Disclosure Day and What’s Making Us Happy
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is Ira Glass. On This American Life, one thing we like is a good mystery. Sometimes about really big things, but most times, the little mysteries are the best.
Our lost and found is currently filled with pants. I don't know what, I've never seen this happen. Wait, this is true?
This is true. Mysteries of every size, each week. This American Life, wherever you get your podcasts.
What can be disclosed about Disclosure Day? Well, it finds Steven Spielberg back in blockbuster Aliens Among Us sci-fi thriller territory, a genre he helped create with Close Encounters, and it feels like a spiritual companion to that 1977 masterpiece.
Just like that movie, our heroes are humans who are feeling compelled by something they don't understand, and they come up against a lot of authority figures trying to keep a huge secret from the public. I'm Ayesha Harris.
And I'm Glenn Weldon. Joining us in NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour is the co-host of NPR's daily economics podcast, The Indicator, from Planet Money, Waylon Wong. Hey, Waylon.
I come in peace.
And also joining us is Jarrett Hill. He's the co-author of the book Historically Black Phrases. Hey, Jarrett. Hey there, I also come in peace. Very cool. I'm glad we're all peaceful. So, in Disclosure Day, Josh O'Connor is Daniel, a computer expert who's stolen something from his employer, a sinister shadow organization led by Noah. He's played by Colin Firth. You can tell he's evil because he's trying to kill Daniel, but also his management style is really toxic. Emily Blunt plays Margaret, who does the weather at a Kansas City television station. She suddenly starts to experience strange abilities, along with a mysterious compulsion to find Daniel and help him.
What is the main theme of Disclosure Day?
Guiding both Daniel and Margaret is Hugo, who knows more about what's going on than either of them. He's played by the great and good Coleman Domingo. Disclosure Day is in theaters now.
How does Spielberg's new film compare to his classics?
Waylon, disclose to me, what'd you think of Disclosure Day?
You know, I mostly liked this movie, but I had to kind of like split my mind into two pieces. Because I think the film you could also think of in two different ways. Like one is just as a kind of sci-fi thriller, paranoid kind of chase type movie, which is a lot of like the first part of it. That I really enjoyed, especially as an X-Files obsessive from back in the day. I really liked that. And it's a Spielberg movie, so... It's going to be well-paced, well-shot, well-lit, all the things. It's going to be like technically superb. But then there's this other track you can analyze the movie on, which is thematic emotional stuff. That I was not syncing with Spielberg on this one. Often I do. It's important to kind of set expectations.
And for me, this was not a Spielberg movie where he says something with a capital S that's successful. But it does work from kind of just a purely like propulsive, entertaining piece of film with like all the thriller aspects of it.
Okay. So summer blockbuster, but maybe not the emotional heft you were looking for. Yeah. Okay. How about you, Jared? What'd you think?
Glenn, I don't appreciate your recap of Waylon because that's about what I was going to say. It's like... Very big blockbuster-y movie with cars driving through walls. And it was fun in that way. I'm grateful to hear I wasn't the only one that didn't fully get it. There were parts of it that I thought were really fun and interesting. Or, oh, maybe you're saying something that I would be fascinated by here. But other than that, I was like, I don't know exactly what... when this could have been set for some of the things that they choose to do, the news pieces of it. As a person who worked in local news, on air, and in production, I was trying to understand, what world are we living in here? There were some parts of that that were really challenging for me as well.
Okay. I get what you're saying about that. How about you, Aisha? Where'd you come down on this?
I mean, I can sense that Spielberg and David Kapp, his screenwriter here, are trying to wrestle with our current social, political turmoil through...
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:41
2
What is the main theme of Disclosure Day?
1:41–1:51
3
How does Spielberg's new film compare to his classics?
1:51–4:56
4
Who are the main characters in Disclosure Day?
4:56–8:31
5
What are the emotional and thematic elements of the film?
8:31–10:53
6
What did the panel think about the pacing and execution?
10:53–14:05
7
How does the film address social and political themes?
14:05–26:47