Don’t Look Up (Netflix)

[Cornettoninja]

I watched this last night and can’t stop mulling it over.

It’s received mixed reviews but I loved it. Apparently it was written before the pandemic and was originally an allegory about global warming but they made edits based on recent times during the pandemic. Some of it hits quite close to home tbh.

This was a fantastic movie. I have no idea why the critics have given it such a mauling.

The consumer excess of Christmas has put it into stark relief for me personally.

@WallaceinAnderland

But if you take away the main context of any film it's going to seem a weaker plot. Climate change was at the heart of the film; to view it without that aspect is entirely missing the point. It's like saying Watership Down is a story about rabbits.

Not really. I saw it more about the politics and world is right now with regards to how America is portrayed, the way social media has a role to play and the way people believe what governments say, capitalist agendas etc. I never saw it main plot being about climate change until I came on here and people said it was an allegory to it.

[quote Frazzled2207]@Scrowy
It’s a good point
Actually in terms of the narrative I’d only give it a 7 out of 10. Mostly good but overlong and some parts, especially the Ariana grande bits, didn’t fit in that well.

But a 10 out of 10 for proving a political pint and also for provoking thought and (hopefully healthy and impactful) debate[/quote]
I thought the Ariana Grande parts were brilliant. They showed exactly how messed up society’s priorities are. We care more about mindless celebrities than anything else.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/29/climate-scientist-dont-look-up-madness

Already posted that article earlier in thread.

Climate scientists must find this film painful viewing. The bits he discusses about irreversible damage is scary, but films like this just demonstrates how it's inevitable due to inaction. It's why the film was/is needed.

I thought the Ariana grande bits were spot on and well done her for doing it. Look at the millions of followers (and that word is so apt) celebs have and how people fill their lives with that content. I thought it was in there to show how young people are filling their time. Contrasted with the short glimpses of one young woman on her own and then later lying on her bed, I assume dead? That was very brief but sad and fitting for the film.

Loved this film.

The references to Trump's idiocy were brilliant.

Thought all the actors were excellent except Mark Rylance.
What the heck was that voice about?!

I saw it more about the politics and world is right now with regards to how America is portrayed, the way social media has a role to play and the way people believe what governments say, capitalist agendas etc. I never saw it main plot being about climate change until I came on here and people said it was an allegory to it.

I guess you could still enjoy the movie based on that but when you realise that the comet is climate change it makes it so much more realistic and hard hitting.

@BaconAndAvocado

Loved this film.

The references to Trump's idiocy were brilliant.

Thought all the actors were excellent except Mark Rylance.
What the heck was that voice about?!

That voice was very Elon musk - have you ever heard one of his talks? Spookily soft spoken

Newgirls
Ah, that makes sense now!

Warmest ever NY. Happy effing new year.

Warmest ever NY.

And is anyone paying attention?

What are we as individuals supposed to do?! The majority scoff at Extinction Rebellion. Do the recycling / reusables / no flying / stop at 2 kids / contact mp. What more -are individuals to do? Those in power need to massively step up. Our whole system is based on buying stuff which is not sustainable and needs to change.

MrsT - well judging by this thread - sneering at people not “doing their bit/OBVIOUSLY realising meteor was metaphor” is as good as steering an international government-led task force.

I am amazed by the love for it here! I thought it was tedious and preachy and stupid.

I wanted to love it, honestly. But it wasn't quite zany enough to be funny and nowhere near realistic enough to be effective.

I think the biggest problem is that it portrays everyone as wilfully stupid, instead of the reality (which I think is closer to "stuck and terrified of change").

Firstly, the people behind the scenes aren't that stupid. Even Trump on his very worst days would have understood "big rock, huge bang, dead planet" very quickly. Huge groups of politicians voting behind the president aren't that stupid. The super-rich autistic geniuses running corporations out there aren't that stupid. Neither are their employees or boards. None of them would have come up with such a dumb plan or dumb back-up-plan.

Secondly, billions of people out there are not that stupid. It is not the case that one day all the ridiculous buffoons of the world will turn on their Trumps in horror and suddenly regret their wicked ways. Liberal, intelligent people need to stop telling themselves this fairytale this over and over again - it doesn't convert anyone and it doesn't solve the problem.

Climate change (unlike an asteroid) is not caused one simple thing and cannot be fixed with an action by a deadline. Tackling it will mean going back steps technologically, will mean supply chains changing vastly, will means everyone's lives being limited and a lot even being lost - it will look a lot like a massive step backwards. I'm not saying we shouldn't do (we should), but it's really easy to pontificate from a position of wealth and ease, when most people are just struggling to get to work, pay bills, eat, sleep, repeat, without all those things becoming more difficult and scarce and expensive.

The best movie analogy I could come up with myself would be some make-believe problem where everyone in the world is asked to shut the power off and stay put for just one month - and slowly it fails of course because a mum needs to heat up some water for formula for a baby, an OAP needs to put the heating on to not die, hungry families run out of tins and need to shop and so on. The big factories HAVE to keep going because the supply chain is getting damaged and causing huge problems and backlogs in hospitals and industry around the world (think of covid and the temporary impact that had!). And the scientists slowly watch the effort fail not because people are stupid but because we are all out to survive and we can generally only think short-term.

I don't know, just not this preachy irrelevant garbage!

Then again, I guess morality play movies work well as warnings anyway - we've had so many and the world plods on any way.

Not to mention that streaming movies is bad for the environment and they even made this one ridiculously long!

Anyway ... sorry, really long rant over ... this one really got to me

Well we need to make the changes too.
To go back to the 1950s, which I remember, we need to stop driving or only occasionally, stop buying stuff, live on mainly locally grown food.
So no new cars, get rid of the old, new new kitchens/fashion clothes/ gadgets /toys. Wear the same couple of outfits for a year at least. Heat one room of the house. Grow lots and lots of own veg. Not buy unnecessaries like flowers, exotic veg, not go abroad on hols except maybe by ship once in a blue moon, not run the washing machine daily. Not commute a distance.
Then once everyone is doing that - find jobs for all the people who were required to fly planes, drive trains, make products, work in energy business (as we need less of it), most of these would be in China. So maybe everyone gets an allowance for food. Or put them back to work in the fields maybe. Picking the veg. A bit like the Communist Revolution of 1949. (Did not end well)

If there were few companies producing stuff where would you put your stocks and shares that provide income from profits for pensions etc. No profits, no pensions.
So if there are few jobs we can reduce universities to a couple, reduce student numbers.
I know a large number of people have moved to the countryside and even have a few acres of land, thanks to Covid, but apart from that what plans do you have for this new not consumer driven society - it's a very well saying the Gov must do things but will you be happy to give up your job - unless you are nhs, police, civil servant. To seriously cut back on your stuff, cars etc.
I don't see much sign of this yet.

Watched this last night with DH. It seemed like an appropriate film to see in the New Year with.

We both thought it was brilliant (and we don't often agree on films) although DH did not pick up the climate change allegory until I pointed it out to him.

Didn't read the reviews first as I'd already seen quite a buzz about it on social media. But it really rang true to me - I've worked in the climate change sector for many years.

Utterly terrifying.

*I think the biggest problem is that it portrays everyone as wilfully stupid, instead of the reality (which I think is closer to "stuck and terrified of change").

Firstly, the people behind the scenes aren't that stupid. Even Trump on his very worst days would have understood "big rock, huge bang, dead planet" very quickly.*

I think it portrayed people as choosing to ignore the inevitable rather than wilfully stupid - which is what the vast majority of people do. And who knows what Trump would have done. If the film had shown a President asking on live tv if injecting disinfectant would kill a virus everyone would have thought that was too far-fetched!

But I agree it's easy to preach from a comfortable position and it's very difficult for individuals to do anything other than make small - seemingly insignificant - changes.

It needs leadership from governments and enforced restrictions but short termism will always win out.

Bold fail - my 1st 2 paragraphs are from Meteoric's post.

Really really stupid badly acted badly scripted film .

@Carriemac

Really really stupid badly acted badly scripted film .

Fully agree.

Waited till last night to watch it. I knew it probably was going to be a bit shite but it was truly terrible. And soooo long!

I really enjoyed it, was really thought provoking. The early scene of them wait and see so as not to ruin the Standing in the polls Must have been a later edition as it really echoed the early days of the pandemic and Trumps response.

Didn’t recognise Cate Blanchett till I saw her name in the end credits
When they turned the rockets around to use Mark Rylances unproven was very reminiscent of Elon Musk and the cave rescue. Though I think there was also a nod towards Zuckenberg and Jeff Bezos with the algorithms that know everything about you.

Took me a while to realise the LDC had grown up children, in a ‘normal’ Hollywood film his wife would have been Jennifer Lawrence and he’d have had 2 pre schoolers.

I didn’t pick up that Jonah Hill was the presidents son, but that makes sense in the context of Trump and Don Jnr and Ivanka.

It was alright I suppose. A total vanity project from what I can tell.

Though I think there was also a nod towards Zuckenberg and Jeff Bezos

A nod?! The references to all these talking points were so heavy they were like the comet hitting earth repeatedly. 😀

The Mark Rylance character was a masterful portrayal of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerburg and Jeff Bezos rolled into one.