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Worcester-shot ‘Don’t Look Up’ not our first Apocalypse
Craig S. Semon
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Worcester Telegram & Gazette USA TODAY NETWORK
Sixty-six million years ago, all the cool dinosaurs and even the wimpy ones were wiped out by a game-changing asteroid and/or comet that impacted the planet surface. Ouch!
In two months, another catastrophic asteroid belt/comet apocalypse combo will be making bespectacled, bearded Leonardo DiCaprio hyperventilate as he gets belittled by Johan Hill in Netflix’s “Don’t Look Up.’’
In addition to DiCaprio having a panic attack in a public men’s room, the “Don’t Look Up” trailer serves up a crimson haired, nose-pierced Jennifer Lawrence ordering “two more glasses of red wine” and barking “And I don’t need the judgy face” to a waitress; Meryl Streep as a cheery, condescending and clueless Commander-In-Chief (sound familiar?); and publicly disgraced (and totally expendable) military man Ron Perlman at the helm of speeding space shuttle about to rendezvous with a whizzing, world-weary widowmaker.
And with all its A-list actors, biting black humor and state-of-the-art action scenes in “Don’t Look Up,” it appears that “Superbad” Hill, who stole “The Wolf of Wall Street” from “Titanic” third-class passenger Jack Dawson, steals this movie also. Heck, Hill certainly steals the official trailer.
“Don’t Look Up” is written and directed by once impoverished Worcester native Adam McKay and filmed — in part — in Worcester, although none of those parts made the minute-long trailer, nor the subsequently released extended Oval Office scene that makes it more apparent that the meteor plotline is merely a thinly veiled allegory for the coronavirus.
The star-studded disaster satire “Don’t Look Up” — think Michael Bay’s “Armageddon” meets Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove” — will have a limited theatrical release on Dec. 10 (to start potential Oscar buzz), prior to coming home for the holidays, via streaming, on Netflix on Dec. 24.
The premise of “Don’t Look Up” isn’t original by any stretch of the imagination, but the social satire certainly is. You have the same basic premise in the ‘70s disaster movie “Meteor,” as well as 1998’s dueling Texas-size asteroid/”extinction-level” comet on a collision course with trite soap opera subplots, two-dimensional characters and bad acting in the God awful “Armageddon” (quite possibly the worse movie I’ve ever seen in a first-run movie theater) and a little better than “Armageddon” (but nothing to write home about) “Deep Impact.”
In “Meteor,” our hero is Sean Connery, aka the best James Bond ever in the worse movie of his career. In “Armageddon,” it’s John McClane, aka Bruce Willis, playing a “renowned driller,” which if that isn’t a double entendre (which it isn’t), is just plain stupid, and the Corleone Family’s consigliere Tom Hagen, aka Robert Duvall, in “Deep Impact.”
As for women with supposed brains doubling as eye candy, you have Natalie Wood (John Wayne’s Comanche kidnapped niece in arguably the best western ever made, “The Searchers”) in “Meteor.” Three years before casting her elven magic in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, Liv Tyler is annoyingly loud and overacting as Willis’ daughter and Ben “Batman” Affleck’s girlfriend in “Armageddon.” And Téa Leoni plays a trusted national journalist that breaks humanity’s cosmic space calamity story to the public in “Deep Impact.” And that’s why they call it acting folks.
As for presidents, “Meteor” has arguably the greatest actor of his generation, the “Ghost of Tom Joad” himself, Academy Award-winning actor Henry Fonda, while “Armageddon” has no-name actor Stanley Anderson (best known as playing Drew Carey’s dad on “The Drew Carey Show”), and “Deep Impact” has the voice of God himself, aka Morgan Freeman, as the Commander-In-Chief.
If Hollywood has taught us anything, a runaway asteroid belt, an out-ofwhack meteor shower and ferocious fireballs falling out of the not so friendly skies usually have been heaven’s hemorrhoids on the cheeky backside of humanity for the last 70s years.
In 1951, you had George Pal-produced sci-fi classic, “When Worlds Collide,” about an attempt to ship off some of Earth’s beautiful people on a “space ark” before a rogue star smashes the planet to bits. If the plot wasn’t heavy handed enough for you, the movie also quotes the “Book of Genesis” (aka the first book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament NOT the ‘70s progressive rock British band with Peter Gabriel and later Phil Collins, aka “the Bob Uecker of rock ‘n’ roll”).
Two years later, Pal produced his masterpiece, “The War of the Worlds” — which, along with 1951’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and 1956’s “Forbidden Planet” — stands as the trifecta of quintessential sci-fi classics. Unlike the Steven Spielberg-Tom Cruise 2005 remake (which starts off great but peters out in the final third), the original “The War of the Worlds” has its extraterrestrials invaders on high body count, human-extinction mode crashing into our planet in pseudo-meteorites with mayonnaise jar-type lids.
Also in 1951, you had “The Day of the Triffids,” a feel good story about how most of the people in the world have been blinded by a meteor shower while the countryside is overrun by killer vegetation that looks a lot like the free tomato plants that they used to pass out at Spag’s every spring.
And, you can’t leave the ‘50s without mentioning “The Blob,” an all-consuming goo from outer space that was unleashed by a crashing meteorite not from talk radio. Also unleashed in “The Blob,” Steve McQueen as a rebel teen who grows up to become Captain Virgil Hilts (aka “The Cooler King”) in one of my personal Top 10 flicks of all times, “The Great Escape,” and San Francisco Police detective Lt. Frank Bullitt in the granddaddy of all car chase films, “Bullitt.”
Before we leave this topic of apocalyptic asteroid/cataclysmic comet for another 66 million years (give or take a few million years), it wouldn’t be nice not to mention the best comet movie of all time.
Here’s a hint: It came out in the ‘80s.
Here’s another hint: It’s not Stephen King’s moronic “Maximum Overdrive,” in which the best scene in the movie is when a killer truck crushes to death an unsuspecting Marla Maples (aka the then future ex-wife of Donald Trump) with its cargo of humongous watermelons. (Insert tasteless joke here).
The best apocalyptic asteroid/cataclysmic comet movie ever is 1984’s shoestring-budgeted, box-office sleeper “Night of the Comet,” starring Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney as SoCal comet surviving siblings that have to bond together and learn to be tough.
And when the going gets tough in “Night of the Comet,” the tough go on a cost-free shopping spree at the local mall accompanied by a cheesy ‘80s soundtrack.
Bruce Willis is humanity’s best chance of drilling a hole in a meteor on a collision course with Earth in “Armageddon.” God help us all. TOUCHSTONE PICTURES
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Adi Bielski stars in “An Israeli Love Story.” SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Central Massachusetts Jewish Theatre Company in conjunction with Theatre Nephesh, Tel Aviv, Israel, will present the U.S. premiere screening Oct. 12 of the award-winning “An Israeli Love Story,” a one-woman show starring Adi Bielski and written and directed by Pnina Gary. Gary’s true story takes place in pre-state Israel in the 1940s as a romance unfolds amid the tension and violence of the times. The show has been described as “an emotional roller-coaster that will have you laughing and crying within the same minute.” (RD) What: “An Israeli Love Story” When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12 Where: Register for the screening at www.cmjtc.org How much: Free. Donation welcome
Veteran blues-rock guitarist and vocalist Coco Montoya returns to the Bull Run Restaurant in Shirley on Oct. 14 as hot as ever. His latest Alligator Records album, “Coming In Hot,” has been described as “a high temperature affair.” He’s played with legends such as John Mayall and Albert Collins, but Montoya has a masterful, hard-edged sound that’s all his own. (RD)
What: Coco Montoya When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14 (doors open for dinner and seating at 5:30 p.m.) Where: Bull Run Restaurant, 215 Great Road, Shirley How much: $25. Proof of vaccination or proof of negative COVID test within 72 hours of performance is required. www.bullrunrestaurant.com.
Coco Montoya will perform at Bull Run Restaurant
in Shirley. PROMOTIONAL PHOTO
The Gateway Players will present “The Cemetery
Club.” GETTY IMAGES
A Grave Concern
In Ivan Menchell’s comedy-drama “The Cemetery Club,” three Jewish widows meet once a month for tea before going to visit their husbands’ graves. But complications arise when they meet Sam the butcher visiting his wife’s grave. The Gateway Players return to the stage for its first live production in over 20 months starting Oct. 8 at Elm Street Congregational Church in Southbridge. The cast includes Gail Riva White, Joan Stewart, Carol Vancil, Jim Douglas and Chris McTigue. Lou-Ellen Corkum directs. (RD)
What: “The Cemetery Club” performed by The Gateway Players When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 8, 9, 15 and 16, and 2 p.m. Oct. 17 Where: The Fellowship Hall of Elm Street Congregational Church, 61 Elm St., Southbridge How much: $15 for adults, and $13 for seniors and youths under 18. Tickets may be reserved by calling (508) 764-4531 or online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5238064. Audience size for the performances will be limited in order to maintain social distancing. All audience members at all performances will be required to wear masks regardless of their vaccination status
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Eddie Pepitone PROMOTIONAL PHOTO
Something to Rant About
To paraphrase one of his own routines, you’re not going to hear a lot about dating in Eddie Pepitone’s upcoming show for Guerrilla Theatre at Ralph’s Rock Diner. “It’s not fun!” he shouts at the audience, in a video, “We’re in End Times!” That pretty much gets to the heart of Pepitone’s work. He can be surreal — he has a routine about listening to Stalin on Spotify: “The early (expletive), not the later stuff when he sold out” — to socially critical, such as when he explains why dogs are better than people. Pepitone’s rants can be equal parts angry and outlandish, but they are always hilarious. (VDI)
What: Guerrilla Theatre with Eddie Pepitone, JT Habersaat and Kendra Dawsey When: 8 p.m. Oct. 9 Where: Ralph’s Rock Diner, 148 Grove St., Worcester How much: $20
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WM-0000473097-02 Cailin Marcel Manson is a guest vocalist in “A Dill Pickle,” a chamber opera presented by The Worcester Chamber Music Society.
TROY B. THOMPSON PHOTOGRAPHY
In a ‘Pickle’
The Worcester Chamber Music Society will present the world premiere of the chamber opera “A Dill Pickle” by local composer Matt Malsky Oct. 10 in the BrickBox Theater at the JMAC. The performance will also be live-streamed. The opera is based on “A Dill Pickle,” a short story by Katherine Mansfield. In the story, former lovers have a chance meeting at an Edwardian café in which the conversation ranges widely and explores the themes of lost love and regret, self-centeredness and missed connections, new experiences — and improbably, a dill pickle. Malsky, a composer and educator, was recently named the inaugural Tina Sweeney, M.A. ’49, Endowed Chair in Music at Clark University. Guest vocalists are Cailin Marcel Manson, baritone, and Caitlyn Felsman, mezzo-soprano. (RD)
What: “A Dill Pickle” — chamber opera When: 3:30 p.m. Oct. 10 in-person and livestreamed. On Demand Oct. 17-24. Where: BrickBox Theater at the JMAC, 20 Franklin St., Worcester. Proof of vaccination and masking required in-person. How much: In-person — adults, $38-$40; students, $10; EBT/WIC, $5; youth 17 and under, free. Live stream and On Demand — adults, $20; household, $38, student, $10; EBT/WIC, $5; youth 17 and under, free. Information and tickets for this concert are available on the ensemble’s website, www.worcesterchambermusic.org, or by calling the office at (508) 926-8624
