Spielberg At It Again

exchemist

exchemist

Valued Senior Member
My heart sank to read of this latest film of his called "Disclosure Day". It seems to be a piece of UFO/government conspiracy/cover up shtick, designed to hit the buttons of all the cranks and nutters out there. I wish it was a dark parody or something, but from what I have read it seems to be a straight story. This looks like more of the same anti-rational shit he was peddling years ago with Close Encounters, a film I saw at the time - and immediately hated.

It feels almost irresponsible, in today's world of gaslighting of the public by Trump and the Trumpies, to further weaken people's hold on reality with this sort of crap.
 
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Yep, sounds like an identity-sensitive homage to the whole shebang of disjointed space alien mythos along with the usual Spielberg recreational park rides. (Excluding the Purple, Empire, Schindler, Ryan, etc films sprinkled in between.) Like crankhood in general, I suppose the "UFO subculture" is oppressed by the critical-thinking hegemony, but the former is pretty much Western in origin (privileged) and not something indigenous or colonially subjugated in the past. Ergo, reparations in terms of such a reverent stance are not politically warranted. ;)
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Disclosure Day: The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw gave the film four out of five stars, writing that it is "never anything other than entertaining and grade-A fun; rare enough in the movies or anywhere else, rocketing along with barnstorming set-pieces, exhilarating chases, funny lines and a career-topper of a performance from Blunt".

Owen Gleiberman of Variety called it a "vigorous and diverting ride", but felt that Spielberg "seems to be not so much leading as following the decades of lore and mythology-and gobbledygook" as the film does not reach "the contact high of awe that Close Encounters did".

In a negative review, The Telegraph's Robbie Collin deemed the film "unquestionably a big swing" that "only glancingly connects", finding the plot "woolly and the tone a bungled mix of solemn and silly".

For the BBC, Nicholas Barber also gave it a negative review, calling it "a flimsy, outdated car-chase thriller with no ideas about aliens that we haven't heard before".

Amy Nicholson of the Los Angeles Times criticized the visual effects, writing, "The CG animals and aliens look stiff, other than a nifty close-up of an eyeball."
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exchemist said:
wish it was a dark parody or something, but from what I have read it seems to be a straight story
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Yes, but, Emily Blunt!!!

I am absolutely fascinated by the bravura casting of Ms Blunt as "a Kansas City TV meteorologist." Rarely has the debris-littered short-term memory stage of my brain spotlighted Emily Blunt and KC TV meteorologist at the same time.

Here's a wiki tidbit that makes me think this could become the future drinking party film of our decade:

"In Kansas City, television meteorologist Margaret Fairchild is preparing for work when a cardinal flies into her home, briefly observes her, and then flies away. The incident awakens latent psychic abilities, allowing Margaret to intuitively understand the thoughts and emotions of others and unconsciously communicate in languages she has never learned. During a live weather broadcast, Margaret unexpectedly begins speaking in an unknown language."

And I get disturbed when they speak in phrases like "shower activity."
 
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exchemist said:
This looks like more of the same anti-rational shit he was peddling years ago with Close Encounters, a film I saw at the time - and immediately hated.
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I really liked that movie. Looked good, well acted, and, sure, more style over substance, but it left an impression on me for sure (and not the kind left when your brother throws the VHS cassette at your head!). It has its flaws, sure, especially around the story, but I never really watch it for its story but rather just the sense of awe and wonder it (tries to) evoke. The story is relatively simple: alien visitors, and obsession - leading Dreyfuss' character to abandon his entire family. If it gets you thinking about what you would do in such a situation... job done? The strength of the film (imho) is the technical side of it, and the sense of awe/wonder etc. But we all have different tastes. :)
exchemist said:
It feels almost irresponsible, in today's world of gaslighting of the public by Trump and the Trumpies, to further weaken people's hold on reality with this sort of crap.
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Why irresponsible? It is not the job of the film industry to teach, or to tell us what is morally/ethically correct/right. We might favour stories that align with our thinking, or good stories that help us question what we might currently think. But they have no obligation to do so. No responsibility. But if this is your reason for not liking the film, okay. Fair enough.
There are certain studios that do go out of their way to promote certain viewpoints. The ones I'm thinking of tend to be the faith-backed/based studios and they (can) come across as somewhat preachy. But, again, their only responsibility is not to the viewer but to the ones financing their productions, to produce films that align with their intentions.
 
Geez. I forgot about the crop circles. It's just that every tired convention of the folklore seems included -- maybe even the foil hat? There seems to be nothing original as one critic complained. It's old Hammer Films with the whole garlic, cross, stake to the heart, and sunlight package.

DISCLOSURE DAY Final Trailer
 
exchemist said:
My heart sank to read of this latest film of his called "Disclosure Day". It seems to be a piece of UFO/government conspiracy/cover up shtick, designed to hit the buttons of all the cranks and nutters out there. I wish it was a dark parody or something, but from what I have read it seems to be a straight story. This looks like more of the same anti-rational shit he was peddling years ago with Close Encounters, a film I saw at the time - and immediately hated.

It feels almost irresponsible, in today's world of gaslighting of the public by Trump and the Trumpies, to further weaken people's hold on reality with this sort of crap.
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CE3K was a wonderful and beloved fantasy film.

Stories about secret aliens from space is a well-established part of global pop culture. It's not going away.

Nutters and cranks are not going to go away either. It's counter-productive to try to quash pop culture in an attempt to silence them.

I'd say you are tilting at windmills.
 
C C said:
Geez. I forgot about the crop circles. It's just that every tired convention of the folklore seems included -- maybe even the foil hat? There seems to be nothing original as one critic complained. It's old Hammer Films with the whole garlic, cross, stake to the heart, and sunlight package.
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I prefer the term "cereal killer" to crop circle. For foil hats, the movie I remember is "Signs" which had a more tongue-in-cheek tone about the whole thing.

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DaveC426913 said:
Nutters and cranks are not going to go away either. It's counter-productive to try to quash pop culture in an attempt to silence them.

I'd say you [ @exchemist ] are tilting at windmills.
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I will say the oeuvre of Spielberg and other fabulists has always been the kind of folk tale culture where people willingly let themselves be gaslit for a couple hours. The ease with which viewers take nonsense onboard is matched by the ease with which they later poke fun. I think they mostly know they are suspending disbelief. I've certainly never sculpted my mash potatoes and thought the result was revealing a landing site in Wyoming.

That said, the percent of Americans who now believe flying saucers and LGM are real does seem to be on the rise. I sometimes wonder if that's partly fed by the gross incompetence of a lot of human governance and institutions right now - maybe they're hoping aliens are real, and smarter, and will push us to do better and not FU the planet beyond all repair.
 
When you live near Kecksburg you tend to be open to the idea that something landed there.
Local lore has it that they were short and had 3 fingers.
For certain a small crane loaded something on a flatbed that was taken out of town under a tarp. A lot of people saw that.
 
Like any other movie, it's a bloody movie! *sheesh* It's prime job entertainment value.
Havn't seen it as yet, but will certainly watch when convenient.
I also loved other great UFO movies like "The Day the Earth stood still" (1953 version), "War of the Worlds" (1953 version again) "The Thing from another World" (1951 version) and of course the greatest sci/Fi movie of all time, "2001: A Space Odyssey"
All great movies with great entertainment value! *
 
Roosters for ever said:
Like any other movie, it's a bloody movie! *sheesh* It's prime job entertainment value.
Havn't seen it as yet, but will certainly watch when convenient.
I also loved other great UFO movies like "The Day the Earth stood still" (1953 version), "War of the Worlds" (1953 version again) "The Thing from another World" (1951 version) and of course the greatest sci/Fi movie of all time, "2001: A Space Odyssey"
All great movies with great entertainment value! *
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And like any movie of any genre, it will certainly be far more entertainment value then the fucking load of codswallop, so called "reality TV shows" that flood our living room every night! Sickening *puke* inspiring nonsense and rubbish. Give me the "X Files" again with Muller and Scully, any day of the week...Or perhaps " The Outer Limits" and the Zanti Misfits!!
 
C C said:
Geez. I forgot about the crop circles. It's just that every tired convention of the folklore seems included -- maybe even the foil hat? There seems to be nothing original as one critic complained. It's old Hammer Films with the whole garlic, cross, stake to the heart, and sunlight package.

DISCLOSURE DAY Final Trailer
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Do they have crop circles in this new film ? (seems a bit passé)

Do any of them spell out 8647?
 
DaveC426913 said:
I don't remember that.
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Mel's son is saved from the alien's gas by his asthmatic airways being constricted, which Mel attributes to God. So his faith is renewed and he returns to the priesthood.

Also kinda dumb was "water is a poison to them." I mean, tech advanced aliens wouldn't cross light years of space to mount a large scale invasion and occupation of a water planet if water was poison to them. They'd search for their own version of "earth-like" and go there.
 
TheVat said:
Mel's son is saved from the alien's gas by his asthmatic airways being constricted, which Mel attributes to God. So his faith is renewed and he returns to the priesthood.
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Oh. Forgotten all about that last bit.

TheVat said:
Also kinda dumb was "water is a poison to them." I mean, tech advanced aliens wouldn't cross light years of space to mount a large scale invasion and occupation of a water planet if water was poison to them. They'd search for their own version of "earth-like" and go there.
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Yeah. There's few plot holes there.
 
Pinball1970 said:
I hated the conversion at the end. Great film stupid ending.
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And the lethal effects of water, which I had long forgotten until Vat mentioned it. That was a stunningly ridiculous variation of "The War of the Worlds" nemesis for aliens.
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C C said:
And the lethal effects of water, which I had long forgotten until Vat mentioned it. That was a stunningly ridiculous variation of "The War of the Worlds" nemesis for aliens.
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Yeah.

Alien1. Let's invade a planet!

Alien2. Ok where?

Alien1. That one.

Alien2. Its covered in water dude? About 70%.

Alien1. It's fine we can do crop circles 'n shit.

Alien2. Cool!
 
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