Lisa D

So many have already articulately commented on the brilliant razor-sharp satirical elements of 'Don't Look Up.' It is indeed a stunning film, darkly funny with an apocalyptic message for our time (if we have any left). Brilliant script and cast. To me, reminiscent of the great Paddy Chayefsky film NETWORK (1976). In many ways the demons in both are the same: communal self-centered arrogance, brain-numbed and easily influenced weary masses, corporate demagoguery; standing silent as intrinsic democratic principles and ethics are co-opted and diluted by mass media, pop culture and grandiose political leadership, shrouded in cowardice. Yet 'Don't Look Up's' more contemporary dark shadow reveals the very real risks our society takes in rejecting science and intellectualism, let alone even basic common sense. Appropriately, most see this film as a comment on the global risks of climate change. Yet I would also suggest this remarkable film holds up a more immediate mirror to the current COVID crisis, and the tragic loss of personal values, accountability, and making individual choices to promote the greater good. (Yes, yes, it’s funny TOO!)

Riveting and disturbing - another still fresh reminder of the horrors of nazi Germany. "Invisibles" is a powerful dramatic film chronically the lives of four Jews in Berlin during the nazi occupation, and how they survived, while most did not. It also aptly profiles heroic Germans who often sacrificed their own lives by providing safety, hiding and protection for these individuals, as long as they could before they were arrested and killed. I appreciated the dual narrative, the fictionalized re-enactments by excellent actors; cut against the first-person narrative of these survivors, now elderly, most deceased. A priceless collection of personal interviews that will survive, thanks to this film. My only complaint as a viewer, is that the transitions between storylines were a bit hard to follow - and I found myself confused at times.. Even a banner cuing the viewer we were moving from one person's story to the next would have been helpful. A broader potential focal point that seemed absent was how unabashed a few characters seemed to be, in their drive to survive, while lives among them, including their protectors, fellow Jews, were being sacrificed. There were few "heroics" to save others - just themselves. In the fictional world of motion pictures, we like our "selfless" heroes. Even as I write this I don't know if that's a fair criticism. Perhaps just an observation. In the face of horrific oppression and genocide, I would imagine sheer resilience and a will to live understandably would be one's most primitive drive. Yet, I found that strangely discomforting.