Sunday, December 26, 2021

"Don't Look Up" tops streaming lists

Two days after its release to Netflix, Don't Look Up is the most-streamed movie in the world, according to Flix Patrol.  

It's great to see the film hitting the ground running. After so many tepid reviews from critics, the buzz seemed to take a pretty big hit. Now, it seems to be everywhere you look on social media. My husband and I watched it together last night. He doesn't really like most movies, but he was laughing regularly and thought it was "good."  Trust me, he wouldn't spare my feelings just because Meryl's in it. 

The positive audience reactions make me think this will do much better with televised awards bodies than it did with critics. I still don't think Meryl's going to make the cut for Supporting Actress, but Picture seems very realistic. I really hope the film snags that top nod, as it would make it three of the last five years that Meryl has been in a film nominated for Best Picture. 

We'll get more definitive numbers on the movies streaming performance in a couple days. Hope everyone had a good Christmas!

22 comments:

  1. You all fooled me to think Meryl just ok in it. I found her totally spot-on scary and hilarious. jason? Oh shit! And seriously this movie is global tranding! GLOBAL!

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    1. It's really surprised me how much people are talking about it. Everywhere.

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  2. A fantastic film. We loved every minute. The critics are wrong, which is no surprise, since their entire industry is pastiched in this film. All the cast are top notch!

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    1. Spot on, Michael! Happy New Year!

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    2. Oh BTW... me and my other half are planning to watch 'Don't Look Up' again in coming days. Can't wait. So much I wan to see again, particularly the Mark Rylance character's monologue about algorithms. Loving the surge of articles across the world, signalling the media forgiving itself and transitioning into fandom. It's hilarious and soooo 'Don't Look Up'. I wonder if some u-turns are on the cards for Oscar nomination day... too late for the Globes of course, but that's a global media bastion anyway. Suddenly, the field might be wide open???

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  3. I know Oscar means a lot to fans. But there is so much more that is more urgent and important than that. Please make an effort, after watching the film, to check those shared experiences from climate and pandemic flu scientists trending on twitter, and do something in the the real world. There is no need to argue with critics. "I'm grateful we tried" "We really had everything, didn't we" Thank you, Meryl!

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  5. I just watched the movie and have to agree with the comments here, the critics are wrong, I really enjoyed it and feel it's really being underrated.
    I hope it wins some of the awards it will be up for, as one in the eye to the critics, and gets a deserved BP nomination. Would be amazing if it won! (however unlikely).

    There was a lot going on and maybe it was a bit over ambitious but I thought it really hit a lot of the intended targets. I especially enjoyed the cut scenes of nature.

    Meryl was excellent but really wasn't given a lot to do, she really could have done that role in her sleep. I felt President Orlean needed one great scene where she gave a monologue to help us understand her better or give more dimension to her, but I guess that wouldn't have been in keeping with the tone they ultimately went for. The character remained a little 2D to be a great role, which is a pity.

    I've felt Jennifer Lawrence was a tad over-exposed and I haven't seen many of her movies, but she knocked my socks off in this. Leonardo was brilliant too, his character arc was unexpected. When he went off on the talk show.. that was impressive. The last supper was really well done too: "We really did have everything".

    Timothee (Yule) mumbled so much I could barely understand him, I did like his prayer though. Ariana was effective with her power song. Jonah Hill as Jason was suitably annoying.

    Mark Rylance (or rather his character) was too drawn out, eccentric and annoying. That characterisation could have been improved a lot. BASH sounded like sci-fi bullshit (however prescient it may be) and his scenes dragged.

    From the supporting cast I thought Cate Blanchett was superb as the smart seductress "Honestly I think I'd rather just drink and eh, talk shit about people", the writing for her was better than they gave Meryl.

    All in all I hope the viewers prove the critics wrong, I'm happily surprised.

    Sorry for the long post!

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    1. Please do not ever apologize for a long post! Great insights as usual, Charlie. I agree in regard to Meryl's performance being good, but that the character as written didn't really have that one amazing scene to really pack a punch. It just wasn't that type of film, I guess.

      Happy New Year to you and yours!

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    2. And to you Jeff, and your family. As always thank you so much for all the work and great insight you put into this site, it is still the best, long may it prosper

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  6. I think this is the first time since August Osage that her performance was badly received by the critics. And she appears in a few 'worst of 2021' lists which pains me. Here's one excerpt: Meryl Streep in "Don't Look Up"

    It's become easier and easier to bash Meryl Streep these days because she has become so hammy. She mimics real people rather than acts, which shows off her flawless technique, but she fails to imbue her characters with any heart. In her career, she has gone from great performances playing victims ("Sophie's Choice," "Silkwood") to bad performances playing bullies ("Doubt," and "August: Osage County.") ["The Devil Wears Prada," is a notable exception.]
    What is more, she also suffers from Florence Foster Jenkins syndrome — no one has the courage to tell her that she's bad. But La Streep is utterly unfunny in "Don't Look Up" playing the clueless President Orlean. (Perhaps after channeling Hillary in the ill-conceived remake of "The Manchurian Candidate," La Streep felt she had to play Trump?) Adam McKay's climate change satire was all over the place (which was one of its many problems), but Streep's broad playing tries too hard. Her performance is obnoxious, when only her character should be. President Orlean was all hair and accent and tramp stamp. Her dim-bulbishness, could have been comic, but La Streep didn't look like she was having any fun here (unlike her co-star Cate Blanchett). This is why her performance was bad. Playing an idiot president should have been shooting fish in a barrel, but the acclaimed actress shot the barrel, drained the water, and let the fish suffocate and die without actually hitting them.

    I'm sure she will emerge from this hammy stage in her career (the worst to me is The Prom) and do a drama that knocks the socks off. Fingers crossed. Happy new year everyone!

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    1. People have to try really hard to find something wrong. I'm biased of course, but I'm convinced that some critics have to get noticed however they can. Being hyperbolic is one way. And I also think it's nearly impossible these days to compare Streep to herself, rather than other performers.

      The suggestion that Streep's career can somehow be minimized down to two bookends of playing victims vs villains is pretty lame. And the whole "she's got great technique but doesn't imbue any heart" is extremely tired. Ask her fellow actors. Not only will they not simply "lie to her and say she's good," they all have very specific examples of what makes her and her performances so great, as recently as yes, Don't Look Up.

      All that said, I do believe the role makes a big difference. May favorite is Meryl in lead performances in dramas. Hopefully we see many more of those, starting in the near future.

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    2. I agree with you - like the NYTimes leaving Meryl out of the 50 greatest list only serves to create conversations rather than nailng down authenticity of their assessment. And it's hard for Meryl because we are all so used to her glances, her flourishes, her gestures and articulations so much so it's harder to be surprised unlike someone who's only been around for 10-15 years. Still, I do agree that she tends to lean to the hammy side by virtue of the role or her persona compared to her 80s performances where you won't find her hammy at all. Just saying.

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    4. I don't think Meryl is or has ever had a "hammy stage of her career". As expressed much more eloquently in the previous replies, some critics either expect a ground-shattering performance each time Meryl acts or they look for any excuse to tear her down. I bet the person who wrote that review would have called her "Prada" performance terrible too if so many other critics hadn't praised it to the hilt. This person has no originality and parrots easy criticisms, right down to the condescending "La Streep".

      Was President Orlean a memorable Streep performance? Not really. The writing/direction/editing didn't allow that, which is fine. It was effective.

      Was she perfectly in-keeping with the tone of the movie? I would say so.

      I must also add I think Meryl's performance in "Doubt" is underrated, as is the movie. Every time I watch the movie I find more to enjoy and it should have got a BP nomination, in my opinion.

      Venom for Meryl seemed to start around 2008/09 when she became a huge box office draw, I'm no expert but I guess she became an easy target.

      I'd also say that she was sensational as Madam Florence, terrific in "Let Them All Talk" and lovely in "Little Women". She's hardly in a down-turn.

      I will admit to being a bit naive and caring about critical acclaim but my eyes are more open now to what sheep a lot of critics are. Many of them echo what the more prominent people in their field say.

      Yes, some of her 80s performances are iconic and set the bar higher, but let's not pretend Meryl didn't do equally stunning work well beyond that.

      This being said, I am eagerly awaiting Meryl getting a role where she is front and centre of things and can try something new and really shine.
      "Nyad" and "The Good House", both discussed on this blog years ago, seemed like golden opportunities, but weren't to be. Maybe "Places, Please" won't happen either but Meryl is thankfully far from done.

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    5. Doupt, a bad performance mr. Anonymous? Are you insane? And what about Florence, The Post and Let them all talk in 3 years?

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  7. Mark Rylance gave the best supporting performance imo. He surprised me! And Meryl was good too

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