Documentary/Biopic Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer

[BatLobster]

Cameron is the master of making incredibly broad films with the widest possible appeal (I don't mean that in a bad way at all). It's why he's the box office king.

Nolan is the master of making rich, intense, complex films that still have much wider appeal than they otherwise would because of his strong cinematic storytelling, and his ability to immerse the audience while keeping them thinking about his films long after they're over.

 

[Drizzle]

The truth of it is that Nolan and Cameron more or less stand alone right now as the most consistently successful directors whose films audiences will flock to theaters to see simply because they directed them, regardless of what they're about.

Take Spielberg for example. He just might be my favorite director (cliche as it is, I know) but it's also plain to see that even someone like him, who's loomed large in Hollywood for almost 50 years, doesn't command that same audience attention like Nolan and Cameron do. At least not anymore. West Side Story and The Fabelmans are both great films but the audience turnout in theaters was pretty dismal.

 

[Boom]

Nolan and Cameron might arguably be the only true "star directors" actively working right now.

 

[BatLobster]

The truth of it is that Nolan and Cameron more or less stand alone right now as the most consistently successful directors whose films audiences will flock to theaters to see simply because they directed them, regardless of what they're about.

Take Spielberg for example. He just might be my favorite director (cliche as it is, I know) but it's also plain to see that even someone like him, who's loomed large in Hollywood for almost 50 years, doesn't command that same audience attention like Nolan and Cameron do. At least not anymore. West Side Story and The Fabelmans are both great films but the audience turnout in theaters was pretty dismal.

Welp, he's still the highest grossing director of all-time. Cameron still needs about 2 billion more to surpass him. Just goes to show how beastly the prime of his career was.

To be fair, I think Nolan and Cameron are still actively trying to reach the biggest possible audience and seem to be extremely in tune with modern audiences, whereas I feel like Spielberg is enjoying his 'twilight' years and just making whatever he wants.

 

[DarkKnight88]

Take Spielberg for example. He just might be my favorite director (cliche as it is, I know) but it's also plain to see that even someone like him, who's loomed large in Hollywood for almost 50 years, doesn't command that same audience attention like Nolan and Cameron do. At least not anymore. West Side Story and The Fabelmans are both great films but the audience turnout in theaters was pretty dismal.

I think Spielberg has consciously stepped back from making big commercial movies this past decade, and has really been focusing on different genres to challenge himself more than looking at the next big hit with audiences (musical, autobiographical, political).

His last blockbuster “for the audience” movie was Ready Player One and that hit almost 600M worldwide.

 

[Kane52630]

Just got out of my 2nd viewing, so much better getting to know all the little moving parts plus knowing how the movie is structured, it flows much better. I still think everything leading up to the Trinity test and the final hour with the red scare section was the movie at its strongest.

 

[flickchick85]

I agree that the last act is the strongest, but I also feel like that's because the movie just simply gets better and better as it goes along. Which is...kinda what you should want a movie to do lol.

 

[Kane52630]

Also, I can't help but think of Brainy every time Rami Malek shows up early on without really saying anything.

 

[Kane52630]

I agree that the last act is the strongest, but I also feel like that's because the movie just simply gets better and better as it goes along. Which is...kinda what you should want a movie to do lol.

True but I originally thought the first half hour felt too scattered brain for its own good but seeing it again, it makes a lot of sense.

 

[Gothamsknight]

Sure, but we're talking about a 3 hour biopic about the nuke here. The fact that his movie is doing as well as it's doing, while being R rated too, is just insane. And it's because of Nolans ability to strike a fine balance of making movies that are interesting, complex while also still being crowd pleasing.

 

[BatLobster]

I agree that the last act is the strongest, but I also feel like that's because the movie just simply gets better and better as it goes along. Which is...kinda what you should want a movie to do lol.

To me, possibly the film's biggest triumph is that it manages to pull that off that AFTER the film's big moment that everyone came to see. It's easy to picture a lesser version of the film that meanders there and runs out of steam. But because of how perfectly the story is structured, it just chugs along and continues to build momentum until the final scene. Even the time-jumping starts to feel invisible with how perfectly each scene tees up the next. That becomes even clearer on multiple viewings, when the dense dialogue is a little less overwhelming. The fact that the movie is able to hold back the payoff of Groves' answer about clearing Oppenheimer for like well over an hour and it doesn't feel like it is crazy. I didn't even recall that it was spaced apart that much until seeing it again.

 

[Drizzle]

Welp, he's still the highest grossing director of all-time. Cameron still needs about 2 billion more to surpass him. Just goes to show how beastly the prime of his career was.

To be fair, I think Nolan and Cameron are still actively trying to reach the biggest possible audience and seem to be extremely in tune with modern audiences, whereas I feel like Spielberg is enjoying his 'twilight' years and just making whatever he wants.

I think Spielberg has consciously stepped back from making big commercial movies this past decade, and has really been focusing on different genres to challenge himself more than looking at the next big hit with audiences (musical, autobiographical, political).

His last blockbuster “for the audience” movie was Ready Player One and that hit almost 600M worldwide.

Even in his prime in the '80s and '90s, Spielberg still made what he wanted. For every monster hit he had like E.T. or Jurassic Park, there was a more down to earth film like Empire of the Sun or The Terminal. By comparison Nolan and Cameron seem to focus more on event films.

 

[BatLobster]

Even in his prime in the '80s and '90s, Spielberg still made what he wanted. For every monster hit he had like E.T. or Jurassic Park, there was a more down to earth film like Empire of the Sun or The Terminal. By comparison Nolan and Cameron seem to focus more on event films.

Right, but I think my point is I think he's stopped trying to make the "next Jurassic Park" at this point. IE, the definitive blockbusters of the era. Arguably Ready Player One was his last attempt at that, but it still feels like a different category of movie to me than his heyday.

I also think a key difference is Spielberg was able to do MORE movies because he wasn't writing them. It gave him a little more freedom to bounce around. As writer/directors it takes Nolan and (especially) Cameron take a longer time to bring a project to life.

 

[Kane52630]

Oh, I forgot one thing from my last night's rewatch... the whole subtextual reading/theory from reddit about this movie being a metaphor for Nolan and his creation of The Dark Knight and its legacy which led to cinema being overrun with superhero movies was pretty amusing but so off the mark. lol

 

[Dr.]

Big in South Korea...

‘Oppenheimer’ Korea Debut Is Christopher Nolan’s Biggest Opening Day In Market – Deadline

 

[Dr.]

"...it’s only available on 30 screens worldwide, 19 of them in the U.S."

'Oppenheimer' Imax 70mm Craze: Fans Cross State Lines, New Projectors - Variety

 

[Boom]

I'd love for them to expand to new locations. Not sure what the logistics of that would be.

 

[Blade Hoarder]

Nolan and Cameron might arguably be the only true "star directors" actively working right now.

And cutie. At least for one more film if the next is his rumored last.

 

[OtherwiseKnownAs]

Big in South Korea...

‘Oppenheimer’ Korea Debut Is Christopher Nolan’s Biggest Opening Day In Market – Deadline

Can’t imagine why

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Kane52630]

I dont know why but I feel like that stat will work greatly for Oppenheimer during award season.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[BatLobster]

A billion is unlikely though not entirely out of the question depending on China, but 900 million looks like a lock.

 

[Luigi]

And here I thought a few months ago that it would top out at 400m.

Crazy.

 

[OtherwiseKnownAs]

I don’t know if I buy this interpretation of the movie, but I’ll keep it in mind the next time I watch it: I’ve seen some thought pieces on this film as Nolan doing a self-portrait, with himself as Oppenheimer, and the atomic bomb as The Dark Knight. Essentially Nolan is taking some share of the blame for the current state of the movie industry and Hollywood.