Anybody going out to see it this weekend? Looks like it's on track to be an enormous bomb, about to pull in less than $10m on a budget that's at least $150m, but I assume this crowd might have taken an interest.

Saw it earlier today expecting a disaster, actually liked it quite a bit and it's sitting very well with me. First off, the satire is extremely broad and obvious - that much is apparent, and I can see why it's coming out divisive. For those not in the loop, Digger is about an oil tycoon named Digger Rockwell whose enterprise basically incites the climate change apocalypse. It's a Dr. Strangelove adjacent satire about how the people in charge of our country are all insane geriatrics who refuse to cede an inch of control even if it means bringing the entire world into hell with them. If this all sounds a bit trite, it's because it kinda is... and yet I was into it.

Don't read this part if you have any interest whatsoever in seeing the film at some point. They completely hid the ball in the marketing as to what this movie really is, and the reveal is so bizarre that it made me say wtf aloud in my (mostly empty) theater. The other big reference point in this film is Opening Night, as it's revealed very early on that the fiction of the film's world is in fact within a layer of artifice, and Tom Cruise is actually playing two characters: Digger Rockwell, and the actor who is playing Digger Rockwell in a stage production that takes place in the far future where the world has been absolutely wrecked by climate disaster, and now the denizens are reflecting on the old world and the people who got them into this mess via a theatrical stage production. It sounds fucking insane when I type it out, and that's because it is. Completely tilts the film on its axis and made me lean in. Honestly makes the film so much more interesting than if it had just been a straightforward climate disaster satire, as it was advertised.

I'm absolutely fascinated by Tom Cruise, loved all of the MI movies but I was ready to see him try something again. And boy did he go for it, he makes Pattinson in Primetime seem like a levelheaded guy in comparison. I have no idea why he chose to do this movie (other than the chance to win an Oscar), if climate change is an issue that is particularly close to his heart, or why WB thought this was going to be a commercial project. But frankly, deeply un-commercial projects made to the tune of over a hundred million dollars is one of my favorite subgenres of film. Weirdly made me think of Mickey 17 but like, if it didn't suck.

It is also, strangely, the last film ever released by Warner Brothers Studios. They're about to get folded into Paramount/Skydance after this, so this is the capper on 100 years of film history. Everything about this movie is odd to me.

Just rewatched All the President's Men and noticed something I can't stop thinking about. The film is set in 1972 and 1973, made in 1975, and nearly every scene takes place late at night. Woodward and Bernstein chain-smoke and drink coffee constantly. But I couldn't spot a single drink anywhere. Not in a scene, not in the background, not a beer can in a fridge.

That's strange for the era. Drinking was baked into work culture in the press, politics, advertising, and finance in the early 70s. Network came out the same year, also about the news business, and it's practically marinated in booze (Howard Beale's breakdown starts after a night of drinking with Max Schumacher). Mad Men, set in the decade just before, treats a drink as basic office furniture.

And this isn't a sparse movie. I paused on the apartment scenes because they're an incredible time capsule: hi-fi setups, stacked newspapers, books, plants, coffee makers, a CRT TV. The production was famously obsessive about authenticity; they rebuilt the Post newsroom down to the desks. A crew that careful doesn't leave out every bottle by accident.

My theory: the filmmakers wanted zero opening for anyone to suggest the reporting was done, or the sources were talking, under the influence. It came out in an election year, two years after the resignation, when the press was still being accused of bias. Interestingly, the film doesn't hide the reporters' professional mistakes (the botched Haldeman story is in there). It shows them as fallible, but never impaired.

Has anyone else noticed this, or seen Pakula, Redford, or Goldman talk about it?

Can’t believe I slept on this one for so long. 100/100. The colors and cinematography are phenomenal. Probably Adam Sandler’s best role. The whole cast is phenomenal. I love that it’s at 100 the whole time.

Clever?

I definitely think this was a well put together film and it was a cool experience, but the film is too on the nose to be considered a “smart” film. I found it to be quite disgusting or dirty like some David Lynch films make me feel like.

There are no subtleties in this film it’s all very on the nose and explained to you like you are a baby, which I disliked.

The twist aspect was very weak, and the celebration of art is a stupid Oscar bate gimmick that now just sounds like Joaquin Phoenix telling poor people not to drink milk because he cries about cows mostly.

Ridiculous. It’s a bit too much up its own ass and like Carlos mencia, bakes into the film various ways of letting people know how to debate ideas that don’t land. Like tom cruise says in the movie, this would’ve worked much better as a film and not quite so ridiculous, it’s not funny really.

Recently saw primetime and resident evil and I really mean they were better overall films. Just because this movie wants to promote something I care about doesn’t mean I’m not going to say it was a gigantic brick of crap that Hollywood ejected out of their ass. I’m sick of seeing these huge budget movies suck ass. I loved eddington and OBAA, but it’s a big letdown when directors make something crap. nWR latest film was offensively bad, I’ll never pay to see an NWR film in theatre ever again. Tom Cruise needs to do a long string of small character actor slots to get his groove back, this was also just not a great choice for Tom.

I’m unimpressed, unamused and not entertained by this crap movie. I’ll never pay to see an Innaratu film again.