I went from not knowing this existed... to knowing it exists and getting excited (Spielberg! Emily Blunt!)... to sadness that it is apparently quite flawed.
Oh, and getting CIotTK's iconic five tone tune stuck in my head.
Unkind, good sir!
But seriously, it was a fun read and I'm still looking forward to watching this when it hits the streaming platforms. If it fails to impress, at least I still have the classics and, my personal favorite film about aliens but-only-peripherally, "Arrival."
I understand frustration with a heavy handed approach to messaging in film but at the same time... I guess I forgive it if it means messages of empathy get across to even a fraction of the audience.
I feel like the human capacity for empathy needs all the support it can get these days.
Michelle - "human capacity for empathy" - me too. Sometimes I still like a taste even if it's administered over the head via 2 x 4. I'll risk it for aliens
"Disclosure Day is rarely boring but it’s never exciting"
Great writing! Also a fractal review of the entire movie. All well done. I will 2nd Kevin Sowyrda's remark, "And here I was, excited to see this flick." Oh well.
ha, thanks, that was a last-minute add: I was literally driving my kid to a camp and was like “OH crap I need to text @Adam Keiper and make sure this makes it into my review.”
And here I was, excited to see this flick. Sonny Downer. But I appreciate the honesty - and no biggie because I’m one of the majority of Americans who have ditched the cinema in favor of my plasma buddy. When it hits Amazon for the typical 19.99 I’ll probably give it a look, if only to see Emily and Collin. They always excel. Thanks for the honest review. I promise not to share with Steve.
I'll still go and see this. But by sheer dumb luck, my local arthouse theater is running "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" starting on June 27, so I'll have the chance to also re-experience the masterful Spielberg film on the big screen!
Yes, and I am really looking forward to seeing in on the big screen again! (And with the best theater popcorn in town, as a bonus.) I am trying to talk my fellow astronomy club members into going to see it with me (and the same with Disclosure Day).
Given that Spielberg has said that after having his own kids he could never have Richard Dreyfuss's character leave his family to go off with the aliens as he does in the version of Close Encounters of the Third Kind that he actually made, I'm not surprised that Disclosure Day is a bit fuzzy and soft. But I suspect I'll still enjoy it, if not as much as I do Close Encounters!
Kevin - I was born too late for the original theatre run but remember seeing when 1st ran on TV... google tells me 1962. So I was old enough to get the point of the religious symbolism (some years of catholic school under my belt by then) & relate it to military/civil defense/space program all going on at the time.
I SO want(ed) to believe 😪 . Gonna see it anyway of course, will give Spielberg every possible chance to disappoint me himself
I went from not knowing this existed... to knowing it exists and getting excited (Spielberg! Emily Blunt!)... to sadness that it is apparently quite flawed.
Oh, and getting CIotTK's iconic five tone tune stuck in my head.
Unkind, good sir!
But seriously, it was a fun read and I'm still looking forward to watching this when it hits the streaming platforms. If it fails to impress, at least I still have the classics and, my personal favorite film about aliens but-only-peripherally, "Arrival."
I understand frustration with a heavy handed approach to messaging in film but at the same time... I guess I forgive it if it means messages of empathy get across to even a fraction of the audience.
I feel like the human capacity for empathy needs all the support it can get these days.
Thanks for the great article, Sonny!
Right now hopeful, optimistic movies (even flawed ones) fill a void. We desperately need them in these dark times!
Michelle - "human capacity for empathy" - me too. Sometimes I still like a taste even if it's administered over the head via 2 x 4. I'll risk it for aliens
I'll still go and see it... probably just so I can moan about as much as I did about his A.I. movie.
And there you go...my first comment on this platform. Thank you to The Bulwark for pointing me here.
Glad to have you on board! We'll discuss AI some other time.
"Disclosure Day is rarely boring but it’s never exciting"
Great writing! Also a fractal review of the entire movie. All well done. I will 2nd Kevin Sowyrda's remark, "And here I was, excited to see this flick." Oh well.
David - THAT is a great (tho devastating) review right there. "Meh" - but so much more explicitly descriptive.
Can imagine the ad campaign quote: Famed critic Sonny Bunch: "Rarely boring..." (with added exclamation point and jazzy font)
ha, thanks, that was a last-minute add: I was literally driving my kid to a camp and was like “OH crap I need to text @Adam Keiper and make sure this makes it into my review.”
And here I was, excited to see this flick. Sonny Downer. But I appreciate the honesty - and no biggie because I’m one of the majority of Americans who have ditched the cinema in favor of my plasma buddy. When it hits Amazon for the typical 19.99 I’ll probably give it a look, if only to see Emily and Collin. They always excel. Thanks for the honest review. I promise not to share with Steve.
No one was more disappointed to have to write this review than me; I was genuinely excited for it. But man it just does not work.
Sonny - this comment crushes my dream harder than your original review
I'll still go and see this. But by sheer dumb luck, my local arthouse theater is running "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" starting on June 27, so I'll have the chance to also re-experience the masterful Spielberg film on the big screen!
I go through phases where I'll argue that's his best movie. It's a genuine masterpiece!
Yes, and I am really looking forward to seeing in on the big screen again! (And with the best theater popcorn in town, as a bonus.) I am trying to talk my fellow astronomy club members into going to see it with me (and the same with Disclosure Day).
Given that Spielberg has said that after having his own kids he could never have Richard Dreyfuss's character leave his family to go off with the aliens as he does in the version of Close Encounters of the Third Kind that he actually made, I'm not surprised that Disclosure Day is a bit fuzzy and soft. But I suspect I'll still enjoy it, if not as much as I do Close Encounters!
Does anyone in the movie mention the reception Klaatu and Gort got the minute they stepped out of the saucer in 1951?
I don't think so!
Best sci fi flick of all time. Gort stole that movie. As I kid I was mesmerized.
Kevin - I was born too late for the original theatre run but remember seeing when 1st ran on TV... google tells me 1962. So I was old enough to get the point of the religious symbolism (some years of catholic school under my belt by then) & relate it to military/civil defense/space program all going on at the time.
Aw, damn. I was hoping for better after “The Fabelmans.”