[Film] Oppenheimer - Christopher Nolan

[Unagi]

It was ok, Definitely not one of my favorite's of his movies.

Same. In fact, going against the grain, I'd say it was not one of his stronger efforts. I marvel at the technical aspects that went into it and the cast was brilliant, but I didn't love it. In fact, I kind of feel he blew it. Should have been more straightforward, and would have been more powerful for it. The 30 minutes at the end felt tacked on and robbed the movie of momentum gained by the testing scene and it ends up feeling like a movie mistake. It gave the impression that he'd want to do a remake of 12 Angry Men.

You have to think about it less as a movie about the development of the atomic bomb and more of a movie about Oppenheimer himself. The last 30 minutes of the movie are pretty key aspects of his life.

Oh, I realize that. It's titled Oppenheimer, not A-Bomb, afterall. It's a biopic. And while thematically, the hearing might fit, it doesn't mean I don't disagree with the methods that Nolan used. It could have been condensed and given the gist of it without making people sit through a half-hour of sitting around just talking. As is though, it feels like Nolan ran out of material after the testing and just used what he had left of the hearing. It just doesn't feel like very effective film-making to me. And to think a younger generation would be watching this together with Barbie, well... I just can't see them wanting to sit that out. Good luck on that front.

Wait. I thought ‘Barbie’ was not aimed at the younger generation at all. I’m not sure I follow you.

[Unagi]

Well, I can effectively say it didn't work for me. C'est la Vie! You can argue all you want for it, but it's not going to change my opinion on how I feel about it.

That’s not a given. You did briefly want that Star Wars game to be MP until you didn’t.

[Unagi]

I'm actually surprised that all the IMAX showings for Oppenheimer are so packed. For an average American moviegoer these days, that's just crazy talk.

Average American moviegoers love big ass explosions. That’s my theory at least.

Bold claim.

[Zaxxon]

Wait. I thought ‘Barbie’ was not aimed at the younger generation at all. I’m not sure I follow you.

Younger than us. That's a different class than it was back in the day.

[Rumpy]

Wait. I thought ‘Barbie’ was not aimed at the younger generation at all. I’m not sure I follow you.

I mean that Barbie is naturally going to attract a younger crowd, maybe not kids per se, but definitely a younger generation due to its broad impact, and one that wouldn't necessarily get Oppenheimer.

Well, I can effectively say it didn't work for me. C'est la Vie! You can argue all you want for it, but it's not going to change my opinion on how I feel about it.

That’s not a given. You did briefly want that Star Wars game to be MP until you didn’t.

That's... random. People should be allowed to express their opinions

[Holman]

I really should see this on an imax screen, shouldn’t I?

I'd say that's not necessary.

[RunningMn9]

You have to think about it less as a movie about the development of the atomic bomb and more of a movie about Oppenheimer himself. The last 30 minutes of the movie are pretty key aspects of his life.

Yeah, I would say that this movie is not *at all* about the development of the atomic bomb. It’s like that is all just sort of happening in the background.

[Rumpy]

Wait. I thought ‘Barbie’ was not aimed at the younger generation at all. I’m not sure I follow you.

Younger than us. That's a different class than it was back in the day.

Thank you. Yes, that's what I meant. Though I've seen and heard of young kids being taken to see the movie, but I understand that it's actually quite a subversive movie.

[Unagi]

Wait. I thought ‘Barbie’ was not aimed at the younger generation at all. I’m not sure I follow you.

I mean that Barbie is naturally going to attract a younger crowd, maybe not kids per se, but definitely a younger generation due to its broad impact, and one that wouldn't necessarily get Oppenheimer.

Well, I can effectively say it didn't work for me. C'est la Vie! You can argue all you want for it, but it's not going to change my opinion on how I feel about it.

That’s not a given. You did briefly want that Star Wars game to be MP until you didn’t.

That's... random. People should be allowed to express their opinions

Um? I’m not saying that you can’t state your opinion. (And keep it)

I’m saying that it sounded like you said that someone shouldn’t argue with you as there was no point in trying to change your mind, but I recalled an opinion you had recently that you relinquished without much pushback.

[hepcat]

I really should see this on an imax screen, shouldn’t I?

I'd say that's not necessary.

I’ve read that Nolan’s work with imax cameras for this was pretty advanced though.

[Rumpy]

Um? I’m not saying that you can’t state your opinion. (And keep it)

I’m saying that it sounded like you said that someone shouldn’t argue with you as there was no point in trying to change your mind, but I recalled an opinion you had recently that you relinquished without much pushback.

Well, that was a different circumstance. I was caught up in the moment and saw the opportunity for some MP within that same world while still agreeing that we need more single-player games, and way more of them too given we've already got the Battlefront games. It's not black or white.

Here though I feel decided in my opinion of the movie, and I've stated those opinions even though they may be unpopular.

[Unagi]

Right on.
I’m sorry if I was annoying there.
Wasn’t my intention, but I can read it as such.

[Rumpy]

Thanks. And I've said it before, I do appreciate Nolan's work, and had been looking forward to this ever since it had been announced, so even while I don't love it, I can appreciate the work that went into it. I just disagree with his approach to this story and felt it was an overall disappointment. For a number of reasons, it just kind of fell flat for me. But again, that's simply my opinion. People can have certain reactions to movies and that just happens to be mine. I saw it with my parents, both of which lived through the era, and they even visited Los Alamos in the 80's and felt a connection, but my Mom didn't like it at all.

[Zaxxon]

Just sharing this interview with the actual Oppenheimer as I found it worth a view.

[gbasden]

I just got to see it in real IMAX and I thought it was stunning. I know I'm late to the party, but it didn't at all feel long to me. The last 30 minutes were riveting.

[naednek]

I just got to see it in real IMAX and I thought it was stunning. I know I'm late to the party, but it didn't at all feel long to me. The last 30 minutes were riveting.

We could have gone together .

I still feel this didn't really deserve the IMAx treatment

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

[gbasden]

I just got to see it in real IMAX and I thought it was stunning. I know I'm late to the party, but it didn't at all feel long to me. The last 30 minutes were riveting.

We could have gone together .

I still feel this didn't really deserve the IMAx treatment

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

It's not a superhero spectacular, but I loved a lot of the visuals. His visualization of the atomic world and the Trinity test scene both looked fantastic. And why not see it at it's best?

[RunningMn9]

Has anyone seen it in both formats?

[Sudy]

I know I'm late to the party, but it didn't at all feel long to me. The last 30 minutes were riveting.

I thought it felt incredibly long, but I was never bored for a second. I thought it was amazing how much they packed into the first hour, which was when I checked the time on my cell phone for the first time. (Out of curiosity, not out of boredom.)

[Jaymon]

I feel completely out of the loop for this. I have not experienced any desire at all to watch this movie.

Can somebody tell me the "why" of this movie, and what is it that makes people want to see it?

[Rumpy]

I feel completely out of the loop for this. I have not experienced any desire at all to watch this movie.

Can somebody tell me the "why" of this movie, and what is it that makes people want to see it?

Man designs bomb. Ka-boom! Does that tell you enough?

[Sudy]

I feel completely out of the loop for this. I have not experienced any desire at all to watch this movie.

Can somebody tell me the "why" of this movie, and what is it that makes people want to see it?

A Beautiful Mind + Imitation Game + Good Night, and Good Luck + Christopher Nolan narrative complexity & grand audiovisual aesthetic + huge, talented cast + relevant both historically and contemporarily.

That and it opened the same weekend as Barbie. (Also a great film, but not any argument for seeing this one.)

[AWS260]

I read this Hollywood Reporter article expecting a bit of minor gossip about the making of the movie, but instead I got a thoughtful history lesson on how Hiroshima footage and images were shared with the American public. An interesting read.

Viewers who did see the Paramount footage were stunned and sickened. “This clip becomes a real shocker because of the previously unseen shots of the devastation wrought on human beings by the atom bomb on Hiroshima,” wrote Jack D. Grant in The Hollywood Reporter in August 1946. (Tellingly, critics often resorted to the biblical verb “wrought” to describe the atomic visitation.) “Radioactive rays burned the pattern of one woman’s dress on her skin. Others were scarred and blinded in the most hideous manner. No punches are pulled in showing any part of the devastation. There are closing shots of school children, still disfigured a full year after Hiroshima.”

At Motion Picture Daily, critic Herb Loeb was especially distraught. “The scarred, burned, and maimed people caught by the Japanese camera at the height of their anguish forms a burning indictment against the use of the atomic bomb by any civilized country,” Loeb wrote. All agreed, in the words of Chester B. Bahn, editor of the Film Daily, that the Japanese “clips belong on every screen not only in the U.S. but throughout the world as a solemn warning to all peoples that it is indeed later than they think.”

[Holman]

John Hershey's Hiroshima is an account of the bombing from the Japanese perspective published first as a full, long issue of The New Yorker in 1946 and later as a standalone "nonfiction novel."

From the very beginning of the nuclear age there have been commentators calling out the threat and horror of nuclear weapons.

[Holman]

My wife and I are now doing a second viewing of Oppenheimer (this one at home) with my MIL and younger kid (17), who haven't seen it before. Right now we're having an intermission.

I can confirm that the color scenes are those that reflect Oppenheimer's sense and experience of things, while the B&W reflect an outsider's perspective (usually but not exclusively Strauss's). When you look for it, it's very clear that Cillian Murphy plays Oppie as a troubled genius in the color scenes but as a much more arrogant, dismissive asshole in the B&W. The difference is inside/outside, and they could almost be two different characters.

I also remember in my first viewing not realizing who played Strauss until the second half of the movie. This time, we were on something like his third scene when my kid went "Holy shit, that's Robert Downey."

[YellowKing]

I watched this a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it, despite not having a particularly big interest in the subject matter. I'm a huge Cillian Murphy fan though, so that certainly helped.

Also the score was incredible. I love when scores are so vital to the mood of each scene that they almost become an actor in the film, and this one absolutely delivered. Well deserved Oscar win for that.