I don’t know what’s going on but Dune rules.
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I don’t recall them doing this one in a while, but the idea is that for the, say, Baseball Hall of Fame, when a new electee has played for many teams, they’ve got to choose which team will be represented on their plaque.
So like Gary Carter is an Expo in the HoF, even though I think of him as a Met.
Anyway, for Rewatchables, the question for each actor/director is, would this be the movie that represents them on their Hall of Fame plaque? Obviously quite a bit of overlap with Apex Mountain, which itself is a whole bunch of nonsense.
Good thread, even though I’ve never seen or read any Dune, and probably never will.
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I feel that the Lynch movie and the book are different enough that the book sequels don’t necessarily tell us what will happen next for the movie characters. My sense was always that the movie made the Atreides and the Fremen to be much more noble protagonists than they were in the books. For instance, doesn’t the movie basically ignore all the stuff about the prophecy being a psyops and Jessica fully taking advantage of this.
I feel if you asked people after the movie whether Paul and the Fremen would go on a jihad to convert the universe, resulting in the destruction of entire planets and the death of billions, they wouldn’t think it possible.
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On one hand you make good points. On the other hand, I would question how far any adapted sequels would have deviated. I think they’d have found a way back to the established thread.
Finished watching until about the part Dune 1 Villenueve ends. It is actually more of an interesting failure when measured against Villenueve.
You do have two fantastic directors doing the same source material.
On one hand the special effects required to do Dune correct, just weren’t around then. The shield fights were just laughable while they work now. I like Lynch and all, but Lynch is about the small. The intro to the sandworm is a massive scene in Villenueve, just nothing in Lynch.
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Oppenheimer, because idk about you but I’ve already rewatched it once.
CATEGORIES
• Most Rewatchable Scene
I loved this scene and the effect in general of cutting to little atomic and quantum reactions as a part of how Oppenheimer perceives reality.
• The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie
The same from the scene above.
“The important thing isn’t whether you can read music. It’s can you hear it.”
• What’s Aged the Best?
The take that Oppenheimer was a troubled man who should ultimately feel vindicated.
• What’s Aged the Worst?
Naked people talking in a room.
• The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance
This has to go to Robert Downey Jr for sure.
Haven’t seen that kind of intensity since Al Pacino got heat checked in Heat.
• The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award
Tempting as it is to give this to Benny Safdie, I’m instead giving it to David Krumholtz. I immediately thought holy shit, it’s that guy!
• The “Ruffalo/Hanna/Rubinek/Partridge” Overacting Award
I’m giving this one to Dane DeHaan and his infinitely soft voice.
• Casting What Ifs
This is Nolan’s first film since Insomnia not to feature Michael Caine. Now I’m just wondering what role Caine might have played if we got to swap him for anyone. Maybe swap him with Gary Oldman?
• Half-Assed Internet Research
The earliest version of this movie would have been directed by Sam Mendes. Oppenheimer is best described as a biopic with the structure and pacing of a thriller. I can only imagine what the subject matter would have looked like from the director of American Beauty.
• Probably Unanswerable Questions
We can take a deep dive into what happened to Oppenheimer after the movie, but Nolan left the ending deliberately vague. He can’t help but leave us with a spinning top.
• Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All Black Remake
Limited series for sure. This could be great almost exactly as is but just split into six episodes.
• Apex Mountain
It’s definitely Apex Mountain for movies about the development of the atomic bomb, as well as Oppenheimer as a subject. Neither are anywhere close to the first swing. Both have been featured in several movies and TV shows, so this is a significant home run in the history of the subjects.
Is it Apex Mountain for Robert Downey? Nahhhhh. His mountain was Avengers: Endgame.
Cillian Murphy may be on his Apex Mountain. This is a huge milestone for him in a leading role for Nolan.
It’s 100% Apex Mountain for sunscreen.
• Who Won the Movie?
Quantum mechanics
• Picking Nits
Not exactly any nits to pick, except with those who were picking nits over the scenes where the two are sitting naked and having deep thoughts.
• The “Den of Thieves Benihana” Award for Scene Stealing Location
The city they build for everyone working on the Manhattan Project. They wanted to use the original Los Alamos, but their main street now has a Starbucks.
• The “Great Shot Gordo” Award for Most Cinematic Shot
Though I’d say big bombs have been featured with more spectacular visuals in other movies, the explosion in this one is beyond majestic.
• The Vincent Chase Award: Are We Sure This Character Is Actually Good at Their Job?
Yes. Okay so when Oppenheimer starts lying about being asked to commit treason. Bro…
• The “Big Kahuna Burger” Award for Best Use of Food and Drink
OMG it has to go to the apple he poisoned with cyanide.
• The “Butch’s Girlfriend” Award for the Weakest Link in the Film
Maybe just me, but I found the multiple timeline structure to be so ambitious as to sometimes be hard to follow. I say that as a fan of the structure and this movie.
• The “Ron Burgundy Flute” Award for the Best Time for a Pee Break
As soon as you see the ravishing couple naked in the chairs, it’s okay to run out. You can assume what they talk about.
• Is There a Better Title for this Movie?
BOOM Goes the Dynamite
• The Steven A. Smith Hottest Take Award
According to Richard Brody, the movie-listings editor at The New Yorker, “I was tempted to call it a movie-length Wikipedia article. But, after a look online, I realized I was giving Wikipedia too little credit—or Christopher Nolan, the movie’s writer and director, too much”.
• The Teddy KGB Award for the Actor in a Completely Different Movie
Benny Safdie lol what is he even doing when he’s slathering his face with sunscreen straight out of a RoboCop 2 commercial.
• Hall of Fame Plaque
This won’t be seen as the example of Nolan at the peak of his powers. I think that will almost certainly go to Inception for a long time to come.
• Just One Oscar
I’d give it to Downey Jr. The man delivered.
I’d also give one to Cillian Murphy. Terrific performance. I say these without considering who their competitors are, so let me just suggest nominations.
• Best Double Feature
Watch it with The Aviator.
• Best Race Horse Name from this Movie
Quantum Combustion
• What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?
A small sample of graphite from what was used to make the bomb. Just like a little jar of the particles is fine.
• The “Andy and Red – Zihuatanejo” Award for What Happens the Next Day?
I’m not sure about this one.
• The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson
Chain reactions can be literal or figurative while both deliver literal outcomes.
• The “Slow Ride” / “Kid Cudi – Pursuit of Happiness” Award for Best Needle Drop
When Lewis Strauss finds out whether he received enough votes to receive a Cabinet position.
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I’ve already hammered through this one enough times, and recently enough obviously, that I can probably put together an entry from memory soon.
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• Most Rewatchable Scene
As much as this movie is marked by epic scenes like the Trinity Test and the scene where he gives a speech in the gym, I’m not sure I can think of those as the most rewatchable scenes. I’m in love with the dialogue of this movie, so it has to be one of the talking scenes. Maybe Matt Damon first meeting Cillian Murphy to soft-offer him the job heading up the project? Emily Blunt toying with Jason Clarke during her testimony? I struggle to land on one, but maybe I’d go with the scene where Clarke ramps up his cross of Murphy, breaking into full-on yelling while Murphy bumps on his own trauma over the whole thing and Nolan uses the white-out effect beautifully.
(It feels like a credit to Murphy’s performance that I feel fine referring to other actors by name and I keep wanting to just refer to him as “Oppenheimer.” He disappears into his role more than anyone else by a fair amount.)
• The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie
“You shook his FUCKING hand?!”
Like most rewatchable scene, there’s just a ton of candidates here.
• What’s Aged the Best?
Well it mostly hasn’t aged, but it should be said that it’s impressive that this movie was just able to put Best Picture on lockdown from the middle of the summer and not face any significant threat despite a ridiculously strong year in film. Holding strong like that for 7.5 months is not a small thing.
• What’s Aged the Worst?
Perhaps it will be me talking like it’s already won Best Picture! But probably not. I mean, this isn’t a knock on the movie since I very much assume that this was accurate to the era, but tying your tie so that it only goes halfway down the front of your shirt looks so bad now.
More on the tip of actually criticizing the movie: turning the existence of JFK as a dissenting voter against Strauss into some dramatic name-drop like he’s being teased for entry into the goddamn Avengers is a truly silly moment.
• The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance
I sort of struggle with this one. My impulse is Jason Clarke, but I feel like a proper Rewatchables crew would tell me he’s in it too much to be eligible. This would have been tailor-made for Gary Oldman if his performance as Truman was actually good, but I can’t say I actually like it.
I’ll just go with Clarke and let the (rigged) jury overrule me.
• The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award
I think I’ve gotta give this to Tony Goldwyn. I knew that I knew him from somewhere. As I occasionally do, I eventually diagnosed him with the wrong answer, and stumbled out of the theater telling my friends how cool it was that they dusted the mothballs off of Aidan Quinn and put him on the administrative law judge panel. Even if my radar were better and I had identified the right person, all I would have been able to come up with was “villain from Ghost.”
• The “Ruffalo/Hanna/Rubinek/Partridge” Overacting Award
I mean…I guess I’ll process this in the dumb way that Simmons does while calling it “overacting”? This is not a bad moment by the actor, but I’ve gotta give it to Matt Damon’s, “Why? WHY?! Because it’s the most important fucking thing to ever happen in the history of the world!”
• Casting What Ifs
I’m not really finding much here. Looks like Murphy is just forever one of Nolan’s guys and Nolan picked him without much consideration to others.
• Half-Assed Internet Research
Not much here either. As Bill noted on a Rewatchables, newer movies don’t offer a lot of material because it tends to take some years for the stories to trickle out.
• Probably Unanswerable Questions
Well, the obvious one here is Downey’s assertion that if Oppenheimer could do it all over, he’d do it again. Whatever regrets he had, I can’t fault the line of “I don’t know if we can be trusted with this, but I know that Germany can’t.”
• Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All Black Remake
I mean…limited series is the only one that works here at all, and I don’t want it. Great three-hour movie >>> great limited series.
• Apex Mountain
Murphy for sure. I think I’d go with yes for Nolan? Massive commercial and critical success, and he’s going to ship the Oscar, but that’s a closer call because he’s had other big highs. Yes for Ludwig Goransson for composing this score. No for Downey (gotta go with his MCU run even though this might be his critical apex), Blunt, Damon, etc.
• Who Won the Movie?
It has to be Nolan IMO. While it’s Murphy apex to date, I don’t think it makes him some household name who can have his pick of any role in the way that some star turns like this do for some actors. Honestly I think RDJ would have more of a case than Murphy, since this is such a strong re-entry into the sorts of films that critics take seriously again (and I say that with all personal love for his Tony Stark work). But I think that Nolan is the one being lauded the most for this, and this is everything coming together for him.
• Picking Nits
I never would have known this, but apparently this is the case: Oppenheimer refers to black holes as “holes in space” in the script at a point in history before black holes were named.
• The “Den of Thieves Benihana” Award for Scene Stealing Location
• The “Great Shot Gordo” Award for Most Cinematic Shot
I suppose it has to be the Trinity Test, but there’s a disappointing dearth of YouTubes and stills readily available.
• The Vincent Chase Award: Are We Sure This Character Is Actually Good at Their Job?
Alden Ehrenreich’s character seems to be serving as an aide who is supposed to shepherd a cabinet nominee through to a successful confirmation, and by the end he’s so fucking pissed at Strauss that he’s not only actively displaying his contempt for him but seems to have completely dropped the ball on what he himself described as basically a sure thing at the start.
• The “Big Kahuna Burger” Award for Best Use of Food and Drink
I’ll go with the martinis from the scene where the Commie is casually hinting that Oppie should commit a bit of light treason.
• The “Butch’s Girlfriend” Award for the Weakest Link in the Film
Oldman as Truman. Look: Oldman is great, but c’mon with this caricature. Truman basically ends up looking like far and away the most unserious human being in the whole film.
• The “Ron Burgundy Flute” Award for the Best Time for a Pee Break
This isn’t going to be a very good strategic pee break since it happens so early in the film, but I’m inclined to point to the whole sequence with the injection into the apple.
• Is There a Better Title for this Movie?
Nope. Next question.
• The Steven A. Smith Hottest Take Award
I’ve got nothing.
• The Teddy KGB Award for the Actor in a Completely Different Movie
It’s Oldman again. I want to believe that Christopher Nolan just wandered off the set during that scene and then he was left with Oldman’s only take on how to play that character.
• Just One Oscar
I guess it’s Nolan. Even as much as I’m in the bag for this movie, it makes me bristle to think that I could be sounding like a member of the cult of Nolan at all. But this was an incredible achievement.
• Best Double Feature
I’m no good for this category. If I’m going to watch two movies in quick succession, I’m going to tend to pick something completely different stylistically in most cases. With Oppenheimer, I’m probably not dialing up another talking movie, and the nature of the movie kinda sorta makes an unrelated action movie feel smaller than it otherwise would? So probably I’d just bail out into a comedy. But perhaps I could double up on RDJ and make it Tropic Thunder.
• Best Race Horse Name from this Movie
Tatlock. I don’t know.
• What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?
Maybe it’s Murphy’s hat? I’ll go with that.
• The “Andy and Red – Zihuatanejo” Award for What Happens the Next Day?
Doesn’t really work with true stories, especially those that fast-forward to the later times in the lead’s life.
• The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson
When people are trying to atone for wronging you in the past, they’re doing it for themselves and not for you. Hat tip to Albert Einstein (movie rendition).
• The “Slow Ride” / “Kid Cudi – Pursuit of Happiness” Award for Best Needle Drop
If there was actually a needle drop, I missed it.
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I think it’s pretty clear that Safdie has ceased to be a “that guy” and has become Benny Safdie. Two major parts and then another supporting role (here) in the movie of the year kind of kills your anonymity when all three come in quick succession. The only way people fail to recognize him is when he does the chameleon thing, but then he’s not really being a “that guy.” Krumholtz is a good choice who I considered too.
Look, it’s a ridiculous scene, but I’m not damn well leaving the room. Not even when I watched it with my parents.
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Well then you better hold it the rest of the movie, because there’s no way you can pee during the apple scene.
I loved that exchange. At that point there was no question whether the bomb would be built, only who would build it first.
The interrogation is tough when demanding him to simplify his complex motivations.
“We only have one hope: antisemitism.”
“wat”
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The prophecy has been fulfilled
PSA: apparently Risky Business is the next Rewatchables dropping tonight. I thought they’d already done that one, but I guess not. It’s on Paramount in the US.
(It’s outside of what we’re doing here, but I figure this might be the thread with a higher percentage of people who might follow that podcast, so I’ll just drop advance announcements in here when I see them if people are interested.)
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I re-watched Road House since I saw it pop up as a Rewatchables episode (haven’t listened yet, but am looking forward to Kyle Brandt especially). But that movie, whooooooo boy. I remembered it as a fun movie about a bouncer who cleans up a sketchy bar and falls in love, kind of like a Cocktail-type vibe. I told my wife, “This is a great 80s movie, let’s watch it as a family.” And it went from “Hmmm, this isn’t really family appropriate” to “Holy shit this is a very bad movie” to “OMG this last 30 minutes is almost literally a remake of the Commando finale.”
Just a wild trip.
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I’ve not seen this movie (it’s on Prime) and I’m kind of tempted to watch it purely on the basis that CR publicly logging it tonight makes me think it’s next.
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