Brooker's done

I was also overwhelmingly annoyed with how there are famous people in it. It just suddenly dawned on me how annoying it is that there are a chosen few we've decided to prop up and put in everything. And they're teaching us social messages we all already know, like we're children and we need the famous people to educate us on the injustices of the world

I think the world is done with famous people. I don't believe anyone honestly likes them or thinks they should exist now, even the famous themselves

[Bernice]

I've just watched this and thought it was okay.

The bad: It's baggy, not hugely funny, and takes such a broad swipe at basically everyone that it becomes hard to connect with.

The good: it's a really angry satire of worthy targets, and it's broadness is only a natural by-product of the Kafkaesque shitshow we're all living in. From a dramatic point of view, it might have made for better watching if some of its targets had been treated more even-handedly. But, frankly, none of them fucking deserve it and a furious howl at the dead-eyed misery of suicidal, brain-deas capitalism is a fair, even necessary, response to our current moment. It's nowhere near as deft a film as Dr Strangelove or Network, its two most obvious influences, but it's a worthy successor in terms of righteous fury.

Oh, and Mark Rylance was great.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Is this about dogs?

[PlanktonSideburns]

Not sure if I can handle an irreverent look at the apocalypse starring the people with the keys to the penthouse fallout shelter suite right now. Might give it a go in jan when the boffs have got climate change done

[shoulders]

Watched this last night. I can't really agree a film is smug when pretty much every character or group comes in for criticism of different kinds. That was one of the things that was strong about it actually.

I do wonder if the people who thought it was shallow just aren't thinking about it deeply enough themselves. For instance, the critique of politically divided trench warfare wasn't the usual "look at these people, their parallel behaviour means they must be as bad as each other" but explored why they ended up down those routes due to powerlessness and a lack of representation. It was smart enough to have Ariana both doing the earnest liberal artist at LiveAID type stuff while also giving her lyrics that were completely on the nose, without that throwing out the scene.

Comparisons with Network are reasonable, obviously.

It's still goofy, broad and limited in ambition which stunts the scenes they want to have emotional impact but it manages to be more than a climate crisis parable or a smug, self-congratulatory thing.

- Allowing our lives to be controlled by tech billionaires and whatever crank science they believe
- the film's focus made me think about Covid and human behaviour around that, post-truth, etc

As for the

Spoiler alert

naked end scene

[close]

that was a surprise and worth it for the gag payoff.

Anyway, easy to see why some people really won't take to it.

I will award a reasonable 6/10.

[BritishHobo]

I wonder if there's an element of just not needing to see all this stuff as we basically already get it. Creepy billionaire tech guys, hateful Presidents propped up by conspiracy-obsessed pundits and angry supporters, it's all the stuff we read about every day anyway. If you're on Twitter or whatever then you're constantly digesting stories and tweets about these things, and have been for the last five years. It's the same reason I didn't get on with Charlie Brooker's Death to 2020, and haven't got through Death to 2021. I know all this stuff, and I already feel sad and angry about it.

I think the biggest takeaway from the film, inadvertently, is the idea that satire doesn't really do anything. You come out of this big, glossy production, which nails so many aspects of the global crises that are making our lives miserable, and you think "it's all still the same though". The people involved in this are massively rich, and even they can't do anything beyond making a film saying 'FUCK, EVERYTHING'S TERRIBLE!' If they're this unsurw how to fix things, what are we meant to do?

The ending is very nicely and memorably shot, but it doesn't inspire me, it makes me feel even more futile. I wonder if that accounts for a lot of the reaction. There's an inevitable hopelessness to the whole production that makes it easier to respond glibly.