Barbenheimer is Here, Folks | Review
There's no better time for cheap plastic and radiation.
The most anticipated weekend of the 2023 movie calendar has arrived! Luckily for all of you, your friendly neighborhood movie nerds took the day to watch Oppenheimer and Barbie the way they were meant to be seen: back-to-back on the big screen.
Daniel and Tyler break down their thoughts on the two radically different movies that, like it or not, moviegoers will be discussing for a long time.
“Oppenheimer”
The Big Picture — Lawrence of Arabia for the 21st Century.
TYLER: I’m constantly amazed at how much I underestimate Christopher Nolan.
The Modern Master has brought us Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception, and Dunkirk, garnered five Oscar nominations, and earned over $5B at the worldwide box office. And yet, for some stupid reason, I still was only moderately excited about the release of Oppenheimer.
I should have expected nothing less than perfection. Because that’s what we got.
Oppenheimer is the best picture of the year, hands down. Looking at the rest of the calendar year, I can only imagine two other films that could surpass it (no pressure, Marty and Denis).
It is singular in its artistic vision, cutting between three separate narratives and timelines in typical Nolan fashion. The first explores J Robert Oppenheimer’s (an Oscar-worthy Cillian Murphy) leadership of the Manhattan Project, the second depicts the 1954 US Atomic Energy Commission’s hearings that resulted in Oppenheimer’s security clearance being revoked, and the third and final chronicles the Senate confirmation hearing of Oppenheimer’s rival Lewis Strauss (a career-best Robert Downey Jr.) to become Ike’s Secretary of Commerce.
As in Dunkirk, the seemingly disjointed narrative clicks into place seamlessly as the film races towards its horrifying — and inevitable — ending. For a $100M summer tentpole with lots of talking in rooms, this movie made my heart stop more times than John Wick, Across the Spider-Verse, The Flash, and Dial of Destiny, put together.
As a moviegoer in the twenty-first century, numbed by the gluttony of multiverses and obnoxious computer-generated imagery, Oppenheimer is unlike anything I’ve ever seen on the big screen. The film is both an emotional and physical experience — the seats violently shake at points from the picture’s musical crescendos and nightmarish soundscape. One scene, which I will not spoil, left me so shocked that I walked out of the theater speechless.
The only movie that I can compare it to is another three-hour character-driven epic: Lawrence of Arabia. Both are uncompromising in their exploration of a single, brilliant historical figure who often didn’t fully understand themselves. Like David Lean’s Oscar winner, Oppenheimer thrives as a complex and unsettling character study. Just swap out the deserts of Arabia for the deserts of New Mexico.
Both Cillian’s performance and Nolan’s script bring out every contradiction of “the most important man who ever lived.” Here is a man swept up by the temptations of power and glory, only to be riddled with guilt and burdened with the knowledge that he gave human beings the power to destroy themselves; an American Prometheus.
Talk about an uplifting elevator pitch.
The ensemble cast is one for the ages, and the technical brilliance of the picture reminds us of the power of movies.
Movies have always been somewhat of a mathematical equation, much like the ones Oppenheimer spent his life understanding. At their most rudimentary, movies are one part science and two parts art. Some work out the basic formula better than others.
Thankfully in Oppenheimer, art and science are in perfect harmony.
“Barbie”
The Big Picture — Come on Barbie, Let’s Go Party.
DANIEL: My hype for Barbie increased the moment I saw the first Barbie set photos.
Once the July 21 release date was locked in, the Barbie/Oppenheimer double feature was ON, and Barbenheimer Fever took over.
The magic of Barbie starts with the visionary behind it – Greta Gerwig. With a coming-of-age indie film (Lady Bird), an adaptation of a literary classic (Little Women), and now Barbie under her belt, Gerwig is making her mark as a voice of her generation and class of filmmaker.
Recently, Gerwig detailed the movies that influenced Barbie in a recent interview with Letterboxd. Several of my favorites made the list (Rear Window, The Philadelphia Story, and Singin’ in the Rain) which made me even more excited to look for those influences.
Folks, we still have movie stars, and Margot Robbie is a capital M Movie Star.
Margot Robbie is perfectly cast as Barbie. The narrator breaking the fourth wall to remind us of this was hilarious, and deftly deployed in the context of Barbie’s journey. There’s plenty of heart here, and without that, the movie wouldn’t work. Luckily for us, Robbie nails it.
Ryan Gosling IS Ken. He has comedy chops (The Nice Guys and Crazy, Stupid, Love for starters) and he fully leaned into Ken. The show-stopping “I’m Just Ken” 80s power ballad was worth the price of admission alone.
We will see a lot more of Barbie come awards season. If Gosling doesn’t sing “I’m Just Ken” at the Oscars, that will be a missed opportunity.
A standout moment was America Ferrera’s monologue about being a mother and the expectations of women. There was more heart and emotional heft in this movie than I anticipated from seeing the trailer. Just a fish out of water story, this is not.
It’s become something of a hallmark of Gerwig’s movies, and I am eager to see her adaptation of the world of Narnia next.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the scene mentioning The Godfather. Unsurprisingly, it’s my favorite movie and yes, I laughed out loud at that scene. My wife laughed louder than I did there, who felt vindicated after years of my pestering her to watch it and appreciate it as I do. Self-awareness, Ken.
Barbie met the hype and exceeded it – a $100+ Million weekend debut! Seeing it in a packed theatre added to the fun and joy of the experience, and I encourage you to make plans to see it as soon as you can.
Go see it with your wife, mom, sister, girlfriend, or other women in your life. At its core, Barbie is a celebration of women. “We mothers stand still so our daughters can look back and see how far they have come.”
Readers, did you experience Barbenheimer this weekend? Are you planning on seeing them anytime soon? What did you think of the movies? Let us know in the comments below!
Fantastic review; well written and informative. Excited to get on the “Barbenheimer” hype train!
Wow! Thanks for a great and well written article and reviews!