The movie-as-cultural-event has been in trouble. All of a sudden, we've got two.
If you'd newly arrived on planet Earth this week, you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd landed amid a national holiday, one apparently celebrating something called "Barbenheimer." |
This portmanteau refers to the simultaneous opening today of two highly anticipated movies: "Barbie," the Mattel-produced film about the famous doll, directed by Greta Gerwig, and "Oppenheimer," a film from the director Christopher Nolan that examines the life of the man who helped invent the atomic bomb. Tonally, the premise (and promise) of each film couldn't be more different — which is part of what's driven the Barbenheimer phenomenon, and, of course, all the memes. |
But first of all: movies! Remember those? The big cultural events we all used to get really excited about before streaming, home theaters, exorbitant ticket prices, the Covid pandemic and a million other factors seemed to drain the life out of our collective enthusiasm for attending cinemas? Good news: They're back! Maybe? |
As the very astute cultural critic and film historian Mark Harris observed recently on Twitter, there is a lot riding on this weekend. The concurrent arrival of three big summer films — "Barbie," "Oppenheimer" and "Mission: Impossible 7 — Dead Reckoning Part One" — represent a crucial stress test for the notion that people can still be moved to collectively attend theaters. Each film represents a type of movie that Hollywood is banking on: the star-driven action franchise ("M: I7"), the big-swing biopic ("Oppenheimer") and the I.P.-driven zeitgeist event ("Barbie"). So far, the returns have been discouraging: "M: I7" opened in the United States to relatively disappointing box office results on July 12. ("Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" also received a notably restrained audience response.) |
Which puts even more attention — and pressure — on Barbenheimer. "Oppenheimer" is receiving very positive reviews for its portrayal of a complicated man, while "Barbie" has generated the kind of relentless and gleeful commentary rarely witnessed in our fractured culture. |
It's too early to know if this weekend will save Hollywood, but it's already made the summer more fun. Whether you're pumped up for "Barbie," "Oppenheimer" or a double feature (or the air-conditioning), it feels good to be excited about the movies again. To all those who celebrate: Happy Barbenheimer. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
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