Decker

I really liked Oppenheimer. Found it fascinating throughout. Was kind of curious what the final hour would be about (checked my watch and the post-bomb celebration happened at almost exactly the 2 hour mark). Wasn’t sure that last hour was working, then suddenly it clicked and I was pretty riveted. My friend had seen it on Friday and said certain Oscar for RDJ — for a long while I didn’t know what he was thinking, then it became clear he’s probably right. On The Big Picture podcast, Sean Fennessey made a JFK comparison, and I think that is pretty spot-on. The rapid cutting, the non-stop barrage of new recognizable faces, the oppressive urgency and conspiratorial feeling.
Murphy was so good in this, he’s really a revelation. I was never a fan of his, found him too creepy and distant, but clearly this is the role of a lifetime for him.
This was probably my third-favorite Nolan film after Memento and The Dark Knight. It really worked for me and the cross-cutting in time, while at first seemed unnecessary, was never boring and kind of paid off at the end.

Unfortunately, I missed the first 10 minutes or so. I got to the theater for a 4:00 show around 4:05, then there was a huge line of people trying to get into the multiplex to see Barbie so that took like another 5 minutes just to get in. No biggie though, I’ll just miss a couple of previews. I get to the theater and they’re showing Oppenheimer meeting Einstein. I look to the usher standing there, with a confused look on my face. He explains they didn’t show any previews and started the movie at 4. WTF??? I have never seen that happen ever in a non-art house theater. It’s just never done. It’s just understood with reserved seats that you have 15-20 minutes of leeway. It messed up the experience for a lot of stunned people filing into the theater “late”. I may stop by the AMC today to catch the first 10-15 minutes (I have A-List), just to catch what I missed and then leave.

cultshock

I watched it last night with my 17 year old son, who is a huge Nolan fan and insisted we see it on opening weekend. He loved it, I liked it but not as much as he did.
I could have used subtitles, but that just might be me getting old. Also, I had a bit of trouble keeping track of all the side characters, but again, that's probably me.

Agreed, it got better as it went along. And the score and sound design were fantastic, it was one of the best parts for me. The main cast was fantastic, and I didn't even recognize Gary Oldman as President Truman.

dex14

The max length a 70mm IMAX print can be is 3 hours, so unless the theatre is going to swap the digital projector over for pre-movie stuff, there won't be previews for those screenings.

cultshock

But aren't trailers on separate film prints, like in the old days? Or is it different with IMAX?

dex14

The IMAX print is massive. Some theatres barely had room for it in the booths. Some are showing pre-movie stuff on their digital systems first and then swapping over to the film reel. I don't know why they all aren't able to do that, but IMAX is advertising: "*These special presentations of Oppenheimer in IMAX 70mm will not feature trailers. The film presentation will begin promptly at published showtime. If you have any questions please contact the theatre directly."

Decker

My theater was 70mm film, not IMAX, but I guess it's the same. They certainly didn't make that known to us ahead of time.

Draven

I’m really confused how people didn’t recognize Gary Oldman. He appeared on screen and I was like “hey it’s Gary Oldman”. If they did anything to his appearance, I don’t remember it enough to have made an impression. He looked like Gary Oldman to me.

bluetoast

I got two trailers on standard 70 mm, one for The Holdovers (which the projectionist said was partially shot in 70 and had scenes filmed in the theater we were in) and the new Exorcist.

Spiderbite

Has Stuckmann gone back to doing critical reviews or is he still doing the nice guy thing (aka kiss ass reviews because he doesn't want to burn bridges as a burgeoning filmmaker) and not being negative or giving negative criticism in reviews?

He was one of my favorite reviewers until he started that, and I quit subscribing or listening to him because everything he reviews after that decision became shiny and golden.

cultshock

Gotcha. I've never seen a physical IMAX print, let alone in a booth (although I'd love to) but that makes sense then.

RichC2

DJariya

https://screenrant.com/oppenheimer-m...-best-opening/

$80.5M the best opening weekend for a non Batman Nolan movie.

I take my comment back about it being weird as a Summer movie. This would have not done nearly as well without the hype.

Decker

I went back today, since it didn't cost me anything with my A-List, to watch the first 15 minutes of the movie. Same showing, same 70mm projection. Today I was early for sure. They showed 15 minutes of trailers . But they still had issues, freezing in the middle of a trailer (maybe Equalizer 3?) and then going black for 60 seconds before starting the film. Still no Nicole Kidman.
But I watched about 90 minutes or so. It does make the huge number of scientist characters easier to understand and follow the second time, and it makes the betrayal seem much more obvious, of course. I think it's pretty rewatchable.

Why So Blu?

Watched it today and thought it was awesome. I thought it was cool in that it tried to humanize Oppenheimer, but in the back of my mind, I was like, you do realize it's Oppenheimer here, right? Sure enough, once the second act after the bomb test hits, we are shown his true colors, along with Strauss. I think Murphy and RDJ will get nominations.

Spiderbite

I am going to see it this week but my local AMC is showing it in their LieMAX but also separately in a standard screen but in 70mm.

Any suggestions which I should choose? I keep reading to see it on the biggest screen possible but then also read that 70mm is the better. But this isn't 70mm IMAX.

Any help from those who have seen it or are in the know?

bluetoast

70 mm is the obvious choice choice even if it’s not IMAX film. You’re still getting a better presentation than all but 99% of the country. It looked great. One shouldn’t hesitate to choose that over LieMax any day of the week.

Decker

I agree. It’s so cool to see a movie projected on film, and this film in particular just feels right for the flicker and slight hues you get from a film projection.

CristonCole

Jesus, Oldman doesn’t look THAT old these days. They made him up to look borderline 90! 😄

Decker

Rob V

Caught this last night and it was fascinating, riveting, etc, etc. Can't say enough good about this film that most of you already have said. Of all the cinematic brilliance of this film, the scene that stands out for me the most is when Florence Pugh is riding Murphy during his hearing. What an amazingly uncomfortable scene that must have been to film -- kudos to that team for pulling it off because it was visually shocking but not superfluous.

thematahara

Loved it overall. Weirdly, I thought the middle part around the bomb test was the slowest part. Last hour was great.

If they ever make a Half-Life movie, Murphy is a lock for the G-Man

Josh-da-man

That is, I think, one of the things that has kept me away from movie theaters over the past decade or two. Along with smaller screens, ruder and more obnoxious audiences, and ever-increasing prices.

Movies should be projected onto a screen from film, and not some kind of digital delivery that I can get at home.

And I'm also annoyed by the prevalence of "LieMax." Since IMAX is such a prestige brand, they shouldn't be able to call something IMAX unless it's actually IMAX. Found this out a few years ago when my go-to IMAX theater was, in fact, a LieMax. At the time, I didn't understand what the appeal of IMAX was other than a larger screen.

DJariya

Twitter

Decker

In India they are protesting because these two characters start fucking while reading the holiest Hindu text. Seems like a fair grievance.

Dr. DVD

Caught this yesterday. Easily best movie of the year so far. Was going to see it in IMAX on Saturday but a traffic jam on the way to the nearest theater put a stop to that . Still managed to catch it on a good sized screen in a crowded theater with a reclining seat, and I got a refund for my ticket, so no harm no foul. Maybe the IMAX version is different, but IMHO only about 15% of the movie has what I would call IMAX money shots. The rest is very dialogue driven , and it's good dialogue with great acting.

Movie's audio was way better than Nolan's previous outings, but I still need to watch with subtitles at some point. The guy clearly loves the whole method of jumping back and forth in time narrative.