Don’t Look Up (2021)

Don’t Look Up: “McKay’s contempt for pop culture is frequently tiresome; he just doesn’t know how to let people enjoy things — even if it is their own destruction.” — Luke Goodsell, ABC News (Australia)

The Unforgivable: “Compressing a TV series down into cinema is the greatest crime here; The Unforgivable’s countless structural problems make that case without even trying.” — Andy Crump, Paste Magazine

Clifford the Big Red Dog: “My viewing experience was only enhanced by the child behind me, who is the film’s target demographic, yelling, ‘I don’t want to watch this! This is not a good movie!'” — Jonathon Sim, ComingSoon.net

Red Notice: “[H]its all the notes of an action blockbuster, but each note rings just a bit false. And as those false notes pile up, things get cacophonous…Red Notice might be a heist movie, but in the end, the most valuable thing stolen might be your time.” — Allen Adams, The Maine Edge

Last Shoot Out: “The genre cliches almost outnumber the bullets in this uninspired low-budget Western.” — Todd Jorgenson, Cinemalogue

Apex: “‘Apex’ should have been called ‘Nadir.'” — Tom Meek, Cambridge Day

I just watched “Don’t Look Up”. I’m glad I heard the mixed reviews because I went into it knowing that it’s not a comedy per se. It’s a humorous movie but ultimately a tragedy. I highly recommend it.

I read a review from Dave Winer a couple of days ago that convinced me to watch it despite the bad reviews. He said:

I didn’t watch a lot of movies this year, but my favorite, hands-down, was (of course) Don’t Look Up. It’s more than a movie, it’s an anthem, identifying the conclusion of our civilization one way or the other. We either overcome our need to be told simple bedtime stories and thus transform into something else, or we self-destruct. Either way, the past is not a template for the future. And they deliver the message in such an entertaining way! Maybe it’s the last fun movie our species will ever create? People who judge the movie on its ability to entertain alone are totally missing the point. We have not only hit the wall, but it destroyed us. Now it’s time to pick up the pieces, the best we can. As Dr Mindy says at the end, “We really did have everything.” Note the past tense, and it’s very true, in the movie and in our lives. The times of having everything is over. Now what can we salvage from the wreckage of our civilization?

When I came to bed afterward I was just reeling from the movie. It’s not about a meteor at all, and I think we’re already past the point of recovery, but ~~some people~~ most people don’t want to know.