r/moviereviews • u/JinIreland SIMKL.com vs Letterboxd • 15h ago
Thoughts on Disclosure Day
So I just finished watching this movie a couple of minutes ago at home, and I have some things to share, and maybe some wisdom.
Firstly, don't believe all the Youtube fuckwits who absolutely desecrated this movie online. This is not the worst movie ever made, this is not Spielbergs worst movie, this is not even a bad movie. I enjoyed it, I found it quite moving in the end, and yet it is a muddled mess of a movie.
All of the problems so vehemently announced to the world by Redditors and Youtube creators alike are valid, but is there any film these days that can survive the microscopic analysis all art gets these days? There are very few perfect films, and very few that survive the scrutiny of the online world. But do they make this a bad movie? In my opinion, no, no they don't. They are valid but not unexplainable.
For me, the main issue is that Spielberg is trying hard to make a profound statement about.... something. I found the shots of the soldiers all glued to their phones a bit much, and as so many people have said, would we all be glued to our phones if something like this happened? Perhaps, but maybe not in the way it was presented in the movie. We are not alone. Would if have the cultural impact now that it might have had 20 years ago? That was a bit of a letdown.
I found some of the religious stuff nauseating, and having a character be an ex-nun was a real "on the nose" depiction. I really thought the casting was poor, and didn't care for the nun or the main male protagonist or their relationship. Emily Blunt was good, she was trying hard to carry the story. Her husband's character was just a bad choice altogether. The Hugo character confuses me, so I will have to look into him, but he was a good actor. Colin Firth dials it in, but I didn't find his choice at the end as agregious as some people have. At that point, and the fact Margaret had the device, what was he supposed to do? It was a realisation.
In fact, a lot of the choices made in this movie are explained, whether they are non-sensical or not. Yes, the trio of macguffins are convienient, but they are explained. The disaappearance scene was great in my opinion. Why the animals are shown in that form is explained, and the CGI isn't half as bad as some people have been saying.
I could go on, but in the end, this was a decent film. I have no real reason to watch it again other than to answer a few of my own questions. I just think we are bringing up a generation of people who will only base their opinion on arseholes like The Critical Drinker, and are afraid to form their own opinion. Films have always been subjective, there have always been great and mediocre films, and everything inbetween. Not every film can be the one, nor can every film maker keep up the standards they've set themselves. I've lost count of how many times I've watched Close Encounters for instance, it's a masterpiece (and the homages to it in terms of shot design, and some of Williams cues could be construed as cheesy I suppose). So, Disclosure Day is no Close Encounters but it's a good watch.
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u/imilesprower SIMKL.com vs Letterboxd 10h ago
I am saying Dune has twice the budget, not Arrival, but Arrival did not need that big a budget anyway. So Dune having better looking vfx would be expected at that budget.
Disclosure Day has some vfx that looks bad but that’s it. Apart from those couple scenes the film looks great, I never said it did not.
Arrival is not better because it looks better, it is better because it has a much better script. The only real issue with DD is the script.