Oppenheimer – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

ATOMIC REACTION – Review by Liz Braun

February 14, 2025February 16, 2025 Liz Braun Atomic Photographer’s Guild, Atomic Reaction, canadian films., David Hatch, documentary, Gilbert LaBine, manhattan project, Michele Hozer and produced by Bernie Finkelstein, Oppenheimer, Port Hope, Port Radium, Robert Del Tredici, uranium industry

On the subject of bombs, fallout and nuclear waste, the film Trinity would make a great double bill with Atomic Reaction, a new Canadian documentary on the same subject. Both documentaries outline the health disasters that befell the local Indigenous populations who lived or worked near anything to do with uranium mining or processing. Directed by Michele Hozer and produced by Bernie Finkelstein and David Hatch, Atomic Reaction delves into Canada’s role in the Manhattan Project and the creation of the bombs that fell on Nagasaki and Hiroshima during WWII. It’s a lesser-known chapter in Canadian history. Both films tell overwhelming global stories via smaller personal and local histories — making Atomic Reaction likewise emotionally as well as intellectually engaging.

Awards Intelligencer

AWARDS INTELLIGENCER: 2024 is an OPPENHEIMER and Shut Case – Thelma Adams reports

March 7, 2024February 1, 2026 Thelma Adams 20 days in mariupol, Academy Awards 2024, American Fiction, awards intelligencer, celine song, emma stone, juliette binoche, justine triet, Oppenheimer, oscars, the tasste of things

There was a hurly burly to this Oscars/Globes/SAGs season in the wake of the strikes. Tiaras could be worn again. No more Rosie the Riveter anti-glam jumpsuits. Men, like Rustin’s daring and dapper Colman Domingo, won the runway like they haven’t before. Chicken Little may moan that ‘the sky is falling’ in the wake of the pandemic, theatrical contraction, those gnarly but necessary strikes, and the ridiculous consolidation of the industry under men who know how to negotiate their golden parachutes but not how to tell stories or make art. Still, there are huge streaks of light. While four out of five of the Best Director nominees were (white) men, French film director Justine Triet made a nondogmatic domestic drama that was superbly directed – and colored outside the lines. Anatomy of a Fall, also nominated for a Best Picture, is a film recognized for being muscular, and challenging. It’s a movie that demands the theatrical experience because it needs to be seen and immediately discussed. It’s disruptive.

Reviews

OPPENHEIMER – Review by Shadan Larki

January 13, 2024January 14, 2026 Shadan Larki Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, IMAX, J Robert Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer

the main reason I hold Oppenheimer in such high esteem and don’t hesitate to recommend it is Cillian Murphy’s enigmatic performance as the father of the atomic bomb. I have adored Murphy’s work for nearly 20 years. He is one of our finest character actors, and he has never been better, commanding nearly every frame of this three-hour drama.

Awards Intelligencer

AWARDS INTELLIGENCER: Oscar Best Picture Noms Are a Muddle – Thelma Adams reports

December 14, 2023February 1, 2026 Thelma Adams All of Us Strangers, American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, awards intelligencer, barbenheimer, Barbie, best picture, fallen leaves, ferrari, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Oppenheimer, oscars, past lives, Poor Things, the color purple, The Holdovers, the promised land, The Taste of Things, The Teachers’ Lounge, TÓTEM

The Golden Globe nominations are in, along with those of the National Board of Review winners and a host of critics’ groups – Why is Oscar’s Best Picture still in such a muddle? It seems to me that the potential winners have been split into distinct categories, like potential Jeopardy questions: Barbenheimer; All the Big Dudes; The Cool Kids; The Internationals; and Outlier Odds and Ends.

Reviews

OPPENHEIMER – Review by MaryAnn Johanson

August 24, 2023August 27, 2023 MaryAnn Johanson Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, IMAX, J Robert Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer

In a way, Christopher Nolan’s three-hour, shot-in-IMAX historical docudrama epic entitled Oppenheimer isn’t really about J. Robert Oppenheimer at all. Yes, even though it’s full of extreme closeups of the anguished scientist and much figurative rending of garments over his role in the creation of our modern world in which an atomic sword of Damocles hangs over us all.

Reviews

OPPENHEIMER – Review by Susan Granger

July 24, 2023September 12, 2023 Susan Granger Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, emily blunt, matt damon, Oppenheimer, Robert Downy Jr.

Admittedly complicated and confusing, its solemn concept melds science with drama, fusion with fission, and a multitude of characters with 20th century history, chronicled by cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema in IMAX 70-millimeter. While the non-linear plot involves creating a top-secret coalition of scientists to build an atomic bomb, it also explores dense themes of coercion, Communism, and collective vision. At its center is soft-spoken theorist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, where he often conversed with eminent Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) about quantum physics.

Commentaries

BARBENHEIMER Rules: Conflating BARBIE and OPPENHEIMER – Pam Grady Comments

July 21, 2023July 27, 2023 Pam Grady barbenheimer, Barbie, Benny Safdie, Billie Eilish, Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, Cyndi Lauper, David Krumholtz, Dua Lipa, emily blunt, florence pugh, greta gerwig, Margot Robbie, Oppenheimer, rhea perlman, robert downey jr, Ryan Gosling

There are places where the two films intersect, making Barbenheimer less ridiculous than the memes suggest: Both Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and Barbie (Margot Robbie) are midcentury icons, Oppenheimer as the father of the atomic bomb that forever changed the way humans live in the world, and Barbie as the doll that broke the mold, freeing little girls from the tyranny of baby dolls and forever changing the way children play with dolls.

Reviews

OPPENHEIMER – Review by Rachel West

July 20, 2023September 12, 2023 Rachel West alden ehrenreich, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, Benny Safdie, Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, David Krumholtz, emily blunt, florence pugh, kenneth Branagh, matt damon, Oppenheimer, robert downey jr

Nolan pieces the film together out of chronological order, sometimes whipping between pre- and post-bomb at a clip, switching from colour to black-and-white. It doesn’t make the narrative hard to follow, but the frequent cutting doesn’t give scenes enough time to breathe, lessening their impact on the audience. The climax of the film is undoubtedly the desert Trinity test of the bomb capabilities. Arriving at around the two-hour mark, what makes this whole sequence of events stand out is that Nolan gives it time to build tension and unfold in front of the audience instead of time-hopping to the next scene.

Reviews

OPPENHEIMER – Review by T.J. Callahan

July 19, 2023September 4, 2023 T. J. Callahan Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, emily blunt, matt damon, Oppenheimer, Robert Downy Jr.

“There’s a price to be paid to see beyond the world we live”, and J. Robert Oppenheimer certainly spent a lot. Based on the book, American Prometheus, writer/director Christopher Nolan’s three hour sweeping saga of science and self-importance is three movies in one. The first hour is Oppenheimer’s story. Where he came from and what kind of man he was. The second hour is all about building a deadly explosive device from conception to detonation. The third hour is the effects and affects of dropping the Atomic Bomb on an unprepared world. So you can call Oppenheimer a biography, an historical thriller and a psychological drama. Where Nolan misses the mark is letting the film jump around without fully identifying all the characters. It’s also not bombastic enough (pun intended) for the average movie goer. Oppenheimer is more theoretical than theatrical. In other words, there’s not a lot of action. Sparks don’t really fly till the last act.

Reviews

OPPENHEIMER – Review by Susan Kamyab

July 19, 2023July 19, 2023 Susan Kamyab Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, emily blunt, matt damon, Oppenheimer, Robert Downy Jr.

It’s just early summer and we already have a strong Oscar contender with Christopher Nolan’s new historical drama. I will say, I haven’t been a fan of Nolan’s last three films – Interstellar, Dunkirk, and Tenet were just too convoluted, boring, and loud. However, I am pleased to say, Oppenheimer is one the director’s best films to date. Oppenheimer is a poignant and engaging character study revolving around a true story that all audiences must-see.