It was announced yesterday that Don't Look Up has been awarded the Humanitas Prize for Comedy Feature Film. Since 1973, the prize has been awarded "to empower television and film writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced, meaningful way." Other winners this year include TV series Black-ish, limited series Pachinko, and animated film Encanto. The award includes a cash prize to the winners' writers (Adam McKay in this case for Don't Look Up).
I've mentioned this before, but it's been nice that despite not being a critical darling last year, Don't Look Up has sort of created a nice little legacy for itself already. It's one of the best-performing films on Netflix in history, and it continues to be recognized for its allegorical message on the perils of climate change. I'm here for it. And it seems the type of thing Meryl is really passionate about. Makes me even more interested to see how Extrapolations turns out this fall. Now can we get a trailer and release date already?!
Don't Look Up was nominated for four awards at last night's Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing). The film came away empty handed, unfortunately. But the four nominations were all sort of long shots, with maybe the exception of screenplay.
I don't know how one can write anything about this year's award ceremony without mentioning the slap heard 'round the world. After Chris Rock took the stage to present the award for Documentary Feature, he made a comment to Jada Pinkett Smith, referencing her shaved head by joking that he was looking forward to G.I. Jane part 2. I still do not know (as I was not aware) if Rock understood that Jada suffers from alopecia, a medical condition which causes hair loss. Will Smith, her husband, originally laughed at the comment, but then approached the stage, slapped Rock, returned to his seat and twice shouted, "Keep my wife's name out of your fucking mouth!"
It was surreal. I, like I'm sure many other viewers, could not believe at first that it was not a bit. It quickly became clear that it was not. I don't want to write a bunch about it, but from my perspective, I'm amazed Will Smith wasn't escorted from the building. He assaulted a presenter. As insensitive or perhaps even hurtful a comment may be, physical violence in retaliation is a step too far. I say this fully appreciating how one's upbringing and culture may strongly influence the impulse to defend oneself or one's family as Smith did. I also believe Chris Rock's comment to Jada Pinkett Smith was inappropriate and should not have been said.
Will Smith of course later in the evening won the Oscar for Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard. I was disappointed in his attempt to rationalize his behavior by invoking some maudlin mission of love. I found the speech bizarre and self-indulgent, and his actions "in defense" of his wife to be misogynist and exceedingly juvenile. It completely overshadowed any other nominee's or winner's experience, and the show will forever be remembered solely for this preposterous event.
Congratulations to CODA for being the little movie that could. Alas, a new season is upon us.
Adam McKay scored his third WGA win after being honored with the top prize yesterday for his original screenplay for Don't Look Up. The film was up against King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Being the Ricardos, and The French Dispatch. David Sirota shared the awards with his co-screenwriter credit on the film. CODA won for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Don't Look Up is up for Best Original Screenplay (as well as Best Picture) at the Oscars next Sunday. Would be a great win for the pic that has been so divisive among critics and fans.
Although Don't Look Up lost out to the cast of CODA in the ensemble category at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last night, it was nice to see that Meryl was in attendance. She joined co-stars Tyler Perry and Cate Blanchett to present the clip for their film.
Meryl looks great! I might be crazy but I feel like usually when she's this trim she's either just finished filming something or is about to start. I know Extrapolations might have wrapped for her recently, but I'm just hoping and wishing that she's going to start something this spring for a late 2022 release.
She also got to snap a pic with the night's Lifetime Achievement honoree, Dame Helen Mirren, as well as getting a shout out from Marlee Matlin during the acceptance speech for CODA's ensemble win (2:08 below).
I love when she ends up playing a sort of a supporting role in awards shows, even if she isn't nominated in an individual category.
The nominees for the 94th Academy Awards were announced this morning, and Don't Look Up came away with four:
Best Picture
Best Original Screenplay
Best Score
Best Film Editing
With this slate of nominations, it makes it three out of the last five years that Meryl has been in a Best Picture nominee, following 2017's The Post (for which she also received a Best Actress nomination) and 2019's Little Women. It also unfortunately ties her longest streak without being nominated for an acting award. The last time she went four consecutive years without getting a nod was 1991-1994. Unless she somehow has a film released this year and gets nominated (which I maintain is not an impossibility if Places, Please (or something else) is filmed this spring and is released fourth quarter), she will break that streak.
I was hoping Leonardo DiCaprio would sneak in to the top five in Best Actor, but I think Javier Bardem snatched that last spot, deservedly. I also thought the "Just Look Up" might get a nod for Best Original Song, but it also failed to crack the list.
The most-nominated films were The Power of the Dog (12 nominations), Dune (10), and both Belfast and West Side Story (7 apiece).
Biggest surprises to me:
-Judi Dench over Caitriona Balfe for Actress in a Supporting Role (both in Belfast)
-No Ruth Negga in Supporting Actress (Passing)
-Jessie Buckley in Supporting Actress (The Lost Daughter)
-No Lady Gaga in Actress (The House of Gucci)
-J.K. Simmons in Supporting Actor (Being the Ricardos)
The Oscars ceremony will be held Sunday, March 27 in Los Angeles.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced its nominees for film this morning. Don't Look Up came away with four nominations:
Best Picture
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Leonardo DiCaprio)
Best Original Screenplay (Adam McKay)
Best Original Score (Nicholas Britell)
I think these are about what I was expecting. I don't think I would've been shocked had DiCaprio been left off the list. At this point, I would be shocked if the film didn't crack the list of nominees on Tuesday for Best Picture. Screenplay and Score obviously look good as well, and Leo may have solidified himself for the top five.
Some surprises (or maybe "shockers" is a better word). Spencer getting ZERO nominations. Denis Villeneuve snubbed in director. No Nicole Kidman, Olivia Colman (what?!), Kirsten Dunst. Other than the Dunst snub, The Power of the Dog did very well, as did Dune. I was happy to see the love for Ann Dowd in Mass. That was my favorite performance of the year.
I expect we'll see some (more) surprises on Tuesday!
Don't Look Up scored nominations today from the Writers Guild of America for Best Original Screenplay, and from the Producers Guild of America for Best Picture. This news bodes very well for its chances for getting screenplay and best picture nods at the Academy Awards. Director Adam McKay was unfortunately left off the list with the Director's Guild. Good showing otherwise.
Oscar nominations will come out a week from Tuesday (Feb 8), with PGA winners announced on March 19, and WGA on March 20.
Don't Look Up broke a Netflix record last week with the highest number of viewing hours in a single week. After another 28 million this week, its total hovers around 250 million hours. Red Notice (with Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson) currently holds the record for most view hours in its first 28 days, with 364.4 million. If Don't Look Up can sneak out another 15 million view hours by Friday, it will break the record, which seems pretty likely at this point.
Great milestone for this picture! Even though Meryl's not getting much, if any, individual attention for her role, I enjoy seeing the film doing well with audiences. BAFTA nominations will be announced two weeks from tomorrow and Oscar noms only five days after that!
Multiple sources have reported that Don't Look Up set a new record on Netflix for most-watched film in one week (and currently at #3 all-time views). This is not an insignificant feat, considering the reactions to the film have been so polarizing. But I suppose that's what helps get people to tune in...to see what all the fuss is about!
While I'm not obsessed with viewership for Meryl's films, these days part of my enjoyment of her films making good bank (even though this movie was barely in theaters) is that, in my perhaps my naive mind, she remains a commercial draw for her future films to ultimately find funding. That might be an overreaction, but I'm paranoid that with Meryl not exactly being a spring chicken that a sting of bad films will make it tougher for her films to get the green light. That was such a specific boon following the success of The Devil Wears Prada that I remember reading how Meryl was "besieged" with offers after that. Let's hope we get some similar effects from this one (even if to a lesser degree).
I can't help but wish we could get a reasonable estimate on how much the views on Netflix would turn out to be at the box office. I'm so much more attuned to what that would mean when comparing to other successful films.
In other news, the Golden Globes will not be livestreaming their awards this Sunday. Instead, sort of like other critics bodies do, they'll post their winners in "real time" on their website an social media. Fine by me, I guess. Although I would like to see them return to a live show next year and they can convince everyone that they're not a total and complete mess.
Happy New Year! As 2021 came to a close, people can't stop talking about Don't Look Up and the film is a big hit for Netflix. It's nice to see that although there were a lot of people who didn't like it, there are a lot of people who do, and it has sparked quite a bit of attention and discussion. It'll be fun to see how it fares in the upcoming months of awards season. SAG nominations come out on the 12th, and I think the cast has a decent shot at an ensemble nod.
Beyond that, the Apple TV+ limited series Extrapolations is apparently already shooting (or maybe is done shooting?). There is still zero information on what Meryl's role is going to be, but it'd be nice if it were substantial in size. Tough to predict when we'll get to see this show, but I'm guessing it'll be the second half of this year, most likely fourth quarter.
And speaking of zero information, that's what we've had about Places, Please since it was announced almost a year ago now that Meryl would be starring in it. I'm sure it's still possible that they'll pull it together. In fact, it seems the type of movie that wouldn't need a lot of time in post, so could reasonably shoot this spring and be released by the end of the year. By the way she and the would-be director, Michael Cristofer, were interviewed about it at the time of the announcement, it seemed like a pretty sure thing. There was obviously a director attached, they had producers (including Meryl, which is rare), and they apparently had a shooting start date planned for summer. Then it was radio silence. Considering that Cristofer has described the role of Lillian Hall as "extraordinary," I hope we get to see Meryl in this.
How about beyond that? There are no new projects that have been revealed which Streep is expected to do. She's likely going to tie her longest streak of not being nominated for an Oscar this year (unless by some miracle she sneaks in for Don't Look Up). We know we'll continue to see her in stuff, but leading roles in things that aren't crap and going to be increasingly difficult to come by. Maybe we will see her producing more in order to ensure she's getting to play things she finds interesting and challenging.
Regardless of what's next, I look forward to a handful of meaty dramas. She's great in comedy of course, but my favorite Meryl is when she's in the deep stuff, which she hasn't done a ton of in recent years. Again the roles have to be there. But knowing that just within the next year we're going to see three biopics alone from women in her age demographic (Helen Mirren as Golda Meir, Patricia Clarkson as Lilly Ledbetter, and Annette Bening as Diana Nyad), it's not like these types of films aren't getting made. I love a good biopic, and it has been four years since she's been in in on (The Post). But I hope her next big role that garners a lot of attention and praise is for an original character. Maybe Places, Please will end up being that one.
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!
It's been three weeks since I posted the poll asking which nominations folks thought Don't Look Up might snag at the Oscars. Well, things have changed a bit since that post...namely, the film was seen by a lot of people. Were I to create the same poll now, I expect the results would be much different. At the time, most people (myself included) thought Meryl stood a decent chance at a nomination for Actress in a Supporting Role. That just happened to be the number-one selection in the poll at 14%. After the film's tepid reviews, I think her chances are extremely thin. But after the Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations, it's not wild to think the film itself, Leonardo DiCaprio, and original song might crack their respective categories. Full results are as below:
The newly "revamped" Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its nominations for the Golden Globe Awards this morning. While Meryl was left off the list, it was nice to see that Don't Look Up managed to snag four nods:
Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy
Best Screenplay
Best Actress-Musical or Comedy (Jennifer Lawrence)
Best Actor-Musical or Comedy (Leonardo DiCaprio)
The Critics Choice Awards sort of feels like it wants to take the Globes' place, and even though the Globes won't have their show televised this year, they still feel more important. Regardless, Don't Look Up is up for six there:
Best Picture
Best Acting Ensemble (so Meryl's kind of nominated here ha)
Best Original Screenplay
Best Comedy
Best Song
Best Score
I was surprised to see DiCaprio not make it for Actor with Critics Choice, considering they have six nominees. Nicholas Cage was a surprise there for Pig. They're going to hold their ceremony on January 9, the same day the Globes will announce their winners. There is no confirmation yet on exactly how the Hollywood Foreign Press plans to do that.
Despite the mixed reviews, it's nice to see that the film looks like it'll be a contender at the Oscars for some of the major categories, particularly Best Picture, Original Screenplay, and Original Song. SAG nominations don't come out for another month (January 12), and Oscar nominations will be announced February 8.
The full list of Globe nominees can be seen here, with Critics Choice here.
After the less than stellar reviews that have been piling up this week for Don't Look Up, I went into the theater Friday afternoon a little concerned that I'd have a hard time objectively assessing my reaction to it. I had such optimistic expectations as recently as Tuesday. But I didn't want to let that get in the way, so I weathered a snowstorm to and from the theater and did my best to pretend it was just any other movie. I'm pretty sure I succeeded.
By now most of us know that the story follows astronomers Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) and Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) as they attempt to warn the world that the comet they discovered is going to collide with Earth. Meryl plays the president of the United States, whose preoccupation with polls, appearances, and power screen her from reacting with the urgency and intelligence necessary to save the planet.
I'll admit that the first twenty to thirty minutes of the movie felt a little hectic (not just because the plot involved a hectic and stressful discovery), in that the scenes seemed to shift tone a little too rapidly, and the editing didn't give me a chance to appreciate any kind of real feeling for what the main characters were up against. This cooled down a little when I settled into a sense of irritation at how much of a blockade there was to simply explaining to the people in power what was going on. This was a combination of the inability of the scientists to concisely explain things in laymen's terms, as well as the government officials' banal approach to listening. It was eerily and maddeningly representative of what the onset of the pandemic felt like every time I read or watched the news (I know, first mistake). I realize that this script was originally intended to parallel the climate crisis (and it still is), but the parallels with Covid felt particularly prescient, even now. Especially now.
Cate Blanchett plays TV host Bree Evante, a Fox News-like android of a person with her blazingly white teeth, blonde hair, and hot bod. She sparks an affair with Dr. Mindy, and pretty much becomes an easy character to despise. She did a great job. As did Mark Rylance as the tech CEO at superdonor to President Orlean. His bleaty voice was super creepy and effective, and I thought he was second-best in show. Tops for me was DiCaprio, whom we never get to see play the anxious nerd. He always comes across as such a cool guy, and his characters are typically important, or suave, or unflappable. Not so with the pill-popping Dr. Mindy, who absolutely made me anxious with his hand-wringing and panting whenever things got heavy. DiCaprio's negotiation of those behaviors was far more nuanced than how I'm explaining them I'm sure, but suffice it to say that he nailed the role and manged to keep me in his corner despite his off-putting idiosyncrasies and poor personal choices. I think he might get nominated.
Let's chat a bit about Meryl. She's been in the conversation for recognition in the Best Supporting Actress race. Those chances drastically went down following this week's tepid critical reviews. I actually feel a little less bad about the reviews after seeing the movie because, while Meryl is of course excellent, the role doesn't really pack the kind of punch I would expect for her usual nominations. We all know that her role as president Orlean is sort of an amalgam of the last five or six presidents. It's probably disingenuous to suggest that the majority of the traits don't most resemble Trump, but I did appreciate the whole "I need to hide my smoking or it'll hurt me in the polls" thing (which I think was something taken from Obama). Streep's character definitely pissed me off, with her cavalier disregard (thank you, Prada) for the safety of American and world citizens. She and Jonah Hill play off each other pretty well. He plays her son and chief of staff, Jason, whom Hill accurately describes as "if Fyre Festival were a person." His character also awkwardly sexualizes his commander-in-chief mother, something Hill has explained he pulled from Donald Trump's creepy tendency to do so with his own daughter. You can tell Hill and Meryl had a good time with each other, and while not all of the comedy landed for me, I found myself giggling regularly.
I didn't really have a problem with some of the political bent being a bit on the nose. I suspect there are going to be people who see this film who actually do not realize how it's meant to be an allegory for climate change. It seems like it should be obvious, but sadly, that's the nature of the American movie-goer. Others will bemoan being hit over the head by the film's message of overt inaction on the part of lawmakers. I, for one, don't see much wrong with smugness on the part of a filmmaker when the stakes and level of willful ignorance are equally and dangerously high.
It'll be a toss up whether or not this film sneaks into the top ten for Best Picture. I think director is out of the question. DiCaprio may still has a chance, as mentioned. I'll be interested to see happens with the Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations Monday morning.
Welp, this isn't exactly what I expected. Following a handful of screenings and Q&As with the cast over the past couple of weeks, first reactions seemed to be pretty positive for Don't Look Up. I came home from work last night excited to check out the first reviews. Not great. As this goes to post, the film sits at a dismal 51 on Metacritic (22 reviews) and 60% on Rotten Tomatoes (55 reviews). It's possible that the Rotten Tomatoes score will creep up closer to 70% when all is said and done, but either way, these critical reactions don't bode well for it's reward prospects.
I'd been hoping that Meryl might sneak into the top five of Best Supporting Actress. Now I really don't seen that happening. Even Leonardo DiCaprio is going to struggle to crack the Best Actor race, and what had felt like a foregone conclusion in Best Picture, is now very much in question. Not that it can't still get handful of noms. Director Adam McKay has never been a critical darling, yet has enjoyed great success with Academy voters (see Vice).
We'll have to wait a while to see how this all pans out. It's a bit of a bummer to say the least. But that's certainly not going to stop me from seeing in the theater Friday!
CBS Sunday Morning released a feature on the upcoming Don't Look Up. Meryl and Leonardo DiCaprio, and separately director Adam McKay, sat down to share some thoughts on the film and its focus on our looming climate crisis.
We're going to start getting some official reviews of Don't Look Up the first week of December. Early notices look positive, and momentum seems to be building that this could be a serious contender at the Academy Awards. I realize this may be a little early, as most, if not all of us have not yet seen the movie. But part of the fun of awards season is speculation! With that in mind, I'm curious to see where people think this has the best chance for nominations. Early buzz indicates Picture, Director and Actor in a Leading Role (Leonardo DiCaprio) are good bets, with Meryl in Supporting Actress, Mark Rylance or Jonah Hill in Supporting Actor, and Original Song as possibilities as well.
Would love to see Meryl get nominated in another film that's nominated for Best Picture. Christmas can't come soon enough!
After a pair of screenings in Los Angeles just before the weekend, we've gotten the first "social media sentiments" about Don't Look Up. There are a lot of tweets I could post, and I don't want to be biased, so I'll just toss out a few that I feel generally represent the reactions from film pundits:
Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up is a dead serious and hilarious end of the world comedy, a Melancholia meets Dr. Strangelove —with a top ensemble in fine form, led by DiCaprio, Lawrence, and Streep. DiCaprio had been seeking a film to address the climate crisis in just the right way.
Don’t Look Up is really REALLY good. It’s sporadically silly as well as serious, and while it can be little on the nose the big laughs, emotion and humanity blend together to keep it fresh. The whole cast completely crushes too. Without a doubt one of the best films of the year. pic.twitter.com/BhUndsU22n
We’ve seen how the U.S. reacts to an impending apocalyptic disaster in other movies, but how would we REALLY react? #DontLookUp is a hilarious & horrifying satire about how painstakingly hard it is for us to actually save the day. It’s what you expect, but it’s super entertaining pic.twitter.com/MmjDztw5nX
Streep is excellent and has a great scene partner in Jonah Hill while Cate Blanchett gets to cut loose as a gossip reporter paired with the wonderful Tyler Perry. Jennifer Lawrence absolutely nails a woman screaming truth into the abyss to a world that shrugs.
Don’t Look Up has some smart ideas and some obvious ones, but despite its length and meandering nature it’s certainly compelling? Not sure it’s as funny as it wants to be. The drama is much more interesting. Doesn’t balance the tones well. Ariana Grande has a fun song in it.
— Gregory Ellwood - The Playlist 🎬 (@TheGregoryE) November 19, 2021
DON’T LOOK UP has some sharp capitalist and political satire if inconsistent humor. Leonardo DiCaprio is incredibly great here and gets an explosive Peter Finch in Network moment. Streep, Lawrence and Rylance are all good. Ariana Grande’s song is fucking hilarious. #DontLookUppic.twitter.com/7VIhj0NAwV
Of course there are a few out there that basically insist that the film is complete trash, but like I said, I think the above handful of reactions is a fair representation of what's out there. Leonardo DiCaprio has the greatest praise as far as the cast. He'll likely be a strong (if somewhat unexpected) contender in Best Actor race. Jennifer Lawrence doesn't get as many positive mentions, but nothing bad. Meryl is getting generally good notices, but nothing earth-shattering. She's got a "decent" chance in this I think for an Oscar nomination. She's certainly going to be in the conversation, especially if once full reviews come out the film is lauded and her performance gets some more specific praise.
I can picture the film landing somewhere in the low 80s on Rotten Tomatoes and low to mid 70s on Metacritic, which should indicate generally positive reviews. If memory serves, the embargo ends on December 7.
I found the trailer to be entertaining and a good representation of what me can likely expect the tone of the film to be. Some humorous parts as well, although nothing I found myself laughing out loud at. Jonah Hill's character is going to bug the hell out of me.
Meryl doesn't actually feature too much in it, and she receives the "...and Meryl Streep" notice at the end of the trailer and new poster (which is pretty good I'd have to say):
Overall the trailer is strong, and along with the star-studded cast, it should serve the movie well in regard to buzz leading up to the holidays. I'm really looking forward to some critics reactions following screenings later this week.
There are rumblings that the full trailer for Don't Look Up is going to be released this week. It makes sense considering they're having two well-publicized screenings with Q&As afterward on Wednesday and Thursday. And now we also have an extended clip (sorry, no Meryl):
A new clip from #DontLookUp starring Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tyler Perry, Cate Blanchett and more has been released. pic.twitter.com/wMLJkifftP
Jennifer Lawrence comes off a bit camp here, but having read the script, I think that her character's words are used as a sort of meme, and her reaction needed to be pretty over the top. Cate Blanchett is perfectly excruciating as the very done-up anchor, alongside Tyler Perry with their obtuse and rosy spin on what is utterly catastrophic news.
