Oppenheimer

2023 Universal Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 3 hr

Biography ~ Drama ~ History ~ True Story

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, Jason Clarke and Kenneth Branagh.

“Prometheus stole fire from the Gods and gave it to man. For this he was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity.”

Cillian Murphy stars as J. Robert Oppenheimer, a Theoretical Physicist in charge of The Los Alamos project and one of the pioneers of the first atomic bombs built during World War II. It follows his life and education leading up to chairing the project to create the world’s first atomic bomb, and his life and career following the first Atomic bomb test. It also chronicles his personal battles dealing with the responsibility of being the man that changed the world with an atomic weapon, and his guilt that he may have ultimately laid the foundation for the destruction of our world.

The movie starts with the 1954 security hearing orchestrated by The Atomic Energy Chairman Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr). It was a kangaroo court orchestrated by Strauss with the express purpose of destroying Oppenheimer’s reputation and credibility, mainly due to Strauss’s jealousy and paranoia regarding Oppenheimer. There is a scene where Oppenheimer is having a conversation with Albert Einstein within eyeshot of Strauss, and Strauss is convinced that Oppenheimer is bad mouthing him to Einstein. But in reality Oppenheimer was discussing with Einstein his fear that in creating the atomic bomb he might have started a chain reaction that could destroy the world.

The movie centers on the 1954 hearing and the 1959 Senate Confirmation Hearing for Strauss where it is revealed how Strauss tried to undermine Oppenheimer and his work. It flashes back and forth between the hearings and the events in Oppenheimer’s life that led up to the first atomic bomb test (which is quite impressively depicted in the movie), and the events after as he grapples with the fallout personal guilt he has. There are a lot of stories going on here and it can be a little difficult to understand and follow. Especially as it flashes back and forth to different times and events, some being in black and white.

One of the main stories of this movie is the power struggle between Oppenheimer and Strauss as Strauss seeks to undermine his influence with the Atomic Energy Commission. Christopher Nolan, the director, uses color and black and white to differentiate between the two men. The Black and white scenes are used to show Strauss’s point of view and thinking, while color was used to represent Oppenheimer’s. That alone is a fascinating viewing if you know that and view the movie with that knowledge.

There is a lot of star power in this movie:

Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer
Emily Blunt as Oppenheimer’s Wife kitty
Robert Downey Jr. as Atomic Energy Chairman Lewis Strauss
Matt Damon as US Army Colonel Leslie Groves who oversaw The Los Alamos Project
Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, a psychiatrist, Communist Party USA member, and Robert Oppenheimer’s romantic interest
Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence, a Nobel-winning nuclear physicist who worked with Oppenheimer at the University of California, Berkeley
Casey Affleck as Boris Pash, a US Army military intelligence officer and commander of the Alsos Mission
Kenneth Branagh as as Niels Bohr, a Nobel-winning Danish physicist, philosopher and Oppenheimer’s personal idol
Rami Malek as David L. Hill, a nuclear physicist at the Metallurgical Laboratory.
Jason Clarke as Roger Robb, an attorney and future US circuit judge who served as special counsel to the AEC at Oppenheimer’s security hearing.

It is a fascinating look at the man and his accomplishments, his relationships and his guilt at having orchestrated the potential demise of the world. I’ve watched it three times mainly because it took two to fully understand all the stories going on, and then a third to appreciate it with the knowledge and understanding of everything going on. It is well acted by everyone involved, and the cinematography is outstanding.

Some fun facts:

It grossed over 976 million worldwide, the third highest of 2023
It won 7 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best supporting Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography and Best original Score
And 5 Golden Globe Awards
And 7 British Academy Awards
And was named one of the top ten films of 2023 by the American Film Institute

An excellent movie obviously but it is a long one coming in at three hours.

But it is a fascinating three hours.

Two Thumbs Up!!

A Quiet Place Part II

2021 Paramount Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 37min

Drama ~ Horror ~ Sci-Fi ~ Thriller

Directed by: John Krasinski

Starring: John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou.

“RUN!”

Day 1

Evelyn (Emily Blunt and Lee (John Krasinski)Abbott, along with their daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), and son Beau are at their son Marcus’ (Noah Jupe)baseball game in Millbrook, New York. When suddenly the sky is filled with what looks like an incoming meteorite. The game is quickly called and everybody disperses and is told by the police they should probably go home. Before people can get out of the main street, Aliens start attacking the townspeople and anything that makes noise. Chaos and sheer terror ensue and The Abbott’s are separated. Evelyn, Marcus and Beau end up in the middle of the street behind an upside down Police cruiser. The camera zooms in on Marcus holding his hands over his ears and grimacing in terror. And fades away to…..

Day 474

The end of A Quiet Place where Marcus is holding his hands over his ears and grimacing in terror behind the water heater. Evelyn, Regan, Marcus and the new baby decide to leave the family farm and head to the nearest signal fire Lee had documented on a map. They make it there and find it is tended by their old friend Emmett. Regan and Marcus find a radio channel broadcasting the song Beyond The Sea repeatedly. Regan figures out it is a message being broadcast from a radio station on an Island just off the coast and decides she needs to go there with the earpiece her Dad made. They have discovered that it severely hurts the aliens and she wants to use the Radio signal to broadcast the noise and destroy the aliens.

After she disappears by herself, Evelyn convinces Emmett he must go and bring her back. Emmett does and catches up with her but is convinced by Regan to help her get to the island so they can broadcast the signal and save humanity. Evelyn leaves Marcus alone with the baby to go back into town and get medical supplies and Marcus is left to fend for himself against an alien. And from here it really gets intense as Regan and Emmett try to make it to the radio station, Evelyn tries to get supplies from town and get back to Marcus and the baby, and Marcus tries to keep an alien from killing him and the baby.

This is an edge of your seat thriller. I found myself jumping at times when things happened unexpectedly. Again Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe do an excellent job. Cillian Murphy as Emmett is a nice addition to the cast and story. The Aliens seem even more frightening in this one than they did in the other two movies. The last half of the movie where they are all on different quests gets extremely intense. I think this is my favorite one yet.

Excellent Sci-Fi Thriller!

Two Thumbs Up!

You might also like:

A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE

A QUIET PLACE

A QUIET PLACE SERIES STORY AND TIMELINE

A Quiet Place

2018 Paramount Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 30min

Drama ~ Horror ~ Sci-Fi ~ Thriller

Directed by: John Krasinski

Starring: John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe.

“Who are we if we can’t protect them? We have to protect them.”

Day 89

Lee(John Krasinski) and Evelyn(Emily Blunt) Abbott have taken their children, Regan(Millicent Simmonds), Marcus(Noah Jupe), and Beau into town for supplies. Regan is deaf which helps them be quiet as they all use sign language to communicate. After they load their backpacks they head back to their farm outside of town. They walk barefoot on sand paths they made to keep from making any crunching sounds the Aliens might hear.

As they near a bridge Lee stops in terror as he hears a loud siren sound coming from behind him. As he turns he sees their youngest son with a toy he has taken from the store and turned on. Lee starts to run hoping to get to his son and turn off the noisy toy before the Aliens come. Regan and Evelyn watch in horror hoping Lee can reach Beau in time….

Day 472

The Abbotts spend their days on the farm going about daily chores. Evelyn is pregnant and Regan helps her with the daily meal prep. Lee spends his time taking care of maintenance and learning all he can about the aliens. He is also trying to engineer an ear piece for Regan to help with her deafness. They have installed patio white lights all around the property to show an all clear sign meaning no Aliens present. When there is an alien presence they switch the lights to red mode which emit a noise to help distract any alien presence.

The do all this while being extremely quiet. The Aliens have extraordinary hearing that allows them to hear the slightest noise from a great distance. They also communicate mostly with sign language and gestures. There is minimal dialogue in this movie. Evelyn’s water breaks just as she discovers an alien in the house and fights to keep herself from crying out. She makes it upstairs to the bathtub and just as she is about to give birth and cry out, her son lights the emergency fireworks display. The Alien leaves to chase the firework noise and Evelyn is able to noisily give birth successfully.

I was thinking Emily Blunt should have won an award for her performance, trying to give birth quietly while an alien is right there listening for you. I checked and she won The Screen Actors Guild Award For Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Supporting Role. There you go. I like Millicent Simmonds, she is very likable as Regan and she is deaf in real life which really added to the realism of The Abbott families relationship with each other. They all learned sign language on the set thanks to Millicent. And it was her idea that when Lee signs to her near the end of the movie, I love you, that he should also sign, I have always loved you.

John Krasinski and Emily Blunt are married with children in real life, which also helped to add to the family chemistry. It is a very quiet world interspersed with moments of sheer terror as you make the slightest sound. Praying you didn’t get heard by the aliens. It is a terrifying Sci-fi thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. I strongly suggest you watch A Quiet Place: Day One before you watch this. It will give you more understanding of what the Abbott’s are going through.

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!

You might also like:

A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE

A QUIET PLACE PART II

A QUIET PLACE SERIES STORY AND TIMELINE

Movie Salad

Emily Blunt’s Movie Salad:

One bag of microwave popcorn
One bag of M&M’s
One bag of Skittles

In the movie Pain Hustlers starring Emily Blunt, there’s a scene early in the movie where they check into a motel.

After she gets her daughter Phoebe settled in, she makes a bowl of Movie Salad.

We recreated it for this first post in CONCESSION STAND.

What is your favorite version of MOVIE SALAD?

Edge Of Tomorrow

2014 Warner Bros. Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length: 1 hr 53min

Action ~ Adventure ~ Sci-Fi

Directed by: Doug Liman

Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton and Brendan Gleeson.

“What I am about to tell you sounds crazy, but you have to listen to me. Your very lives depend on it. You see, this isn’t the first time we’ve met.”

Tom Cruise star as Major William Cage, an Advertising Agent now working for the US Military PR Department. He is sent to London to help promote the UDF in getting recruits for the war effort. The UDF (United Defense Force) is comprised of 17 Nations and was created to combat the Mimic invasion. Five years earlier an Alien species known as The Mimics landed in Germany and has been spreading across Europe killing hundreds of thousands of people. They are nicknamed “Mimics” because they have the ability to mimic our actions in battle and anticipate our moves. When “Bill” Cage meets General Brigham (Brendan Gleeson) in London to discuss The PR campaign, he is told by the General, “Tomorrow we will throw everything we have at the front lines and you will be right there leading the charge….PR in person.” Bill tries to object saying he’s no soldier, but the General won’t here of it and has him arrested and escorted to the staging camp.

He comes to at the staging camp where he is given a uniform, assigned to the misfit J-Squad, and the next morning shuttled out to the front lines. Outfitted with an AI assisted weapons Exo-Suit he has no idea how to operate, he is forced to drop into the frontline fighting and scrambles to survive. He is quickly killed and finds himself back at the staging camp going through the exact same routine 24 hours later. Once again he is outfitted with the weapons suit and J-Squad head out to the frontlines where once again he is killed, but not before taking a few evasive steps to survive based on his memory of the day before. And over and over again, each time remembering a little more, getting better at operating his suit and remembering the evasive steps he has learned to survive. Each day advancing a little further on the battlefield until one day he encounters……..

Emily Blunt who stars as Rita Vrataski, a female soldier who earned the nickname “The Angel of Verdun” for her slaughter of hundreds of Mimics in The Battle of Verdun. He saves her life on the battlefield right before he dies, and after he goes back again and again, she eventually tells him to find her tomorrow when he comes to. He does and they discuss the “Time Loop” he is stuck in. Rita tells Bill that the same thing had happened to her when she had killed an Alpha (A bigger class of the Aliens) and the blue blood from it entered her body. She explains that the Alpha he killed covered him with the blue blood and now he has the ability to reset every time he dies and live the day over again. Enabling him to see further into the future each time and get closer to the The Omega, The Alien that controls the rest of The Mimics.

They spend countless days training, learning and planning to get closer to The Omega. Killing it is the only way to stop the invasion and destroy the Aliens. Every day being a repeat of the day before, only each time armed with more and better knowledge they need to accomplish their task and win the war for Humanity. It is a fascinating story and glimpse into what an Alien Invasion might look like. It is non stop action and the graphics are nicely done. The Mimics and the Alphas are crazy fast, scary killing machines that seem to pop out of nowhere and anticipate your every move. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt are excellent together and make a dynamite fighting team. Two of my favorites going at it side by side.

I don’t know how I never saw this before. Completely missed it somehow.

I liked it and thought it was a great Action Sci-Fi Adventure complete with an Alien Invasion.

Lots of action and some humor.

Yes, if you haven’t seen it I recommend it.

Two Thumbs up!