FWIS3

Am I allowed to do one thread on two movies at once? Feels like that's how the marketing is going.

Been a long time since I've been excited for a movie in summertime, and awesome that there's two on one weekend! I guess 100k+ people in America are getting same day tickets for both, but we're spreading them out, got tickets at our local theater Friday for Oppenheimer with my parents, and then hoping to go this weekend to the drive-in movie theater for Barbie. What can I say, it just really strikes me as a drive-in movie theater kind of movie!

Really excited for both, but I thought it was funny how I could tell Fox News is on a rampage against Barbie movie because previously my parents just thought it was too silly and why would it be in competition with Oppenheimer, then Sunday I heard that "people just like it because it's all about gender and how you don't have to follow your roles." And I shut that down quick with an "IDK, I just saw the trailers and it looked really fun!" Sounds like the culture wars just make it tough for people to remember life is supposed to be enjoyed, and knowing what's what any given day sounds exhausting to me!

The hype has been so weird TBH, and has contributed to my lack of interest in either film. Yeah, call me a hipster if you like...

Oppenheimer I will go see. Barbie? Probably not.

MrPi and I are hoping to see Oppenheimer this weekend.

I'm torn about Barbie. I've read such great things about it up until now, and I am intrigued to see if if lives up to the hype. However, I am not a fan of Ryan Gosling, to the extent that it makes it hard for me to watch any movie he's in. It's for a strange reason--he reminds me of the longest-term boyfriend I had in college. The relationship didn't end badly--he just ended up being kind of a dud, and I broke up with him. But it's hard for me to not think about him when I see Gosling I know I should just get over that though!

Funny thing is, I also think about him when I watch Contact. It was in the theater watching that movie when I realized I wanted to break up with him, when Ellie kissed Joss. I thought, "I don't ever want to kiss X again." That doesn't make me avoid the movie, thankfully. In fact, it's been a while....I need to watch it again!

Hah! To be fair, what I glean from the trailers is that Ken is a bit of a dud, so maybe it's ok for you to watch then? Can confirm after I see it if you like.

I'll gladly watch Oppenheimer when it comes out on cable. As for Barbie: It's rather obvious that it's going to be campy. I'll give it a pass unless it's extremely funny.

Ok, saw both. I feel it's really hard to compare the two because they're such different topics, but I guess what it came down to was Barbie is a fun summer movie type deal, and more or less what you expect, and Oppenheimer was definitely intense and we were glad we saw it in the theater (vs Barbie we probably would have been fine just watching at home). To drill down a bit (some minor spoilers):

- Oppenheimer is just soooo dang good at building suspense even when technically nothing is happening. Like, you're waiting for the Trinity bomb and you know what happens, but the cinematography and discordant music just draws you in and makes you feel so ill at ease, it's incredibly done. So that's why I feel it's a movie better suited for a theater, hard to feel it being so immersive when you're sitting at home on the couch.

- Bunch of nerds on this board so I'll say it, but I really liked seeing the portrayals of all these physicists from the age I'd only read about, plus a few Easter eggs along the way for those in the know (like young Feynman was at Los Alamos but not important, so they just show a guy playing bongo drums at the Christmas party). They did a nice job capturing the foibles of working with a bunch of physicists IMO- only inaccurate detail we caught was husband was NOT impressed at Oppenheimer's brief attempt at speaking Dutch, as it wasn't Dutch and sounded mainly just German. (I did also like how halfway through the movie I turned to my dad and whispered "wait, is this the same Dr. Lawrence they named Lawrence Livermore National Labs after?!") Also, random, but some controversy in conservative Hungarian circles about the film bc they made Teller come off as such an ass. Pretty obvious to me if you think that you just don't know your history.

- Maybe could have cut a half hour off the end (or at least 15-20min) with regards to Oppy losing his security clearance, especially bc you have so many flash forwards in the movie to that point. Arguing over this and that in a back room just isn't as interesting as everything before it, you know?

- Switching gears, probably obvious but the closest parallel to the Barbie movie was the Lego movie, IMO. Probably not shocking when it's all about a toy and how ideas of the toys vs the real world interact. I feel like they had solid jokes as one wants from this sort of movie, and got definite creativity points for making it all work. My main criticism is they did such a great build-up of the concept, then I feel they didn't know how to end it so it fell flat, as can often happen in these movies. (Oppy's ending didn't fall flat, just kinda got a little long.)

- I genuinely feel anyone who thinks the Barbie movie is controversial clearly has nothing else going on in their lives and needs to get out more. Or has never hung out with a little girl in like the last 50 years if you don't get the juxtaposition of "Barbie can be anything she wants, but is also viewed as a bimbo, and oh yeah let's explore the part where Ken is just an accessory which is counter to how things normally are in the real world?" Really not ground-breaking material, folks.

Anyway, I think y'all would like Oppenheimer. I think for Barbie movie watch a trailer, and if you think it's fun check it out (but as I said, fine to wait for streaming). Not sure you have to for the latter if you don't want to see it.

Feynman:bongo drums. Those two things correlate strongly.

I hope to see both soon. We saw the Oppy trailer before watching Guardians 3. I thought it was a bit over dramatic and loud, but that's what they do these days: Make it as loud and dramatic as possible. But that's just me, I can get excited by a long boring documentary.
Barbie just sounds fun.

Reading about Barbie it sounds like actually good satire? Wild. I guess all publicity really is good publicity as far as Mattel is concerned.

Yeah, it's a good satire. Frankly lady_nix, you'd probably enjoy it.

I was reading an interview about the editing process and yeah, apparently there were one or two things where Mattel asked "can you change this?", the writers said "no," and that was the end of it. But frankly it's such a pro-Barbie movie over anti-Mattel they're definitely getting money out of it- I def saw some astronomer friends saying they're gonna buy the astronomer Barbie now after having seen it, for example.

Thumper, I didn't notice that the Oppy movie was particularly loud, but then it is somewhat subjective and might be theater dependent. I could at least get all the dialogue, which is my pet peeve usually with sound.

Still looking to see both. I really want to see Oppy at the theatre, but 3 hours! I could use a 20 minute intermission in the middle for a potty break, a stretch of the legs, and a popcorn refill.
It would be nice and convenient to watch it at home, especially if I get the home theatre surround system back in order. (I think my processor got smoked from a lightning strike. ) But I think it will be a much better experience in a large theatre.

I mean, you're talking to a pregnant lady, the only question about the mad bathroom dash was when it was gonna happen.

The one I find nuts is Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, which I read the book and loved, comes out in October two weeks before my due date (aka, go see it when it opens bc I'm sure not gonna see it after the baby arrives). 3.5 hour run-time! I mean come on, even non-pregnant people must have trouble sitting through that nonstop!

Saw Oppenheimer. I confess I was underwhelmed, maybe due to the hype I suppose. Not bad but it got a bit tedious. I also should not have seen it in an IMAX theater - too loud and the sonic effects aren't necessary for this movie.

One thing I would have appreciated was maybe the filmmaker identifying the various scientists, perhaps by briefly flashing their name on the screen. My hearing is such that I found myself guessing who was who too often. The IMAX sound system didn't help in that regard.

I'm not a pregnant lady but I do have a 57 year old prostate. So yeah it's not if but when and how many.

I saw Barbie this week. It's one of the most unusual movies I'd ever seen in terms of construct and theme. Very well done. Also, the funniest part was a brief interjection by the narrator (Helen Mirren) midway through the film. I won't spoil it for anyone.

Made the sad decision to wait and watch Oppenheimer at home when available. I can comfortably pause when I need ANY kind of break. And go back and re watch parts that I may need to. I would love the theatre experience with popcorn and a beer, but I just didn't think it would be overall worth it.