Oppenheimer

[Prrambulate]

Anyone planning on seeing this when it comes out on 21st July?

I'm looking forward to a fascinating exploration of the life of the atom bomb inventor gazing at Cillian Murphy for 3 hours.

Some recent promotional stills. The horse riding one gives off Peaky vibes!

Did he actually invent the atom bomb?

He managed and coordinated the Manhattan Project. His main role seems to have been as crucial synthesiser of all the different disciplines and subfields of knowledge that went into creating it.

Meeee! Can't wait

It's weird I've always said the actress who is playing his wife in this actually looks like him in real life, they look like they could be siblings.. it's weird seeing them playing a couple together 😆

I believe that Nagasaki was home to the largest population of Christians in Asia. Oppenheimer realised that the genie couldn't be put back in the bottle. Richard Feynman reconciled himself to his contribution by explaining that they were trying to prevent Germany from taking over the world, Oppenheimer carried the guilt with him for the rest of his life.
Should be a fascinating film, with some parallels to the AI debate where idealistic scientists create tools that can later be weaponised.

I'd like to see it but am worried there will be lots of footage of actual nuclear explosions because I was terrified about them as a teen in the 1980s.

Will probably go and just close my eyes a lot!

I'm so excited about this film. I've just finished reading the biography that the film is taken from and it's brilliant. The trailers look incredible.

I know little about Oppenheimer but I'm a fan of Richard Feynman who also features in this, so can't wait!

I can’t wait to see it! Always been fascinated by Oppenheimer & how he went from being the hero of the war to a complete pariah

Absolutely. What’s interesting is that so few Americans know about the latter, or the illegal collusion of the FBI in bringing him down - they might be in for a shock!

Cillian, Robert Downey Jr and Emily Blunt getting early rave reviews. Can’t wait :-)

I’m interested in the story so would like to see it but completely gone off CM after a newspaper posted photos of him urinating in the street after a boozy night out. I just find that so revolting and really can’t stand to take him seriously after that. 🙈

@Labtastic what’s the book called? Would be interested in reading it.

It's this one:

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer https://amzn.eu/d/hG3wdGW

Really?! Seems very at odds with everything I've read about him

If you google it tons of links come up, here’s just one -

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/22203199/peaky-blinders-cillian-murphy-caught-short/amp/

Admittedly that’s the sun which I can’t stand either 😆 but there’s lots of other sources.

Yes! I am in a middle of the packing for a cross-country move so every minute counts but I have already booked my tickets to see Cillian Murphy this masterpiece.

The other ‘sources’ of that piece are the Daily Mail and the Express.

I just want to watch the movie.

I went to see it today, didn’t live up to expectations imo.

I found it quite difficult to follow the different timelines, and thought it skipped over his role quite a lot.

It was all about him and somehow not about him at all.

Interested to hear others thoughts.

Going to see it this weekend so will report back

I thought it was superb, more than I expected in fact. Liked the mixed timelines and the vision it took to tell this complex a story. What an incredible cast - though I think Matt Damon and Robert Downey Junior seemed very slightly off their best - a little bit fake. Since their best is pretty amazing it didn't really spoil it.

The standout for me was in fact Emily Blunt. I thought she was astounding in it.

I absolutely loved it. The cast were brilliant. Disagree about Damon and Downey Jr, I thought they were fantastic.

Emily Blunt and Florence Pugh were both incredible. Don't think there was a bad performance.

Nolan is an absolute genius at what he does.

We actually went to see it in 70mm, our local cinema is the only place outside of London showing it in that format. So glad I did.

You might be right, it might just be that they're more familiar to me maybe so it's harder for me to see them as the people they're playing. That's on me not them.

It's the combination of blue eyes and dark hair that does it for me.

Also, I really want to watch this but if it doesn't take the opportunity to hammer home that using nuclear weapons on civilian populations is a war crime the like of which the world has not seen before or since, and that the only reason it wasn't pursued as such is because the side that did it won the particular conflict and had shit loads of money at the end of the conflict because they bunced loads of loans off some of their "allies" ... well, I shall be cross.

I think it does touch on this, and it doesn’t glorify him as such. It shows him as troubled with what he has done afterwards, but I think it’s still quite a generous portrayal of what really was the build up to a horrific event.

Totally agree with you about it being a war crime and America should have been trialled etc. would be interested if others who disagree with that also felt differently about the film.

I’ve just got in from seeing it and it’s hard work. The time lines are all over the place and I found it difficult to follow. If you’re going I’d recommend doing a bit of pre reading as there was a lot that I didn’t know about which meant I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped as I was trying to built the story in my head. I think it’s a film that how much you know influences how much you understand and enjoy it.

It is beautiful to watch though and the acting is outstanding, as is the music. Nolan genius, as ever.