• modifier@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    Not as extreme as the case in the OP, but I’m often surprised how “meh” a reaction Don’t Look Up got. Maybe people think it was heavy handed? Too on the nose? I don’t know but most folks seem to think it was at best merely “okay”.

    For me, I place it next to Idiocracy as one of the most prescient films about what is in store for us. I think after this last election day, it seems even more prescient. On top of that, it is legitimately funny with really good performances, especially from Jennifer Lawrence.

    • Benjaben@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Yeah, in my case this one was too close to home for me to love it. 10 or 20 years ago I probably would’ve felt differently. Similar for Idiocracy, I don’t think I’d feel the same way about it if it came out today. Kinda chilling when I think about that, honestly.

    • Dragonstaff@leminal.space
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      2 months ago

      Yeah, I’d call it heavy handed. It felt like it was a message first. Not as bad as the Daily Wire stuff, but going down that road. Even if I agree with the message, it felt contrived.

      Just my two cents though.

      • kameecoding@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        That’s what I saw on reddit only for a week later to see someone argue that it’s not about climate change because it’s literally about a meteor.

        So there you go, you probably weren’t the target audience

        • affiliate@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          it makes sense to me. if the movie was supposed to be about climate change, why wouldn’t they make it about climate change?

          is that something people do? make a comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification?

      • ditty@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Agreed. It came across as preachy instead of entertaining, but it seemed like it was trying really hard to be entertaining.

    • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      I’ve gone over it again and again and again in my head and I still can’t make sense of it. He’s a three-star general. He works at the Pentagon. Why would he charge us for free snacks?

      This part had me absolutely rolling. I loved that movie.

    • shinratdr@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      It suffers from the “Reality is Unrealistic” trope. Seems so on the nose and heavy handed, yet is literally exactly how it would happen (and is arguably already happening).

    • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Being so on the nose, to me, is part of the joke.

      So obvious its blinding, and unrealistic. Just like reality lol.

      • modifier@lemmy.ca
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        2 months ago

        Spot on. This thread got me to rewatch it tonight and I gotta say, it hits even harder this close to the election. Almost painfully plausible.

        It’s not a true story, but it is a very high fidelity representation of reality.

    • dalekcaan@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      I couldn’t watch it, not because it wasn’t good but because I was constantly getting unbelievably depressed about how accurately it mirrors the world today. Every scene had me thinking “this would be funny if it wasn’t exactly how it would actually pan out.” I think it might be hilarious a few decades after this all blows over but right now it hits way too close to home.

      • MalReynolds@slrpnk.net
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        2 months ago

        Or, in the Homerian fashion, ‘It’s Funny Coz It’s True’, really not in some cases, but laughter may help some people cope. Agreed. I also hate prattfall comedy for similar reasons, empathy, self-reflection, rational fear, those things…

    • Taleya@aussie.zone
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      2 months ago

      I tried watching that. But the wilful idiocy and mocking scene at the start just invoked such a rage in me i knew i was gonna stroke out if i kept going

    • thepreciousboar@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      It’s one of the least forgettable movie I’ve seen in a while (it’s a good thing) and the concept is just so good because it’s idiotic but at the same time completely true

    • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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      2 months ago

      I just loved the pacing of Don’t Look Up so much. Just constant subversion of expectations that I really enjoyed

    • kameecoding@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      It’s been a long time I got as visceral of a feeling as I got when watching that film and Leo’s character’s meltdown as the impending doom is happening an noone seems to be giving a fuck