So how did you like Barbenheimer?

@Caravanfan What makes Barbie so fantastic? As a grown man who was never fond of the dolls, a Barbie film has zero appeal. But if you’re singing its praises, I’m certainly curious to learn more. Is it a phenomenal script, or something else that makes it appealing to a broader audience than just young children?

I don’t understand why you would want to watch these back to back.

Unless the Barbie movie is something really special, storywise, I just can’t get into it. Its a mass market toy, with a problematic history, comprising a decent portion of the Pacific garbage patch, and people are falling over themselves with brand adoration for it’s most recent attempt to expand into the entertainment industry. Is this really what makes a cultural moment these days? Are we so fractured that the only thing that can bring us together is the facade of a brand?

I’d watch Oppenheimer, simply because it’s not Indiana Jones 6 or Mission Impossible 9 or Top Gun 3 or Avatar 4 or Star Wars 14 or Marvel Product 75 or Jurrasic Park 11 or Expendables 69 or Rocky Spinoff 2.4

SPOILERS

I saw Oppenheimer opening weekend and loved it. It was horrifically gorgeous and beautifully acted all around. The moment of the first nuclear test at Los Alamos, I said aloud (to myself), “How could they?!” Such an awful display of humanity’s worst instincts.

The lead actors (Murphy, Damon, Blunt, Downey, and Pugh) were amazing, but so we’re all the supporting and minor characters (Josh Peck!?!).

Sadly, I didn’t make it to Barbie but I plan to this week sometime.

Not interested in seeing Barbie but excited to see Oppenheimer. Not because of Nolan or Oppenheimer but the chance for me to see a physical film projected by an actual film
projector on the big screen.

Not sure if it’s IMAX but I would
pay 50 bucks to see that.

Okay, I will cut and paste my letterboxd review for Barbie here

Right wing TV entertainment channels like Fox News have been screaming headlines like “Barbie Goes Woke” and “Barbie Movie Sparks Outrage” and Christian movie review sites are urging boycott. The boycott is not working: according to io9 Barbie opened at 180 million box office take the first weekend. This is undoubtedly buoyed by the brilliant “Barbenheimer” campaign that we’ve been plastered with the last couple of weeks but credit where credit is due—the movie is fantastic. To be clear, I’m a 59 year old man who never played with dolls beyond Dungeons and Dragons figurines and I can not recommend this movie more highly.

I’m really trying to avoid any spoilers here but I’m going to give some reasons why people might say they won’t want to see this movie and tell you why you should:

“I never played with Barbies”.
It doesn’t matter. You’ve heard of them, and you know the basic concept behind the toy. Some of the subtler jokes may be lost on you but I absolutely guarantee you will laugh in the movie theater

“This is a kids movie”
This couldn’t be further from the truth. The film will be fine for kids (except one scene of cartoonish violence where they protagonists fight with beach toys and rubber tipped arrows) and will have enough eye candy to keep them entertained, but much of it may go over their heads.

“This is a movie for girls”
I laughed and cheered as loud as any women in the audience

“I don’t support Barbie as she has an unrealistic expectation of how womens bodies should look”
Trust me when I say that they tackle this issue head on.

I’ve heard other objections but you get the point. This film is possibly Greta Gerwig’s best work which is high praise coming from me as I absolutely loved Little Women. This film will have you laughing and thinking and I can’t think of higher praise than that.

I have plans to see the Barbie Movie. I hear it’s hilarious. A YouTubeer I follow did both movies in one day and highly recommended seeing them that way.
I don’t think I can sit that long, though. I plan on seeing the Oppenheimer movie also, but probably waiting until it comes to DVD as it’s a three hour movie.
I did play with dolls. Note I didn’t say Barbie, because I was snookered by my mom. She told me I had a Barbie, but when I got it out of her attic when I was in my 40’s, I found it was really a Midge doll. Who the hell wanted a Midge doll? I’m still pissed about it!

@Caravanfan – what about the objection: “I reject the notions of identity based consumerism and refuse supplication to a consumerist hype machine?”

@Caravanfan Sold! You had me at Little Women. I honestly feel like @Smashley but your review has sparked my interest.

Side Note: I haven’t heard anyone saying not to go in my red state. Weird.

@Smashley Well, can’t help you there. Everything in our society is consumeritic. But the movie is really about women empowerment and feminism.

@Caravanfan – yeah, no changing society I guess. I just don’t have the stomach for what consumerism paired with social media, has turned us into. I’m in search of connection with people, but I can’t find it genuine when that connection is basically a ruse to fork over money for yet another brand-linked blockbuster film while rehabbing the image of a plastic toy. The level of shilling, up and down the media ecosystem makes me so glad I dropped out of acting school.

@Caravanfan ”...the movie is really about women empowerment and feminism.”

That I can get behind. It’s going to have to wait for Netflix thought.

Barbie might stream on Max but not on Netflix: https://www.insider.com/barbie-movie-streaming-release-date-max-2023-7

I saw Astroid City and it’s now my favorite Wes Anderson film. I’d probably add it to my all time top ten favorite movies.

I had no desire to see Barbie until I heard it pissed off a bunch of conservatives. I also heard it was well written. I wouldn’t mind watching it now but I’ll wait until it’s streaming.

Oppenheimer is just too long for me. I’ll pass on that one.

^^Is Asteroid City better than Grand Budapest? Haven’t seen AC yet but feel GB is Anderson’s best film so far.

@mazingerz88 I think his fans are all over the place when it comes to favorites. It’s hard to say. GB wasn’t one of my favorites. Moonrise Kingdom has been my favorite until now. My husband’s favorite is The Royal Tenenbaums and our son’s is The Darjeeling Limited.

@mazingerz88 Asteroid City is the most Wes Andersony of all the Wes Anderson films. I loved it but it is VERY stylized.

Here is my Asteroid City letterboxd review:

Everybody knows Wes Anderson movies have a “look”. There have even been Youtube parodies on this “look”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-8DT5Q8kzI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrjL_TSOFrI

Well, Asteroid City is the most Wes Andersony of Wes Anderson movies. When you go to a modern art museum and you look at an exhibition of, say, pop art or abstract expressionism, you come out saying, “Huh, that was pretty and interesting. I wonder what it means?

Asteroid City is a motion picture modern art exhibition. There is a plot, but it’s somewhat inscrutible and really kind of secondary to the LOOK of the film. And Anderson stretches the bounds of Wes Anderson that LOOK. The plot is ostensibly a movie about a TV show documentary about the staging of a play in movie form. The movie sets look like sets from a play and the senstional A-list actors buy in absolutely completely to their roles. Confused yet?

This movie will not be for everybody. If you’re not a fan of other Wes Anderson movies because of the hyper stylization you’ll hate this one. But if you want a cinematic ride into jaw dropping eye candy go while it’s still in the theater because I guarantee it won’t look as good on your TV screen.

And just to be a completenik, here is my Oppenheimer review:

Oppenheimer is a deep-dive biopic into the career of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father” of the atomic bomb. It’s a film that demands to be seen in a theater with fantastic sound; a day later, my soul still rattles from the deep subwoofed bass.

This is a beautiful movie and the the actors absolutely melt into their roles. Halfway through the movie you’re like, “Wait, that’s Robert Downey Jr?” “Wait, that’s Emily Blunt?” “Wait, is that Kenneth Branagh?” You get the point.

I recommend it with reservations. Christopher Nolan, as he is wont to do, jumps back and forth in time. The time jumps were seamless, but yet I found them to be a bit distracting. It all comes together by the end, but in the middle it’s easy to get confused and think, “Did I miss something?”

And color me geek—although I don’t mind seeing a nude Florence Pugh, I thought that those scenes were a bit gratuitious, and I would have been happier if they had spent a little more time fleshing out the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project. For example the only time you really see Feynman is when he’s playing the bongos. But the positives outweigh the negatives. I have a reasonably good lay understanding of the science and technology, and from what I saw they got it absolutely right.

Oppenheimer is an uneven film but absolutely worth seeing. This isn’t Nolan’s best work (I’m going with Dunkirk on that) but it’s good. Again, see it in a theater with outstanding sound please.

@Caravanfan sorry for derailing a bit but I really like your review of Astroid City. The most Wes Andersony is a perfect description!

@Aethelwine Thanks. It’s in social so it’s fine.

My youngest son, he’s 18, and I now have a date to see Barbie this weekend. We’re both looking forward to it.

@Aethelwine Enjoy! I’m sitting here smiling again just thinking about it.

I saw it yesterday and loved it. After three weeks of non-stop hype all over social media I was still surprised and delighted by so many things in it. Even the presence of Will Farrell couldn’t ruin it for me. I loved how Gerwin and Baumbach channeled Satre and Kafka while they wrote it.
I’ll definitely see it again.

And the opening sequence still evokes audible chuckles.

@canidmajor So glad you enjoyed it. And yes Will Ferrell was surprisingly perfect for the role. This is probably going to be a movie I will purchase on Blu Ray when it comes out.