Oppenheimer - Early Reactions
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Pfft, I go see MI:7 for a couple hours only to come back and see everyone's reactions... and they're for the most part overwhelmingly positive. 
I'm super glad that some of the reviewers have said the film is dense, and not in a negative way. Likewise, I'm curious about the last hour, since I've seen some people praise it and others who've disliked it; because Nolan is interweaving multiple (three?!) separate timelines, I don't think it'll be easy to tell in advance exactly what people are talking about, but it'll be interesting either way.
I'm super glad that some of the reviewers have said the film is dense, and not in a negative way. Likewise, I'm curious about the last hour, since I've seen some people praise it and others who've disliked it; because Nolan is interweaving multiple (three?!) separate timelines, I don't think it'll be easy to tell in advance exactly what people are talking about, but it'll be interesting either way.
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With what we know now, we can say the Reddit review was complete bullshit, right?
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This movie is awful. Nolan is past his prime and doesn't seem to know how to handle a historical figure in an accurate way. I say accurate because he has explored other historical figures i.e. Tesla but they have only been loose representations of the person appearing in an obviously fictional film. At three hours, the indulgence of Nolan's filmmaking is present in every scene. Talking, talking, and more talking. I can't tell that any direction was given beyond, "read your lines" and "look concerned". I haven't seen this film.
Speaking of people just reading their lines, let's talk about the cast and acting. Cillian must have taken this project for the money because give an inspired performance he does not. Based on the dour acting and the moping throughout, I am surprised Oppenheimer was able to actually accomplish any work during his time as director of the Los Alamos Laboratory. RDJ is flat our boring. He should go back to the only role he can adequately play, Iron Man. He must have thought, "I''ll cut my hair and then I'll get my oscar". Sorry, Bobby, it ain't that easy. I think he wanted to play the villain and the only character trait he wanted to portray was anger. Not the good, nuanced kind; the mustache twirling kind. Speaking of RDJ and Iron Man, we have Emily Blunt. How can I compare the two, you ask. Well, the character study on the effects of alcoholism are given the same level of care, attention, and seriousness as Iron Man 2 did. Need I say more? Florence Pugh gives an adequate performance, but like so many other female characters in Nolan's films, I would have liked to see her fleshed out better. I would rather have sat through three hours of the film Tatlock. She portrays a character who lays bare her soul to the other characters and the audience. It was a naked performance, one may say. Please don't listen to a word I'm saying.
After shooting NOPE, Hoyte went straight into shooting this film. It's been reported that Nolan and Hoytema, in partnership with IMAX, developed new black and white film stock which they were pleased with. I was not. The grain was not up to par and it lacked a certain sharpness. Beyond that, the cinematography consisted of far-too-tight closeups and underexposed night scenes. The Trinity Test was captivating but far too short. I have no clue what I'm talking about.
The last thing I want to comment on is the score. Chris must be hellbent on pushing the electronic nature of the score and it really doesn't fit with this historical drama. I mean, I think it could. There is a way in but it isn't with this score. Chris said he wanted Ludwig to use a violin as the central instrument. It is there but its been bastardized to no end. Perhaps the sound mixing had something to do with it but the score becomes so ear-piercingly loud that it only accentuates the flaws, not the strengths(of which there are few). If you read all of this bologna, thank you.
I wrote this as a cathartic way to remind myself that I shouldn't put too much stock in these first reactions and just see Oppenheimer and decide for myself. I know some of it might not make sense but I wrote it on the fly. That being said, I hope everyone enjoys Oppenheimer...which I haven't yet seen. I'll be seeing it at King of Prussia opening weekend!
Speaking of people just reading their lines, let's talk about the cast and acting. Cillian must have taken this project for the money because give an inspired performance he does not. Based on the dour acting and the moping throughout, I am surprised Oppenheimer was able to actually accomplish any work during his time as director of the Los Alamos Laboratory. RDJ is flat our boring. He should go back to the only role he can adequately play, Iron Man. He must have thought, "I''ll cut my hair and then I'll get my oscar". Sorry, Bobby, it ain't that easy. I think he wanted to play the villain and the only character trait he wanted to portray was anger. Not the good, nuanced kind; the mustache twirling kind. Speaking of RDJ and Iron Man, we have Emily Blunt. How can I compare the two, you ask. Well, the character study on the effects of alcoholism are given the same level of care, attention, and seriousness as Iron Man 2 did. Need I say more? Florence Pugh gives an adequate performance, but like so many other female characters in Nolan's films, I would have liked to see her fleshed out better. I would rather have sat through three hours of the film Tatlock. She portrays a character who lays bare her soul to the other characters and the audience. It was a naked performance, one may say. Please don't listen to a word I'm saying.
After shooting NOPE, Hoyte went straight into shooting this film. It's been reported that Nolan and Hoytema, in partnership with IMAX, developed new black and white film stock which they were pleased with. I was not. The grain was not up to par and it lacked a certain sharpness. Beyond that, the cinematography consisted of far-too-tight closeups and underexposed night scenes. The Trinity Test was captivating but far too short. I have no clue what I'm talking about.
The last thing I want to comment on is the score. Chris must be hellbent on pushing the electronic nature of the score and it really doesn't fit with this historical drama. I mean, I think it could. There is a way in but it isn't with this score. Chris said he wanted Ludwig to use a violin as the central instrument. It is there but its been bastardized to no end. Perhaps the sound mixing had something to do with it but the score becomes so ear-piercingly loud that it only accentuates the flaws, not the strengths(of which there are few). If you read all of this bologna, thank you.
I wrote this as a cathartic way to remind myself that I shouldn't put too much stock in these first reactions and just see Oppenheimer and decide for myself. I know some of it might not make sense but I wrote it on the fly. That being said, I hope everyone enjoys Oppenheimer...which I haven't yet seen. I'll be seeing it at King of Prussia opening weekend!
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Godspeed MateBrandX wrote: ↑July 11th, 2023, 9:45 pmThis movie is awful. Nolan is past his prime and doesn't seem to know how to handle a historical figure in an accurate way. I say accurate because he has explored other historical figures i.e. Tesla but they have only been loose representations of the person appearing in an obviously fictional film. At three hours, the indulgence of Nolan's filmmaking is present in every scene. Talking, talking, and more talking. I can't tell that any direction was given beyond, "read your lines" and "look concerned". I haven't seen this film.
Speaking of people just reading their lines, let's talk about the cast and acting. Cillian must have taken this project for the money because give an inspired performance he does not. Based on the dour acting and the moping throughout, I am surprised Oppenheimer was able to actually accomplish any work during his time as director of the Los Alamos Laboratory. RDJ is flat our boring. He should go back to the only role he can adequately play, Iron Man. He must have thought, "I''ll cut my hair and then I'll get my oscar". Sorry, Bobby, it ain't that easy. I think he wanted to play the villain and the only character trait he wanted to portray was anger. Not the good, nuanced kind; the mustache twirling kind. Speaking of RDJ and Iron Man, we have Emily Blunt. How can I compare the two, you ask. Well, the character study on the effects of alcoholism are given the same level of care, attention, and seriousness as Iron Man 2 did. Need I say more? Florence Pugh gives an adequate performance, but like so many other female characters in Nolan's films, I would have liked to see her fleshed out better. I would rather have sat through three hours of the film Tatlock. She portrays a character who lays bare her soul to the other characters and the audience. It was a naked performance, one may say. Please don't listen to a word I'm saying.
After shooting NOPE, Hoyte went straight into shooting this film. It's been reported that Nolan and Hoytema, in partnership with IMAX, developed new black and white film stock which they were pleased with. I was not. The grain was not up to par and it lacked a certain sharpness. Beyond that, the cinematography consisted of far-too-tight closeups and underexposed night scenes. The Trinity Test was captivating but far too short. I have no clue what I'm talking about.
The last thing I want to comment on is the score. Chris must be hellbent on pushing the electronic nature of the score and it really doesn't fit with this historical drama. I mean, I think it could. There is a way in but it isn't with this score. Chris said he wanted Ludwig to use a violin as the central instrument. It is there but its been bastardized to no end. Perhaps the sound mixing had something to do with it but the score becomes so ear-piercingly loud that it only accentuates the flaws, not the strengths(of which there are few). If you read all of this bologna, thank you.
I wrote this as a cathartic way to remind myself that I shouldn't put too much stock in these first reactions and just see Oppenheimer and decide for myself. I know some of it might not make sense but I wrote it on the fly. That being said, I hope everyone enjoys Oppenheimer...which I haven't yet seen. I'll be seeing it at King of Prussia opening weekend!
