Tag: cillian murphy

Oscars 2024 Nominations: Documentary To Kill a Tiger on violence against women in India gets a nod at the Academy

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To Kill a Tiger, a riveting Canadian documentary crafted by Nisha Pahuja, has made its majestic roar at the Oscars by securing a nomination in the Best Documentary Feature Film category of the 96th Academy Awards. With the backdrop set in Jharkhand, India, this sobering story revolves around a family relentlessly seeking justice for their 13-year-old daughter, a victim of a brutal rape crime by three men. The cinematic narration delves deep into the societal and legal obstacles faced by the affected family, shining a spotlight on the culturally embedded issues that turn a blind eye to violence against women. Also Read – Oscars 2024 Nominees: Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone and others nominated; Barbie, Oppenheimer dominate the list

BollywoodLife brings to you all the latest entertainment news updates. Join us on WhatsApp. Also Read – Oscars 2024: Leonardo DiCaprio out of the race for Best Actor for Killers Of The Flower Moon? Fans pin hope on his next big project

To Kill a Tiger won hearts

The documentary first aired its social dilemma to the audience at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2022, cinching the title of Best Canadian Film. It further racked up laurels such as the Inspiring Voices and Perspectives award at the Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival and two Canadian Screen Awards for Best Feature Length Documentary and Best Editing in a Documentary. Praise for To Kill a Tiger echoed from critics at Stir, CityNews, and Northern Stars, while comedian and producer Mindy Kaling hailed it as a “triumph” to be witnessed by all. Also Read – Dunki at Oscars 2024: Shah Rukh Khan, Rajkumar Hirani planning to submit the film for main categories?

Amongst the group of 15 movies that progressed in the Documentary Feature Film category out of the eligible 167 films at the Oscars, To Kill a Tiger marks its presence. Joining the list are other engaging narratives like American Symphony, Apolonia, Beyond Utopia, Bobi Wine: The People’s President, Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy, and more remarkable documentaries.

About Oscars 2024

The Oscars 2024 red carpet will unroll on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California as the 96th Academy Awards unfurls. Telecasted live on ABC and universally across 200+ territories, the event will have comedian Jimmy Kimmel as the host for the fourth time. The production chair occupied by Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan and directorial reins held by Hamish Hamilton. As actors Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid reveal the nominees in various categories such as Best Picture and Best Actress on January 23, 2024, “To Kill A Tiger” is set to compete with awaited cinema pieces like Killers of the Flower Moon, and Barbie.

The societal mirror that To Kill a Tiger is, highlights the deep-seated issue of sexual violence against women, prevalent not just in India but globally. Beyond being a mere film, it’s a call for change and a manifesto challenging the rampant social evil. Lauded, celebrated, and a potential history-maker at the Oscars; To Kill a Tiger is indeed a movie with a mission.

Stay tuned to BollywoodLife for the latest scoops and updates from Bollywood, Hollywood, South, TV and Web-Series.

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January 23, 2024
Video: ‘Oppenheimer’ | Anatomy of a Scene

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The writer and director Christopher Nolan narrates the opening sequence from the film.

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Mekado Murphy

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January 8, 2024
The 2024 Golden Globes Does What It Can to Keep Itself on the Train Track

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The Golden Globes is no stranger to being riddled with scandal. Even in the 1950s, when it was still a relatively germinal organization (with the first edition airing in 1944), the awards ceremony was “renowned” for taking what amounted to bribes and payoffs via various “gift-giving” endeavors from studios, production companies and individual stars themselves. By the 60s, the Golden Globes were exposed for determining their winners based on advertiser influence, and that, furthermore, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) put pressure on nominees to attend the ceremony, lest they lose their win to another nominee who actually did attend. The entire thing was such a shitshow—such a complete and blatant display of nepotism and abuse of power—that the ceremony was actually banned from being aired on television between 1969 and 1974.

Scarcely back on the air for a full ten years after returning post-1974, the next major scandal was Pia Zadora’s “miraculous” win for “New Star of the Year” (another made-up award in the vein of Cinematic and Box Office Achievement) thanks to her performance in Butterfly, a movie that was both unanimously panned and had not even been released yet at the time the awards ceremony aired. Not so hushed whisperings about how Zadora’s husband, Turkish-Israeli financier Meshulam Riklis, bought her the award led to a further degradation in the Golden Globes’ credibility. Yet this has never stopped the show from enduring. In fact, from being second only to the Academy Awards in terms of prestige and well-knownness to the layperson outside of Hollywood. Yet, as Scarlett Johansson once called out, the show was merely used as a tool by the likes of Harvey Weinstein to curry Oscar favor. Hence, the flagrancy of bribery.

Some cynics would even argue that it surely can’t be a coincidence that the only time Madonna was ever recognized for her acting ability was thanks to the Golden Globes, as she won the award (in 1997) for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Evita. The HFPA had a less speculative case of being paid off for the 2011 Golden Globes, when both Burlesque and The Tourist managed to secure nominations in the Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy category. This despite Burlesque being a critical laughingstock (though, yes, it is lauded by those who appreciate camp) and the fact that The Tourist was a spy/action-adventure movie. Needless to say, HFPA members were cajoled into nominating these films thanks to getting “flewed out” to Las Vegas to see a Cher concert and a little personal lobbying from Angelina Jolie herself re: The Tourist.

At the end of 2020, amid then-fervent cries about changing Hollywood’s openly discriminatory practices as a result of the overall anti-racist spark ignited by George Floyd’s murder in May of that year, the Golden Globes were once again put on blast for a lack of Black members and generally arcane membership “policies.” So it was that, yet again, the awards ceremony was barred from being aired on television in 2022, with Tom Cruise going so far as to return the Golden Globes he won as a show of “solidarity” the year before. By 2023, the organization had been (theoretically) totally revamped, sold off to Eldridge Industries (also known for buying Dick Clark Productions) and repackaged as a for-profit entity with a larger and more “diverse” membership working behind the scenes to nominate people and the films they’re part of. Not only that, but as Robert Downey Jr. pointed out during his acceptance speech this year, the organization changed its name, doing away with the HFPA altogether. It also transitioned to a new network, swapping NBC out in favor of CBS, billed as the “less fun” of the Big Three broadcast networks (NBC, ABC and CBS). And, indeed, it didn’t seem like much fun for anyone when the last-minute host, Jo Koy (relatively unknown up until this moment), took the stage to deliver a monologue that induced cricket-chirping silence (though Taylor Swift really didn’t need to be so uppity about the harmless “difference between the NFL and Golden Globes” joke that Koy made).

Luckily, things picked up slightly as the evening wore on, and viral moments of levity were provided, including Jennifer Lawrence mouthing, “If I don’t win, I’m leaving” and what felt like two minutes of watching Timothée Chalamet (who, mercifully, did not win for Best Actor in Wonka) and Kylie Jenner “canoodling” and saying shit to the effect of, “No, I love you more.” It was pretty nasty (and not nearly as noteworthy as Ali Wong’s show of PDA with Bill Hader), but obviously the stuff of viral and meme gold. Even that “bit” between Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell presenting the award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy proved to, for whatever reason, endlessly charm audiences. Which proves that the Golden Globes isn’t quite yet the stodgy, irrelevant entity that people would like to make most long-running institutions out to be.

That said, the presence of Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish (who also won the award for Best Original Song for “What Was I Made For?”) alone served as enough proof that the ceremony has carried on to subsequent generations. Even if only the most blanca and monoculture-oriented. But that didn’t stop the voters from doing their best to promote “inclusivity” in the lone manner they could: by giving the award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama to Lily Gladstone for her performance as Mollie Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon. Even if there were many Native Americans who weren’t quite as moved by the film as some of the white viewers who watched it (a phenomenon that also seemed to occur with 2016’s Moonlight). In truth, Gladstone’s capitulation to the proverbial white male as the teller of an Osage story can be viewed as at Native American version of the Uncle Tom trope. And yet, how else is a girl (or boy) supposed to get representation in mainstream Hollywood without “cozying up” a bit?

This seemed to be the underlying theme of the night, with audience silence resounding well beyond the Jo Koy monologue in terms of nary a celebrity making any political statement. That’s right: for arguably the first time in history, celebrities at an awards ceremony were not feeling political. Almost as though to do so would be “too much” amid the tinderbox climate (figuratively and literally) of now. Particularly with regard to mentioning anything about Israel and Palestine. Which proves, once again, that Hollywood hypocrisy is alive and well no matter how much its awards ceremonies feign “evolution.” For how can an awards show really evolve if the industry itself hasn’t?

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Genna Rivieccio

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January 8, 2024
Oppenheimer: Cillian Murphy calls Robert Downey Jr ‘electrifying’; reveals acting with him was ‘extraordinary’

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Oppenheimer is one of the biggest movies of the year. With a star-studded cast, the movie has earned rave reviews from critics and fans alike. The star of the movie Cillian Murphy recently talked about his experience working with Iron Man actor Robert Downy Jr. and the fun they had working with the film’s script.

Cillian Murphy praises Oppenheimer co-star Robert Downey Jr.

In a recent interview with GQ, Cillian Murphy spoke about the Oppenheimer script being incredibly dense, to the point where the actor made an exception by reading his lines before he got to the set.

Murphy said, “You have to be completely prepared. I knew the script more or less before we went into work, which isn’t so not something I’ve ever done before. Only in theatre, because there was so much text, and it was quite dense. I wanted to not be worried about the text when I went on the floor.”

One respite the Inception actor had was working with Robert Downey Jr. He explained, “But then, a lot of the scenes I have with Downey, it was quite loose and quite improvisational.”

Murphy heaped praise on the Iron Man actor, calling his talent extraordinary. He said, “I mean, acting with him was just extraordinary. He’s just electrifying, the most available engaged, present, unpredictably brilliant actor I’ve ever worked with.”

ALSO READ: Oppenheimer: Is Christopher Nolan’s movie based on a true story? Everything to know about Robert Oppenheimer

Cillian Murphy’s views on Oppenheimer

During the interview, Murphy was asked if he is “able to judge him [Oppenheimer] just a little bit?” In his response, the actor diplomatically said, “I’m really not going to give you an opinion on that. I really strongly believe that the film should ask the questions of the audience.”

He explained that his motive is not to “prejudice anybody’s point of view, when they go into the movie theatre, about what how they feel and Oppenheimer.”

Although, the actor did reveal Christopher Nolan’s view of the man the world came to know as the father of the atomic bomb. Murphy shared, “What I will say, is that Oppenheimer – Chris called him the most important man that ever lived, whatever you think about that. That’s up to you. But we are living in a world that was changed by Oppenheimer. We’re living in a nuclear age because of what Oppenheimer did.”

Meanwhile, Oppenheimer has been racking in amazing box-office numbers since its release on July 21. With its controversies and praises, Nolan has added another blockbuster to his list of iconic movies.

ALSO READ: Oppenheimer India Box Office Preview: Christopher Nolan directorial runtime, screen count, and opening day

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July 26, 2023
Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy wants to play Ken in Barbie 2: Let’s read a script

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Barbie and Oppenheimer were positioned to clash at box offices worldwide. However, both films opened to packed theatres and garnered rave reviews. Now Cillian Murphy, who plays the titular J. Robert Oppenheimer in the Christopher Nolan directorial has revealed he would like to play Ken in a Barbie sequel.

In a recent interaction, Cillian Murphy was asked if he would like to play Ken in Barbie 2 and the actor was on board. He said, “Sure! Let’s read a script. Let’s have a conversation.”

Cillian Murphy has expressed his excitement for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie before. He also revealed that he can’t wait to watch the movie.

Oppenheimer which also stars Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Robert Downey Jr. and others is a biographical thriller based on the man Known as the father of the atomic bomb.

Meanwhile, Barbie starring Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera and others is a comedy fantasy film that delves into the myth of the world-famous toy.

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July 25, 2023
Blow Up the Patriarchy, Or: The Barbenheimer Experience

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Perhaps what they don’t warn you about with regard to “the Barbenheimer experience” is just how jarring it actually is. Certainly, that’s the entire “point” of pairing these two films together, the reason the internet has gone apeshit: because they’re so “divergent.” In fact, the phenomenon has proven to be such an excitement to people that they’ve gone “through the archives” to find similar instances of unlikely movie pairings released the same week. Such examples include Jumanji and Heat, The Matrix and 10 Things I Hate About You and The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia! It’s really only the latter example (complete with also featuring a Christopher Nolan movie) that comes vaguely close to capturing the sort of genre/color palette dichotomy that Barbie and Oppenheimer do. But, on a deeper level than that, watching Oppenheimer the same day or week serves as an even more blatant method for underscoring the horrifying patriarchal system that Barbie does.

In Oppenheimer’s case, of course, it’s unintentional. Because never was patriarchy in America at its strongest and most accepted than in the mid-twentieth century. Nor could Nolan have planned for a movie about garden-variety male toxicity to have coincided so seamlessly with an actual moviegoing trend/phenomenon. The pairing of these two films fundamentally speaking to how patriarchy destroys lives in far more literal ways than figurative ones. While Barbie (Margot Robbie) at least gets to experience life as it should be under matriarchy in Barbie Land, maybe it’s almost worse to know what that sense of peace and freedom is like only to be forced to enter Real World territory, where males rule with an iron/button-pushing (a bomb allusion) fist.

Upon seeing how things are done in Real World, Ken (Ryan Gosling) decides he can no longer be subjected to the “tyranny” of matriarchal dominance. Of being unable to force a Barbie to do anything he wants them to (i.e., return his affection), least of all the specific one he’s pining over. Because, in Barbie Land, men a.k.a. Kens are just background. In J. Robert Oppenheimer’s (Cillian Murphy) world, it’s women who are very much peripheral, serving only as vague sexual impressions. Yet there’s never any issue with making a woman “his.” Except his on-again, off-again paramour, Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh). Unfortunately for Oppenheimer, she’s the type of “Berkeley free spirit” who can never seem to be pinned down. Oppenheimer’s eventual wife, Katherine (Emily Blunt), on the other hand, is only too eager to take a fourth husband in “Oppi.”

And yet, for as important as these women are in Oppenheimer’s life (not to mention being the only sign of women anywhere within this filmic landscape), they’re really just cursory and occasional “presences” that only interrupt the “real” work he’s doing. The truly “significant” aspect of his life. Which becomes helping male politicians destroy the world in the name of war. With Oppenheimer himself growing (like a mushroom cloud) so consumed and titillated by the resources (financial or otherwise) the government provides him with in the name of scientific research, he loses sight of the monster he’s actually creating. Perhaps as Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlaman) once did as well. Not knowing that the woman she unleashed onto the world—the one quite literally made to show girls that they could be anything—only served to further highlight all the things they would never be, both body-wise and career-wise. Therefore, Handler ended up actually accenting a more palpable and depressing divide between reality and what should be…as opposed to conjuring a beacon of hope and feminism in Barbie. And yes, it bears noting that, despite all her evolutions, Mattel has never seen fit to release a “Body Positivity” Barbie. Maybe because they know just how hollow that would come across at this juncture. Though false intentions never stopped a capitalist from trying to make a fast buck. In short, to capitalize.

Obviously, Handler and Oppenheimer are by no means comparable for what they created—though each one did offer up, in some sense, a kind of Frankenstein. Gerwig appears to know that only too well by making Handler a prominent character in Barbie. A conceit that might seem a bit out of left field to some, but is actually entirely appropriate considering she was the brainchild behind Mattel’s best-selling and most iconic toy. And it’s cruelly ironic that Handler’s “ghost” should be left to haunt the seventeenth floor of corporate headquarters while the suits with no insight into women benefit from her invention. For yes, she was eventually forced to resign from Mattel in 1974 after the taxman cracked down on her for false financial reporting (something Gerwig refers to with a joke that Ruth herself makes in the movie).

Difficulty getting along with the government appears to be a common characteristic in those who simply want to create. For Oppenheimer, too, was viewed with malice and contempt by the very political machine that was dependent upon him for developing an atomic weapon. One that turned out, in the end, to be rather needless as Japan would have surely surrendered without it. But such is the nature of patriarchy, with every man “in charge” needing to prove that his power is authoritative and incontrovertible by swinging his dick around while lives hang in the balance.

Oppenheimer makes that disgustingly clear when Henry L. Stimson (James Remar), the Secretary of War at the time, decides they shouldn’t bomb Kyoto because he and his wife honeymooned there and it’s a “lovely” place that has cultural value not just to him, but the Japanese. In other words, fuck those arbitrary shitholes, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To see a scene like this play out is indicative of just how damaging patriarchy is, for it is a system run by a gender that thrives on violence, ego and heartless decision-making. A gender that proves, ultimately, gender is no illusion; for this particular one feeds on destruction, whereas the female one is founded metaphorically and literally on creation. The great yin and yang endeavors of each type of being.

So yes, more than merely a means to appreciate the contrasting cinematography styles of Hoyte van Hoytema and Rodrigo Prieto, the Barbenheimer experience does feel somehow essential. Like it shouldn’t get reduced to being categorized as “frivolous pandering to internet tastemaking,” but rather, seen as a brutal and unique way to watch how patriarchy upends male and female lives alike on a daily basis. All because someone wanted to prove he has clout and “intelligence.” Though the dumbest thing of all is to assume that one has any significance whatsoever in the grand scheme.

Especially a grand scheme that might now invariably include going “kabluey” because a man wanted to show off the prowess of his mind knowing full well that said result would be used for evil. Indeed, quoting from a Hindu scripture, Oppenheimer would say of his creation, “Now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds.” In some sense, Barbie destroyed worlds as well. Bringing “fire” to the “cavewomen” who were still stuck playing with (read: playing at mothering) baby dolls throughout their childhood. Accordingly, this is the very scene Greta Gerwig rightly chooses to commence Barbie with. And would that playing with/learning to emulate a “slutty” doll was the most affronting and harmful thing a man (/man-boy) ever did.

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Genna Rivieccio

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July 20, 2023
‘Oppenheimer’ Cast Divulges Extreme Lengths Cillian Murphy Went To For Role

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Cillian Murphy is already earning rave reviews for his portrayal in “Oppenheimer” of the eponymous physicist who built the first nuclear bomb. Part of the Irish actor’s method was to look as much like the scientist as possible ― and that included extreme tactics, as co-stars Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr. and Matt Damon recently shared.

In an interview with Fandango, Blunt said filming the Los Alamos National Laboratory scenes in New Mexico offered great local cuisine. But Murphy skipped out while portraying J. Robert Oppenheimer, she said.

“We were all in New Mexico, like, eating quesadillas, and [Murphy] was like, in his room, eating an almond,” Blunt said during a group interview with Fandango posted last week. Damon added: “He declined every dinner invitation for the entire film. We invited him to dinner every night. He never came once.”

“He had such a monumental undertaking,” Blunt told Extra in an interview last week. “And he could only eat, like, an almond every day. He was so emaciated.”

Murphy joins many other actors in changing their bodies for a role or feeling pressure to do so. Stars themselves have warned that altering their bodies can be unhealthy physically and mentally ― while others have cautioned that celebrating dramatic weight loss by actors is dangerous for observers as well.

Murphy recently told The Guardian that “becoming competitive with yourself” in regards to how thin one can get for a role isn’t healthy, and notably declined to discuss details of his “Oppenheimer” diet.

“I don’t want it to be, ‘Cillian lost x weight for the part,’” he told the outlet.

The actor explained to The New York Times in May why he wanted to match Oppenheimer’s look.

“I love acting with my body, and Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette,” Murphy told the Times. “I had to lose quite a bit of weight … he was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes.”

While Murphy has worked with visionary director Christopher Nolan before — and starred in “Inception” (2010), “Dunkirk” (2017) and the “Dark Knight” trilogy (2005-2012) — “Oppenheimer” marks the first time he’s leading a blockbuster of such scale.

Oppenheimer spearheaded the Manhattan Project, a secret research and development project to build an atomic bomb during World War II. Testing was carried out at Los Alamos, a desert outpost in New Mexico where the scientists and their families lived.

For the film, Nolan once again cast digital effects aside in favor of practical filmmaking ― and IMAX cameras. He even used practical effects for the harrowing Trinity test explosion. Nolan is so traditional, in fact, he doesn’t even use a smartphone.

“The only thing Chris would do by text is [Cillian’s] daily calorie count,” joked Downey Jr. during the Fandango interview.

“Oppenheimer” hits theaters July 21.

If you’re struggling with an eating disorder, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for support.

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July 19, 2023
Cillian Murphy, playing Oppenheimer, finally gets to lead a Christopher Nolan film

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The day Christopher Nolan called Cillian Murphy about his new film, “Oppenheimer,” Murphy hung up the phone in disbelief.

The Irish actor, though a regular presence in Nolan films going back almost two decades, had always been a supporting player. This time, Nolan wanted him to lead.

“He’s so understated and self-deprecating and, in his very English manner, just said, ‘Listen, I’ve written this script, it’s about Oppenheimer. I’d like you to be my Oppenheimer,’” Murphy, 47, told The Associated Press earlier this year. “It was a great day.”

Three years after the pandemic brought Hollywood to a standstill, the film and TV industry has again ground to a halt.

After a globe-trotting publicity blitz by star Tom Cruise, “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” launched with a franchise-best $80 million over five days, though it came in shy of industry expectations with a $56.2 million haul over the three-day weekend.

The sidewalks of Hollywood and midtown Manhattan teemed with actors joining Hollywood’s writers in protest outside the corporate offices of studios, streamers, and production companies.

This week’s new entertainment releases include a documentary on Apple TV+ that chronicles the atypical path Stephen Curry took to becoming a basketball legend, new tunes from the rock band Greta Van Fleet and a “Justified” limited series starring Timothy Olyphant.

For Murphy, it is never not exciting to get a call from Nolan. It’s just hard to predict if he’s going to. He knows there are some movies he’s right for and some movies he isn’t.

“I have always said publicly and privately, to Chris, that if I’m available and you want me to be in a movie, I’m there. I don’t really care about the size of the part,” he said. “But deep down, secretly, I was desperate to play a lead for him.”

Murphy first met Nolan in 2003. He was brought in to screen test for Batman — not just the movie, the character. Murphy knew he wasn’t right for the Dark Knight, but he wanted to meet the man who’d directed “Insomnia” and “Memento.” They hit it off and Murphy got to tap into a sinister intensity to play the corrupt psychiatrist Dr. Crane/Scarecrow, who would go on to appear in all three films. Nolan would also call on Murphy to be the conflicted heir to a business empire in “Inception” and a traumatized soldier in “Dunkirk.”

“We have this long-standing understanding and trust and shorthand and respect,” Murphy said. “It felt like the right time to take on a bigger responsibility. And it just so happened that it was a f—ing huge one.”

Soon after the phone call, Nolan flew to Dublin to meet Murphy and hand him a physical copy of the script, which he devoured right there in Nolan’s hotel room. It was, he said, the best he’d ever read.

Then the scale of it started to sink in.

This would be a film about the charismatic and controversial theoretical physicist who helped create the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer and his peers at Los Alamos would test it on July 16, 1945, not knowing what was going to happen. There was a non-zero chance that the heat from the explosion could set off a chain reaction that would ignite the atmosphere and literally set the world on fire.

It didn’t, but several weeks later the United States would drop those bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands of people and leaving many with lifelong injuries. Soon, the United States was at work to strengthen its nuclear arsenal, developing plans to work on an even more catastrophic weapon: the hydrogen bomb.

As Nolan has said, “Like it or not J. Robert Oppenheimer is the most important person who ever lived.”

“Oppenheimer,” which opens in theaters on July 21, features a starry cast including Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s wife Kitty, Matt Damon as the man who hired Oppenheimer for the job at Los Alamos, Robert Downey Jr. as a founder of the Atomic Energy Commission and many more rounding out the pivotal players in and around this tense moment in history.

“You realize this is a huge responsibility. He was complicated and contradictory and so iconic,” Murphy said. “But you know you’re with one of the great directors of all time. I felt confident going into it with Chris. He’s had a profound impact on my life, creatively and professionally. He’s offered me very interesting roles over and I’ve found all of them really challenging. And I just love being on his sets.”

Murphy continued: “Any actor would want to be on a Chris Nolan set, just to see how it works and to witness his command of the language of film and the mechanics of film and how he’s able to use that broad canvas within the mainstream studio system to make these very challenging human stories.”

Over the years, Murphy has come to appreciate that with Nolan there’s always something deeper to discover than what’s literally on the page. “Dunkirk,” he recalled, was only 70 pages and there wasn’t much to his character, not even a name.

“He said, ‘Look, let’s figure it out together and you and me can find an emotional journey for the character.’ And we did it. We did it out in the water on that boat. That comes from trust and respect,” Murphy said. “I’m really proud of that performance.”

As with all Nolan endeavors, secrecy around “Oppenheimer” is vitally important. Murphy loves the “old-fashioned approach” that builds interest and anticipation.

“There’s an awful lot to talk about when we can talk freely,” Murphy said with a smile.

The difference from other Nolan originals, even “Dunkirk,” is that “Oppenheimer” is rooted in historical fact and actual transcripts. You can read the book it’s based on, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.” You can watch the 1981 documentary “The Day After Trinity” on The Criterion Channel.

And you can try to parse Nolan’s words for clues. He’s talked about recreating the Trinity test, the fascinating paradoxes, the twists, turns and ethical dilemmas; for him, the story is cinematic and both dream and nightmare. But ultimately, it’s something that just needs to be seen.

“The question will be how Chris presents it,” Murphy said. “I think people will be very surprised and wowed by what he does. Anything I say will just seem a bit lame as compared to seeing this in an IMAX theater.”

The time for discussions will be after the movie comes out. But Murphy did offer up that they worked hard to get Oppenheimer’s look right, from the narrow silhouette to the pipe and the porkpie hat. Oppenheimer, he said, “seemed aware of his own potential mythology.” But, again, those conversations will have to wait.

“I’m really proud of the movie and I’m really proud of what Chris has achieved. This was, for sure, a special one, certainly because of the history with me and Chris. We were not walking around the set high-fiving, but it did feel special.” Murphy said. “It’s an event every time he releases a film, and rightly so. Whether I’m in them or not, I always go to see his movies.”

___

A version of this story first moved on May 3, 2023. It’s being sent again in advance of the film’s release next week.

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July 14, 2023
Barbie, Baby!

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Growing up as a girl, I played with all sorts of dolls: American Girl, Bratz, Polly Pocket, and of course, Barbies. I had the Dream House, the Dream Car, the color changing mermaid, and don’t forget about Ken. But as I aged, Barbie became a bit more problematic.

Suddenly, we grew up and realized that Barbie wasn’t representing diversity (by any means) very well. She was dimensionally impossible, but she grew up as our role model! How could we spend our lives aspiring for blonde-haired, cinched-waisted, pink-loving Barbie if the girl selling the dream was unattainable?

And then there were the controversial Barbies…1965 Slumber Party Barbie had a scale set to 110 pounds and a dieting book titled “How To Lose Weight” with the advice “Don’t Eat!” Not our role model promoting eating disorder culture!

1965 Slumber Party Barbie

Daily Mail

Mattel was failing to realize that by making Barbie a doctor, lawyer, homeowner, extraordinaire, she truly was our role model as little girls. We were looking at these dolls potentially seeing what our future could look like. And if it meant being 110 pounds to have the Dream Car, that sends the opposite message.

But there is no one I have more faith in than Greta Gerwig to do the injustices of Barbie justice. We have just under one month until Gerwig’s
Barbie movie releases into theaters…on the same day as Christopher Nolan’s polar opposite Oppenheimer, which has started its own collection of memes for a double-header day.

Barbie has already stolen the hearts of social media with perhaps the best marketing we’ve seen for a movie in a long time (barring the accidental chaos marketing of Don’t Worry Darling). We’ve gotten picturesque stills of BarbieLand, the Architectural Digest tour of the Dream House, hilarious trailers, and of course the iconic movie posters. The main message of the posters? Barbie (Margot Robbie) is everything, and he’s just Ken (Ryan Gosling).

From the trailer we can tell that Barbie lives in her pink world with other Barbies and Kens, like Dua Lipa being Mermaid Barbie. But one day when Barbie throws her party (complete with synchronized dance and bespoke song), she lets a thought out:
“Do you guys ever think about dying?” Party halts.

Now that she’s contempating her mortality, things for Barbie become less than perfect: her heels touch the ground (gag) and she falls off her roof (gasp)..So she’s given a choice: return to her world (presented as a high heel) or go to the Real World and figure out what life’s really about (presented as a worn out Birkenstock). Unfortunately for Barbie, she has to choose the latter.

In BarbieLand, she explains, “
Basically everything men do in your world, women do in ours.” As for the Kens? “I honestly don’t know.” If you can tell the theme of this film so far, it’s that women are running the show.

But what Greta Gerwig gets right with
Barbie so far is that BarbieLand is impractical. In the Architectural Digest tour, Margot Robbie shows us how the pool is fake because there are no elements in Barbie’s world. She showers without water, has a fridge filled with decal food, and a lot, she admits with a laugh, is “not super practical, but nothing is for Barbie.”

The success of the movie already is proving to be major. With Ryan Gosling’s fierce dedication to being Ken, you find it hard
not to root for this movie in the box office. He’s given us quotes like “If you really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken” and coined the term “Ken-ergy.”

On Jimmy Fallon, Gosling likened Ken to an un-cool accessory, saying that nobody really ever played with a Ken doll. “
I was surprised how…some people were clutching their pearls about my Ken, as though they ever thought about Ken for a second. They never played with Ken! Nobody ever plays with Ken.”

And we’ve already seen the blazing hot pink merchandise that has scattered stores. You can buy Barbie-inspired satin pillowcases, Barbie glassware, Barbie cookware. Our lives are suddenly immersed in our picturesque Barbie DreamWorld,
but this time with a grown-up twist.

We’re no longer emulating the Barbie look, per-se…but the Barbie Dream. It’s about female empowerment and uplifting others, becoming successful in your own way, and loving the color pink always. It’s more of the Barbie mindset than the Barbie body.

With a star-studded cast consisting of Will Ferrell, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, Simu Liu, Emma Mackey, Kate McKinnon, and more…and an equally studded soundtrack with features from Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, Dua Lipa, Ava Max, Charli XCX, Khalid, Lizzo, etc. This movie radiates power.

As a lover of all things pink, I’m here for the Barbie collabs. Here are my faves to get you ready for the movie of the summer:

Kitsch x Barbie

Homesick Barbie Dreamhouse Candle

Barbie x Barbie

Bloomingdales Barbie The Movie Popup Shop

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Jai Phillips

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July 5, 2023
Summer movie season is in full swing. Here’s what’s coming through Labor Day

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The summer movie season goes into high-gear in July, with the arrival of the seventh “Mission: Impossible” movie followed by the “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” showdown on July 21.

Not that you have to choose one or the other — as Tom Cruise said on Twitter, “I love a double feature, and it doesn’t get more explosive (or more pink) than the one with Oppenheimer and Barbie.”

August also promises a new take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and introduces a new DC superhero, Blue Beetle.

Moviegoers were only moderately interested in going to the theater to say goodbye to Harrison Ford’s archaeologist character in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.”

Indiana Jones. Karen Allen always knew he’d come walking back through her door. Since 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Allen’s Marion Ravenwood has been only a sporadic presence in the subsequent sequels.

An international film festival in the Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary has kicked off its 57th edition with an award planned for Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe.

A London prosecutor says Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey is a “sexual bully” who assaults other men and doesn’t respect personal boundaries.

Here’s a month-by-month guide of this summer’s new movies. Keep scrolling for more info and review links for May and June’s releases.

July 7

” Insidious: The Red Door ” (Sony, theaters): Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne are back to scare everyone in the fifth edition.

“ Joy Ride ” (Lionsgate, theaters): Adele Lim directs this raucous comedy about a friends trip to China to find someone’s birth mother, starring Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu, Sherry Cola and Sabrina Wu.

“ The Lesson ” (Bleecker Street, theaters): A young novelist helps an acclaimed author in this thriller with Richard E. Grant.

“ Biosphere ” (IFC, theaters and VOD): Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown are the last two men on Earth.

“ Earth Mama ” (A24, theaters): This acclaimed debut from Savannah Leaf focuses on a woman, single and pregnant with two kids in foster care, trying to reclaim her family in the Bay Area.

July 14

“ Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part I” (Paramount, theaters, on July 12): Tom Cruise? Death-defying stunts in Venice? The return of Kittridge? What more do you need?

“ Theater Camp ”(Searchlight, theaters): Musical theater nerds (and comedy fans) will delight in this loving satire of a childhood institution, with Ben Platt and Molly Gordon.

“ The Miracle Club ” (Sony Pictures Classics, theaters): Lifetime friends (Kathy Bates, Maggie Smith, Agnes O’Casey) in a small Dublin community in 1967 dream of a trip to Lourdes, a town in France where miracles are supposed to happen. Laura Linney co-stars.

“ 20 Days in Mariupol ” (in theaters in New York): AP’s Mstyslav Chernov directs this documentary, a joint project between The Associated Press and PBS “Frontline,” about the first weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in which Chernov, photographer Evgeniy Maloletka, and field producer Vasilisa Stepanenko, became the only international journalists operating in the city. Their coverage won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

“ Afire ” (Janus Films, theaters): This drama from German director Christian Petzold is set at a vacation home by the Baltic Sea where tensions rise between a writer, a photographer and a mysterious guest (Paula Beer) as a wildfire looms.

“ They Cloned Tyrone ” (Netflix): John Boyega, Teyonah Parris and Jamie Foxx lead this mystery caper.

July 21

“ Oppenheimer ” (Universal, theaters): Christopher Nolan takes audiences into the mind of the “father of the atomic bomb,” J. Robert Oppenheimer ( Cillian Murphy ) as he and his peers build up to the trinity test at Los Alamos.

“ Barbie ” (Warner Bros., theaters): Margot Robbie plays the world’s most famous doll (as do many others) opposite Ryan Gosling’s Ken in Greta Gerwig’s comedic look at their perfect world.

“ Stephen Curry: Underrated ” (Apple TV+): Peter Nicks directs a documentary about the four-time NBA champion.

“ The Beanie Bubble ” (in select theaters; on Apple TV+ on July 28): Zach Galifianakis stars as the man behind Beanie Babies in this comedic drama, co-starring Elizabeth Banks, Sarah Snook and Geraldine Viswanathan.

July 28

“ Haunted Mansion ” (Disney, theaters): A Disney ride comes to life in with the help of Rosario Dawson, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson and Danny DeVito.

“ Talk to Me ” (A24, theaters): A group of friends conjure spirits in this horror starring Sophie Wilde and Joe Bird.

“ Happiness for Beginners ” (Netflix, on July 27): Ellie Kemper is a newly divorced woman looking to shake things up.

“ Sympathy for the Devil ” (RLJE Films): Joel Kinnaman is forced to drive a mysterious gunman (Nicolas Cage) in this thriller.

“ Kokomo City ” (Magnolia): A documentary following four Black transgender sex workers. One of the subjects, Koko Da Doll, was shot and killed in April.

August 4

“ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem ” (Paramount, theaters): This animated movie puts the teenage back in the equation with a very funny voice cast including Seth Rogen and John Cena as Bebop and Rocksteady.

“ Shortcomings ” (Sony Pictures Classics, theaters): Randall Park directs this adaptation of Adrian Tomine’s graphic novel about Asian American friends in the Bay Area starring Sherry Cola as Alice, Ally Maki as Miko and Justin H. Min as Ben.

“ Meg 2: The Trench ” (Warner Bros., theaters): Jason Statham is back fighting sharks.

“ Passages ” (Mubi): The relationship of a longtime couple (Franz Rogowski, Ben Whishaw) is thrown when one begins an affair with a woman (Adèle Exarchopoulos).

“ A Compassionate Spy ” (Magnolia): Steve James’ documentary about the youngest physicist on the Manhattan Project who fed information to the Soviets.

“Dreamin’ Wild” (Roadside Attractions): Casey Affleck stars in this film about musical duo Donnie and Joe Emerson.

“ Problemista ” (A24, theaters): Julio Torres plays an aspiring toy designer in this surreal comedy co-starring Tilda Swinton that he also wrote, directed and produced.

August 11

“ Gran Turismo ” (Sony, theaters): A gamer gets a chance to drive a professional course in this video game adaptation starring David Harbour and Orlando Bloom.

“ The Last Voyage of the Demeter ” (Universal, theaters): This supernatural horror film draws from a chapter of “Dracula.”

“ Heart of Stone ” (Netflix): Gal Gadot played an intelligence operative in this action thriller, with Jamie Dornan.

“The Eternal Memory” (MTV Documentary Films): This documentary explores a marriage and Alzheimer’s disease.

“The Pod Generation” (Vertical, theaters): Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor star in this sci-fi comedy about a new path to parenthood.

“Jules” (Bleecker Street, theaters): Ben Kingsley stars in this film about a UFO that crashes in his backyard in rural Pennsylvania.

August 18

“ Blue Beetle ” (Warner Bros., theaters): Xolo Maridueña plays the DC superhero Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle in this origin story.

“ Strays ” (Universal, theaters): Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx voice dogs in this not-animated, R-rated comedy.

“birth/rebirth” (IFC, theaters): A woman and a morgue technician bring a little girl back to life in this horror.

“ White Bird ” (Lionsgate, theaters): Helen Mirren tells her grandson, expelled from school for bullying, a story about herself in Nazi-occupied France.

“Landscape with Invisible Hand” (MGM, theaters): Teens come up with a unique moneymaking scheme in a world taken over by aliens.

“The Hill” (Briarcliff Entertainment): This baseball drama starring Dennis Quaid is based on the true story of Rickey Hill.

August 25

“They Listen” (Sony, theaters): John Cho and Katherine Waterston lead this secretive Blumhouse horror.

“Golda” (Bleecker Street): Helen Mirren stars in this drama about Golda Meir, the Prime Minister of Israel during the Yom Kippur War.

“ Bottoms ” (MGM, theaters): Two unpopular teenage girls (Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri) start a fight club to impress the cheerleaders they want to lose their virginity to in this parody of the teen sex comedy.

“The Dive” (RLJE Films): In this suspense pic about two sisters out for a dive, one gets hurt and is trapped underwater.

“Scrapper” (Kino Lorber, theaters): A 12-year-old girl (Lola Campbell) is living alone in a London flat until her estranged father (Harris Dickinson) shows up.

“Fremont” (Music Box Films, theaters): A former army translator in Afghanistan (Anaita Wali Zada) relocates to Fremont, California and gets a job at a fortune cookie factory. “The Bear’s” Jeremy Allen White co-stars.

September 1

“ The Equalizer 3 ” (Sony, theaters): Denzel Washington is back as Robert McCall, who is supposed to be retired from the assassin business but things get complicated in Southern Italy.

ALREADY IN THEATERS AND STREAMING

“ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ” (Disney/Marvel): Nine years after the non-comic obsessed world was introduced to Peter Quill, Rocket, Groot and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy, the misfits are closing out the trilogy and saying goodbye to director James Gunn, who is now leading rival DC. ( AP’s review.)

“ What’s Love Got to Do with It? ” (Shout! Studios): Lily James plays a documentary filmmaker whose next project follows her neighbor (Shazad Latif) on his road to an arranged marriage in this charming romantic comedy.

“ Book Club: The Next Chapter ” (Focus Features): Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen travel to Italy to celebrate an engagement.

“ The Mother,” ( Netflix ): Jennifer Lopez is an assassin and a mother in this action pic timed to Mother’s Day. (AP’s review here.)

“ Love Again ” (Sony): Priyanka Chopra Jonas plays a woman mourning the death of her boyfriend who texts his old number not knowing it belongs to someone new (Sam Heughan). Celine Dion (and her music) co-star in this romantic drama.

“ STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie ” ( AppleTV+ ): Davis Guggenheim helps Michael J. Fox tell his story, from his rise in Hollywood to his Parkinson’s diagnosis and beyond.

“ Monica ” (IFC): A transgender woman, estranged from her family, goes home to visit her dying mother in this film starring Tracee Lysette and Patricia Clarkson.

“ The Starling Girl ” (Bleecker Street): Eliza Scanlen plays a 17-year-old girl living in a fundamentalist Christian community in Kentucky whose life changes with the arrival of Lewis Pullman’s charismatic youth pastor.

“ Fool’s Paradise ” (Roadside Attractions): Charlie Day writes, directs and plays dual roles in this comedic Hollywood satire.

“ Hypnotic ” (Ketchup Entertainment): Ben Affleck plays a detective whose daughter goes missing in this Robert Rodriguez movie.

“ It Ain’t Over ” (Sony Pictures Classics): A documentary about Lawrence Peter ‘Yogi’ Berra.

“Blackberry” (IFC): Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton star in this movie about the rise of the Blackberry. ( AP’s review.)

“ Fast X ” (Universal): In the tenth installment of the Fast franchise, Jason Momoa joins as the vengeful son of a slain drug lord intent to take out Vin Diesel’s Dom. ( AP’s review.)

“ White Men Can’t Jump ” (20th Century Studios, streaming on Hulu): Sinqua Walls and Jack Harlow co-star in this remake of the 1992 film, co-written by Kenya Barris and featuring the late Lance Reddick. ( AP’s review.)

“ Master Gardener ” (Magnolia): Joel Edgerton is a horticulturist in this Paul Schrader drama, co-starring Sigourney Weaver as a wealthy dowager. ( AP’s review.)

“ Sanctuary ” (Neon): A dark comedy about a dominatrix (Margaret Qualley) and her wealth client (Christopher Abbott).

“ The Little Mermaid ” (Disney): Halle Bailey plays Ariel in this technically ambitious live-action remake of a recent Disney classic directed by Rob Marshall (“Chicago”) and co-starring Melissa McCarthy as Ursula. ( AP’s review.)

“ You Hurt My Feelings ” (A24): Nicole Holofcener takes a nuanced and funny look at a white lie that unsettles the marriage between a New York City writer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and a therapist (Tobias Menzies). ( AP’s review.)

“ About My Father ” (Lionsgate): Stand-up comic Sebastian Maniscalco co-wrote this culture clash movie in which he takes his Italian-American father (Robert De Niro) on a vacation with his wife’s WASPy family. ( AP’s review.)

“ Victim/Suspect ” ( Netflix ): This documentary explores how law enforcement sometimes indicts victims of sexual assault instead of helping.

“ The Machine,” (Sony): Stand-up comedian Bert Kreischer brings Mark Hamill into the fray for this action-comedy.

“ Kandahar ” (Open Road Films): Gerard Butler plays an undercover CIA operative in hostile territory in Afghanistan.

“ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ” (Sony): Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is back, but with things not going so well in Brooklyn, he opts to visit the multiverse with his old pal Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), where he encounters the Spider-Society. ( AP’s review.)

“ The Boogeyman ” (20th Century Studios): “It’s the thing that comes for your kids when you’re not paying attention,” David Dastmalchian explains to Chris Messina in this Stephen King adaptation.

“ Past Lives ” (A24): Already being hailed as one of the best of the year after its Sundance debut, Celine Song’s directorial debut is a decades and continent-spanning romance about two friends separated in childhood who meet 20 years later in New York. ( AP’s review.)

“ Transformers: Rise of the Beasts ” (Paramount): Steven Caple Jr directs the seventh Transformers movie, starring Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback. ( AP’s review.)

“Flamin’ Hot” ( Hulu, Disney+): Eva Longoria directs this story about Richard Montañez, a janitor at Frito-Lay who came up with the idea for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. ( AP’s review.)

“ Blue Jean ” (Magnolia): It’s 1988 in England and hostilities are mounting towards the LGBTQ community in Georgia Oakley’s BAFTA-nominated directorial debut about a gym teacher (Rosy McEwan) and the arrival of a new student. ( AP’s review.)

“Daliland” (Magnolia): Mary Harron directs Ben Kingsley as Salvador Dalí.

“ The Flash ” (Warner Bros.): Batmans past Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton assemble for this standalone Flash movie directed by Andy Muschietti and starring Ezra Miller as the titular superhero. ( AP’s review.)

“ Elemental ” (Pixar): In Element City, residents include Air, Earth, Water and Fire in the new Pixar original, featuring the voices of Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie and Catherine O’Hara. ( AP’s review.)

“ Extraction 2 ” ( Netflix ): Chris Hemsworth’s mercenary Tyler Rake is back for another dangerous mission. ( AP’s review.)

“ Asteroid City ” (Focus Features): Wes Anderson assembles Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman and Jeffrey Wright for a stargazer convention in the mid-century American desert. ( AP’s review.)

“ The Blackening ” (Lionsgate): This scary movie satire sends a group of Black friends including Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg and X Mayo to a cabin in the woods.

“ No Hard Feelings ” (Sony): Jennifer Lawrence leads a raunchy comedy about a woman hired by a shy teen’s parents to help him get out of his shell before Princeton. ( AP’s review.)

“ Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ” (Lucasfilm): Harrison Ford puts his iconic fedora back on for a fifth outing as Indy in this new adventure directed by James Mangold and co-starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge. ( AP’s review.)

“ Every Body ” (Focus Features): Oscar-nominated documentarian Julie Cohen turns her lens on three intersex individuals in her latest film. ( AP’s review.)

“ Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken ” (Universal): Lana Condor (“To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”) lends her voice to this animated action-comedy about a shy teenager trying to survive high school as a part-Kraken. (AP’s review.)

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July 2, 2023
What We Know So Far About Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’

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The countdown is on for Cillian Murphy’s return to the silver screen as death, the destroyer of worlds, in Christopher Nolan’s much-awaited biopic Oppenheimer. The movie, in which Murphy stars alongside a star-studded cast composed of big names like Robert Downey, Jr., Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, and Florence Pugh (to name a few), is generating buzz because this is the celebrated director’s very first biographical film, and knowing his love for unconventional story-telling, with tons of twists and turns, the excitement is very much merited. Here is everything we know so far.

The Source Material and Nolan’s Relationship with Biopics

J. Robert Oppenheimer, taken in 1945 (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Oppenheimer is, of course, based on a true story and derives its material from the biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer called American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer written by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. Published in 2005, the book won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, as well as the 2008 Duff Cooper Prize. Its official synopsis reads as follows:

“J. Robert Oppenheimer is one of the iconic figures of the twentieth century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb for his country in a time of war, and who later found himself confronting the moral consequences of scientific progress. In this magisterial, acclaimed biography twenty-five years in the making, Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin capture Oppenheimer’s life and times, from his early career to his central role in the Cold War. This is biography and history at its finest, riveting and deeply informative.”

In contrast, the film is being marketed as an “epic thriller” which, given Nolan’s background, feels more fitting. His Academy-nominated film Dunkirk, which depicted the miracle of the famous rescue mission on the beaches of France during the darkest hours of World War II, was told from three perspectives, and just like in the trailer of Oppenheimer, prominently featured a ticking clock—yet another detail Nolan is often fond of, time.

Although this is technically Nolan’s first project focusing on a person’s life, he has on several occasions talked of having written a script that could have been a biopic on the eccentric billionaire and aviator, Howard Hughes. He described the ultimately junked screenplay as probably his best work but had decided to forgo the project after the release of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Aviator, which also centered on Hughes’ life.

The Plot

Universal’s official summary describes the film as, “epic thriller that thrusts audiences into the pulse-pounding paradox of the enigmatic man who must risk destroying the world in order to save it.”

As previously mentioned, Nolan is said to be basing the film on Bird and Sherwin’s book but will be adapting it himself. We can only assume that he will also most likely cover the events that transpired after the dropping of the bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the infamous hearings that led to the revocation of Oppenheimer’s security clearance due to his ties to the Communist Party.

The Growing Ensemble Cast

(Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Deadline, MPI/Getty Images)

We’ve previously broken down the film’s cast and their real-life counterparts, but there still remain several members with unnamed roles. These include Olivia Thirlby, Gary Oldman (who has previously worked with Nolan in Dark Knight as Commissioner Gordon and is confirmed to make a cameo), Tony Goldwyn, Alex Wolff, Matthias Schweighöfer, David Rysdahl, Jason Clarke, David Dastmalchian, Kenneth Branagh, Jack Quaid, Dane DeHaan, Rami Malek, and Alden Ehrenreich. Childstar Josh Peck will also be appearing as a scientist named Kenneth Bainbridge.

A First With Universal Pictures

For the past two decades, Nolan’s films have always called Warner Bros. their home, but following a split during the pandemic, after issues with the release of Tenet, Oppenheimer will be opening under the banner of Universal Pictures. This is Nolan’s first film outside of the Warner Bros. lot since 2002. The decision came after Warner Bros. moved for all of its films to open in theaters on the same day they were released for streaming, a decision, according to Nolan, that had been made without any consultation.

Familiar Faces

Like with his actors, Nolan is known for having a ready team he consistently works with in all of his projects. Some familiar names and faces that will be returning for Oppenheimer include Hoyte Van Hoytema for cinematography, Jennifer Lame for editing, and Ludwig Göransson for scoring (this will be his second project with Nolan, although one has to ask, where is Hans Zimmer?) Unsurprisingly, the film will be shot on both IMAX 65mm and 65mm large-format film, which were the same formats for both Tenet and Dunkirk.

Will It Be In Black and White?

Nolan has played with black and white before with Following and Memento and, save for the explosions, Oppenheimer’s trailer is primarily in black and white as well. Perhaps it could be a girl-in-the-red-coat situation just like in Schindler’s List?

Teaser Trailer

Now, the teaser trailer is probably one of the most interesting details about Oppenheimer so far. Released on July 28, the one-minute clip shows Cillian Murphy as the titular character getting ready before walking off with several journalists trailing behind him. A voiceover calls him the “most important man to have ever lived.” What makes this trailer interesting is that it literally set off a countdown. When you look it up on YouTube, it comes in the form of a stream that is counting down to the film’s premiere date, July 21, 2023, although some have pointed out that the clock actually runs out on July 16, 2023, which would be the 78th anniversary of Oppenheimer first calling for a test for the very first atomic bomb.

Official Poster

The poster depicts Murphy in a sea of clouds and smoke with the words, “The world forever changes.” It was released just days before the teaser trailer.

The Trailer

Much like its initial teaser trailer, Oppenheimer’s first full-length glimpse into the much-awaited film opens with a blaze. It gives us a quick look into the Los Alamos Laboratories—the heart of the Manhattan Project. The one-minute trailer provides a quick overview of the experiments and the creation of the atomic bomb itself. At the same time, Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer ominously narrates in the background his qualms and reservations about what would be his legacy.

“They won’t fear it until they understand it, and they won’t understand it until they’ve used it. I don’t know if we can be trusted with such a weapon,” he says in the voiceover.

Nolan himself has described his project as his most challenging one to date. Speaking exclusively with Total Film, the director shared his and his team’s extensive processes with Oppenheimer, particularly his love for practical effects.

“I think recreating the Trinity test [the first nuclear weapon detonation, [in New Mexico] without the use of computer graphics, was a huge challenge to take on. Andrew Jackson – my visual effects supervisor, I got him on board early on – was looking at how we could do a lot of the visual elements of the film practically, from representing quantum dynamics and quantum physics to the Trinity test itself, to recreating, with my team, Los Alamos up on a mesa in New Mexico in extraordinary weather, a lot of which was needed for the film, in terms of the very harsh conditions out there – there were huge practical challenges.”

Nolan is, of course, no stranger to practical filmmaking. For Tenet, he crashed an actual 747 into a building. There was also the truck flip in The Dark Knight and the detailed sets of Interstellar. One can only imagine what he and his team are brewing for Oppenheimer. We are definitely seated.

Release Date

Oppenheimer opens in theaters on July 21, 2023, just two weeks away from the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing.

(featured image: Universal Pictures)

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Danielle Baranda

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December 25, 2022