Barbie 2023
Grossed $155M domestic and $182M abroad opening weekend, the pink half of a $511M combined haul.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Review
The ‘Oppenheimer’ Deep Dive
July 24, 2023/ 105 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins · Chris Ryan
Chris Ryan joins Sean and Amanda for a spoiler-filled hour on Oppenheimer: the movie, the Barbenheimer weekend, and where it lands in the Nolan rankings.
10 films across 3 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
Barbenheimerthe weekend that broke the release calendar
Oppenheimer 2023
Opened to $80M, a huge number for a three-hour biopic, with IMAX 70mm prints sold out across L.A.
Oppenheimer: The Deep Divefull spoilers
Oppenheimer 2023
Chris and Sean each saw it twice (once in 70mm, once in IMAX) and preferred the taller IMAX frame even for scenes of men talking in rooms. Verdict: a great movie with real flaws, built out of American Prometheus and Nolan's usual burdened-genius themes, carried by Cillian Murphy and an ensemble (Damon, Blunt, Pugh, Downey Jr., Affleck) doing a lot of the emotional work. The Trinity test around the two-hour mark is the peak; the black-and-white Strauss/Senate hearing hour after it split the room: Chris thought it dragged, Sean and Amanda thought the kangaroo-court framing paid off.
Where it lands in the Nolan rankings
The Dark Knight 2008
Amanda's pick for Nolan's best: structurally close to Oppenheimer, an hour and a half of setup before it turns into, as she put it, driving around with Two-Face for a while.
Memento 2000
In Sean and Amanda's Nolan top three: a lean idea for a movie, incredible execution on no budget.
Dunkirk 2017
Chris's favorite Nolan alongside Inception; barely any dialogue, characters that are, in his words, stand-ins for concepts rather than people.
Inception 2010
Chris's other favorite. Came up earlier too, as the sharper version of the dead-wife-as-plot-device problem the group has with how the movie handles Kitty.
Tenet 2020
Sean still loves it and still doesn't fully understand it.
Interstellar 2014
Rewatched over the weekend; the group agrees the sound design and burdened-man-of-science framing are a direct dry run for Oppenheimer.
Insomnia 2002
Chris's rewatch pick, the Pacino remake he thinks set the template, even ahead of Memento, for Nolan's men undone by their own competence.
Also mentioned raised along the way
That record-breaking weekend The Dark KnightMamma Mia!The FugitiveThe MatrixJurassic ParkSpider-Man: No Way HomeAvengers: EndgameSound of FreedomMission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part OneMeg 2: The Trench
Comparisons and asides JFKThe Social NetworkBeing the RicardosMolly's GameFat Man and Little BoyMunichA Few Good MenThe DepartedThe Suicide SquadAvengers: Infinity War
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV HijackBreaking BadThe English
Ads Nas EnergyFanDuelBoar's HeadCarvana
Games FIFA World Cup Launch Edition