In 2018, an interview with Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan went viral — possibly because it was the first time he’d ever appeared relatable. In that conversation, he said his children sometimes jokingly call him Reynolds Woodcock, after the aloof, reserved protagonist of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread. Though Nolan’s scripts often feature signature, repeated (and often mocked) tropes, including time manipulation, dead spouses, and protagonists who face complex moral decisions, he injects very little of his own personality into his movies. Characters like Leonardo DiCaprio’s troubled team leader in Inception and Robert Pattinson’s equally troubled handler in Tenet are clearly styled after Nolan himself. But viewers rarely come away from Nolan movies with a greater understanding of his worldview, at least compared to the way directors like Martin Scorsese or Quentin Tarantino put their personalities on screen in every movie they make.
We have your Barbenheimer double features for other Christopher Nolan movies
22.07.2023 - 13:39 / polygon.com / Greta Gerwig / Christopher Nolan / Toussaint Egan
The time has come: Barbenheimer, the cinematic double-feature event of the summer, is here. Greta Gerwig’s sparkly fantasy comedy-drama Barbie premiering alongside Christopher Nolan’s gravely serious biopic Oppenheimer, about the man responsible for the atomic bomb, has made for one of the strangest (and most exciting) movie weekends in recent memory.
While audiences have no doubt already settled on which film they plan on watching first, it’s worth noting that technically, this is not the first time something like this has happened. Nearly every major release by Christopher Nolan has opened alongside a film that is at once its polar opposite and its perfect counterpart. From extravagant musical dramas and fantasy adventures to anachronistic biopics and fun and feisty comedies, there’s a Barbenheimer for all seasons.
We’ve pulled together a list of the oddest and most delightful movies to pair alongside a rewatch of Nolan’s best films.
Box office weekend: May 24, 2001*
Before Barbenheimer, there was Memento Rouge. While Nolan’s nonlinear neo-noir thriller may have been eclipsed by the bombastic maximalism of Baz Luhrmann’s musical romance drama at the box office, the two films nonetheless live on in the memories of filmgoers as exemplary breakthrough works by two of the most iconic directors working today. If you’re looking for a mind-twisting, high-flying double-feature rife with psychological menace and an abundance of confetti, there’s no better way to experience either director than to experience them paired together. —Toussaint Egan
*Both movies had limited releases in the spring before wider releases in the summer, around the same time. While it’s not technically same weekend, we are counting it because we make
The Gran Turismo movie veers away from its real-life inspiration into full-on gamer cringe
A little way into the movie Gran Turismo, the unlikely brand extension of Sony’s sim racing games accidentally satirizes itself. “This whole thing is a marketing extravaganza!” excitable auto executive Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) shouts at salty racing coach Jack Salter (David Harbour). They’re aboard a helicopter wheeling above a racetrack, where Salter’s students in the GT Academy — a real-life program intended to turn players of Sony’s Gran Turismo games into actual racing drivers — are being put through their paces. The helicopter is an absurd bit of theater for the TV cameras, and Salter knows it. But he’s powerless to resist the marketing apparatus around him.
Greta Gerwig's team refused to agree to Barbie 2 before the movie came out – and now it's hit $1 billion
Barbie has now made $1 billion at the box office – and there's no sequel on the horizon. Neither writer-director Greta Gerwig nor her co-writer (and real-life partner) Noah Baumbach has a contract for Barbie 2, but that doesn't mean the studio hasn't tried to convince Gerwig.
The best movies new to streaming on Netflix, Max, Prime Video, and Hulu (August 2023)
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For fans, dressing for the Barbie movie completes the Barbie fashion experience
Even before I got to the theater, I saw the pink.
Oppenheimer launched a new debate about ‘true IMAX’ — but does the format matter?
Christopher Nolan said it himself: Watching his movie Oppenheimerwill basically ruin your life, and might even make you feel like you’re being blown up. If Nolan fans really want that kind of overwhelming experience, they likely want to watch the film in Nolan’s preferred format. His biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man who spearheaded the development of the atomic bomb, asks the audience to stare the destroyer of worlds right in the face, and Nolan thinks the best way to do that is in 70mm IMAX film — or as some die-hards call it, “true IMAX.”
Fans have pointed out an Evil Dead Rise/Barbie comparison – and it's toe-tally weird
Bet you'd never imagine reading this sentence: Evil Dead Rise fans have spotted a parallel between the horror sequel and Barbie. It's a stretch, yes, and it's toe-tally weird to boot, but they've spotted it – and taken to Twitter to highlight it.
Barbie director Greta Gerwig says watch these movies next
Greta Gerwig’s Barbie is finally upon us, and audiences love it. The comedy starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the eponymous doll and her maybe-boyfriend Ken has made big money at the box office, with audiences and critics both effusively praising the film’s extravagant production design and pitch-perfect soundtrack alongside Robbie’s and Gosling’s sensational performances.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure is for Animal Crossing fans with wanderlust
After seeing Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie and playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure last weekend, I have to wonder: Is it cool to be a girl again? But actually. We’ve gotten glittering pop tracks featuring Power Puff Girl-inspired visuals from NewJeans and Gerwig’s movie has been released to theaters to seemingly universal fanfare and pink. Now, fans of mobile games get a little cherry on top: a social sim featuring Sanrio’s cast of characters. The summer of 2023 has been a great season for media aimed at women and girls.
The Witcher season 3 saved the good stuff for the very end
Having had even more time to think about it and (like a Christopher Nolan protagonist) do a considerable amount of science on the subject, it pains me to say that part 1 of The Witcher season 3 was in fact Pretty Lousy. This isn’t all that different from what I thought at the time. I’m just even more sure of it now, as the final three episodes arrive on Netflix — which are actually a lot of fun! They don’t magically make season 3 any better, and in fact, might even highlight its shortcomings even further. But it’s got a ton of wizards shooting lasers at each other and some cool sword fights, and that’s not nothing.
Oppenheimer's grandson reveals his least favorite part of the movie – and it's not the scene you might expect
The real-life grandson of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb and the subject of Christopher Nolan's box office hit Oppenheimer, has spoken out about the movie, revealing his least favorite scene.
The 4K Blu-ray remaster of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is now up for pre-order
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, the 1993 animated movie that got a theatrical release (and is a longtime favorite of this author), has been remastered for 4K Blu-ray. It’s available for pre-order right now at several retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart, and it’ll launch on Sept. 12. The pre-order costs $33.99 (except for Target, where it’s $26.99), and it comes with the 4K UHD Blu-ray disc as well as a digital code to watch the film on other devices. This type of disc is viewable with the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and with other 4K Blu-ray players.