# Don't Look Up



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

We watched this on Netflix last night. Boy oh boy, writer-producer Adam Mackay doesn't believe in taking any prisoners. A thinly-veiled takedown of the previous presidency (including those attached to or serving under 45), Mark Zuckerberg, big business, pop culture, entertainment TV pretending to be news, how badly science is covered by newsmedia, just how stupid humans can be when you give them a 3-word slogan, and more. Uncomfortably familiar but well worth watching.


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## colchar (May 22, 2010)

'45'

Is he the new He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Just trying to keep this from going political. The film takes a swipe at a lot of things.


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## FatStrat2 (Apr 7, 2021)

I could only watch about 45 minutes, and I skipped to the end for the F/X shots (which were marginal but boring).

DeCaprio has to lay off the Twinkiies and Ho-Hos (and I don't mean girls). He's a puffster.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

You likely missed some of the best parts. The running gag was Jennifer Lawrence's character's obsession over a general asking her and DiCaprio to reimburse him for snacks which were actually free. Despite her mission to alert humanity to its impending doom, she keeps bringing the matter up to anyone who will listen.

If one does intend to watch the whole thing (and does so), make a point of sticking it out through the closing credits. Humorous stuff happens.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/81252357


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Someone called it Idiocracy 2. That was when I thought we might watch it (the preview wasnt selling it).


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## bolero (Oct 11, 2006)

The world needs more movies like this. Idiocracy is already upon us.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

Just started watching. Around the 6:00 mark .. Dr Ogilthorpe. lol


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I watched it this afternoon.

Yes. a thinly veiled alegory to a rcent presidency. They should have named the comet Covid.

Weird movie, but it had some moments. Meryl Streep was cool as Trumpette.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Watching now. With that many stars and a skewed National Lampoon script, there had to be a point.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Milkman said:


> I watched it this afternoon.
> 
> Yes. a thinly veiled alegory to a rcent presidency. They should have named the comet Covid.
> 
> Weird movie, but it had some moments. Meryl Streep was cool as Trumpette.


Mark Rylance as a thinly-veiled Zuckerberg/Bezos/Branson/Gates composite was excellent. Almost makes one believe that he is "on the spectrum".


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

I found it entertaining.


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## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

mhammer said:


> The running gag was Jennifer Lawrence's character's obsession over a general asking her and DiCaprio to reimburse him for snacks which were actually free. Despite her mission to alert humanity to its impending doom, she keeps bringing the matter up to anyone who will listen.


Those are about the only worthy clips in the whole movie. Quite boring.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Probably become a cult favourite…or prophecy.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

mhammer said:


> make a point of sticking it out through the closing credits


Besides the Bronteroc? Jason. "Don't forget to like and share".


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

The Mrs and I are about halfway through. She's off to bed so we'll finish it tomorrow.

I find it interesting that people are reading as much into "Who is actually who" as they seem to be in this thread. Madam President could be a slew of president's who wasn't the most recent. I guess it's one of those "People see what they want to see." things.

In any case, if you have a dry sense of humour it's a really great movie.


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

mhammer said:


> Mark Rylance as a thinly-veiled Zuckerberg/Bezos/Branson/Gates composite was excellent. Almost makes one believe that he is "on the spectrum".


I watched it last night after seeing this thread, so thanks.

I agree that the tech guru was a composite of all those guys, but also I think Steve Jobs had he lived. I especially liked how they made him seem like a harmless benevolent genius yet a physcopath at the same time.

Also, that a phone/internet "genius" is eventually seen and trusted as the person to 'save humanity' from a comet, when what's really needed is an actual "rocket scientist". For me this was telling because programming in general but especially the building of phone apps that "almost" work for most people and can be debugged, fixed, or tuned after being rolled out is not the same as engineering something physical with one chance to work and only one ( like a rocket to deflect a comet). The way the movie ends highlights this irony, to me at least.

I'm probably not getting my point across, but I loved how they portrayed that character.

Also, the +10 second button really helped get through the boring bits, of which I thought there were maybe too many for too long.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

tomee2 said:


> I watched it last night after seeing this thread, so thanks.
> 
> I agree that the tech guru was a composite of all those guys, but also I think Steve Jobs had he lived. I especially liked how they made him seem like a harmless benevolent genius yet a physcopath at the same time.
> 
> ...


Public confidence in a tech tycoon is certainly part of it, but I think the bigger part is that he represents a big chunk of the economy and reflects a world where money=credibility; certainly when it comes to who decision-makers consult. Keep in mind, we are first introduced to him at a huge shareholders' meeting. He MUST be right because we like his products and he's so rich. And of course, his involvement in the space program intended to save humankind is a play on the current Bezos/Branson/Musk space-travel pissing contest.

I also liked the manner in which probability is played with and "rounded off", because people making decisions don't quite grasp probability.

And whoever did Jennifer Lawrence's hair has been around grad students A LOT. The most "grad student" hair I've ever seen in a film. It screams "Sure I spend every day in the lab at my desk frittering with numbers and buried in my dissertation work, but I DO still remember...vaguely...how to get reckless and wild. I mean people still do that, right? It's been a while since I've been out.".


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

It was ok, but I thought it was akin to a really long setup to a mediocre joke.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I just watched this about an hour ago. I got a good few laughs out of it.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Just finished it. Had a few giggles, but it was totally unsurprising. Mostly preaching to a choir that isn't going to change it's behaviour no matter what it "believes".


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)




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## brokentoes (Jun 29, 2014)

I thought it had funny bits. But it was an hour and a half movie tops. 2 hours and 22 minutes ??? Was that part of the joke ?


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## tomee2 (Feb 27, 2017)

brokentoes said:


> I thought it had funny bits. But it was an hour and a half movie tops. 2 hours and 22 minutes ??? Was that part of the joke ?


I know... but the last 10 to 15 minutes or more was credits, with some extra scenes thrown in. As long as you got to where the space ship lands on another planet and the president's son crawls out the rubble you saw the end.

I used the 10+ second button a lot and got through it in 1hr45ish or so.


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## jayoldschool (Sep 12, 2013)

Mars Attacks meets Wag the Dog. I enjoyed it.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

jayoldschool said:


> Mars Attacks meets Wag the Dog. I enjoyed it.


Mars Attacks did spring to mind for me.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

The best part was when the giant cassowary flip-flopped the president at the end.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

brokentoes said:


> I thought it had funny bits. But it was an hour and a half movie tops. 2 hours and 22 minutes ??? Was that part of the joke ?


One of the CBC Radio pop culture commentators was asking the other day "What is it with all these 2-hour plus movies?".

I guess in an era of 6-second TikTok videos, the term TLDW (too long didn't watch) will crop up soon, if it hasn't already. I guess that's the trouble with access to so much content - you can't fit it all in unless it's REALLY short and fast. Death by FOMO!!


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

Don't google 'space movie 1992'.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

mhammer said:


> I guess that's the trouble with access to so much content - you can't fit it all in unless it's REALLY short and fast.


Spinal Tap is 82 mins, cut down from an original 150 mins.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Paul Running said:


> The best part was when the giant cassowary flip-flopped the president at the end.
> View attachment 394737


The Bronteroc. That was maybe the funniest joke in the movie for me. The Bash guy was able to predict how Streep's character would die ("you'll be eaten by a Bronteroc, but we don't know what that is").

Then when the thing kills her he is able to say with certainty that it is a Bronteroc because his AI technology and laws of probability said that was how she would die.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

All hail algorithms!!


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## Frenchy (Mar 23, 2011)

Just watched this movie with the wife. Very entertaining, makes me think of the current administration in the U.S. and ours .... Got to be some good weed on that asteroid !


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## polyslax (May 15, 2020)

I enjoyed it and thought there were a lot of great lines. One of my faves was the male host on the Daily Rip: "I had no idea Subaru made telescopes".


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## zztomato (Nov 19, 2010)

I made my way through it. I don't think I laughed once. Unfortunately, this movie is about 3 or 4 years too late to be funny. The real life tragicomedy of the last few years pretty much wrote itself and ended almost as badly.


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## BMW-KTM (Apr 7, 2015)

Thanks for posting this. I was on the fence as to whether I would watch it or not. When there is a lot of hubbub over a movie I very often find it disappointing and there's been some buzz so I was skeptical. My taste in movies rarely jives with the general consensus. However, now that I know it's funny, takes potshots at the combover and pisses off just the right people I'll probably give it a go.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

zztomato said:


> I made my way through it. I don't think I laughed once. Unfortunately, this movie is about 3 or 4 years too late to be funny. The real life tragicomedy of the last few years pretty much wrote itself and ended almost as badly.


There's satire, and there's comedy. One makes the viewer "Aha, I see what you did there", and perhaps evoke a wry smile when something "serves the bastard right", while the other makes you snort your current beverage out of your nose. As the brain behind "The Big Short", I don't think MacKay was aiming for the second type. There's a few chuckles, yes, but mostly to relieve the aggravation.

The idea that, as a society, we can ignore a catastrophe, and neglect its prevention, because we're distracted by the financial possibilities and opportunities it presents, is rather distressing, if you ask me, and not the sort of thing that makes me snort milk out of nostrils.


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## BMW-KTM (Apr 7, 2015)

I guess I'll find out tonight.


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## zztomato (Nov 19, 2010)

mhammer said:


> There's satire, and there's comedy


I can't really say this is either though. 
I watched the Handmaid's Tale (3 seasons so far?) and the whole time watching I was reminded that this is not a far stretch from where we are now. So many parallels and impossible to get into due to politics. It was eerie though and you could see, based on certain political and religious perversions, how easily things can go completely off the rails. "Don't Look Up" pales in comparison to the reality of the last few years. There is no "aha" anywhere in this movie. As I said, it's a few years too late. Would've been really funny in 2017.


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## ga20t (Jul 22, 2010)

zztomato said:


> I can't really say this is either though.
> I watched the Handmaid's Tale (3 seasons so far?) and the whole time watching I was reminded that this is not a far stretch from where we are now. So many parallels and impossible to get into due to politics. It was eerie though and you could see, based on certain political and religious perversions, how easily things can go completely off the rails. "Don't Look Up" pales in comparison to the reality of the last few years. There is no "aha" anywhere in this movie. As I said, it's a few years too late. Would've been really funny in 2017.


A few jokes I liked, but yeah, they handled their marks with kid-gloves and/or too much charity. That was irking me the whole way through.


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## Dove37 (Jan 21, 2018)

Turned off after 35 minutes. 

Garbage


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## BMW-KTM (Apr 7, 2015)

Dove37 said:


> Turned off after 35 minutes.
> 
> Garbage


Yup. Me too. A stupid story and poorly written, IMO. The acting is okay, I guess but I think the story is just dumb. I like funny stories and I like serious stories but I think it's the attempt to straddle the line between serious and funny that just doesn't work for me on this one. I give it two thumbs down.


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## WCGill (Mar 27, 2009)

Reading this thread piqued my curiosity, particularly the very negative reactions of some posters and what I sensed as polarization. Being that @mhammer has a very reasoned and intelligent demeanour on this forum I decided a viewing was in order. With the Xmas carnival over and Netflix still paid up, my wife and I watched it last night. I'm not much for TV sitcoms and most movies and find my wife and I often disagree on such, "Lost in Translation" as an example. She hated it. To my surprise she enjoyed "Don't Look Up" as did I. No, it's not a comedy, in fact just the opposite. Sure it's a little uneven and when Meryl Streep made her debut as Madame President, I found her unbelievable and over the top. Near the end, more echoes of Trump for sure. Not for everyone but we found it very entertaining.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I think movies like this will only reinforce opinions and tendencies we already have. It's a bit of an echo chamber.

It was no Goodfellas, but it wasn't as bad for us as some here seem to find it (in my opinion).

Funny because I watched another flick I had been meaning to see called Left Behind (Nicholas Cage). Now, I don't really expect great acting from him but I had a hard time getting though it because of the fairly overt support of biblical prophesy. We found it totally lacking in imagination and I can only suspend disbelief so much.

Double rasberries from us.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Thanks. Pleased you enjoyed it for what it is. I suppose many works in this or that medium are often misportrayed as having a different flavour or intent than what they were supposed to. For instance, anyone given to reading Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal", and expecting belly laughs, will likely be sorely disappointed.

I found much about contemporary society being skewered in DLU. Not JUST the last White House. Were it completely overlooked, I imagine the reaction would have been "How could you MISS that?". But from another angle, that last White House *was* a reflection of the broader society, and not just an isolated catalyst. WE are the ones who overvalue Bash. Streep's president simply picks up the ball and runs with it. WE are the ones who are distracted by the money-making and job-creating possibilities,neglecting potential doom. WE are the ones impressed by 3-word slogans and fireworks. WE are the ones who have come to accept that news is_ supposed to be_ entertainment. And, regrettably, we are also the ones distracted away from our most important mission by the prospect of a bit of nookie on the side.


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## keithb7 (Dec 28, 2006)

My wife and I watched about 1/2 of it. Then fell asleep on the couch. Next day we completed it.

Some of it was laughable in a scary kind of way. It was a little embarrassing how stupid and screwed up real society has become. The examples given were not far off from what we’ve already witnessed. The “Launch Challenge” was certainly stupid but believable. Not far off from the Tide Pod challenge. The “Elon Musk” type character seemed likely real. The American President portrayal ? Not as over the top as a real president I’ve seen.

Not a great show, yet something different. In ways it did well summarizing some of the stupid drama crap I’ve watched develop in society in the last 20 years. I can’t imagine what the next 20 looks like.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

Milkman said:


> Funny because I watched another flick I had been meaning to see called Left Behind (Nichoilas Cage). Now, I don't really expect great acting from him but *I had a hard time getting though it because of the fairly overt support of biblical prophesy*. We found it totally lacking in imagination and I can only suspend disbelief so much.


seriously?
you somehow watched a 7 year old movie, that was part of a series (i think 5 movies) that began over 20 years ago, which is ENTIRELY about end times prophecy, but somehow you didn't know what it was going to be about?
how did you decide to watch that movie? "here's a nick cage movie i've never seen before, lets watch it." i assume you've been an atheist your whole life? not criticizing you for being one, i'm just saying i don't know anyone who was ever christian that wouldn't immediately know what the movie was about from watching the trailer. you didn't read any reviews? never looked through it's imdb or rotten tomatoes page? i will admit though, i did laugh at the part of your post that i bolded. you had a hard time watching a movie *about* bible prophecy, because of the overt support of biblical prophecy. _ it was the whole point of the entire series_.
also, the point about suspended disbelief was pretty funny too. that's what faith is all about.


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## WCGill (Mar 27, 2009)

We watched "The Lost Daughter" last night. Olivia Colman was brilliant I thought, very disturbed in a very disturbing film.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

Watched Don’t Look Up a couple nights ago. I didn’t hate it, but it never quite hit the mark for me. I was hoping for a bit deeper and wittier satire, and hopefully more laughs, but neither really happened. I think my wife liked it more than I did, which surprised me.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

mhammer said:


> And whoever did Jennifer Lawrence's hair has been around grad students A LOT. The most "grad student" hair I've ever seen in a film. It screams "Sure I spend every day in the lab at my desk frittering with numbers and buried in my dissertation work, but I DO still remember...vaguely...how to get reckless and wild. I mean people still do that, right? It's been a while since I've been out.".


I had that same haircut around 1973. It was my Slade look.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

I've seen worse (Left Behind. as a recent example) but for late-night, after-Maggs-has-retired, Netflix viewing I mostly enjoyed it enough. Some things I even found to be clever. I may have even had an internal snort or chuckle a couple times.


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## doblander (Dec 8, 2019)

I saw this movie last night. It became obvious early that it was poking fun at our society. Self absorption by individuals as well as whole administrations to exclusion of everything of relevance was the point of it all. I think.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

allthumbs56 said:


> I've seen worse (Left Behind. as a recent example) but for late-night, after-Maggs-has-retired, Netflix viewing I mostly enjoyed it enough. Some things I even found to be clever. I may have even had an internal snort or chuckle a couple times.


Bingo

The nepotism and insane priorities were pretty much on point.

No, not a great movie, but a few funny spots.

I agree about Left Behind. They had an opportunity to dispell myths and they went for the obvious. Painful to watch. I had a hard time finishing that one.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

Milkman said:


> Bingo
> 
> The nepotism and insane priorities were pretty much on point.
> 
> ...


it's junk to christians who know their bible, also. same with the passion of the Christ. they're not accurate, so any value they'd have to a believer is thrown right out the window.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

This movie became a bit of a buzz at work so I stopped reading this thread early on. I just watched it now. It was good. I liked the overall concept and aim. Not sure it fully hit the mark though. At first I thought it was pandemic related, then settled on the environment. We all know what we should do, but man we love our stuff. 
It was entertaining… I doubt the “Target Audience” would get it, or care.


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## mathil8 (Oct 6, 2018)

I was told by friends that it had them laughing out loud in parts. I just found it depressingly close to the truth haha.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

mathil8 said:


> I was told by friends that it had them laughing out loud in parts. I just found it depressingly close to the truth haha.


That it certainly was. As a piece of filmmaking, I'm not so sure it will hold up over time. But then I don't think that was the point of it. Much more of a news report of the present.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

do any of you dare to listen to an alternate perspective?


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## tdotrob (Feb 24, 2019)

I feel stupid. I read this thread a couple days ago and then again tonight and decided to check it out. I instantly realized it was the same dumb pos movie I found excruciatingly boring last night and didn’t put two and two together until I saw the 36 minutes remaining tag under the title in Netflix.

cure for insomnia that one.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

cheezyridr said:


> do any of you dare to listen to an alternate perspective?


Polite thing with an 11 min vid would be some cliff notes, a few bullet points’ summary. AKA, iyaint got time for that, but might be open to ideas.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

keto said:


> Polite thing with an 11 min vid would be some cliff notes, a few bullet points’ summary. AKA, iyaint got time for that, but might be open to ideas.


i guess he's assuming you saw the movie he made the video about. 

i can't say much one way or the other, i haven't seen it, only the trailer. i only watched that to be polite to a friend. 
i wouldn't watch a netflix movie made after last year, because of _cuties_. i don't support the sexualization of children.
i also don't watch things with jonah hill in them, because he's an asshole and i don't like him. i'm not a fan of meryl streep either. she's a good actor, but a typical clueless holloywood lefty. that's why i haven't commented on the movie in this thread. (prior to this) 
i only posted the video, to offer an alternative viewpoint. i watch this channel for his japan content, which is usually pretty good.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

cheezyridr said:


> i also don't watch things with jonah hill in them, because he's an asshole and i don't like him


ha! he's portrayed as such in the movie. talk about perfect typecasting. lol


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## mathil8 (Oct 6, 2018)

mhammer said:


> That it certainly was. As a piece of filmmaking, I'm not so sure it will hold up over time. But then I don't think that was the point of it. Much more of a news report of the present.


Yup. Overall I don't consider it a good film, really just like you said a news report of the present.


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