OPPENHEIMER | Universal Pictures | Writer/Director Christopher Nolan

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey, Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Michael Angarano, Josh Hartnett and Kenneth Branagh

“How do you turn the story of the atomic bomb’s creation into a thriller suitable for blockbuster status in the thick of summer movie season? If you’re writer/director Christopher Nolan, you stack your cast with an almost absurd list of stars and twist the tale of J. Robert Oppenheimer into a three-prong exploration of genius, regret, and historic horror”… READ MORE Kristy Puchko Mashables.com

“Nolan’s twelfth film, Oppenheimer, feels like the culmination of everything the director has done so far in his already remarkable career. From the multiple timelines of Memento and Dunkirk, and the staggering abstract footage in Interstellar, to his ability to build tension and anticipation through stunning scores and impeccable editing, Nolan uses all of the talents and techniques that have made him such a noteworthy auteur to bring to life the extraordinary accomplishments, pains, and life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy)”… READ MORE Ross Bonaime Collider.com

Featurette: Get a behind-the-scenes look at OPPENHEIMER with Nolan, the cast and crew.

Cillian Murphy (check out good interview with the reticent actor), “with a thousand-yard beam, the half-smile of an intellectual rake, and a way of keeping everything close to the vest, gives a phenomenal performance as Oppenheimer, making him fascinating and multi-layered. His “Oppie” is an elegant mandarin who’s also a bit snakelike — at once a cold prodigy and an ardent humanist, an aristocrat and a womanizer, a Jewish outsider who becomes a consummate insider, and a man who oversees the invention of nuclear weapons without a shred of doubt or compunction, only to confront the world he created from behind a defensive shield of guilt that’s a lot less self-aware”… READ MORE Owen Gleiberman Variety.com

What did I (LeAnne) think? 5 outta 5 – I believe we’ve just seen the Best Actor and Picture Winner for Oscars 2024.  The framing of the film is complex, but not indecipherable like “Tenet”. The part of the movie that depicts The Manhattan Project, the actual coming together of great minds to build the atomic bomb, not in New York, but in the Wild West looking Los Alamos in the New Mexico desert, is the center of the movie. It allows you not only to better understand the whys and hows this destructive physics came to be, but also to hone in on Oppenheimer, the porkpie hat wearing
man. Then it has two offshoots – the 1954 hearing of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, grilling J. Robert Oppenheimer on his outspokenness after the war. Going back into his past associations with those of the Communist Party, all part of a political game to strip Oppenheimer of his security clearance. Jason Clarke is especially despicable leading this charade.  The other part closely tied is the confirmation hearing for a Presidential cabinet position, for Lewis Strauss, an egocentric, mastermind played remarkably by Robert Downey Jr., these scenes are in black and white to differentiate the time periods. Kudos on the team handling the aging makeup across the board. We also get glimpses of a nearly psychotic Oppenheimer at University; a sexy Oppenheimer sitting naked in a chair smoking and conversing after sex with his volatile girlfriend/mistress Jean (Florence Pugh); and Oppenheimer the family man. No matter where we are in this story, this history, there’s some sort of tension in every frame; and yet it’s not exhausting or overly bloated. It may be Nolan’s masterpiece, but only God knows what this innovational writer/director has percolating next!

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BARBIE | Warner Bros Pictures | Writer/Director Greta Gerwig | Co-writer Noah Baumbach

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY | Walt Disney Studios & Lucasfilms LTD | Director/Co-Writer James Mangold |Writers Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, David Koepp

Well, first of all James Mangold must be the one of the most versatile directors working. How could the same guy make Girl Interrupted, Kate & Leopold, Walk The Line, 3:10 to Yuma, Knight and Day, Logan, Ford V Ferrari, and now Dial of Destiny, taking the reins of a beloved franchise. These movies have such different tones and genres. Although, he does present Wolverine and Indy in similar stages in their lives – they’re both tired of the adventure and rather weather beaten and depressed.

“When you’re in franchise land, it’s very hard for critical thinkers [journalists] to overlook what I’m sure their editors want, which is this business prism of, ‘How does it rate to the other ones?’” Mangold claimed. “I always thought if I were second or third best to one of the greatest films of all time, I’d be good. I mean, it all vaporises later. Either the movie will live or it won’t.” READ MORE Interview by Louis Chilton, Independent UK

We open on a younger Indy (a de-aged Harrison Ford in the best use of the often questionable technology to date) running for his life amidst the death throes of the Third Reich. Infiltrating a Nazi treasure trove, he and fellow academic/archaeologist Basil Shaw (Toby Jones) attempt to recover priceless historical artifacts from the retreating Nazis. On board a train, Indy encounters Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), a Nazi mathematician intent on locating the Dial of Destiny, more formally known as Archimedes’ antikythera, a cosmological device with potentially world-altering powers.  READ MORE by Maureen Lee Lenker ET Weekly

What did I (LeAnne) think? 4 Outta 5 – For me, it felt like any other Indiana Jones movie, giving us that old-school adventure energy, reminiscent of the original trilogy. But I’m not a person who reveres the franchise. I watch them like I do Mission Impossible or any of the Star Wars or James Bond vehicles. I love the action and crazy stunts. I like the overall personality of the lead or leads and the supporting casts surrounding them, and then I promptly forget everything that happened, way before the next installment. If you asked me ANYTHING about Crystal Skull right now I wouldn’t be able to come up with a damn thing. I only just remembered Shia LaBeouf was in it from looking at stuff for this movie. So I’m not the best judge.

I liked Helena (Wombat) Phoebe Waller-Bridge made her feel capricious, brash and fun. If she becomes the next quote, un-quote Indiana Jones, I’d be down for that.

“I felt a sense of peace, a sense of contentment, that this particular job that [director James Mangold] and I and all the other people involved had done together, was concluded in a way that really felt satisfying to me. It is my hope that others find it as satisfying as I did.” – Harrison Ford

ASTEROID CITY | Focus Features | Co-Writer/Director Wes Anderson | Co-Writer Roman Coppola

“Dear Alien, who art in heaven. Lean & Skinny about 6 ft 7” I cannot get that song outta my head! Sung by the little Jr. Stargazer.

A while back I stopped trying to analyze or or think in linear terms when watching a Wes Anderson film. For me, it’s things like the expressway overpass that goes nowhere, Three seemingly normal little blonde white girls, thinking of themselves as witches (not in training) and part alien, taming their usually controlling and privileged grandfather (And I’m glad that Tom Hanks didn’t take me out of the movie, like he did in Elvis playing Col Parker); it’s the arid dessert backdrop and buttes of a particular clay color and the mix of persimmon and baby pink of Midge’s lipstick and dressing gown. And most importantly, the depiction of the alien, charcoal black with those crazy round white eyes shifting left and right as if to say, I don’t want no smoke, just let me get what I came for cause as nervous as I am, I might hurt you.

Specific visual details make a Wes Anderson movie a feast for the eyes and a love of the odd and whimsical.  

However, our fellow PFCC member Rob DiCristino wrote a beautiful essay on the movies – Asteroid City is, it gradually becomes clear, Wes Anderson’s COVID movie, a delightful ode to existential dread that may ultimately prove too self-reflexive for mainstream audiences to easily digest. But while our cast may feel as though each day is a copy of a copy — are those the same bank robbers leading police on a merry chase through the town square as yesterday? — Anderson and Coppola still permit them the courage of their resolve, the dogged confidence that their stories will take shape in time. All it takes is a little diligence, they discover, and maybe some help from the stars above… READ MORE F This Movie

Meet Wes Anderson’s scene-stealing ‘Asteroid City’ triplets, Ella, Gracie and Willan Faris

After a snack of milk and potato chips, we got down to business and asked Ella, Gracie and Willan how they landed the roles of Andromeda, Pandora and Cassiopeia Steenbeck – As the Faris girls tell it, it sounds easy to get a part in a Wes Anderson movie…

“You audition!” Gracie says. “And then you have some other kids and they audition. And then we said, ‘Can we do it again?’ And then we got it.”

Willan explains further: “The point is to get an audition. If you audition for it and then they think you’re perfect for it and you get it.” READ MORE by Peter Larsen, Orange County Register

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TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2023 | Tribeca At Home Virtual Screenings

Announcing the 2023 Audience Award Winners

I only had time to see 5 Films during Tribeca Film Festival…

CINNAMON Director Bryian Keith Montgomery Jr. – a Bonnie & Clyde trope of an aspiring singer falling for a small time criminal – they’re both young and get in over their heads when they steal from a one-eyed, deaf Queenpin (Pam Grier). Damon Wayans is in it too, haven’t seen him for a while.

This is one of those movies where everyone is doing something shady, which goes along fine until it coincidentally interferes with the other person(s) shadiness and things gets ugly.

It’s pitched as a return to Blaxploitation, it’s not, but Grier communicating with just the flip of a single lens from her sunglasses is a highlight!

MELODY OF LOVE Director Edmundo Bejarano, very slow moving. It’s all shots & cinematography, no story. Which I can appreciate, but I prefer dialogue, plot driven vehicles.

The supposed plot revolves around this young, Ethiopian, Jazz guitarist with a Michael Jackson fetish. He enjoys his gigs, and mates; things are on an upswing for him opportunity wise, when suddenly his mother, who for some reason lives in Brussels, asks him to come to live with her for an indefinite period of time.

What’s well done is the scene where she asks him, because you can’t hear her, only see her. It’s a Zoom-like call and he’s wearing headphones, so you only hear his side of the conversation and see her expressions. It’s shot very well, as I said, most scenes are, but I can’t stand these types of movies where we just follow one person around as they do boring crap.

ONE NIGHT WITH ADELA (Spain) Director  Hugo Ruiz – A female street cleaner working the overnight shift is minding her business, finishing up for the night, when some guys driving down the street start razzing her, both mocking her weight and sexualizing it, simultaneously. She handles the problem, creating a bigger issue. We think this is the worst of it, but little do we know what she’d been up to prior to her shift, not until much later…

Adela’s (Laura Galán) body language is barely contained rage, heightened by all the drugs, drinking and smoking. The threat of impending violence keeps you constantly on edge. Adela involving the late night radio host adds to the tension.

The last movie I saw during Tribeca Film Festival #TribecaAtHome – ÖTE writer/directors Malik Isasis & Esra Saydam – a single black female, Lela (Iman Artwell-Freeman) traveling through Turkey on vacation, making human connections. She’s an attractive woman, so it makes sense that a number of people gravitate to her. And she engages, wisely, making certain no one sees her as a mark, which is important when traveling alone. Still, on the whole, I found the character to be off-putting. Just her general vibe.  It’s a film where you expect her to encounter serious racism, sexism or danger, but instead – no trauma, no drama and yes, a nice little romance.

Tribeca Premiered Misty Copeland’s short film FLOWER – Which screened a second time during Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City…

Fans of ballerina Misty Copeland, the first African-American principal dancer of the 75-year-old American Ballet Theatre, got a special treat recently at an event that was part of the Lincoln Center’s free Summer For The City outdoor programming all summer long in New York City. A screening of Copeland’s first film, “Flower,” was shown at Damrosch Park, adjacent to the famed Metropolitan Opera House. A 28-minute film in which she both produces and stars as the first project from her new production company Life In Motion, created in partnership with long-time friend, dancer, and Emmy-award-winning producer. Leyla Fayyaz. The film, directed by Lauren Finerman, also features Babatunji Johnson, Christina Johnson, Algerion “Krow” Bryant, Alonzo King, Richmond Talauega, Burwood Music Group.

“Flower” is a beautiful, touching, powerful film that addresses housing insecurity in Oakland, California, two areas with which Copeland is all too familiar. As one of the masters of silent storytelling as a dancer, Copeland has applied that same expertise in the two-dimensional form of film, and it is nothing short of deeply evocative. While Copeland plays a working-class daughter who struggles with the caretaking of her mother and the economic struggles around that, not a word is spoken but instead, all emotion is conveyed through the evocative human presence and dance. Copeland’s character further explores this challenge via dance with others in the neighborhood who either share or who have already fallen victim to the tenuous circumstance of lack of housing. 

The film is nothing short of poignant only to be reinforced by the composing work for Raphael Saadiq of the musical group Tony! Toni! Tone! who also hails from Oakland. Only via perfectly inserted commentary from authentic homeless people, are words actually spoken in “Flower.”

This film should give the viewer pause about stereotypes about the backstories and current mindsets of those who are homeless today in Northern California. The legendary choreographers Rich + Tone Talauega created sequences that spark imagination and joyfulness in the midst of chaos and uncertainty. While “Flower” premiered just a few weeks ago at Tribeca Festival, this particular screening is the first, general public offering. Copeland and Fayyaz participated in a spirited Q&A after the film which was then followed by a silent disco, an outdoor dance floor complete with a massive hanging disco ball, that takes over the central plaza at Lincoln Center each summer. For further details on how you can watch “Flower,” please visit: mistycopeland.com – Contributed by Lauren DeLisa Coleman

For more Lauren DeLisa Coleman coverage on the ground during Tribeca,
including Tech Immersive Scene:

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I joined in on this month’s Philadelphia Film Critics Circle – THE FILM SCRIBES PODCAST
to talk about these movies too!