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Don't Look Up
USA 2021
produced by Adam McKay, Kevin J. Messick, Jeff G. Waxman (executive) for Hyperobject Industries, Bluegrass Films/Netflix
directed by Adam McKay
starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Himesh Patel, Melanie Lynskey, Michael Chiklis, Tomer Sisley, Paul Guilfoyle, Robert Joy, Jack Alberts, Ting, Lance A. Williams, Shimali De Silva, Hettienne Park, Rafael Silva, Lonnie Farmer, Homa Sarabi-Daunais, Barbara Douglass, Rena Maliszewski, Erik Parillo, Robert Radochia, Conor Sweeney, Ross Partridge, Richard Donelly, Liev Schreiber, Samsara Leela Yett, Meara Mahoney-Gross, Jaden Onwuakor, Staci Roberts Steele, Wendy Bellevue, Mikhail Yarovoy, Chris Everett, Annette Miller, Stephen Thorne, Aimee Doherty, Natalie Rebenkoff, Gary Tanguay, Georgia Lyman, Patricia Dehaney, Ben Sidell, Therese Plaehn, Omar Ghonim, Jody O'Neil, Meghan Leathers, Ashleigh Banfield, Sarah Silverman, Richard Snee, Darryl Wooten, Danielle Waxman, Jeffrey Smith, Jon Glaser, Dorothy Dwyer, Odis Spencer, Sarah Nolen, Alvin Keith, Alaina Pinto, Lizzie Short, Juri Love, Sujoy De, Brahms Guignard, Sergei Bushmanov, Lewis D. Wheeler, Steve Gagliastro, David J. Curtis, Kevin Craig West, Alison Weller, Rob Lévesque, Sam Zephir, Dee Nelson, Beau Allen, Rebecca Gibel, Brian Faherty, Celeste Oliva, Amanda Cass, Roman Mitichyan, Paul Marini, Alex Huynh, Michael Jibrin, Bill Mootos, Patti Tippo, Allyn Burrows, Tori Davis Lawlor, Joy Lang, June Holmes, Graham Holmes, Jacob Sanditen, Anthony Marrese, Caroline Bergwall, Anania Williams, Nate Richman
story by Adam McKay, David Sirota, screenplay by Adam McKay, music by Nicholas Britell, visual effects by Framestore, Scanline VFX, Instinctual VFX, Lola Visual Effects
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Rather by chance, astronomy student Kate (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers
a comet headed directly for earth, big enough that his impact would
destroy the entire planet in half a year's time. So she and her mentor,
Dr. Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) contact the proper authorities to warn of
the impact, and they eventually even get to talk to the president (Meryl
Streep) - but the president is more worried about the midterms than the
destruction of the planet, advises everyone to sit tight, and classifies
the information. Rather shocked by the reaction of the president, Kate and
Dr. Mindy decide to take the story to the media, but on Jack (Tyler Perry)
and Brie's (Cate Blanchett) morning show they don't really get their
message across, especially since Kate has a fit of rage and comes across
as not likeable enough for the light-hearted show. Dr. Mindy on the other
hand soon has an affair with Brie and becomes a regular on the program,
even if what he says is invariably watered down - after all, it's just
science and not as entertaining as the break-up and reconciliation of a
celebrity couple (Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi). Thing is, eventually the comet
can be seen in the skies, and is too big to be ignored. So it's decided to
send up a fleet of explosives accompanied by an all-American hero (Ron
Perlman) up to destroy the thing - not that the explosives wouldn't have
found their target by remote, but desparate times need a hero. But at
pretty much the last second the mission is aborted, as the comet is rich
on minerals, and IT businessking Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance) wants to
mine it to no longer be dependent on the Chinese. And since he's a party
donor, the president prefers to listen to him rather than science. And for
a layman, his plan sounds sound, as his mining operation would slowly cut
the comet into smaller pieces that pose no threat to the earth. Thing is,
for this operation to work as more than a promotional stunt, it needs a
shitload of science - but upon Isherwell's suggestion, the president has
fired all scientific advisors, just to not endanger the mission's schedule
and lose face. And since attempts of other countries to destroy the comet
have been sabotaged to not endanger the mining mission, an escape ship
with cryogenic chambers to another earth-like planet becomes the only
option - for the rich and powerful ... In many aspects, this
movie hits its marks bulls eye, as in when it comes to the inability of
humankind as such to actually solve problems, and how politics and big
business get into the way of everything, and the weird role the media has
come to play in this circus. And while this might sound lofty, the film
sure has its laugh-out-loud moments as well, and actually many of them.
And Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence make very relatable leads,
playing it straight in front of a canvas of madness. What's a little bit
grating is that the film just tries to reach too far, tries to cram too
much into its already overlong running time, and could have done with a
smaller but more assessable scale. And it could have done without its
conciliatory finale for its leads that really go the route of melodrama.
But that said, this is still a very entertaining piece of satire with
elements of disaster cinema - maybe not a perfect film, but a very
enjoyable one still.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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