Barbenheimer
July 2, 2023 12:50 PM Subscribe
Forget DC vs. Marvel, scruffies vs. stuffies, even Pepsi vs. Coke--the real match of the century is nearly upon us. In this corner, Christopher Nolan with the dawn of the atomic age in all its nuclear-powered fury! In this corner, Greta Gerwig with umpteen squigglewatts of shocking pink hot-pink-laser girlitude! Which one will you choose? Or, you know, just do both.
Tom Cruise is involved. Memes have sprung up like toadstools after a summer rain. Other unlikely double features have been noted. There are a plethora of T-shirts. What rough beast, its hour come at last, slouches toward the multiplex waiting to be born?
Tom Cruise is involved. Memes have sprung up like toadstools after a summer rain. Other unlikely double features have been noted. There are a plethora of T-shirts. What rough beast, its hour come at last, slouches toward the multiplex waiting to be born?
Michael Gira/Swans Oppenheimer/Barbie crossover can't unsee.
posted by djseafood at 1:17 PM on July 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by djseafood at 1:17 PM on July 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
One is about an obliterating force that reshaped the 20th century; the other is about Robert Oppenheimer
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:23 PM on July 2, 2023 [47 favorites]
posted by paper chromatographologist at 1:23 PM on July 2, 2023 [47 favorites]
Two of the few directors working who can get me into the cinema on their name alone. Nolan wise the topic doesn't excite but I will go anyway, saw the trailer this week and it upped my interest. Gerwig wise I have been intrigued since hearing about it.
posted by biffa at 1:28 PM on July 2, 2023
posted by biffa at 1:28 PM on July 2, 2023
So I hafta quote Mr. Nat here. Back on June 2nd he posted on facebook the following:
posted by nat at 1:30 PM on July 2, 2023 [26 favorites]
There’s a movie coming out on July 21. I’m really excited to see it, but I’m also a little trepidatious, because I’m not sure the subject matter will actually make a good movie. Even if it is good, I think the movie may only really appeal to a niche group.I feel like Mr. Nat was ahead the curve here..
The movie is about an important figure from the 20th century. Someone who changed their field an important and enduring way, blowing away previous paradigms. But their legacy is mixed; a lot of people think they only made things worse.
The film's director is a true auteur, who has made some wonderful movies in the last decade or so. Their most recent movie played around with time, showing events in a different order than the characters experienced them. They have been nominated for several Oscars, but never won, even though at least once I think they really deserved to win.
The trailers for this movie really make it look like no other movie I can remember. New technology is enabling the movie to be made in a way that it couldn’t until very recently. If it’s good, images from the movie could be instantly iconic.
Anyway, I hope Oppenheimer will be good. Sorry, I mean Barbie.
posted by nat at 1:30 PM on July 2, 2023 [26 favorites]
Tom Cruise is involved.
Yikes! Total Chef's Kiss of Death there my fellow Thetans.
posted by y2karl at 1:39 PM on July 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
Yikes! Total Chef's Kiss of Death there my fellow Thetans.
posted by y2karl at 1:39 PM on July 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie have made their position clear.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:45 PM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 1:45 PM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
I recently overheard a Cobble Hill dad and child debate “Barbie” vs. “Oppenheimer” and it was so grim, literally everything they said was copypasted from some internet argument, it was like listening to a TikTok while scrolling Reddit except coming out of human mouths. It left me wanting to write a manifesto calling on Society to free itself from the shackles of corporate IP. Then I went home, watched a couple of hours of garbage anime, and forgot all about it.
Anyway, I'll end up watching them both, but the Alamo pass only allows one movie per day, so I can't do a double bill.
posted by betweenthebars at 1:54 PM on July 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
Anyway, I'll end up watching them both, but the Alamo pass only allows one movie per day, so I can't do a double bill.
posted by betweenthebars at 1:54 PM on July 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie have made their position clear.
That picture made me buy seat K-8. Wasn't sure which day or hour, so I bought them all.
posted by hypnogogue at 2:58 PM on July 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
That picture made me buy seat K-8. Wasn't sure which day or hour, so I bought them all.
posted by hypnogogue at 2:58 PM on July 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
I'm excited about Barbie, but really not sure about a Nolan Oppenheimer. What is there to say here that I trust Nolan to deliver on? He's generally as subtle as a hammer to the head, and while I've liked some of his films, past experience and the trailer make it look like great man the history of the bomb.
posted by Carillon at 3:11 PM on July 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by Carillon at 3:11 PM on July 2, 2023 [10 favorites]
I couldn't care less on either movie, but I'm legit surprised that people are making this into a "competition" when really it sounds like a joke competition.
Nuke Barbie?
I did see some random photo on Facebook of an exploding pink cloud saying that was a combination of both movies.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:24 PM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Nuke Barbie?
I did see some random photo on Facebook of an exploding pink cloud saying that was a combination of both movies.
posted by jenfullmoon at 3:24 PM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Nuclear Threat Initiative (@NTI_WMD) / Twitter
Anyone participating in "Barbenheimer" should see #Oppenheimer first. Trust us on this one.posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 4:00 PM on July 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
Read our full statement ⬇️
Barbie / Bikini
posted by chavenet at 4:09 PM on July 2, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 4:09 PM on July 2, 2023 [9 favorites]
What’s the point of watching a Nolan film without subtitles?
posted by Optamystic at 4:37 PM on July 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Optamystic at 4:37 PM on July 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
The "Nolan shot on Imax and is a huge Imax booster so Imax let him lock down all North American Imax theaters for 3 weeks, which had Cruise frantically calling execs to get other Premium Large Format theaters to dump 'Oppenheimer' so the Mission Impossible movie could grab a bigger taste of that sweet sweet PLF cash" stories add a nice twist to this popcult cocktail.
Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible 7” is only playing on Imax screens for one week...before it has to relinquish all of its showtimes to “Oppenheimer.” That’s despite Cruise making a few calls around town to remind everyone that not even a year ago, “Maverick” earned more than $100 million from Imax alone. By shorting the Imax run of “Dead Reckoning,” he suggests, all involved parties risk losing out on serious coinage.
But long before the oft-delayed “MI” sequel moved to mid-July, Universal had already ironed out a rare agreement for “Oppenehimer” to control Imax’s entire North American footprint for three full weeks. (Directors like Nolan, who use Imax cameras to film their movies, are typically granted a two-week exclusive window.) Greta Gerwig’s star-studded “Barbie,” which also opens on July 21, isn’t playing in Imax at all as a result.
Nolan's desire to show you the first atom bomb explosion in all its glorious beauty is apparently also why no one will see 'Barbie' at an Imax theater. Gerwig and Robbie playing nice is very sweet. Has Nolan shown his ticket to Barbie yet?
The rumors that Warner scheduled Barbie's release date to directly conflict with Oppenheimer "as a middle-finger to Universal after it stole Nolan during the HBO Max day-and-date debacle" is another fun piece of the puzzle here.
posted by mediareport at 4:40 PM on July 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible 7” is only playing on Imax screens for one week...before it has to relinquish all of its showtimes to “Oppenheimer.” That’s despite Cruise making a few calls around town to remind everyone that not even a year ago, “Maverick” earned more than $100 million from Imax alone. By shorting the Imax run of “Dead Reckoning,” he suggests, all involved parties risk losing out on serious coinage.
But long before the oft-delayed “MI” sequel moved to mid-July, Universal had already ironed out a rare agreement for “Oppenehimer” to control Imax’s entire North American footprint for three full weeks. (Directors like Nolan, who use Imax cameras to film their movies, are typically granted a two-week exclusive window.) Greta Gerwig’s star-studded “Barbie,” which also opens on July 21, isn’t playing in Imax at all as a result.
Nolan's desire to show you the first atom bomb explosion in all its glorious beauty is apparently also why no one will see 'Barbie' at an Imax theater. Gerwig and Robbie playing nice is very sweet. Has Nolan shown his ticket to Barbie yet?
The rumors that Warner scheduled Barbie's release date to directly conflict with Oppenheimer "as a middle-finger to Universal after it stole Nolan during the HBO Max day-and-date debacle" is another fun piece of the puzzle here.
posted by mediareport at 4:40 PM on July 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
A portrait I did of Oppenheimer a decade ago using ballpoint pen, varnish, acrylic paint, and sunlight for a long running series I have intermittently worked on for most of this century.
It's 30 by 22 inches and might be my favourite of the nearly 40 I have done for the series so far.
Love the post, by the way.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 5:11 PM on July 2, 2023 [35 favorites]
It's 30 by 22 inches and might be my favourite of the nearly 40 I have done for the series so far.
Love the post, by the way.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 5:11 PM on July 2, 2023 [35 favorites]
I am clearly Team Barbie because I have put together a really good Barbie hot pink outfit (it's sort of '60s by way of the '80s) to wear while seeing it. This is a totally normal thing for every adult woman I know.
I liked Memento but I find it hard to care about Nolan at this point in my life. I do like making Inception jokes, though, and that's more than I liked Inception (which also feels like an Inception thing, honestly.
posted by edencosmic at 5:14 PM on July 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
I liked Memento but I find it hard to care about Nolan at this point in my life. I do like making Inception jokes, though, and that's more than I liked Inception (which also feels like an Inception thing, honestly.
posted by edencosmic at 5:14 PM on July 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
The thought of someone prioritizing Oppenheimer over Barbie makes me physically ill. Luckily, I haven't met a single person with that opinion yet.
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 5:21 PM on July 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted at 5:21 PM on July 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
At this point in time there is no way I will ever see a Nolan film in the movie theater. That policy will continue until he starts doing sound mixes with intelligible dialogue. He seems hellbent on NEVER doing that. At home I can turn on subtitles or I can rewind and rewatch anything I miss.
posted by wabbittwax at 5:22 PM on July 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by wabbittwax at 5:22 PM on July 2, 2023 [7 favorites]
I have no idea what the appeal of Oppenheimer is. It’s a dour Oscar-bait biopic for dads who get tingly hearing about 70mm film? No idea.
Barbie looks like a fuckin riot.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:24 PM on July 2, 2023 [19 favorites]
Barbie looks like a fuckin riot.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:24 PM on July 2, 2023 [19 favorites]
Phlegmco(tm), I have appreciated your drawings so much over the years (good glob, has it been that long?). Thank you for sharing.
posted by mollweide at 5:29 PM on July 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by mollweide at 5:29 PM on July 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
... what's scruffies?
Scruffies vs. stuffies is like Greasers vs. Socs, or any other underdogs-vs-kool-kidz thing.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:44 PM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Scruffies vs. stuffies is like Greasers vs. Socs, or any other underdogs-vs-kool-kidz thing.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:44 PM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
I saw the trailer for Oppenheimer before Indy V today. I will say that Nolan's film, based on the trailer, promises to be loud.
Emily Blunt looked good, but I think I'll pass and go back to watch season 2 of Manhattan, if I can find it streaming somewhere...
posted by suelac at 6:36 PM on July 2, 2023
Emily Blunt looked good, but I think I'll pass and go back to watch season 2 of Manhattan, if I can find it streaming somewhere...
posted by suelac at 6:36 PM on July 2, 2023
This playful rivalry reminds me of the early days of the pandemic when Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doom Eternal released on the same day. The internet collectively decided that Isabelle and the Doomslayer would naturally be best friends.
posted by TheKaijuCommuter at 7:06 PM on July 2, 2023 [8 favorites]
posted by TheKaijuCommuter at 7:06 PM on July 2, 2023 [8 favorites]
I decided that Wes Anderson’s latest would be my first movie in a theater since The Before Times and I deeply regret that decision. However, I was treated beforehand to something like a dozen (or more?) trailers, most of which were so freakin’ loud. Including “Oppenheimer,” but not “Barbie.” Meh. Does it have to have such overbearingly dramatic music?
“Barbie” looks good enough for streaming later this year. Maybe a double bill with “I, Tanya.”
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 7:55 PM on July 2, 2023
“Barbie” looks good enough for streaming later this year. Maybe a double bill with “I, Tanya.”
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 7:55 PM on July 2, 2023
I would be terrified (in a good way, I guess) to see Barbie in the theatre and discover I was now sitting next to Margot Robbie. I mean, what if she smells really nice on top of her incredible looks? I don't think I would survive.
posted by maxwelton at 8:15 PM on July 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by maxwelton at 8:15 PM on July 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
Good grief--if I should happen to be seated next to Margot Robbie, I'd totally embarrass myself by begging her to do her Harley Quinn voice. (Even if she obliged.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:24 PM on July 2, 2023
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:24 PM on July 2, 2023
Phlegmco(tm), I have appreciated your drawings so much over the years (good glob, has it been that long?). Thank you for sharing.
posted by mollweide
Thank you so much mollweide that is such a lovely compliment and yes, it has been some time hasn't it.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 9:08 PM on July 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by mollweide
Thank you so much mollweide that is such a lovely compliment and yes, it has been some time hasn't it.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 9:08 PM on July 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
The director bragging about the loudness of his movie is an instant nope from me. Congratulations, you found a volume knob and turned it clockwise. Genius.
posted by straight at 9:39 PM on July 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by straight at 9:39 PM on July 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
Ok, I'll say it: I'm watching Oppenheimer before I might watch Barbie. But, as a concession, I will be pirating them so no one gets a uranium nickel or plastic cent.
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 9:41 PM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 9:41 PM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
The director bragging about the loudness of his movie is an instant nope from me. Congratulations, you found a volume knob and turned it clockwise. Genius.
But this one goes to 11!
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:55 PM on July 2, 2023
But this one goes to 11!
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:55 PM on July 2, 2023
The thought of someone prioritizing Oppenheimer over Barbie makes me physically ill. Luckily, I haven't met a single person with that opinion yet.
I have read at least a dozen academic history books on the making of the atomic bomb and everything related to it. Barbie it is.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 10:27 PM on July 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
I have read at least a dozen academic history books on the making of the atomic bomb and everything related to it. Barbie it is.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 10:27 PM on July 2, 2023 [6 favorites]
barbie barbie barbie barbie barbie barbie barbie barbie barbie barbie barbie barbie mushroom mushroom
posted by flabdablet at 10:51 PM on July 2, 2023 [30 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 10:51 PM on July 2, 2023 [30 favorites]
Matt Damon also makes an appearance in the trailer as Lieutenant General Leslie Groves.
i am all the old
posted by away for regrooving at 12:10 AM on July 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
i am all the old
posted by away for regrooving at 12:10 AM on July 3, 2023 [4 favorites]
I have no idea what the appeal of Oppenheimer is. It’s a dour Oscar-bait biopic for dads who get tingly hearing about 70mm film? No idea.
Oppenheimer has some fascination as the most popular image of the "what have I done?" scientist trope in real life. He really was conflicted; he really did make something truly horrifying; he almost really said the famous quote everyone knows him for.
There's a gravity there, you have to admit.
posted by Scattercat at 1:13 AM on July 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
Oppenheimer has some fascination as the most popular image of the "what have I done?" scientist trope in real life. He really was conflicted; he really did make something truly horrifying; he almost really said the famous quote everyone knows him for.
There's a gravity there, you have to admit.
posted by Scattercat at 1:13 AM on July 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
Architectural Digest review of the Barbie Dream House set - they talk about being inspired by the sound stage design from the musicals which were around at Barbie's 1959 genesis - peak "atomic age" and around about the same time Ford had announced its concept nuclear powered car. So it sounds like the missing film to really make the connection with Oppenheimer, is Asteroid City.
posted by rongorongo at 2:58 AM on July 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by rongorongo at 2:58 AM on July 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
I'm just waiting for the spinoff merch, like the Los Alamos Barbie Dreamin' Core Playset: now with real glow in the dark action!
posted by bartleby at 4:29 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by bartleby at 4:29 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
or the Los Alamos Barbie Paddle Pool, complete with duck and cover
posted by flabdablet at 4:33 AM on July 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by flabdablet at 4:33 AM on July 3, 2023 [3 favorites]
Well , there's definitely a bikini/Bikini connection waiting for someone tasteless to post somewhere.
posted by mediareport at 4:44 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by mediareport at 4:44 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
I decided that Wes Anderson’s latest would be my first movie in a theater since The Before Times and I deeply regret that decision.
Asteroid City was the first Wes Anderson movie I've ever seen, and I enjoyed it. It made me realize that nearly every movie we've gone to see in theaters in the past some years has been Marvel or Star Wars or some other Disney thing.
I can't imagine myself enjoying either Barbie or Oppenheimer unless they were mashed together into one movie.
posted by Foosnark at 5:53 AM on July 3, 2023
Asteroid City was the first Wes Anderson movie I've ever seen, and I enjoyed it. It made me realize that nearly every movie we've gone to see in theaters in the past some years has been Marvel or Star Wars or some other Disney thing.
I can't imagine myself enjoying either Barbie or Oppenheimer unless they were mashed together into one movie.
posted by Foosnark at 5:53 AM on July 3, 2023
Well , there's definitely a bikini/Bikini connection waiting for someone tasteless to post somewhere.
You’re not even the first person to make that reference in this thread.
posted by zamboni at 5:59 AM on July 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
You’re not even the first person to make that reference in this thread.
posted by zamboni at 5:59 AM on July 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
Not sure how many people realize that the swimsuit style was actually named after the bomb site; the bi- prefix is coincidental, not derived from the swimsuit's two-piecedness (there's no sign of "kini" meaning anything like "piece of cloth" in English).
posted by flabdablet at 6:03 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by flabdablet at 6:03 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
The bikini was the second swimsuit named for the atomic age, though it was arguably the more explosive one.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-wake-testing-atomic-bomb-bikini-became-thing-180955346/
posted by oddman at 6:53 AM on July 3, 2023
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-wake-testing-atomic-bomb-bikini-became-thing-180955346/
posted by oddman at 6:53 AM on July 3, 2023
What rough beast, its hour come at last, slouches toward the multiplex waiting to be born?
OMG this is amazing and I love it (:
posted by an octopus IRL at 8:02 AM on July 3, 2023
OMG this is amazing and I love it (:
posted by an octopus IRL at 8:02 AM on July 3, 2023
We're doing the Boppenheimer Double-Bill on the 22nd, with Oppenheimer first. I figure the dourness and typical poor sound editing by Nolan is better to get out of the way first, rather than us spending all our time going "...Barbie was better...why are we watching this..."
(I'm sure both will be enjoyable movies. One just happens to be from a dude who made Tenet with pages of exposition inaudible.)
posted by Katemonkey at 8:08 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
(I'm sure both will be enjoyable movies. One just happens to be from a dude who made Tenet with pages of exposition inaudible.)
posted by Katemonkey at 8:08 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
I have no idea what the appeal of Oppenheimer is. It’s a dour Oscar-bait biopic for dads who get tingly hearing about 70mm film? No idea.
As someone who's right in the probable demographic target for Oppenheimer, I absolutely would not be bothering to see it in the theater, and possibly not at all (never did bother with Tenet), if not for this ridiculous Barbenheimer nonsense.
posted by Etrigan at 8:09 AM on July 3, 2023
As someone who's right in the probable demographic target for Oppenheimer, I absolutely would not be bothering to see it in the theater, and possibly not at all (never did bother with Tenet), if not for this ridiculous Barbenheimer nonsense.
posted by Etrigan at 8:09 AM on July 3, 2023
The thought of someone prioritizing Oppenheimer over Barbie makes me physically ill. Luckily, I haven't met a single person with that opinion yet
I'm so sorry and I hope you're near a trashcan or a toilet if you read this, but hello it's me. I like Cillian Murphy and I am fond of film projection nerdery. That's right. I'm a nasty little creature. Best wishes for a swift recovery.
posted by cubeb at 8:21 AM on July 3, 2023 [9 favorites]
I'm so sorry and I hope you're near a trashcan or a toilet if you read this, but hello it's me. I like Cillian Murphy and I am fond of film projection nerdery. That's right. I'm a nasty little creature. Best wishes for a swift recovery.
posted by cubeb at 8:21 AM on July 3, 2023 [9 favorites]
Kind of related is the visit to the Barbie Museum in the movie Rat Race.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:11 AM on July 3, 2023
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:11 AM on July 3, 2023
I think I'll pass and go back to watch season 2 of Manhattan, if I can find it streaming somewhere...
It's on AMC+ subscription in Amazon (US).
posted by kirkaracha at 9:36 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
It's on AMC+ subscription in Amazon (US).
posted by kirkaracha at 9:36 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
As soon as I saw the first article desperately trying to make this rivalry happen, I wondered (as one does) if anyone had written erotic Barbie/Oppenheimer fanfiction yet, and of course someone had. Thank you, internet; you haven't disappointed.
posted by confluency at 9:38 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by confluency at 9:38 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
How Barbie Wound Up in the Middle of an Asian Maritime Dispute
posted by chavenet at 10:46 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by chavenet at 10:46 AM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Matt Damon also makes an appearance in the trailer as Lieutenant General Leslie Groves.
I'm not sure I can ever watch Damon in anything again without thinking of him saying "Fortune favors the brave."
posted by straight at 11:34 AM on July 3, 2023
I'm not sure I can ever watch Damon in anything again without thinking of him saying "Fortune favors the brave."
posted by straight at 11:34 AM on July 3, 2023
I am going to see both, in cinemas, which is about two more movies than I see in cinema in the average year, and I am furious (not really but a little bit) that a) only one of the five cinemas in my town is showing either of them let alone both and b) it is showing Barbie at 6 pm and Oppenheimer at 7 pm. What the fuck, Event Cinemas? Did I ask for two nights out in a row? Give me the goddamn double feature.
posted by ngaiotonga at 1:20 PM on July 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by ngaiotonga at 1:20 PM on July 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
I suspect no one realised until very recently that the audiences for both films weren't mutually exclusive, however obvious it might seem now.
posted by Grangousier at 3:34 PM on July 3, 2023
posted by Grangousier at 3:34 PM on July 3, 2023
Barbie as the hot pink harbinger of the grim post-MCU, post-superhero cinematic landscape:
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is the first production from Mattel Films; there are 45 more to come. Tom Hanks, Daniel Kaluuya, Vin Diesel, JJ Abrams, and Lena Dunham are all involved. - Alex Barasch, The New YorkerAnd a ray of hope or cope:
Great piece, but everyone acting like this is the death knell of cinema and that Gerwig is complicit is sorely missing the reality that there is absolutely no way a Mattel Cinematic Universe actually succeeds and becomes a mainstay in Hollywood.posted by Apocryphon at 5:53 PM on July 3, 2023 [1 favorite]
Sure, Kaluuya’s absurd Barney will draw in folks, and some of these other star projects will get some audiences in, but there’s ZERO lasting power in a universe comprised of, well, bullshit. Say what you will about Gerwig but it’s very clear she has a vision that most don’t.
If anything it’s slightly depressing to hear that Gerwig wants to pivot exclusively to being a big studio director. At the same time, would that we lived in a world where big studio directors had the kind of goddamn filmmaking skills and interest in cinema that she does.
How many studio directors are out here actively talking about both biblical narratives AND Powell & Pressburger during their press tours? We should be delighted to have this over more bland garbage and yet we’re just reenacting the same arguments over Barbie she takes interest in
The reveal of her doing two Narnia films for Netflix does, objectively, suck though. - Juan Barquin, Flaming Classics
I'm 2/3 into American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of JRO and it's great. I would prefer the movie to be not_loud. I would prefer that Oppy focus on his graduate school days in Göttingen and his teaching days in Berkeley, but I expect there will be little of that.
So, yeah, American Prometheus is (so far) great but if you're going to read one book it should be Richard Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb. If you search Metafilter, you'll probably find a mole of recommendations for this book.
posted by neuron at 9:10 PM on July 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
So, yeah, American Prometheus is (so far) great but if you're going to read one book it should be Richard Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb. If you search Metafilter, you'll probably find a mole of recommendations for this book.
posted by neuron at 9:10 PM on July 3, 2023 [2 favorites]
Oppenheimer was director of the Manhatten Project while ages 39 to 41.
posted by neuron at 9:10 PM on July 3, 2023
posted by neuron at 9:10 PM on July 3, 2023
Update: I found a theater that will do it as a double feature albeit on the US release date, not on the NZ advance screening date, and my partner and I have bought a) tickets and b) matching Barbenheimer tshirts.
posted by ngaiotonga at 11:46 PM on July 3, 2023
posted by ngaiotonga at 11:46 PM on July 3, 2023
If you're in Seattle, SIFF is offering their own shirt for it. They're showing both, but don't have it as an explicit double feature as I understand it.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 11:58 PM on July 3, 2023
posted by vibratory manner of working at 11:58 PM on July 3, 2023
Here I am thinking the movie that is a cross between Barbie and Oppenheimer is Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City.
posted by jmauro at 11:29 AM on July 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by jmauro at 11:29 AM on July 4, 2023 [2 favorites]
Tom Hanks Cannot Be Trusted, I thought I'd share, this is an image that a bunch of my brother's friends just did. It's not an official thing or anyhing they're just having fun.
posted by Pyrogenesis at 5:19 AM on July 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by Pyrogenesis at 5:19 AM on July 11, 2023 [4 favorites]
Since we are here: maybe a place to share the story of a Guardian journalist who dressed up as Ken and went on a combined date and photoshoot with a barbie lookalike. Both are looking forward to... at least one of the films.
posted by rongorongo at 10:34 PM on July 13, 2023
posted by rongorongo at 10:34 PM on July 13, 2023
Barbenheimer is more than a Meme - talks about how the paired release of these movies may have been planned by Warner Brothers as a screw you to Nolan who had ditched them as a studio. The idea was to draw away attention from Oppenheimer. That has not worked. Also talks about how Barbie's trailers and publicity has successfully targeted the "serious film" demographic. Finally the observation that both films have directors who obsessing on details and tangibility: Gerwig talks about using real painted backdrops even in an artificial world and Nolan about trying to do everything in camera rather than with GGI.
posted by rongorongo at 11:33 PM on July 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by rongorongo at 11:33 PM on July 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
“Japanese Barbie Film Account Apologizes For ‘Barbenheimer’ Meme,” Kay Benton, Unseen Japan, 31 July 2023
posted by ob1quixote at 11:15 AM on July 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by ob1quixote at 11:15 AM on July 31, 2023 [2 favorites]
“Barbenheimer Memes Provoke Angry Backlash in Japan,” Gavin J. Blair, The Hollywood Reporter, 01 August 2023
posted by ob1quixote at 1:38 PM on August 1, 2023
posted by ob1quixote at 1:38 PM on August 1, 2023
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posted by sammyo at 12:51 PM on July 2, 2023 [1 favorite]