#operation Barbenheimer is a go

[kindlythevoid]

Barbie? After brunch.

Oppenheimer? After coffee.

Tickets? Secured.

[apricitystudies]

 what i read in jul. 2023:

(previous editions) bold = favourite

race, gender, sexuality

transphobia in new zealand is making the shift from online to real life

mrt jackets: the naked truth behind women covering up on public transport (singapore)

do not forget them (canada)

a mother's worst nightmare (usa)

when barbie went to war with bratz

the 1975, matty healy, malaysia, and the problem with saviour complexes

photos of samoa’s fa’afafine community that reshape coloniser art

politics & current affairs

‘all that we had is gone’: my lament for war-torn khartoum (sudan)

paradise island lombok, its poisoned gold, and the children who suffer (indonesia)

ghanaian children wrongly taken in raids backed by us charity ijm

behind washington’s decision to supply cluster bombs to ukraine

lumumba’s tooth returned, racist logic of colonisation endures (drc/belgium)

operation trojan shield: the secret country that helped fbi wiretap the world

history, culture, & personal essays

the last place on earth any tourist should go

how the inventor of the first chatbot turned against ai

the horrors of pompeii

can barbenheimer bring cinema back – and save us from 40-hour tv series?

we are all animals at night

read 'em and weep: a reading list for criers

[kosher-martian]

Napoleon & Josephine

Spoiler warning for Napoleon.

So this weekend I had an opportunity to see Ridley Scott's Napoleon. It was weird.

The movie has some problems. I'm not going to mention the historical accuracy of the film (it takes the same liberties all other historical dramas do) nor am I going to talk about the dialogue / delivery (though I will gladly let "You think you're so great because you have boats!" live rent-free in my head for the rest of forever). I think the movie had too much material it wanted to cover in one film, but tried to cover it anyway (the exact opposite of the YA movie "Divided for Adaptation" trope that swept Hollywood ages ago). Before some (likely extensive) edits the final film was probably close to 3.5 hours long, so they cut an hour's worth of scenes from the final product resulting in the choppy mess with massive pacing issues that have divided audiences and critics alike.

Scenes play at breakneck pace one after the other, each in a different location, with different characters, and occurring at different points in history, but there was either no attempt at linking the scenes together or the majority of those bridging scenes hit the cutting room floor. As a consequence, the movie just comes across as a feature-length recap of the previous season of some prestige historical drama show. If this were a pre-existing show the scenes make sense. You vaguely remember last season and you are only watching to jog your memory before jumping into the next season. But if you are going into this without familiarity of the subject matter (or only mild interest) and expect the film to tell you a narrative about the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, it's just a cluster of confusion. I had a similar experience with the Saoirse Ronan / Margot Robbie Mary Queen of Scots film. It had almost the exact same "not a film, just a series of scenes" issues. Unlike with Napoleon, I was less familiar with the historical events surrounding Mary I of Scotland and Elizabeth I of England. I ended up disliking the film and only ever watched it the one time.

So now I want to pivot to the reason I'm making this post at all. I want to posit a ludicrous and patently untrue conspiracy theory: They made two movies and then spliced them together!

To be clear, I don't actually believe this happened, this "conspiracy theory" will be more my wishful thinking than anything else.

Contrary to all evidence, I want to believe that Hollywood had planned Barbenheimer from the very beginning. Warner Bros, Universal Pictures, and other major studios saw the collapse of "cinematic universe" films on the horizon and wanted to create a new fad that would be both cheaper to produce and more easily controlled: Pick two films with markedly different audiences, market them as being in competition with each other, and use polarizing social media pushes to drive people into two constituency groups. With this model, studios could take two films that would otherwise have middling performance and turn them into blockbuster hits of then summer with marketing alone. People would go running back into the theaters to ensure their constituency's film "won" the battle. Hollywood solicited ideas for film pairings from a variety of sources. Ridley Scott got wind of this secret operation and decided he would condense the idea into an even easier exercise: Make the same movie twice for two different audiences.

Scott would direct two films with the exact same cast. One film (the "boy" film) would be an epic film covering the military triumphs of Napoleon Bonaparte, his tragic fall from power, his unlikely return, and his final defeat. This film, titled Napoleon, would feature fantastic set-piece battle scenes, tons of meme-able lines ("You think you're so great because you have boats!"), and gorgeous special effects. The "girl" film, Josephine, would depict the contentious and all-too-captivating private life of Napoleon and Josephine. It would be a more cerebral and emotional work, showing the complexities of their relationship. It would place the competing demands of Napoleon's ambition and longing for true love at center stage. Josephine might have made Empress Josephine our focal character or it may have continued to use Napoleon as entry way into the rich interior lives of the Emperor and Empress of France, but in either case the film's overall story would have been those moments when they were alone with one another or totally alone. Napoleon's story is the story that shaped the modern world, so it was more than enough to support both films. Audiences could choose which movie to support or might have found the format of "two films, one story" just too enticing to pass up seeing both.

But then something - and I'm not sure exactly what - happened. Instead of creating both films and releasing them separately, the decision was made to condense the two films down to one. Both films had nearly finished production. Two interpretations of Napoleon, one the legend and one the man, now needed to be brought together. Left with tonally dissonant films, the choice was made to just try to make the editing "choppier" and more "modern" (code for "we know flashy cuts and transitions won't save this colossal mistake, but we've got sunk cost fallacy now"). Scenes were lifted wholesale from both films and spliced together seemingly without regard for the final product. It's possible the final dirty work was handed to a trailer house, as evidenced by the trailers release earlier this year that paired action sequences from the film with modern music that not only didn't fit the film's aesthetics, but also didn't fit the scenes used.

Did this happen? No. As stated previously, Napoleon's story is too big to be contained in one film. The only film to pull it off was the 1927 silent film, which runs anywhere from 4 to 9.5 hours long depending on the cut. That's why other films focus on extensive portrayals of discrete battles (Waterloo), specific parts of his life (Eagle in a Cage) or his romantic life (Desiree, though it does show other aspects of Napoleon's life). Some artists have tried to do a broad retelling of his life, but those are always multi-part miniseries.

But go watch the movie yourself and tell me there's not a Josephine movie lurking on a hard drive somewhere in Hollywood. I know it doesn't exist, but also there's no way it doesn't exist, right? Too many scenes fit perfectly into another movie for it not to exist. Napoleon is not a cohesive film, it's a compilation of scenes from two separate movies featuring the same actors.

[eltube]

KND already had a Barbenheimer and it was operation MOVIE like. Go watch it again.

[denimbex1986]

'One movie is bursting with life-size doll houses and blowout parties and so, so much pink. The other tells the origin story of the deadliest weapon in human history.

On July 21, with the opening of two of the most anticipated films of the year, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” thousands of fans will head to theaters to watch both movies on the same day — relishing the irony of seeing two star-studded films with such incongruous themes.

“It’s a juxtaposition to show the brightest and darkest sides of the human imagination,” said Eden Schumer, a paralegal in Manhattan, who plans to wear a T-shirt featuring both “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” designs to the theater. “You’re creating worlds and also destroying worlds.”

This double feature — branded “Barbenheimer” by the internet — promises to be a cultural event, a movie buff’s dream and a magnet drawing people back to theaters even as the movie industry struggles to compete against streaming services and recover prepandemic engagement.

More than 20,000 people have already purchased tickets to see “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” on the same day, according to Elizabeth Frank, the executive vice president of worldwide programming and chief content officer for AMC Theaters. From July 7 to July 10, AMC saw a 33 percent increase in the number of guests buying tickets for the double feature.

Kevin Sabellico, a political consultant from Carlsbad, Calif., said he used to see movies multiple times a month, but stopped going during the pandemic. He hasn’t been to a theater in more than a year.

“This is the event that will bring me back,” Sabellico said. “I don’t know why, but the duality of these films happening on the same day just has me captivated and wanting to see both on the big screen.”

Like Sabellico, Jackson Kennedy, a graduate student at Stanford University, is ending a theatrical hiatus for the double feature.

“I haven’t been to the theater this entire year, and now I’m going to spend all day in one,” he said.

In which order should the movies be seen? The consensus seems to be “Oppenheimer” first: Take in the strong stuff, then end the night with a party.

“My friends and I in Chicago are spending our day at the Alamo Drafthouse and seeing the films the way the Lord herself intended: ‘Oppenheimer’ at 10 a.m. with a black coffee / ‘Barbie’ at 4:20 p.m. with a big Diet Coke,” Andrea Ledesma, a marketing operations manager, wrote in an email.

Rita Wenxin Wang of Brooklyn, who is also starting with “Oppenheimer,” decided to purchase tickets for the double feature after seeing dozens of memes and jokes juxtaposing the two movies online.

“It feels more fun to end the night on a fun light movie than a serious movie where someone builds an atomic bomb,” Wang said.

Many other double-feature moviegoers are putting their outfits together accordingly. Thomas Cuda, from Jacksonville, Fla., said he plans to dress with a subdued style for “Oppenheimer” in the morning, perhaps wearing a suit. For the afternoon “Barbie” showing, he has something flashy planned. For the past year, he has had a pair of pink jeans — a gift from his wife — sitting in his closet.

“I haven’t ever had the courage to give them a try, but I will be busting them out for ‘Barbie,’” he said.

Cuda couldn’t believe it when he found out the movies were both opening on July 21, a week and a half after his birthday. He decided to postpone his birthday celebration until next week.

“We’re not going to spend any money. We’re going to save it all. We’re going big on release day,” he said. “For me this is probably the third most important day of the year behind my anniversary and Halloween.”'

[csigoose]

A low, practiced whistle took Aria’s attention from her phone where she was trying to read an article about the vigilante crime ring operating out of Ketterdam. She looked at Natalya beside her and raised her brows. They only used that whistle for one thing. Hot Guy Alert. Natalya jutted her chin toward the entry of the theater in an attempt to look discreet. Unfortunately, discretion was never her specialty, and more than a few of their seat neighbors looked up to witness the newest couple walking up the steps to the seats.

To be fair, it was more than a hot guy. No, the woman at his side was also unmistakably beautiful in ways that Aria didn’t even know how to describe. The man was tall with severe, pale cheekbones and a scar slashed across his cheekbone like a fashion statement, and that was without mentioning the white collared shirt with the sleeves cuffed up and black vest he wore, completing the look with black gloves and a walking stick. And the woman leading them to their seats--dead center--had dark-tanned skin that seemed to glimmer in the sickly theater lights, but that could have easily been explained by the sparkly white top she wore with satin tuxedo pants. Both of them wore black masks that covered the lower halves of their faces, paying no attention to their obvious audience.

It was obvious what these two people had planned for their day with their too-stylish outfits. The famed five-hour marathon. Barbenheimer.

“Damn,” Aria whispered as the couple sat down a few rows ahead of them. “I wish I had a boyfriend like that.”

Natalya snorted. “He probably only agreed to come to this in exchange for her seeing Oppenheimer. No self-respecting woman is dressing up for that nonsense.” A few strangers around them murmured their agreement, some going as far as to nod.

Aria wasn’t convinced. “I think they look nice,” she said, settling back into her seat as the lights dimmed for the previews. The couple obviously wasn’t from around here, and they must have traveled a long way to get here. It was one of the few theatres this side of the Unsea that had the proper IMAX capabilities for Nolan’s “true artistic endeavor.” She didn’t even really like biopics, but she would have liked to see Oppenheimer, too, if any of her friends would have agreed to go with. She wasn’t one for going to Movies alone.

She watched as the guy pointed at the different trailers, whispering something to the girl at his side. Whatever he said, it made her burst into giggles, shaking their head. They were oddly silent through the trailer for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes before the girl pointed to the screen. ‘I want to see that,’ Aria could hear her whisper in Kerch. The man in the suit nodded.

So, they weren’t from here. If they were speaking Kerch, which Aria barely understood--skating by when she took two years of it in High School, and looked so expensive... They had to have been from Ketterdam. That was the only place that circulated that sort of money. She thought back to the article she read earlier. Were they here to escape the so-called Vigilantes?

The movie starting kept her from contemplating the couple’s origin story any longer, and Aria was enveloped in a parcel of pink plastic. But despite how pretty the movie was, or how much she and her friends laughed at the quips--she couldn’t stop staring at the couple ahead of her.

(You know the deal! Click the link to read more!!)

[elfilibusterismo]

there's one post going around which doesnt mention barbenheimer by name but its basically just barbenheimer and claiming how barbie is being torn to shreds by both left and right wing people for the way it tackled feminism and how oppenheimer is getting none of that and i just have to say it is a very stupid post. ben shapiro hating on the barbie movie because he's a raging misogynist is not the same as discussing how barbie contributes to choice feminism and how it operates under capitalism. also if you seriously think people are not discussing and criticizing oppenheimer literally just go outside of your bubble. sometimes you have to go outside of your individualist gender politics world and maybe then you'll see the larger political criticism for oppenheimer because there is a fuckton of it.

[organizeworkers]

From Barboncino to Barbenheimer

Meet an EWOC organizer who helped organize Barboncino and Nitehawk and moves at the “speed of trust.”

The Dam Breaks

In June 2022, a sewage pipe exploded in the basement of Barboncino Pizzeria in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. This caused a catastrophic flood within the restaurant in the middle of a busy service. Management forced workers to leave the floor upstairs in the dining area and start bailing out the sewage runoff. Workers had to vacuum and dispose of toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, and sewage water. 

When they had finally cleaned up the toxic mess, they were covered in filth and expected their manager to let them go home. The owner of Barboncino told the manager that if workers went home, he would consider it “a mutinous act.”

And so, the workers walked off the job.

For Alex Dinndorf and his co-workers at Barboncino Pizzeria, this was the last straw. Alex’s roommate Mike was one of those workers responsible for bailing out the sewage. “I could smell it all the way from the second floor,” said Alex. He vividly remembers the stench from Mike’s clothing the minute he walked into the vestibule of their four-story apartment building.

From Twin Cities to NYC

Originally from the Minneapolis metro area, Alex is a veteran of the food service and restaurant industries. His first job at age 15 was at a McDonald’s. His first union job at age 17 was in a deli at Cub Foods, a large regional grocery chain in Minneapolis. Alex prepared food, carving and slicing meat — one of the “dirtier jobs” in the grocery store, which came with a membership in the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) local.

“I didn’t know anything about unions at the time,” said Alex. “I was just a kid, but I remember even as a high school student thinking that I made a little bit more than some of my friends made with this union job.”

At 18, Alex moved to New York City and worked in more restaurants there. He recalls that this was a turning point for him. “I lived with seven roommates in Crown Heights. My rent at the time was $800 a month and my wage in 2016 was $9 an hour. It was awful.”

Radicalizing on the Line

After years of working abysmal jobs in terrible kitchens as a line cook and a dishwasher, fast food and grocery stores, Alex declares, “I became politically radicalized working in places like this.” Intimately familiar with the raucous, chaotic, and at times dangerous working conditions that are emblematic of restaurants, Alex describes the kinds of working conditions that food services workers have had to endure.

“People are working with knives and they’re yelling at each other, swearing,” he said. “They get burned and hurt all the time. You’re working until 2:00 in the morning, and your boss might be drunk. There’s rampant abuse and misconduct and sexual harassment. Everyone who works in the food service industry, especially over many years, starts to see how unregulated it is. It’s like the Wild West.”

Barboncino was not unique. There were numerous examples of scheduling problems and unjust disciplinary treatment. “You say something that the manager doesn’t like, or you stand up for yourself, and you can get fired just like that,” he said.

There were also simple things that made working conditions intolerable over time. For example, when Barboncino was ridiculously low on forks for two months, bussers had to run down silverware constantly. Something like this would be an easy fix, but the owners were not interested in equipping their workers to operate efficiently.  

An Historic Union at Barboncino

Until that infamous night, which Alex and his friends euphemistically dubbed “poop night,” workers at Barboncino had only casually thrown around the possibility of forming a union. Alex had been inspired by the Starbucks Workers United campaign of smaller unionized shops popping up all over the country during the pandemic. 

“I started to think that maybe it’d be interesting if I worked at a unionized restaurant,” he said. Brendan, another Barboncino co-worker and close friend, had been involved with New York City DSA, which had connections with EWOC.

Working with EWOC

Brendan reached out to EWOC, who paired them with Andrew Stando, a veteran EWOC organizer. This was Alex’s introduction to the EWOC organizing model. Being educated and trained by Andrew as a worker, Alex learned practically what it meant to build a union and how realistic and approachable it was.

“Andrew was an incredibly dedicated EWOC representative,” said Alex. “He started going to our meetings and giving us counsel right away. He was very much a classic organizer, listening 75% of the time, speaking 25% of the time, and from there we started to learn how to organize.”

Andrew has become a close mentor and friend to Alex through this process. As for the rest of the workers at Barboncino, Alex reveals that getting them on board happened quite naturally. 

“Once people understood what a union was, they wanted one,” he said. Alex and his co-workers educated themselves about their Weingarten rights and progressive ideas that could be incorporated in the contract. They learned that a contract could protect them from being over-scheduled, prevent sexual harassment, and provide a living wage. They reflected on what it could actually mean to have regular hours and strong disciplinary protections.  

Winning the Barboncino Union

Barboncino Workers United won their election in July 2023, approximately one year and one month after that unforgettable night when their boss forced them to work in unsafe, unsanitary conditions and became the first unionized pizzeria in NYC. The experience of building a union with his best friends left Alex with a desire to get more seriously involved in the labor movement. Almost immediately, he joined EWOC as a volunteer organizer.

Alex had a vision to build Barboncino into this progressive idea of what a restaurant could be. Since it was the first unionized pizzeria in NYC, he wanted to create a blueprint to bring unions to all food and beverage workers one shop at a time.

In January, Alex attended the “Inside Organizer School” and met Richard Bensinger, who advised him that, “grandiosity is an excuse for laziness.” This left an impression on Alex. With those sobering words as a guide, Alex recognizes that organizing the service industry happens one shop at a time, worker to worker. 

Follow Barboncino Workers United (@barboncionworkersunited)  on X/Twitter and Instagram

The Barbenheimer Effect

The media buzz surrounding Barboncino Workers United during the summer of 2023 intrigued workers at Nitehawk Theater. They had just endured a difficult summer due to the popularity of ticket sales from “Barbenheimer,” wherein two blockbuster movies, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” were released as a double feature. The sudden flood of customer traffic brought to stark light the problems that had always been there of overscheduling, low pay, and unsafe working conditions.

Nitehawk is a dinner theater in Prospect Park that offers drinks and refreshments to customers while they enjoy a movie in a dark theater. The uniquely complex and challenging working conditions at Nitehawk were notorious in Brooklyn. The theater requires a variety of staff, from cooks to bartenders to food servers, to provide these concierge services. Food runners wear earpieces while discreetly navigating a network of weaving stairs, in and out of seven different theater screens within a 100 year-old building.

The owners at Nitehawk were ecstatic that Nitehawk Prospect Park was one of the highest grossing movie theaters in the country that summer. They convened a meeting with their staff to boast about their success with little acknowledgement of the hardships that workers faced.

After the workers at Nitehawk reached out, Alex supported their intake. He joined their earliest meetings and helped to connect them with UAW local 2179. There was a lesson to be learned about the difference between organizing his own workplace at Barboncino and organizing Nitehawk. Alex realized that once he was no longer a worker, he could not exert influence on the shop floor, where the organizing conversations were happening. “You can give workers advice, but at the end of the day, all the power in the shop comes from rank and file,” he said.

Follow the Nitehawk Workers Union (@nitehawkunion) on X/Twitter and Instagram 

“Build strong, not fast”

Alex works closely with Will, who is the UAW representative, and expresses that it’s very much a partnership between EWOC and the UAW. Alex feels strongly that an incredibly dedicated volunteer organizer is what builds success in these campaigns. Just as Andrew Stando supported, trained, and modeled the type of dedicated EWOC volunteer organizer that Alex aspires to be, Alex finds fulfillment in doing the same.

“I go to every single organizing committee meeting,” he declares. “I’m in the group chats and supporting the workers anyway I can.” Alex often connects with the other food service workers who are organizing in NYC, even if they’re with different unions or brand workers. “A big part of the scene is just checking in and saying hi and making yourself available,” he said. 

Alex encourages workers, “to build strong, not fast. A key lesson that I’ve learned is that organizing moves at the speed of trust. Everything is about relationships, asking for updates, and establishing rapport. And for people who want to organize service workers specifically, it’s important to be prompt, respond quickly to someone who needs help, and don’t be a stranger.”

Personal Growth

Being an EWOC volunteer organizer also has personal significance for Alex. “Working in these places my entire life,” he said, “being exploited and undermined, working at McDonald’s, working saute, as a fry cook, as a line cook, doing all of these laborious jobs for terrible wages, I felt like it was a chance to fight back.”

A graduate of Hunter College with a degree in english and political science, Alex had at one time considered becoming a librarian due to his love of books and reading. Today, he regards his vision for a powerful and growing labor movement as his labor of love. 

“I always feel better after I do organizing work,” he said. “Even if I’m having a bad day, or if I want to just do nothing, I’ll send a useful e-mail or send somebody the right contact information or have a phone call, and I always feel better.”

Alex’s message to other food service workers: “There are so many reasons why you should organize!” Alex hopes to galvanize other workers in the food service and restaurant industries to unionize.

The Future of Organizing

“The Barboncino model, now the Nitehawk model, proves that you can unionize a restaurant and you could also unionize a giant in the restaurant industry,” he said. “Even if you don’t have organizing experience, and you feel like you can’t organize your own shop. Start with a base, think locally and contact EWOC support. If you’re looking for a job, there are plenty of campaigns that could use young, ambitious left-wing workers, just let me know!”

Thinking back on his own evolution, Alex counsels young people who feel black-pilled or fatalistic to become a part of a political project that they really believe in. “It’s a ton of work, and I’ve made sacrifices to put workers first,” he said. “But I love it. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”

Workers United recently hired Alex Dinndorf as a part-time organizer. He is involved with campaigns in New York City and remotely around the country and still very much involved with organizing restaurant workers, including another restaurant campaign in Brooklyn. 

If you’d like to connect with Alex, he can be reached at alexdinndorf@gmail.com.

[kindlythevoid]

Soooo… how did ~Barbenheimer~ goooo?

[denimbex1986]

'July 21, 2023; a day that has already cemented itself in history for hardcore filmgoers and fans alike. It was unlike any movie-going experience ever before: a brooding group of film junkies ready for a three-hour telling of the story of the atomic bomb by acclaimed director Christopher Nolan versus a storm of sparkly pink outfits, in tribute to America’s original sweetheart, ready to view Greta Gerwig’s latest feminist concoction. The double-feature event earned itself the catchy nickname “Barbenheimer” – describing a war between fandoms over which film they would view first: “Barbie” (directed by Gerwig) or “Oppenheimer” (directed by Nolan).

Both films were highly anticipated by fans and critics alike, likely due to their attachments to prestigious directors in the American film industry. However, what separated “Barbenheimer” from other dueling film releases in the past was the stark contrast between both films; “Barbie” has a spunky, glittery and hot-pink flare, while “Oppenheimer” has a dark, deeply serious tone. Fans found humor in the contrast between the films, prompting die-hard moviegoers to purchase tickets to both films in celebration of “Barbenheimer.”

Perhaps the most remarkable factor regarding “Barbenheimer” was that it was (almost) completely unintentional on both studios’ parts; Warner Brothers selected their release date for “Barbie” during filming, which took place from March 2022 to July 2022. “Oppenheimer,” released by Universal Pictures, operated on a similar schedule, with filming taking place in the first quarter of 2022. The release dates for both films were announced without the intention of creating the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon; a coincidence that worked out excellently in the favor of both studios. Not soon after the announcements of release dates and the first trailers were dropped for both films, fans rushed to purchase double-feature tickets to see both films after social media popularized the idea of seeing both films on their shared release weekend.

Ultimately, Warner Brothers and Universal Pictures had huge success at the 2023 box office. “Barbie” became the highest-grossing film of 2023, grossing more than one billion dollars at the global box office. “Oppenheimer” also saw major success, surpassing the $800 million mark for box office revenue in Aug. 2023.

After seeing immense success with “Barbenheimer,” media fans across the world have taken acute notice of films and other projects being released on the same day. For example, Taylor Swift’s “Taylor Swift - The Eras Tour Concert Film” quickly snagged up Swift’s signature lucky number 13 for an October 13th release date, which was also the original release for Jason Blum’s reboot of “The Exorcist.” Blum announced that the film would be pushed up a week to release on Oct. 6, but that didn’t stop fans from coining the second coming of “Barbenheimer,” aptly titled “Exorswift.” Just like its counterpart, “Exorswift” pits two very opposite films against each other; Swift’s colorful, joyous concert film is stacked against a very gruesome, petrifying remake of the classic horror flick. In a similar vein, Swift’s highly anticipated re-release of her 2014 album “1989,” set for Oct. 27, also happens to fall on the same day as the release of “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” a movie adaptation of the 2010s classic horror video game, harkening back to “Barbenheimer” and “Exorswift” comparisons yet again.

So, it seems two major film releases by competing studios have proven themselves to be beneficial in a way that studios had never expected before – rather than being opposed to blockbuster films being released around the same time, some studios have decided to embrace the humor of seeing very opposite films released at the same time. In the future, the trend could stick, cementing itself as a mutually beneficial relationship between competition, and perhaps each calendar year will have a “Barbenheimer” moment that will be remembered by fandoms for the ages.'

[denimbex1986]

'The Barbenheimer craze is showing no signs of subsiding any time soon. While expectations that Barbie and Oppenheimer would dazzle critics and audiences alike were high, it's safe to assume that even the most attuned industry insiders couldn't have predicted how enthusiastically the world would embrace such a unique double feature. Giving movie theaters a much-needed boost, and proving that a cross-promotion marketing strategy rather than a bitter rivalry can do wonders for competing blockbusters, the movie event of the year has only just begun and will no doubt sustain its place in the cultural zeitgeist as awards season approaches.

For all its stunning success, however, the high-profile nature of Barbenheimer has raised thought-provoking questions and inspired debate regarding the relationship between media hype and historical reverence. At a time when mainstream marketing machines are increasingly dominant and influential over public perception and discourse, the line between entertainment and exploitation seems to be getting ever-thinner. And given Oppenheimer's contextual nature, particularly the world-changing events at the center of its titular protagonist's story, the sensational glitz and glam surrounding the cinematic phenomenon have struck some as unintentionally undermining the tragedies that occurred in Japan in August 1945.

Warner Bros. Has Come Under Fire for Some of its Barbenheimer Marketing

Though the idea of films cross-promoting one another isn't unheard of, the notion of films as tonally and thematically divergent as Barbie and Oppenheimer debuting together has led to a once-in-a-generation set of marketing campaigns operating simultaneously. The word "Barbenheimer" first began appearing online in April 2022. However, it was hardly intended to kick off a media firestorm but rather was meant to playfully acknowledge the upcoming double feature. Matt Neglia, editor of Next Best Picture and the man first credited with using the term, told NBC News, "It's cool statistically that I might show up as the first, but I never meant to start a hashtag or anything like that." It didn't take long for Barbenheimer to make an impression, going viral across social media platforms and rousing the interest of people around the globe. And once the pop culture event seemed to gain the momentum of a runaway train, sensible and carefully considered marketing strategies ultimately gave way to some more egregious forms of advertisement.

Shortly after the films hit theaters and became box office sensations, several tweets put out by Warner Bros. to promote Barbie were met with backlash by the studio's Japanese affiliate. One tweet in particular features Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) holding Barbie (Margot Robbie) atop his shoulder as an atomic mushroom cloud rages in the background. This prompted #NoBarbenheimer to trend in Japan, and the nation's Warner Bros. branch issued the following statement: "We consider it extremely regrettable that the official account of the American headquarters for the movie ‘Barbie’ reacted to the social media postings of ‘Barbenheimer’ fans. … We take this situation very seriously. We are asking the U.S. headquarters to take appropriate action. We apologize to those who were offended by this series of inconsiderate reactions."

While Barbenheimer as a pop culture phenomenon is undoubtedly unique and worthy of attention, such forms of advertisement are indeed tone-deaf gestures and a distasteful way of capitalizing on a major moment in entertainment history. According to Variety, Warner Bros. responded to the backlash with, "Warner Brothers regrets its recent insensitive social media engagement. The studio offers a sincere apology." Considering that Barbie and Oppenheimer are so stark in contrast, perhaps it was inevitable that a combination of wildly differing sensibilities would eventually miss the forest for the trees, losing sight of the bigger picture that a film like the latter is tapping into both historically and contemporarily.

'Oppenheimer's Exclusion of the Atomic Bombings Has Drawn Criticism

When Oppenheimer was announced as Christopher Nolan's next project, speculation abounded over whether the film would depict the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After all, one may argue a film about the creation of the atomic bomb that doesn't show its devastating power would be akin to Titanic not showing the ship's sinking. But with Nolan opting for an intensely personal prism through which to experience the film's narrative, Oppenheimer leaves such a horrifying spectacle to viewers' imaginations. While the three-hour epic has received widespread acclaim for its performances, screenplay, visuals, and overall ambition, some moviegoers have questioned whether its omission of the bombings is an error on Nolan's part.

People who've voiced opposition to showing the bombings maintain that Oppenheimer's subjective point-of-view takes precedent in telling his story. According to NBC News, Nolan said that "to depart from Oppenheimer’s experience would betray the terms of the storytelling. He learned about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the radio — the same as the rest of the world. Everything is his experience, or my interpretation of his experience. Because as I keep reminding everyone, it’s not a documentary. It is an interpretation. That’s my job." On the other hand, critics of Nolan's decision have cited it as an example of dismissal, and even erasure, of the harrowing experiences of those impacted by the bombings. Brandon Shimoda, a Japanese-Amercian writer who oversees the Hiroshima Library, told NBC News, "Even within the realm of entertainment it's still demoralizing and making, once again, unreal the experience of Asian people. The experience and perspective of Hibakusha (survivors) needs to be centered in whatever way possible."

The decision to feature the bombings or not presents a damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don't conundrum from a storytelling perspective, and compelling arguments can be made for either side of the debate. While including those horrific events in Oppenheimer would have given representation and a voice to those who were killed, injured, or otherwise suffered long-term impact over generations, such inclusion could have also been perceived as gratuitous, exploitative, and an unintentional way of re-traumatizing survivors. If he'd decided to recreate the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagaski, Nolan would likely have been equally criticized, perhaps even more so, by viewers deeming such a cinematic recreation distasteful and bordering on sensational. In tackling one of the most fraught and divisive moments in global history, Oppenheimer's exclusion of the Japanese bombings was undoubtedly carefully considered on Nolan's part but wasn't intended to minimize or downplay the tremendous suffering and trauma that persists to this day.

The Barbenheimer Phenomenon Shouldn't Distract From History

As expressed in Oppenheimer's tagline, the world forever changed in August 1945. A critical turning point in the history of civilization, the unleashing of such cataclysmic power via weapons of mass destruction can never be undone, and for better or worse, humanity has to reckon with the actions taken by a handful of powerful and determined people. Though the bombing of Japan ended World War II, and such weapons miraculously haven't been used in warfare since, what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is one of the ultimate cautionary tales, deserving of attention and thoughtful consideration for those who were and remain impacted. With more than 200,000 people estimated to have been killed by the end of 1945, many more succumbing to injuries and radiation sickness, and an entire generation (Hibakusha) traumatized, the horrific scale of what happened can't be stressed enough.

As all the hype and sensation surrounding Barbenheimer continues to enamor people around the world, audiences should resist the tendency to overlook or memory-hole the core tragedy at the center of Christopher Nolan's film. Instead, moviegoers should embrace Oppenheimer not just as a crowning cinematic achievement, but also as a jumping-off point to more deeply consider what led to the tragedy, how it affected generations of the Japanese population, and what kinds of troubling consequences have risen as a result. Oppenheimer certainly poses difficult and disturbing questions without supplying any easy explanations, and that's exactly why viewers would do well to keep it in perspective.'

[denimbex1986]

Oppenheimer might have had to settle for second place behind Barbie's epic box-office run, but don't let that make you think Christopher Nolan's new movie has been a disappointment.

The movie couldn't avoid being compared to Barbie given the fervent Barbenheimer hype, yet it was never going to operate on the same level. It's a dense, adult-skewing biopic rather than the more family-friendly charms of Barbie, while its three-hour runtime limited showtimes (although it has dominated IMAX screens at Mission: Impossible 7's expense).

But while an objective view of the numbers might see Oppenheimer pale in comparison to Barbie, it's been quietly pulling in its own impressive box-office returns and records over its two weekends of release.

So let's delve into the numbers to show how much of a hit Oppenheimer has been.

We'll start with the current numbers as of July 30. After dropping only 43% week-on-week, Oppenheimer posted a $46.7 million second weekend in the US for a running total of $174.5 million.

Overseas, Oppenheimer fell only 21% to add $77.1 million for $231 million to date, giving the movie a worldwide haul so far of $405.6 million, already more than Tenet ($365.3 million) and Batman Begins ($373.7 million) took in their entire runs.

Before we look at how it compares to other Nolan movies, it's worth noting the records that Oppenheimer has set already. The most impressive of all is that it has become the first R-rated movie at the US box office to gross more than $10 million a day for more than seven days in a row (it's up to 10 days with the weekend).

That's far from the only record though as its second weekend in the US was the biggest-ever for an R-rated summer release, ahead of Deadpool 2's $43.5 million. Overseas, it's already Nolan's highest-grossing movie in 30 markets, including India, Turkey and the UAE, and his biggest non-Batman movie in 45 markets, including Brazil and Mexico.

In terms of Nolan movies worldwide, Oppenheimer currently ranks as his sixth-biggest movie behind Dunkirk ($527 million), Interstellar ($773.4 million), Inception ($870.8 million), The Dark Knight ($1.01 billion) and The Dark Knight Rises ($1.08 billion).

Given that it has already been performing above expectations, it's tricky to predict where Oppenheimer will end up. It'll definitely overtake Dunkirk and could challenge Interstellar if it holds well, but Inception's crown as the biggest non-Batman movie is probably out of reach.

Even with a more restrictive rating (an R rating in the US, 15 in the UK), the movie is outperforming other notable 2023 releases. It's already overtaken Indiana Jones 5 ($356 million) and The Flash ($268.1 million), and it'll surpass the likes of Mission: Impossible 7 ($448.5 million) and Ant-Man 3 ($476 million).

Like with Barbie, Oppenheimer has achieved such strong box-office returns as, first and foremost, it's an excellent movie. It's currently got a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (tied with The Dark Knight for Nolan's best) and an A CinemaScore, meaning it's impressing cinemagoers as much as it did critics.

But it is worth addressing the Barbenheimer of it all as it's played a part in the success of the movie too.

Ever since Barbie was confirmed to release on the same day (July 21, if you need reminding), the unique dual release of the two movies has been a talking point on social media – and that only increased as the release date drew nearer.

Barbie certainly benefitted from a different audience viewing it as part of a double-bill, and Oppenheimer arguably benefitted even more from this. Nolan movies are always a big draw for cinephiles, but it's not a stretch to say a three-hour biopic about the "father of the atomic bomb" wouldn't have had a wide appeal on its own.

It's possible that Oppenheimer would have done decent numbers released on any other day. However, its box-office ceiling was raised by being paired with Barbie, bringing it to an audience that typically wouldn't have seen it and also boosting its social media presence with the Barbenheimer campaign.

This isn't the only reason that Oppenheimer has done well (the draw of a Nolan movie 'needing' to be seen on the big screen is another), yet it's definitely a key factor that has increased the level of success possible.

And if Barbie keeps the party going, then there's every chance Oppenheimer continues to prosper in the weeks ahead.'

[denimbex1986]

'The twin releases of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” has broken records for cinema chain Vue International.

COO Claire Arksey described the “Barbenheimer” box office performance as the chain’s “best week ever” and the period following the films’ release as a “record-breaking week,” which beat Vue’s International’s previous overall weekly admissions record by 40% across eight European markets.

Arksey said that in Poland, Vue cinemas had their best week on record and in the Netherlands, their cinemas had beaten their previous admissions record set during the “Lion King” opening week in 2019. Vue U.K. and Ireland beat its previous highest admissions week by 20%, which was set during the “Skyfall” opening week in 2012.

“The second box office weekend for both films also showed signs of strong word of mouth, with ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ admissions going up week on week in markets like Germany and the Netherlands. This is a strong indication that these films will have a sizeable audience in cinemas throughout the rest of the summer,” Arksey said.

“And there’s more to come. We’re looking forward to seeing our customers continue to enjoy the big screen experience over the summer and beyond as other great titles are released this year: ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,’ ‘Meg 2: The Trench,’ ‘Napoleon’ and ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes,'” Arksey added.

The records tumbled at Odeon across the U.K. and Ireland as well, selling more than two million tickets for the two films in 10 days of release, breaking records set by “Avengers: Endgame” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in the process. July 2023 was also Odeon’s biggest box office month since reopening post-pandemic – the chain reported nearly four million customers this month, beating the record set in October 2021 by the releases of “No Time To Die,” “Dune” and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.”

Suzie Welch, Odeon’s interim managing director for U.K. and Ireland, said: “What a week. We have been thrilled to see guests continue to flock to our cinemas in the past week to experience the unique directorial visions of Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan as they were meant to be seen – on the big screen at the cinema. As excitement for both films continues into this week, I want to thank all of our Odeon colleagues for their hard work in delivering the very best big screen experience for all our guests, with over 70% of our cinemas marking their busiest week in five years last week.”

Over the weekend, “Barbie” collected $122.2 million internationally and $93 million domestically for a total of $774.5 million, while “Oppenheimer” earned $72.418 million internationally and $46.2 million domestically for a $400.3 million total, per numbers from Comscore.

Vue International, which is the largest privately owned cinema operator in Europe, operates 1,990 screens across 227 sites in nine countries.'