Skip to main content

I survived the Barbie-Oppenheimer double-bill and I don’t recommend it

The internet has become transfixed with the idea of watching Greta Gerwig’s bubblegum comedy next to Christopher Nolan’s dark drama but it proved to be a nightmarish combo

Few things have caught the public imagination in recent years quite like the concept of Barbenheimer. When Warner Bros scheduled the release of Barbie to run in direct opposition to that of Oppenheimer, directed by embittered former employee Christopher Nolan, the natural response was to pick a side. Both films were so diametrically opposed, after all, that the competition took on a slightly tribal air. Just who do you stand for? Drama or comedy? Joy or fear? Female empowerment or the death of tens of thousands of Japanese civilians?

But then something bizarre happened. Instead of picking just one film, people started latching onto the idea of seeing Barbie and Oppenheimer together, on the same day, as part of a wildly incongruous double bill. Tom Cruise said he was going to do it. Greta Gerwig posed with tickets to both. Despite spending the last few weeks looking palpably baffled by having to play 400 tinpot YouTube parlour games just to promote his movie, Christopher Nolan also seemed fairly into the idea as well. A rising tide lifts all boats, after all.

Continue reading...

from Film | The Guardian https://ift.tt/qjl0Wov
via IFTTT

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Miracle Club review – Maggie Smith can’t save this rocky road trip to Lourdes

Laura Linney is upstaged by older co-stars Smith and Kathy Bates in this sentimental tale about a group of Dublin women who go on a spiritual journey together Who’s up for a golden-hued heartwarmer set in 60s Ireland starring Kathy Bates and Maggie Smith about women with secret fears and dreams going on a church trip to Lourdes and finally finding the real miracle is their new compassion for each other? The answer to this question could well have been … me. I have a liking for a gentle tale and there is nothing necessarily wrong with, just occasionally, showing Ireland and the church of this period with something other than outrage and horror. But The Miracle Club does not at any time, to use a discredited metaphor, throw away its crutches and walk. And it’s painful to note that this is largely because of the way film can’t convincingly use that estimable actor Laura Linney in a central role. She is upstaged by the older, fruitier performances and doesn’t hold her own with a more seri...

Omen (Augure) review – Baloji offers secrets and sorcery in Congolese homecoming

Musician and film-maker’s story about a Belgian-Congolese man who takes his white wife to DRC to meet the family is complex, risky and bold Congolese-born rapper, musician and film-maker Baloji (né Serge Baloji Tshiani) was a prizewinner at Cannes last year with this feature directing debut: a dynamic, teemingly populated, multistranded and tonally elusive picture which I initially thought would benefit from comparisons with Jordan Peele’s horror classic Get Out. In fact, it’s more complicated than that. Koffi (Marc Zinga) is a Congolese man living in Belgium and married to a white woman, Alice (Lucie Debay). They are about to have twins and Koffi feels that he cannot put it off any further: whatever his family will think, the couple must journey back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to let them see Alice and let them get used to the idea. It particularly means propitiating his fiercely conservative mother Mujila (Yves-Marina Gnahoua). He takes care to shave off his westernis...

REVEALED: Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions merges Dharmatic Entertainment to simplify operations

Dharmatic Entertainment, the digital arm of Dharma Productions, has now officially merged with its parent company, as per a recent article in The Economic Times. The story says that the move is part of Dharma’s plan “to consolidate operations amid the changing entertainment landscape”. It also said that the merger application was fast-tracked and has already been approved by both companies’ shareholders and creditors, according to official filings. This is one of Dharma Productions’ first big steps since entrepreneur Adar Poonawalla bought a 50% stake in the company for Rs. 1,000 crores last year, valuing Dharma at Rs. 2,000 crores. Another significant decision taken by Dharma head-honcho after the merger was to start a distribution arm. In a recent interview with Komal Nahta, KJo confessed that the partnership with Adar Poonawalla gave him the impetus to get into distribution. The Economic Times article further revealed that the amalgamation of Dharmatic Entertainment and Dharma Pro...