Best line that hits home the most to me was DiCaprio saying “ we really did have everything .” at the end sitting around the dinner table with everyone .
It’s a prefect reflection of how he feels. Speaking in past tense already shows him reflecting on his entire life before his final moments out loud. Does an incredible job to encapsulate that in one small line
This was over the top, and I can see how that could turn people off. I really enjoyed this, but I don’t think anything this exaggerated can actually have any impact on people’s judgement. If you think this isn’t an absolutely absurdist approach to satire then you’re not thinking straight, however there still is truth in the film
@@stupididiot6993 that's my point. there's no such thing as an absurdist approach to satire anymore. the people this movie is sending up have made satire redundant
@@stupididiot6993 if anything it was too realistic to be funny. My other half couldn't watch it because she found it depressing in it's accuracy. Some of the comments about the film sound as if they could have been in the film. "Thanks for the warning about the end of the world but I just think the editing could have been better" etc. It's holding a mirror up to us and saying "look at us, look at what we're doing". And I did laugh but I also found elements of it depressing because it's true.
For the first 2/3rds, yeah. The second half is the good people, the people that tried to help, just getting together for a final dinner before the end of the world. I don't get the reviews that outright hate it.
@@AhsanShere the people who hated it are the one made fun of in that movie. They see the parallels (they aren't THAT dumb) but they don't think of themselves negatively in the same way the movie sees them. It's a reflection of the current political climate surrounding COVID-19/global warming.
I didn’t expect to like this film. Thought it would go Mars Attacks! route of sheer ridiculousness. It never did however. Everytime it got close to ridiculous it grounded itself back in reality. It played this fine line of comedy and tragedy and delivered these chillingly real portraits of society and humanity without ever getting preachy. Imo it’s a masterpiece.
This wasn't a comedy, but rather a satirical tragedy. And I mean it in the best way. It wants to make you think first and making you laugh is secondary. I think that this was one of the best movies I have ever seen, it was surprisingly grounded and the satire sometimes hits a bit to close to home, so close that I could feasibly imagine governments acting in such a way, even in an event of such magnitude. The film is like a warning: never forget that governments and companies are made out of people that each have their own agendas, they would like you to look down, cause looking up would mean that you see them for what they are. Know what you are facing, but take your time to take joy in doing things that feel authentic to you, and accept that there are things you can't change. At least that is what I got out of it.
I saw it yesterday. It hit home very powerfully. It’s unfortunately very believable in almost every way. I wish I could say otherwise. We have done a long way in the wrong direction.
I’m so surprised people are so impacted by it. It doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. “The worlds gonna end and nobody listens to science” I can watch any late night show and that’s the butt on 1/2 the jokes. The movie felt cynical and empty for the most part although I agree the ending had a sweet message… but it kind of felt like an extra thing they added it wasn’t really built into the story itself.
Yeah, Ben Affleck’s audio commentary on that movie is pretty interesting. There’s another part where he talks about almost suffocating to death in his space suit and trying to smash the visor open with a rock.
'It is exactly what you expect it to be, and that was fine with me.' Yep, pretty much my thoughts exactly. Not exactly groundbreaking satire, but I almost feel like that's reality's fault rather than the film's - our society is screwing itself in such predictable, obvious ways that any relevant satire is also gonna be kind of predictable and obvious.
I unexpectedly loved it. Actually watched it twice! My only big issue is Jennifer Lawrence's character is badly underwritten - no character arc - she is the same at the end as she was in the beginning. There was that one smack in the face second at her parents house, but it was literally a few seconds and we never saw how it affected her. I assume she loved her parents from her comment when she arrived at their house, but she never mentioned them again and they never even crossed her mind near the end. There was also the opportunity to show us how a young woman at the start of her adult life would feel differently than a late middle aged married man with 2 grown kids. One moment of her realizing all she would never get to experience would have gone a long way. Lots of wasted options to give her character a growth arc and make us really care and be invested in her character
But isn't that the point of her character? She's steadfast and doesn't stand bullshizz. Leo's character, "gives in" to what's going on in terms of his newly found appeal. Her character - despite getting dragged - doesn't waiver. Her discovery & everything she's said will happen, happens. I took her character to be an example of how being right, can be tough, can get you derided, but ultimately - you're still right. As thankless and as unglamorous as that can be.
"My only big issue is Jennifer Lawrence's character is badly underwritten - no character arc - she is the same at the end as she was in the beginning" This does occasionally happen in real life - it may seem unfulfilling as an audience to an entertainment piece but "no arc" basically describes much of my life and that of many people I have known during it.
She deals with it all by smoking weed. In fact Jennifer Lawrence had to be high for every scene. Her character has reason to self medicate and that is what is shown. She doesn't change with the wind so to speak or join in the cognitive dissonance. The memes didn't make her back down.
The film duration is 2 hours and 25 minutes, and it's getting very mixed reviews. I have to wonder if they might have made a tighter comedy film if they made it closer to 90 minutes, rather than slightly longer than 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Saw "Don't Look Up" today. It didn't feel long at all. Actually, I have a feeling that it was cut very tight, to the point where I wish that the movie would either be longer or that some plot lines were cut entirely to make more room for others.
It suspect it rather depends if you like the style (as per my other remarks I didn't - I had zero interest in the singer subplot so they could have saved 10 minutes just by cutting that) and despite, or perhaps because of, the fact I've watched many hours of *real* NASA coverage, I found all the launch sequences and failures quite tedious - probably because my brain was constantly picking holes in how unrealistic it all was, or how they'd had to dumb all that down as well for a mainstream audience. I think it's very difficult to win an audience back if you lose them early on - I'd pretty much made up my mind once they reached the first scene with the president and it was clear how the tone of the rest of it was going to be. It may have been my fault for *not* watching a trailer first. "Seeking a friend for the end of the world" was much more my kind of humor.
@@garethwynn01 I don't think you realise how much Western cultural propaganda you have absorbed. This is all this film amounts to but you don't even recognise it which is sad but not surprising. No question that you are doomed but it's just not for the reasons you think.
It’s astonishing Mark derides filmmakers for having little discipline and letting unfunny scenes ramble forever, and not knock McKay for doing the exact same thing. “Don’t Look Up” isn’t without one or two laughs, but at 2.5hrs, it’s like a middling SNL sketch stretched within an inch of its life.
@@elqord.1118 I'm so glad you asked! I was wating for a question like this since day 1. I didnt know what to expect....but after watching it, it ticked all the boxes that I wanted tcked if I were to expect those requirements from a film.
It's unbelievable to me when critics will say this movie is too "on the nose" ... Uhm when has satire EVER been subtle? Have these critics not seen movies like Dr. Strangelove? Fair enough, it's an older movie, but surely if you're a critic you've seen it, if not at least some other satires like Brazil, or even the recent "Sorry to Bother You" ... Satire has always been extremely on the nose or "preachy" as some might say, so I'm sorry, but it is not a valid criticism to say that a satire is too "on the nose", that's the whole point.
I particularly loved the way the film satirizes social media culture. I can imagine many people watching this film then going back to their vapid social media consumption not having learned a thing from the movie
It is as serious as that. I am from previous generation and I am horrified of what I see today. We do not need a comet to go extinct, we are doing a good job ourself
Good point, i stopped using Twitter and Facebook a few years back, Twitters for shouting at strangers but facebook was just dull, decided to try keeping in touch the old fashioned way rather than via the pc. The thing is i found i don't really miss either, defo felt more chilled out after letting twitter go. Watched a documentary by David Baddiel recently (you'd prob know him if you're from the UK) but it essentially boiled down to the algorithms these sites use leads you down the path of getting and keeping you angry so you continue to engage, keeps the tweets coming
I feel like it’s aimed at the people who already hate all that stuff and the effects of it so I can’t see it having an effect on the culprits themselves
Cate Blanchett had those ridiculous veneers glowing in the dark too! It's a nice touch. Also loved the fact that Meryl Streep was super made up and sexy, just like the majority of republican ladies in politics or in the media. I was 90% sure DiCaprio was trying to imitate Leonard from Big Bang Theory with his voice, but in the scenes where he had to shout, those intonations and nasal quality were totally gone. However it's really hard to believe that an oscar winner could use a mediocre sitcom for the character building. Ron Perlman deserves a special mention, he was hysterical even though his scenes were so brief. Can't wait to rewatch them. I wonder why no one is mentioning those visual glitches in the final scenes during the dinner, when video would sort of freeze up and the color correction would change a bit. Pretty sure these were not just some issues with the projector at our cinema. It felt very Twin Peaks-like and quite unexpected.
The freezing was definitely intentional, Adam McKay has done that before in his movies. But yeah I don't really know why he did it so out of the blue at the end of the movie.
@@CallMehXiLe You're right. Unfortunately, they didn't use any other way to portray it either. Clunky, poorly timed and delivered 'jokes', unrefined witless satire, and overacted. So I disagree with your disagreement. Merry Christmas.
Its about climate and ecological Breakdown. As a an advocate of climate action for some 40 years, I found it deeply depressing and true. Climate breakdown is a planet killer. Good luck, we're all going to need it. Happy New year.
Realistically speaking, the planet & life will do fine for quite a while. However humanity is firing itself in the foot & bringing down many animals with them. Several bacteria are already evolving, independently at landfills all over the world, to break down some toys of plastics for energy. But we are polluting the planet with far more than plastics. 😕
@@borismuller86 most of them predicted a new ice age until 1979 then changed their minds. The truth is they have no clue which way the climate will go.
I love Leo and Jen, and was looking forward to this film, but if this is what 'comedy' and 'satire' has become, then I'm very much out. I really didn't find it funny at all . . . so I'm confused as to why it has been so well received? It's nothing new, and we all know this is how politicians, business people, and people in power behave, so nothing cuts deep enough to have any kind of impact (no pun intended) I don't need the equivalent of a flashing neon sign telling me to 'laugh now' and 'this is the punchline' etc. The tone of the movie was very confused. Either go for subtlety, or out and out absurd slapstick with comedic actors, which is weird because Jen is naturally funny, and Leo has also had his moments.
Did people actually like this film? I found it so obnoxious and it was very clear exactly what the film was going for early on. It felt heavy handed with an editing style that I just hated, and not once was I able to laugh during the film: it screamed of trying to be funny without exactly being sure of how to do it. But hey, that's just my opinion
I really enjoyed it, it was funny and the satire was on point. The ending was funny and surprising (and, OMG, they allowed nudity! Lol). I thought Mark Rylance's character was very good, and I could absolutely believe with the way that the government and big business twisted everything.
I enjoyed and was terrified by this film in equal measure and it’s not about a comet (or shark). It had climate change written all over it. For me it’s essential viewing.
Idiocracy had a hint of optimism that this movie lacked, and that's actually why I prefer Don't Look Up. Idiocracy was the movie of its time, Don't Look Up is what we need today.
Solid in my opinion but not groundbreaking. Some gags were hilarious and very on point with current social and political climate, some kind of went over the top (where they became not funny). Certain plot points had me thinking if its a reality we could really face, and if the actions of those in charge could be that naive, careless and greedy. I got what the movie what trying to do, just not sure it was executed in the best possible way. Overall I enjoy a dark satirical comedy, and this certainly fits that bill.
Couldn't get into at all. I understand the satire and message but it was just too long and over done. Yup Social Media manipulation, government selfishness etc etc. Too long. The dialogue also grated on my ears. I stuck with it to the end but it was a tough watch.
@@wpracy before this pandemic I would have said it strains the boundaries of credulity, but after seeing the cast of characters in real life, this movie seems frighteningly accurate. Wind the clock back a few short years - would you ever believe a Sean Spicer or Marjorie Taylor Green could ever exist *outside* of Hollywood satire?!?
The film thinks it’s a modern Dr Strangelove, this time about man-made global warming rather than nuclear war. Unfortunately, it isn’t. Maybe a comet is a bad analogy for man-made global warming. That’s part of it. Another problem is, the satire rarely lands on target. A couple of examples: 1) Mark Rylance’s character is meant to ridicule the Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur type, and function as an update on Peter Sellers’ Dr Strangelove. Strangelove was a parody of Werner von Braun; not super accurate, but easily recognisable to the audience as a former Nazi scientist now working for Uncle Sam. I couldn’t place Rylance as being even vaguely like Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey, Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, all of whom should be easy to send up. Mike Judge has done it well, for instance. This character seemed closer to Peter Weyland in the Alien Prometheus movies than any real tech billionaire. 2) For a film filled with A-list actors, the script seemed incredibly coy about attacking A-list actors, who will preach about global warming while flying across the world in private jets. There’s one actor character who’s supposedly made a disaster movie cash-in, but he’s so generic as to be unrecognisable. They really needed Trey Parker or Ricky Gervais in the script room on this.
At the 3/4 of the movie there some like "trust in science" and "no scientific review needed", if you can't see the similarities, it's already too late :)
I'm shocked that a film like this can come out with a cast like that and have almost no publicity (at least from what I've seen) I'm intreagued by the premise. We need more satirical movies in the style of Dr. Strangelove, and having not seen the film yet I hope it goes for that style
I've seen a good amount of publicity, though only within film communities. Then again I get the impression this isn't one where a studio has paid vast amounts of money for big names to market their films but rather a stylised director who has a good reputation has been able to find a lot of well known actors who want to work with him, similar to Wes Anderson and his films which have huge casts but aren't massive blockbusters.
Not at all what I expected it to be. The comedy in this movie was fantastic. The all star cast label was subverted because these characters felt scarily real and ridiculous at the same time. This film’s writing blows me away. I enjoyed both the futility of what was portrayed from our society and world. Although there is obvious political messages. They work thru the lens of this film’s satire. It doesn’t get too preachy and everyone is the bud of the joke. Definitely not what to be expected
Brilliant movie! Just show how dumb we are... it's incredible when you think that 7 billion brilliant brains can't resolve the most basic problems...the key is exactly that! We should find a way to connect all this brain power towards finding solutions to our problems. And it's so simple....
7 billion? Even among those that are properly fed there is only a small percentage that are truly brilliant, and small percentage that are significantly under average, and the largest percentage of the population are just hovering at plus or minus 10% of average intelligence. That's those who have been fed adequately from birth. Those who have faced food and water shortages iin their childhoods likely never gained gained full brain growth/development - it's not a racist judgement, it's an economic judgement.
We're just base animals trying to survive in our own tiny bubbles. No more than microscopic parasites, blindly gobbling until our host is consumed. All life is naturally selfish and we are deluded to think we are a higher form.
I think the polarised viewpoints in all the comments here, illustrate the film’s intentions perfectly! Yes, we are all going to react and interpret it differently - that’s a given, but when posters start hurling judgement and insults at other posters, it proves one of the film’s main points. For me, the bit where Mark Rylance’s Jobs/Zuckerberg/Bezos/Musk dangerously powerful tech nerd comes up with the monetisation concept was a stroke of bonkers genius! Utterly ridiculous, but I can absolutely imagine one these types coming up with the idea, because for all the amazing things Human Beings are capable of, sadly selfishness, tribal mentality, greed for power and/or material wealth will always be Humanity’s intrinsic failings! I’ll liken it to Charlie Brooker’s “Death to...” annual events, but far less caustic.
I think the problem with this movie is it focuses so much on pushing a particular message into the audience’s head, a platitudinous one at that, that it forgets to fully develop its characters and give them and the environment a lot of nuances. I never felt that the film had a whole lot of nuances. Instead, the movie just comes off as pretty rushed, with its sole aim being “make sure the people watching this get the message”. The two leads, DiCaprio and Lawrence, weren’t incredibly captivating or full of depth. Even though the film pretends to be something deep, it actually plays it safe at certain points. I believe that not much was done with Lawrence’s character. She’s the one who noticed the comet and is, I guess, the moral center of the film but doesn’t really have much else going for her. DiCaprio’s character could’ve been something incredibly interesting. We knew that he wanted admiration from the start based off how he interacted with people. When he finally got the attention, he turned into a sellout, a pawn that was used by the government and the media. However, the film tries to turn his character around near the third act and give him closure, even though he didn’t really deserve it. The political ideas of the film aren’t really bad, but it’s execution and technical aspects aren’t anything special. It could’ve commented on the core of our “stupidity” and touched on many deep aspects of life and ideas, but instead, the effort seems kind of superficial. If you want to watch satirical content that does a better job at commenting on global warming, watch It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
I completely agree. Not to mention, the message isn't anything new or unique either - it just felt like the movie was trying to drill in my head most things I pretty much already knew
Welp he's convinced me. Gonna go see this one with my mom. (We loved The Big Short) the trailer seemed painfully unfunny but Just Kermode describing the film already had me in stitches.
No one mentions that Mark Rylance is obvi playing around a Bidan character as Peter Isherwell (In one scene he takes a big pervy sniff of a lady's hair), but instead Streep is defio playing a Trump character because she's so awful. V funny.
This movie is stressful because it accurately portrays the ridiculous American society we live in today. You and I are both idiots. Stupid TV shows, dumb social media people, stupid government at the mercy of sponsors, tech companies that control everything with money, Hollywood and celebrity singers who turn the destruction of the world into money. It's a great movie, all made of satire and irony.
Wanted to like it...I like McKay's work in general, but it really was what many of the critics say: It was so unsubtle and hammers the audience over the head with the most obvious, smug, time-worn ideas. It might have had some resonance 5 years ago, but now it's just ham-handed and not very clever.
Perfect Christmas Eve morning experience, I was looking forward to this and it did not disappoint. Broad beyond belief but still on point in almost every aspect, I especially appreciated JL's characters initial reaction by hitting the cannabis alprazolam - far too relatable.
because the movie is not made for the love of the artform but as a vehicle for a bunch of rich celebs to pat themselves on the back for what good people they are
@@lt3880 That is complete nonsense. That is just the conclusion you’ve come to. The director and the company funding the project decide this. The director casts the actors he\she wants for the roles and the bigger the production company producing the movie the bigger actors they can get involved if that is what the director wants.
@@dejjibd424 this is a meaningless statement. "the people in charge of the project decide who can be a part of the project" yeah no shit. this says nothing of the mechanisms of big studios whos aims are simply to make as much money as possible. none of these people care about climate change or any other world threatening catastrophe. they recognise what has been obvious for years now, which is that simply having a brand image of environmentally friendly good guys can be big business regardless of the material impact you actually have.
The fact that MK doesn't forensically dissect DLU the way he normally does says a lot about it's gravitas. It isn't a bad film, but it isn't as poignant as it proclaims to be either considering the theme. It has it's moments, but you just feel It could have been done so much better had it focused more on the script and not relied so heavily on it's star studded cast.
@@vicfleming1814 Agreed. Instead of waisting money on movies like this they should just make more Marvel and Star Wars. So sick of movies that aren't Marvel.
@@nelsonstewart5999 was talking about more about Christopher Nolan, James Cameron movies. Movies that you come away with ur mind absolutely blown. But sure marvel is cool and can be good when it’s not extremely predictable
This is up there with robocop satire and so on point. Also both decaprio and Lawrence both crumbling and hysterical at different points in the movie really was funny.
The message was well delivered, but other than that it was a dud. Awful attempt at humour, devoid of wit. Idle dialogue. How does this movie have so many beaming reviews??
I didn't feel anything for any of these characters, maybe that was the point, but they all were like walking parodies. Only actor that maybe had funny lines or maybe just matched his character is Jonah Hill, I liked scenes with him even though he played an asshole. I'm surprised that I hadn"t followed this director but I enjoyed two of his movies - Big Short and Vice - they had if not sympathetic, atleast a charismatic characters that are fun to look at. In this movie everyone is kinda bland, whiny, bad, but in pitiful way. Movie also has some weird tone or operator work when characters talk straight into the camera what makes them look like amateurs while the movie has star filled cast.
I thought it was really good, there was that one scene where DiCaprio has the Big Speech where I literally thought they were going to have him turn to the camera and address the audience directly at one point but otherwise I think it struck the balance of being a super obvious allegory without being *too* preachy quite well
@@Mr3Machine it’s from Adam McKay, who made a comedy with a script for two grown men talking and acting as if they are 12 and people think it’s a genius comedy. And by people I mean Americans 😂
I think - it could have been funny if the actors had any kind of timing. I also, unfortunately, dislike the majority of actors involved in this. I shouldnt hate the movie because of them but I do. I found this painful viewing.
I just watched it and thought it was pretty good, but overlong and the satire hits at point I understand Mark’s a liberal (my criticism of him comes from farther left than he is, as opposed to the right-wing ghouls who normally go after him), which is usually whatever, but I think him not being able to divorce his own position from the art hindered how he may have seen the film, but it’s clearly a criticism of the partisan, voyeuristic, cynically optimistic, and corporatist public, of which we’re all a part of, yet Mark has the overly-simplistic reading of it being a satire of the American right. I mean, the film DOES fairly satirise that side too, but Cate Blanchett’s character isn’t a satire of Fox hosts like Mark states; she’s a part of the pop culture poison of news in general I think Mark’s liberal-centrist position of only able to read critiques of the right is honestly starting to hurt him as a critic of films
gotta say sir that this is the best review i’ve ever heard so far. people are disappointed that the comedy was not done very well because the jokes don’t land or the things being satiricized have already happened so it’s not funny anymore. and although i agree that to some extent, the film failed as a comedy all throughout, it didn’t make it any less of a film because of it. maybe just watch the film with an “it is what it is” attitude instead of looking at it through the lens of satire or comedy and judging it based on the criteria of what makes for a really good satire/comedy. tl;dr the film is what it is
Reminds me of Wag The Dog. A film that's very hard to find. It's not a comedy, it's a satire. But the satire is so close to the bone that it wanders into 'Uncomfortable Laugh' territory for me. Because this is what has been recently happening. And I see no change on the horizon.
I hope everyone in this comment section knows that an actual comet is headed directly towards earth right? Like, a dead serious , could possibly be catastrophic event? It's not a "planet killer" sized comet but it's guaranteed to wipe out surrounding coast lines? This movie is so on point with dumb every is until it's too late..
Coudn't finish it and I get to the end of every movie. Was it written by a disillusioned teenager? Idiocracy played straight except they couldn't stay on course. Another netflix bore.
I also thought it seems like the kind of thing a cynical teenager would come up with. The kind that thinks they have more insight than adults, but don't realise just how cliched and obvious their thoughts are.
It was Affleck but did Mark just call Meryl 'Muriel'? I like Mark's analysis even if when I don't agree but his pronunciation choices baffle me. Is it a specific British accent?
@@keirbourne5323 Thanks but I'm still confused by Mark like his pronunciation of Adam McKay as Adam McEye right at the start. I've asked before if it's a regional dialect but he must think I am trolling. Last time I asked about him saying Pay-tently instead of Patently. Do people in England say Pay-tently? I dated a Welsh girl, befriended several Brits and have visited the UK a few times and never heard some of his pronunciation choices.
@@heirrose1606 McKay can be pronounced either way in the UK. McKay is a variation of "McCoy" so naturally it should sound more like how Mark pronounces it. But both are valid. As for "patently" - how else would you pronounce it other than pay-tent-lee? (Genuine question)
Liked the film...didn't love it despite some great acting performances. My biggest bugbear were the huge holes in the plot. For eg...when the US President ignored them why didn't DeCaprio and Lawrence reach out to the scientific community abroad so other govts could have been warned?
@@pitnf8036 that was right at the end...and only because the US cut them, China and India out of the mineral deal. I'm talking more right from the start - maybe the US public didn't take any notice but I'm sure other countries press would have.
@@randyschwaggins but not all countries have resources or equipment to do such a thing. If China, India, USA, Russia can't do it. Maybe European space agency but still
It was just so damn boring. Didn't realise it was at the top of the Top 10 when I put it on - unfortunate since that's usually a great metric of what I don't want to watch.
Had no idea what to expect and went in without knowing anything (hadn't read a word of hype) I really enjoyed it! Dark, savvy "satire", kind of like the film Network on steroids.