No miren arriba

Two astronomers discover a massive comet heading towards Earth. The comet will wipe out mankind in six months' time if nothing is done about it. They manage to gain an audience with the US President, land on TV talk shows and have their story printed in the media but everyone seems to have other priorities.

On the surface a disaster movie in the vein of Armageddon or Deep Impact. However, it is not just that and is far better than that.

Written and directed by Adam McKay (The Big Short, Vice, The Other Guys, Anchorman), Don't Look Up is a funny, accurate examination of the warped priorities and agendas of the people who have the largest control over our lives. Politicians care more about how something will impact their polling numbers than saving mankind, the media cares more about finding something slanderous on a person than alerting people to imminent destruction, talk shows care more about sensationalism, the personal lives of vapid pop stars and on putting on a happy face than on news that actually matters to people, corporate opportunists who use even a planet-destroying disaster to make a profit and in so doing increase the danger (and how the politicians fall in line behind them).

It is all quite chillingly accurate and plausible: from experience you can relate to the misguided, self-absorbed agendas of these institutions and individuals and the powerlessness and irritation you feel in having to deal with them and their decisions.

It is so close to home that it sometimes makes the film irritating to watch: you'd rather not be reminded how incompetent, superficial, self-servicing and nefarious the government, media etc are, how they screw up your life on a regular basis and how likely it is that they will eventually wipe out mankind.

All this makes for a film that is one part hilariously funny and another part scarily serious and confronting. Unlike some other movies I did not find this mix of comedy and drama jarring. In fact, the humour helps point out the absurdity of it all.

By the way, keep watching until the very end. There's two scenes woven into/after the credits that are worth sticking around for.

I always like the prospect of a nice disaster film, but I was also intrigued by the fact that this film was labelled as a comedy. Thankfully, this worked rather well, and this film was anything but a disaster (in the metaphorical sense of whatever, you know what I mean!!!)

The cast shone beautifully. Leonardo Dicaprio played the role of a socially out of comfort zone scientist perfectly, Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep were equally as amazing, and I loved the fact that they sneaked Timothee Chalamet in there! But really, I think that Cate Blanchett's performance was the best, and she encapsulated that talk show host in a comedic way that really complimented the film.

Cinematography showed nothing remarkable, but I thought that editing was done rather amusingly, as just cutting to random scenes of random things showed the film's comedic nature.

The soundtrack was surprisingly complimentary: the upbeat jazz score reflected the frenetic, relentless storyline, and the comedic storyline. Writing was brilliant, and there were many jokes which made me laugh out loud, something that I don't often do with films!

Lighting: nothing worthy of comment.

Overall, a good mainstream audience comedy, but not really a filmsy film*. On the whole though, it was a good laugh!

*A film worthy of analysis. Technical term.

And boy is it funny, because it's true. But it's also sad because it's true.

Its got an idiot president, idiot media, idiot citizens and some very few smart people that must fell like they ended up in the planet of the apes. Its really accurate, scary accurate.

I don't this movie receives enough credit.

However Painful it was to watch, Don't Look Up is a very accurate representation of what the world has become. No matter how much I want to believe otherwise, still I think this is exactly how the planet will react to a similar situation. So, needless to say, I think the story was good :).

I also have nothing to say against the acting. Special effects was good. Music was also good. And, it was actually funny most of the time.

So what's missing? Why isn't this everyone's favorite movie? Maybe it's just too real! Maybe it's the mirror that shows us exactly how we are, and we just don't like it.

Overall, it was a good movie. Perhaps my favorite Netflix production yet!

"Don't Look Up" will divide audiences for a myriad of reasons, but personally, I found this to be a brilliant satire about the state of growing misinformation and the dangerous hypocrisies of this digital age.

It's chock full of unpleasant characters and unpleasant situations, and viewers need to go-into all of it with a coarse grain of salt. I suspect many detractors of the film might be those easily persuaded by misinformation, and those, who themselves, like to ignore science and tend-to grasp onto these social life-jackets - instead of heeding the poignant and important meaning of the film - they will focus on all the negatives.

The film is completely absurd, and it's supposed to be. The style, cast and absurdity just work together harmoniously. Everything about this ridiculous movie is probably not as far removed from reality as one might think. It is over-stylized, no doubt, but it's Running Man, Hunger Games, Total Recall disinformation-vibe rings true in today's world, and far sooner than many suspected. It's like Miracle Mile, Back to the Future 2, Deep Impact and This is the End, had a coma baby birthed-in the somber realities and fact-checks of Bright Lights Big City.

It's not perfect. The film would have benefitted from more family development, and a better soundtrack, but any low scores can be dismissed as those who took political offense and missed the point. Cast attacks can be dismissed as well - it's comedy not a drama. Don't expect The Color Purple or Bridges of Madison County here.

Good movie. Will surely find a top 25 spot for 2021. Love the extended credits. The film is clever and, imo, an important film.