by Josh Sewell
(Note: Barbie also opens this weekend, but Warner Bros. scheduled the only Atlanta-area press screening for the same day and time as Oppenheimer – even though Universal announced that screening several weeks in advance. Because of deadline constraints, my Barbie review will appear in next week’s column.)
Oppenheimer
(Rated R for some sexuality, nudity and language. Opens in theaters on July 21.)
After stumbling a bit with Tenet, acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan returns with his highly anticipated thriller about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the brilliant, controversial scientist who spearheaded the creation of the atomic bomb. It turns out the lackluster reaction to his previous effort might’ve been the best thing for Nolan in the long run: he clearly had something to prove, and he bounces back strong.
As always, Nolan shot the epic film in IMAX and assembled an all-star cast, including Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer and Emily Blunt as his wife, biologist and botanist Katherine Oppenheimer. Matt Damon co-stars as Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. (director of the Manhattan Project) and Robert Downey Jr. portrays Lewis Strauss, a divisive historical figure in his own right.
Practically every character is played by a familiar face, proving how many actors are willing to jump at the chance to work with Nolan. The supporting cast includes Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Michael Angarano, Josh Hartnett, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Dane DeHaan, Dylan Arnold, David Krumholtz, Alden Ehrenreich, Matthew Modine and far too many more to mention.
In addition to directing, Nolan wrote the screenplay, adapting the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. He still gets to indulge his usual fascination with nonlinear structure and playing with the idea of time, which enables him to sidestep a lot of tired biopic tropes.
Ultimately, Oppenheimer might be the most straightforward, accessible film of his career, outside of his Dark Knight trilogy. Well, aside from a bizarre sex scene clearly meant to be symbolic and intentionally unsettling.
Heavily reminiscent of Oliver Stone’s JFK, the film’s three-hour running time flies by. Every scene crackles, from contentious boardroom meetings to the horrifying explosion that ushered the world into an era of mutually assured destruction. (Not-so-fun fact: there are approximately 12,500 nuclear warheads on the planet. Scientists estimate it would take less than 100 to wipe out humanity.)
Murphy is the clear standout of Oppenheimer, but supporting performances from Downey (finally breaking free of his Tony Stark-esque mannerisms), Damon and Blunt – particularly in her big scene in the film’s home stretch – are also phenomenal. Look for this one to be a huge factor in the upcoming awards season. I already can’t wait to see it again.
Grade: A
Past Lives
(Rated PG-13 for some strong language. Now playing in select theaters.)
In a summer full of $300 million blockbusters that guarantee sensory overload, sometimes it’s refreshing to retreat into the quieter, more reserved world of independent film. While not for everyone, movies like the recent Past Lives offer cinematic respite for viewers who complain nobody makes movies for grownups anymore. They still exist, but you have to look a little harder to find them.
Writer-director Celine Song’s achingly beautiful romantic drama centers on Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), childhood friends who drift apart after Nora’s family moves from South Korea to Canada. They reconnect 12 years later thanks to social media, but things don’t work out because of school and career aspirations.
Fast-forward another 12 years, and Nora is a New York City playwright married to a quiet, kind novelist named Arthur (John Magaro). When she learns that Hae Sung, now a successful engineer, will be in the city for a brief vacation, they meet up to discuss love, destiny and the many “what ifs?” of life.
From a narrative standpoint, Past Lives is basically flawless – I still can’t believe this is Song’s first movie. It tells a small, yet powerful story well and fleshes out its complex characters so realistically that the emotional pain comes from realizing there’s no stereotypical heroes or villains. It’s tough to have a happy ending when that vague term could mean one of several outcomes. Even then, someone or everyone will have difficult feelings to process.
Song’s brilliant cast is another crucial reason the film is so affecting. Lee and Yoo have scorching chemistry, so it makes sense we initially want them to end up together. But Magaro’s introspective performance as Arthur, paired with a couple of smart, touching conversations his character has with both Nora and Hae Sung, makes the audience understand why he’s a fantastic husband.
Past Lives doesn’t offer any easy answers or resolutions, but that’s what makes it so realistic and gives it staying power. I can’t recommend the film enough; although it runs a relatively brief 105-minutes, you’ll feel like you’ve completed an epic journey by the poignant final scenes.
Grade: A
Home Video Spotlight
Soundies: The Ultimate Collection
(Not rated. Available on Blu-ray and digitally on Kino Now July 15.)
The modern version of music videos emerged in the early 1980s when the MTV revolutionized the industry. However, short video clips of musical performances became widespread during the World War II era thanks to “soundies,” which were originally made to be viewed on movie jukeboxes in neighborhood bars.
They showcased a wide range of artists spanning numerous genres, including Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Hoagy Carmichael, Nat King Cole, Dorothy Dandridge, Doris Day, Duke Ellington, Spike Jones, Liberace and a ton of others. Not only do they feature incredible music, they’re also historically and culturally significant, revealing what Americans were thinking about topics that weren’t discussed openly, from sexuality to ethnicity to race.
Kino Lorber has collected 200 of these shorts in a four-disc set called Soundies: The Ultimate Collection. Curated by journalist and film historian Susan Delson, the collection includes a diverse sampling of jazz, country, folk and the origins of rock ’n’ roll, newly restored from materials preserved by the Library of Congress and other archives. The Blu-ray set boasts a wealth of bonus features, including an illustrated 44-page booklet with essays by Delson and other historians, as well as film introductions and interviews with notable academics.
(Note: Barbie also opens this weekend, but Warner Bros. scheduled the only Atlanta-area press screening for the same day and time as Oppenheimer – even though Universal announced that screening several weeks in advance. Because of deadline constraints, my Barbie review will appear in next week’s column.)
(Rated R for some sexuality, nudity and language. Opens in theaters on July 21.)
After stumbling a bit with Tenet, acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan returns with his highly anticipated thriller about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the brilliant, controversial scientist who spearheaded the creation of the atomic bomb. It turns out the lackluster reaction to his previous effort might’ve been the best thing for Nolan in the long run: he clearly had something to prove, and he bounces back strong.
As always, Nolan shot the epic film in IMAX and assembled an all-star cast, including Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer and Emily Blunt as his wife, biologist and botanist Katherine Oppenheimer. Matt Damon co-stars as Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. (director of the Manhattan Project) and Robert Downey Jr. portrays Lewis Strauss, a divisive historical figure in his own right.
Practically every character is played by a familiar face, proving how many actors are willing to jump at the chance to work with Nolan. The supporting cast includes Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Michael Angarano, Josh Hartnett, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Dane DeHaan, Dylan Arnold, David Krumholtz, Alden Ehrenreich, Matthew Modine and far too many more to mention.
In addition to directing, Nolan wrote the screenplay, adapting the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. He still gets to indulge his usual fascination with nonlinear structure and playing with the idea of time, which enables him to sidestep a lot of tired biopic tropes.
Ultimately, Oppenheimer might be the most straightforward, accessible film of his career, outside of his Dark Knight trilogy. Well, aside from a bizarre sex scene clearly meant to be symbolic and intentionally unsettling.
Heavily reminiscent of Oliver Stone’s JFK, the film’s three-hour running time flies by. Every scene crackles, from contentious boardroom meetings to the horrifying explosion that ushered the world into an era of mutually assured destruction. (Not-so-fun fact: there are approximately 12,500 nuclear warheads on the planet. Scientists estimate it would take less than 100 to wipe out humanity.)
Murphy is the clear standout of Oppenheimer, but supporting performances from Downey (finally breaking free of his Tony Stark-esque mannerisms), Damon and Blunt – particularly in her big scene in the film’s home stretch – are also phenomenal. Look for this one to be a huge factor in the upcoming awards season. I already can’t wait to see it again.
Grade: A
(Rated PG-13 for some strong language. Now playing in select theaters.)
In a summer full of $300 million blockbusters that guarantee sensory overload, sometimes it’s refreshing to retreat into the quieter, more reserved world of independent film. While not for everyone, movies like the recent Past Lives offer cinematic respite for viewers who complain nobody makes movies for grownups anymore. They still exist, but you have to look a little harder to find them.
Writer-director Celine Song’s achingly beautiful romantic drama centers on Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), childhood friends who drift apart after Nora’s family moves from South Korea to Canada. They reconnect 12 years later thanks to social media, but things don’t work out because of school and career aspirations.
Fast-forward another 12 years, and Nora is a New York City playwright married to a quiet, kind novelist named Arthur (John Magaro). When she learns that Hae Sung, now a successful engineer, will be in the city for a brief vacation, they meet up to discuss love, destiny and the many “what ifs?” of life.
From a narrative standpoint, Past Lives is basically flawless – I still can’t believe this is Song’s first movie. It tells a small, yet powerful story well and fleshes out its complex characters so realistically that the emotional pain comes from realizing there’s no stereotypical heroes or villains. It’s tough to have a happy ending when that vague term could mean one of several outcomes. Even then, someone or everyone will have difficult feelings to process.
Song’s brilliant cast is another crucial reason the film is so affecting. Lee and Yoo have scorching chemistry, so it makes sense we initially want them to end up together. But Magaro’s introspective performance as Arthur, paired with a couple of smart, touching conversations his character has with both Nora and Hae Sung, makes the audience understand why he’s a fantastic husband.
Past Lives doesn’t offer any easy answers or resolutions, but that’s what makes it so realistic and gives it staying power. I can’t recommend the film enough; although it runs a relatively brief 105-minutes, you’ll feel like you’ve completed an epic journey by the poignant final scenes.
Grade: A
Home Video Spotlight
(Not rated. Available on Blu-ray and digitally on Kino Now July 15.)
The modern version of music videos emerged in the early 1980s when the MTV revolutionized the industry. However, short video clips of musical performances became widespread during the World War II era thanks to “soundies,” which were originally made to be viewed on movie jukeboxes in neighborhood bars.
They showcased a wide range of artists spanning numerous genres, including Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Hoagy Carmichael, Nat King Cole, Dorothy Dandridge, Doris Day, Duke Ellington, Spike Jones, Liberace and a ton of others. Not only do they feature incredible music, they’re also historically and culturally significant, revealing what Americans were thinking about topics that weren’t discussed openly, from sexuality to ethnicity to race.
Kino Lorber has collected 200 of these shorts in a four-disc set called Soundies: The Ultimate Collection. Curated by journalist and film historian Susan Delson, the collection includes a diverse sampling of jazz, country, folk and the origins of rock ’n’ roll, newly restored from materials preserved by the Library of Congress and other archives. The Blu-ray set boasts a wealth of bonus features, including an illustrated 44-page booklet with essays by Delson and other historians, as well as film introductions and interviews with notable academics.
Reach out to Josh Sewell on Twitter @IAmJoshSewell
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