David Sirota's "Don't Look Up" Comedy Movie Starring Leo DiCaprio Hits A Little TOO CLOSE To Reality

[Rhiannon12866]

David Sirota discusses his new movie, "Don't Look Up."

[Ocelot II]

1. Just finished watching it.

It's pretty heavy-handed at times but some parts are very funny, in a really dark way. The president, a very Trumpish sort, is nicely played by Meryl Streep, but the funniest character is her son and chief of staff, who is a hilariously heinous combination of Don Jr. and Jared Kushner.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. I'm about a half hour in,

and I find DeCaprio's totally panic stricken at all times persona to be utterly at odds with what I know of astronomers. I frequently reference My Son The Astronomer here, and trust me, astronomers are not as totally incoherent as Dr. Mindy appears to be. For one thing, an astronomer who is teaching, like Mindy, is going to be good at explaining astronomy stuff in reasonably simple terms. I constantly ask My Son The Astronomer questions about astronomy, and he can almost always answer those questions intelligibly and intelligently. Sometimes, he'll pause, and then say, "It's complicated." Depending on what I've just asked, I may say, "Never mind" other times I'll say, "Try me." Okay, so he's never discovered an asteroid that will destroy all life on this planet, but still. I'm finding Mindy's constant panic attack to be annoying, stupid, and not believable.

Astronomers are, in my experience, the most down-to-earth people ever. Many have an excellent sense of humor. To get a taste of that, read either of Paul Sutter's two books: How to Die in Space or Your Place in the Universe.

[Ocelot II]

4. It's satire. The movie wouldn't worked if they'd used a character like Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

The whole point was that these were a couple of astronomers from a non-Ivy League university that nobody was going to take seriously no matter what they said. Mindy was less panic-stricken when he started hooking up with the tv personality, which was another aspect of the satirical premise - he started to believe that Big Lie even though he knew better.

And you don't know how even a rational, coherent astronomer would behave if confronted with a comet that was for sure going to destroy the earth.

But anyhow, it's satire. Try to enjoy the humor instead of trying to find scrupulous realism.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. The astronomers I know are incredibly rational.

Plus, to get to where Mindy is, he'd have been giving presentations and papers at conferences a lot. So he wouldn't hyperventilate all the time.

I know, it's supposed to be satire, and I can't begin at this point to figure out how it will end ("It was all a dream?&quot

[Ocelot II]

7. Keep watching.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. I have. It is getting better.

[mnhtnbb]

3. Watched it last night

and really enjoyed it.

This is really a good review, imo.

https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/dont-look-up-review/

[nuxvomica]

5. Well-done COVID allegory

A nice touch is the frequent random shots of scenes from around the world, mostly of nature, as a reminder of what would be lost. The initial interview on the TV show, with the incredibly dense hosts played by Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry, would have seemed unreal and over-the-top prior to COVID. Now it seems all too realistic.

[mountain grammy]

9. High anxiety for me

Very good. I think even NDT would lose his shit if an extinction level event was eminent and he had to deal with the incompetence depicted here or in the last administration for that matter. This is an inside look into a piece of what Fauci faced.
Good movie but high anxiety for me. All too real.

[Ilsa]

10. I loved it, and will watch it again in case

I missed any subtle jokes the first time.Great acting ensemble.