#Cameron Oppenheimer

[l-ultimo-squalo]

Samurai Cop (1991) Dir. Amir Shervan

[petrichorium]

I DO NOT CARE what ur movie is about it does not need to be over three hrs long I 100% fucking guarantee it either learn how to cut out ur bullshit or just accept that u want to be making a TV show and take the hit to ur stupid inflated director ego

[denimbex1986]

'Coming to the end of Barbenheimer weekend, here are my stats. I have seen Barbie, but I have not seen Oppenheimer. This is not a feminist or aesthetic decision. It’s because Barbie is one hour and 54 minutes long, while Oppenheimer is just over three hours long.

I’m not alone in being perturbed by the length of the movie; over the weekend on TikTok and Twitter people posted the exact time that it was safe to go to the bathroom during Christopher Nolan’s epic. Others shared the app RunPee which is specifically created for this purpose (if you’re interested, it’s when Oppenheimer’s brother first comes on screen, apparently). These people are well practised at the art of knowing what parts of a cinematic epic can be missed because, lately, it seems filmmakers are well practised in the art of making movies and flat out refusing to cut them down to non-epic length.

James Cameron’s original Avatar came in at two hours 42 minutes. A decade later, Avatar: The Way of the Water, comes in at three hours and 12 minutes. The original Dune (1984) came in at two hours 17 minutes. Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming sequel to his reboot is slated to be three hours and 15 minutes. Even non-cinematic releases have embraced epic length; Netflix’s Blonde, released last year, was two hours and 46 minutes long, which felt reasonable given that three years before The Irishman ran for three hours 29 minutes. Ari Aster’s breakout horror, Hereditary, was a reasonable two hours and seven minutes. His follow up a year later, Midsommar, came in at two hours 28 minutes. Beau Is Afraid, released earlier this year, was two hours 59 minutes. Then there is Zac Snyder’s extended cut of Justice League that comes in at a criminally long four hours and two minutes.

Back in 2019 when Martin Scorsese released The Irishman, a long run-time was seen as a problem rather than what it is now; a thing to be endured or a badge of honour. “Meanwhile, traditional Hollywood studios beholden to box office sales have become progressively risk-averse in recent years (producing a three and a half hours-long film definitely counts as a risk, no matter how esteemed Scorsese is),” one article reported at the time. “A fact the filmmaker recently lamented when he argued that ‘cinema is gone.’ Perhaps The Irishman will help bring it back, if audiences can gear up for the long haul.”

It seems that the long movie is now a badge of honour for directors, screeners and filmmakers. Longer is more theatrical, more expensive, more intrinsically artistic. Compare this to previous cult movies that a generation before were noted both for their impact and for their short runtime; La Haine is only one hour 38 minutes long, Gummo is only 89 minutes long, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pink Flamingos, Kids, Trainspotting — all really very short! But nowadays the ‘kill your darlings’ editing method has been inverted. “Most long films could be promoted as special and prestigious,” Dana Polan, a cinema studies professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, told Variety. “There was an assumption that length equaled quality. It’s almost to say, we’ve spent the money — let’s flaunt it.”

I had a theory that, given these lengthy blockbuster examples, the 90 minute movie was simply gone, done, over. But then I looked back at the past year’s releases and was proved sadly wrong. Rye Lane was one hour and 22 minutes long. Aftersun also ran at just over 90 minutes. As did Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, and Sydney Sweeney’s Reality. Even Infinity Pool and A24’s The Whale were both under two hours long. Clearly 90 minute films still are around, but why does it feel like films are getting longer then. Why do we spend so much time talking about the long ones?

“These days, there’s a lot of talk about long running times,” Sarah Atkinson, professor of screen media at King’s College London, told The Guardian last year following the release of Tenet (which somehow didn’t even reach three hours). It’s all part of incentivising people to go out and pay for a ticket, which they won’t do unless it’s for something special – a big, epic film. Just look at the Marvel franchise: almost every one is well over two hours.” Film length isn’t going up, she concluded, but we think it is. Why? Sarah believed it was simply down to good, savvy marketing.

One other answer could be that our attention span is just worse now. That our attention span is destroyed, actually, by short form social media video and constantly having access to information chopped up to be digested as quickly as possible. We watch TV at double speed or 1.5 speed with the subtitles on. We can look up the plot on Wikipedia and even if we can’t be bothered to go to the cinema and figure out when it’s safe to pee, in six months or a year’s time we can watch whatever film we missed on TikTok anyway, chopped up into parts in a post-123 Movies age of piracy. Even if this doesn’t captivate us enough, someone will have edited those cut-up clips further, and put them above or alongside clips from Subway Surfer or Temple Run or people making cakes or pushing vodka bottles down flights of stairs to see if they break. We don’t ever have to concentrate long enough to take anything in. We can always be distracted.

It’s true also that longer movies always did exist, especially for vast historical epics like Oppenheimer. Lawrence of Arabia, released in 1962, ran at three hours and 42 minutes originally (it was cut down by both 20 and 35 minutes in later releases before being extended to three hours 48 minutes in 1980). Further back, 1939’s Gone with the Wind was three hours and 44 minutes long. Cleopatra, one of the world’s longest cinematic commercial films ever, was released in 1963 and is three hours and 53 minutes long. But a generation later, longer films made headlines when they tried to embrace the epic-runtime set by their predecessors. James Cameron’s Titanic – three hours 14 minutes – was originally released for home media in a two VHS bundle to account for its length. All of the Harry Potter movies were just under or over three hours long; Chris Columbus and later directors knew that the franchise’s rabid fan-base would watch, no matter the length, and so studios would pay for big, lengthy productions too. Even accounting for the amount of lore creators had to include, the length is frequently cited as one of the flaws of the series, which is now being remade into more easily digestible TV sized chunks.

For Oppenheimer though – Christopher Nolan’s longest movie to date – the length doesn’t seem to be off-putting, even with the fact the movie’s 70mm film reels are clocking in at over 600lbs (I did actually try to see it, but every cinema close enough to make is sold out even today). Perhaps we’re just more used to a modern lengthy epic than we used to be. It made just over $80 million in opening weekend takings, making it the director’s biggest non-Batman box office hit to date. Barbie, for transparency’s sake, did take $150 million in the same weekend. Despite its three hour length people still embraced Barbenheimer weekend, going to one movie and then the other, spending an entire day at the cinema, unfatigued and impressed. Maybe Barbenheimer weekend is not just what we needed to reinvigorate movie theatres, but what we needed to fix our broken attention spans. We have become death, destroyer of short films.'

[filmgamer]

Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' is a Riveting 2 Hour Drama, Extended to 3 Hours

Oppenheimer marks Christopher Nolan’s 13th film and his return to the big screen following his contentious breakup with Warner Brothers over the release strategy of his previous film, TENET. This time, Nolan takes on a challenging subject matter in a 3-hour semi-black and white biographical film about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist responsible for inventing the atomic bomb. Unlike Nolan’s…

[guillotineman]

[1-5-1-t]

saw oppenheimer in the theatres today. and yeah the movie was really good and thought-provoking and i lowkey need mr. nolan to release a five-hour version stat, but the best part for me were absolutely the finnish subtitles <3

like the word "naïve" literally has a finnish equivalent, "naiivi", but the translator decided to go with the adjective "sinisilmäinen". meaning "blue-eyed".

like it's said offhandedly in some heated discussion about oppenheimer's moral character and motivations and you're watching it So into it and then cillian murphy comes on-screen like miley_cyrus_blue_eyes.jpg and you're like yeah. myeah that's. yeah that sure is blue. and then you go back to being entranced by rain droplets falling into a puddle. a 10/10 watching experience

[ninaemsaopaulo]

Nina Galdina, crítica de cinema.

[belladonna-miranda]

Is Asking Alexandria more Barbie or Oppenheimer?

I have fallen in love with not just Barbie and Oppenheimer, but also the memes of these two movies as a double bill. Therefore, in anticipation of their new album Where Do We Go from Here next month, I have classified the Asking Alexandria members as to whether they're more Barbie, Oppenheimer, or a mix of both in real life.

Danny: Guaranteed Oppenheimer for his gruff, fierce vocals and full beard. In fact, the cover of their upcoming album gives me hard Oppenheimer vibes! 💥

Sam: Closer to Oppenheimer for similar reasons to Danny although he's the youngest member of the band. 💥

Cameron: Both Barbie and Oppenheimer (Barbenheimer) thanks to his shy, sweet smile despite all those intricately designed tattoos. 💖🖤

Ben: Closer to Barbie because of his sheer dedication to his wife and four children when he's not touring with his bandmates. 💖

James: Guaranteed Barbie because he's the only member of the band without any facial hair, making him look like a tattooed Ken doll. 💖

[blue-boulder]

house md in 2020s headcanons

keep seeing people make these and i thought it was silly, so here’s my contributions:

- house finds wilson’s account on grindr and decides to catfish him. once the jig is up they silently decide to never acknowledge this again

- comphet cameron. nonnegotiable

- foreman has and posts somewhat frequently on instagram threads. nobody finds out because nobody else has threads

- before working at princeton-plainsboro taub specialized in BBLs

- house livestreams DDXs to put more pressure on the ducklings when he feels as though they’re underperforming. he has a decent amount of followers on twitch

- also i’m not sure how hospitals ran during the pandemic but i think at least one DDX during covid was conducted through among us. don’t ask me the logistics of that

- a few of chase’s old musical.ly videos resurface and he gets bullied for it relentlessly

- thirteen was one of the first people to reblog the weed smoking girlfriends post

- house and wilson watch love is blind, the ultimatum, love island, etc etc when skipping clinic duty & place bets on which couples are going to last and which aren’t

- despite dating at the time cuddy went to see oppenheimer and lucas went to see the barbie movie. at the same time in different theatres

- house makes a joke about someone having blue hair and pronouns. also that one post about how he spends two hours researching every pronoun in existence just to use the wrong one on someone would be real

- wilson listens to either broadway soundtracks on his way to work or hozier, no in between. he uses spotify but refuses to look at his wrapped out of fear

[neilperrystypewriter]

my modern “if the poets went on a roadtrip with mr. keating” headcanons:

- mr. keating: drives like a bat out of hell (this man is literally airborne on the interstate)

- neil: in the passenger seat trying to teach mr. keating that google maps is easier than an actual map + has to turn down the volume of the music constantly bc mr. keating can’t hear anything (“you take a left up here-“ “WHAT?” *cranks music down* “YOU TAKE A LEFT UP HERE, CAPTAIN”)

- todd: got left at the gas station (they did turn around and get him but he just stares out the window behind the drivers seat the whole time in silence—still upset)

- charlie: behind the passenger seat on the aux and playing the most god awful music you’ve ever heard in your life (i feel like he would play a lot of underground music that no man has ever heard before except the artist that created it)

- knox: in the back complaining about the bad WiFi signal bc his awful selfies won’t go through to Chris (she definitely blocked him)

- meeks: in the back as well + binging on the snacks he brought with and watching a movie from the screen on the back of a seat (let’s be honest, he’s watching oppenheimer)

- pitts: “LOOK IT’S A COW” every 5 minutes (also in the back)

- cameron: locked in the trunk somehow?? (mr. keating isn’t aware bc they told him cameron was busy that day)

[fanfoolishness]

The Music of Jedi: Survivor

Last night I went to the Grammy Museum for an event celebrating the Jedi: Survivor score!  Sometimes living in Los Angeles has its benefits.  It was an evening with composers Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab, as well as their recording engineer Alan Meyerson, moderated by Jon Burlingame.  I took copious notes throughout so I could share them with you all :) All quotes are paraphrases, I’m not that quick a note taker.

My husband and I settled into our seats, me vibrating with excitement as the lights dimmd.  I was already hyped to hear the composers talk about my favorite game and their process for scoring it, but then my jaw fell out of my head because who strolled up on stage but fucking Cal Kestis himself, Cameron Monaghan, unexpected and uncredited on the event description.

I almost rolled out of my chair.  Then I frantically started smacking my husband (who’s never played the game, but loves music and production) and hissing “it’s him it’s him it’s the Jedi!!!”

Cameron’s intro was brief but lovely.  He introduced himself, then paused and said something like, “Do you hear that?  That’s the sound of silence. That is awful. I can hear my own thoughts!  No one wants to play a game like that.  Which is why we have these guys!”  He introduced the composers, Stephen and Gordy, as well as the sound engineer Alan and the moderator for the event, shook their hands and exchanged some hugs, then sat down in the audience.  Giddily I returned to my notes as Jon led the discussion.

Q: How did you get into scoring video games?

Stephen was a gamer and had always been interested in working with video games.  They were “enticing” and the schedule was much more appealing than for TV, where you might be handed a script and told to get the music back in a few days.

Gordy hadn’t worked particularly in games before.

Alan has been mixing and engineering video game soundtracks for the past 25 years, like Gears of War.

Q: What’s the difference between scoring a film and scoring a video game?

For film, it’s adding music onto what already exists; often the composer isn’t involved until the last 6 weeks or so of production.  (Fun fact I learned earlier this year, Ludwig Goransson was involved from the start on Oppenheimer because Christopher Nolan specifically wanted to subvert that.) 

The film is fairly static by the time the composers get their hands on it, so things are unlikely to change.

Video games are more like trying to put clothes on someone running a race, because drastic changes can happen at any time.  The timeline is also greatly extended — 2-3 years is common — so things may evolve and shift drastically in that time.

Film is also much less volume of music… they wrote an entire 8 hours!

Q: Is there a Star Wars music “house” style?

Initially Star Wars projects outside of the original trilogy were often scored as if they were B sides to the original soundtrack.  But the aesthetic is evolving.  There are a few standards though — there must always be that symphonic scale.

The score was performed at Abbey Road.  Alan mentioned that he was actually there on 9/11 working on a movie about a terrorist attack.  Stephen loves recording at Abbey Road so much he and his wife named his daughter Abbey.  All three of them agreed that Abbey Road is magical and the orchestra practically blends itself; for choral performances, all you have to do is stick a couple microphones in there and they sound fantastic.

They played a clip of “Dark Times,” with gameplay footage intercut with the symphony performing at Abbey Road.  They explained that they wanted to develop a new theme for the Empire.  At this time, the Empire just is.  You can’t use the Imperial March, because the Imperial March is how the Empire perceives itself.  But how does Cal see the Empire?  It’s dark and ominous. It’s everywhere.  It’s a fact of life.

Gordy explained that they literally shaped the melody like the sinus rhythm of a heartbeat to indicate that Cal’s on the run, his heart always pounding, never safe.  They used a full 12 tone chromatic scale to keep the track always uncomfortable and unsettled.

Stephen is such a Merrical shipper!  He talked about how one of the central conflicts of Survivor is Cal struggling with his feelings towards Merrin, and what do you do when you’ve utterly lost the fight?  He pointed out what the Senator tells Cal, and calls him a pretty reasonable guy.  Do you stop fighting when you’ve clearly lost?  “Maybe Cal should go shack up with Merrin somewhere and have a nice life.”

Q: What is it like having so much funding for the score on a game like this?

All you can really sell now is quality, and people expect it now.

Q: What is the process like?

They are brought into the game in the script phase, where they may see some concept art and get to read the script to help determine the story beats.  

The collaboration is joyful!  It seems like it could be really scary, to have game play testers, the game designers, and other music folks all weighing in on how the score is working or not working, but they actually really enjoyed it.  They’ll usually do about half the music, then have people test play it for a few months, come back with notes, and then work on the remainder after seeing what worked and what didn’t.

They played “Flight” in its entirety with gameplay of Cal and Merrin outrunning the Trident, and talked extensively about our girl Merrin!  Stephen talked about how in JFO, Merrin was important but not as big of a player.  Now in Jedi: Survivor, Merrin is vital,and we can see her story arc take shape.  Her small motif in JFO was expanded into an epic, heroic scale after we see her power with portals and moving on the wind.  They reached for all kinds of wind instruments, from Alpine horns, Tibetan horns, and even the “most tasteful vuvuzela ever.”

Note: it’s almost as heart-pounding to watch that sequence on the big screen as it is to play it!

They both said that some music flows onto the page and is easy to write; the escape from Jedha sequence was not one of those!  It wasn’t easy to write, mix or play!  A hundred people worked on this song, and it was hard as hell.  The orchestra musicians kept coming up to Alan and telling him they loved playing it because it was such a challenge.

They don’t always tell the studio who wrote what.  They work well together as they both love bourbon and coffee!  Stephen says he’s great at about ¾ of the tune but not the ending, whereas Gordy can fix that up in a jiffy.  They also sometimes divvied things up by planet or emotional beats.  

Q: I noticed in this last song (“Flight”) there was a choral element.  How do you decide when to incorporate choir instead of synth choir?

Choir is often the first casualty of budget cuts since it’s so many people involved.  Sometimes, synth choir is chosen for just a vibe or an extra layer.

However, there’s a rule that in musicals when the emotion is building to a point that words can no longer contain them, that’s when a character must burst into song.  For a score, when the emotion is swelling and can no longer be contained by mere instruments, that is when to pull out the choir.  So we see it in “Flight.”

Me: We also see it in “Rage,” muahahaha.

They used 120 singers for Flight and only needed 3 microphones because of how good Abbey Road sounds.

They prefer amateur choirs to session professionals since you can sometimes have too-professional singers trying to out-sing each other, and amateurs are usually more relaxed.

Q: There were a number of unusual or even invented instruments used for this score, tell us about them.

Gordy made bottle chimes.  He accidentally dropped a bottle of water while playing tennis and a ball pinged off it, making a lovely sound.  He ordered 20 metal water bottles and strung them in a wardrobe rack with different amounts of water in them.  Because it took ages to make, they used it in loads of places in the score.

Stephen went nuts and ordered 200 containers of BlueTack for the pianos for Koboh.  They wanted Koboh to sound like the old West, but not that spaghetti Western honkytonk piano sound.  If you make BlueTack into a sausage shape and roll it around a piano string you can make it make these strange broken sounds sort of like a gamelan.  This is called a prepared piano.  The low bumbumbum noises when first getting on Koboh and meeting the pit droid?  Freaking piano.  I would have never guessed!  They did this to 3 pianos.

They played a clip of Where the Nekkos Roam.  They used the prepared pianos, an orchestra, dulcimers, Basset horns, euphoniums, tubas.  They wanted Koboh to feel lived in and to have history expressed in the music.  The musicians were excited to have to rent out Basset horns since like nobody actually owns one.

Q: Tell us about the cantina music.

The original cantina brief from George Lucas to John Williams was apparently, “what if aliens came down in 1000 years and found sheet music from Benny Goodman, but didn’t have the same instruments?” And thus we got the Mos Eisley cantina theme which is almost unbeatable.  

They were thinking of scoring the cantina music themselves, but then thought, “what if we gave that brief to a bunch of really cool bands?”

They highly recommended Dan Mayo from Tantran.  They recommended taking a few hours to watch him kick ass on the drums on YouTube.

Tantran recorded "Fields of Dusk" for the cantina first, then Stig came back and said “what if we wove this into the score?  What if it was Cal and Merrin’s love theme?”  Then they created a symphonic version, also partially inspired by a Joni Mitchell song.

They played part of the cantina version of “Fields of Dusk,” then they played the symphonic version with Cal and Merrin riding the spamel to Cere’s base.  They gushed about being able to work with the story and the subtext.

Alan said that "Fields of Dusk” “is visceral.  It vibrates shit inside of you.  Mixing it was a highly emotional experience for me.  Even now sitting under the subwoofer — it’s right here, over my head — it’s very emotional.”

Q: How many motifs do you have?

“Seven thousand.” - Stephen

Gordy later amended that to about two dozen, but with tons of variations.

Q: What are the interactions like with the game developers?

They get to be in the building with them, working on the narrative team — making sure to serve the story first.  It also lets them practice gameplay or watch others playing to see how it flows.

Again, it’s a 2-3 year process.

They played the clip of Cal and Merrin making a campfire in the cave on Jedha.  Stephen is all about the Merrical ship (not that he used those words, alas, but still)!  He said this was such gorgeous writing, really allowing the technology to showcase the acting, and it’s his all time favorite scene in the game.

The whole theater clapped as he said that.  Yes!  A whole theater clapping while someone was talking about Merrical and calling it gorgeous. *sobbing forever*

Q: What has it been like to meet fans?

They’ve been delighted by the fans and how much they love the characters and the amazing performances of all the actors in the game.

Q: Are there plans for a sequel?

Stephen: “Are there Lucasfilm snipers out there?  Look for the red dot…”

Gordy: “There’s not NOT plans.”

Fan questions!

Alan mentioned he loves doing the hardest piece first!  Then it’s all skiing downhill.

A fan asked about more weird created instruments.  

They also used a bunch of bamboo smacking other pieces of bamboo, as well as using little drums from other purposes or sets.

Was there anything they messed up or wanted to do differently than they did in JFO?

They accidentally didn’t loop music in the hangar on Zeffo, so if you stick around there for more than 3 minutes, it just becomes wind sound and gets very lonely.  A live streamer was playing the game, talked to his audience for like 10 minutes, then wandered around almost in silence as his fans commented “why is this game so quiet?”

Gordy wanted to make JFO sound much darker and got his wish in Survivor.

I had so been hoping they would talk about “Rage” and the struggle with the dark side, but they were sort of avoiding spoilers.  So when they got to the Q&A I had to speak up.

I asked, “What was it like working with darker themes later in the game, like with Rage?  You see a real shift in the motifs and there’s also more amazing choral work.”  Their faces seriously lit up XD

Stephen said this was one he handed to Gordy because it was very difficult.

Gordy said that this is Cal at his worst, so it had to be so over the top.  Think of consonant sounds crashing through the melody, Cal trying to keep control of his thoughts but they’re twisting away, he’s trying to think straight and can’t.  It’s discordant.  It’s also scored to evoke a heartbeat throughout, like breathing.  

It was so hard for the choir to do, going back and forth — you can’t do that with choral samples or synth!

They ended with a video they played from their Hollywood Bowl show in June, and said we were only the second group of people to see it.  They played a clip where they do use the classic Imperial March, but contoured so you only get the silhouette of its shape, instead of the full sound.  It ended with a clip of the Tantran band playing a wicked awesome set out in the desert.  The last image they showed was a list of the 287 people who worked on the score!

We let out and I did get to meet them!  Stephen was lovely  and I told him it was just such a beautiful, haunting score.  I actually had a sketch of the campfire scene with me and he signed it!  His daughter Abbey is an artist too and she was really impressed by my sketchbook (she looked to be about 11).  Gordy also got to see a bit of my sketchbook and signed Cal in Nova Garon!  What an awesome night!  We didn’t see Cameron again but I was so astounded to see him the first time I didn’t mind at all.  

SO COOL!  Sometimes, kids, living in Los Angeles isn’t so bad!!

[denimbex1986]

'It is absolutely no secret that Christopher Nolan is a beloved and respected filmmaker. We're talking about the man who made "The Dark Knight" for heaven's sake. Few people have ever managed to marry blockbuster filmmaking with artistic expression quite like him, save for a select handful such as Steven Spielberg and a few choice others. He's a rare breed and, with "Oppenheimer," the man has arguably cemented himself as one of the very best box office bets we have today — if not ever. This is not hyperbole either, as Nolan pretty much only makes big ass hits, save for a couple of caveats across his career, which has spanned well over two decades at this point.

Even against remarkably huge competition from "Barbie," Nolan's latest pulled in $82 million on its opening weekend domestically to go with $97.7 million internationally for a $180.1 million global debut. Even against a $100 million budget, that represents a huge win for Universal Pictures, especially because "Oppenheimer" will almost certainly be in the awards season conversation later this year, if not a shoo-in for the Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. It also ranks as one of the biggest R-rated openings ever, just behind "The Passion of the Christ" ($83.8 million), narrowly missing the top 10.

"Oppenheimer" now represents Nolan's biggest opening weekend ever for a movie of his that doesn't have Batman in it. Yes, it somehow managed to out-perform the likes of "Inception" ($62 million opening) and "Dunkirk" ($50.5 million opening), despite the fact that those were seemingly better commercial bets. A three-hour biopic about the guy who made the A-bomb that is mostly people talking and doing science isn't quite as flashy as a full-stop World War II movie or a mind-bending, mind-heist flick. But that speaks volumes about Nolan's credibility with the moviegoing public.

A ridiculous track record

The fact of the matter is that this is just par for the course for Nolan at this point. Particularly since delivering a $1 billion smash hit with "The Dark Knight" 15 years ago, the man has been on an absolute tear that was only briefly interrupted by a pandemic. Even that didn't totally stop him, as "Tenet" made $363 million when people were still mostly staying home at the height of Covid in 2020. One imagines that movie would have made a whole lot more had Warner Bros. and/or Nolan waited to release it until marketplace conditions improved. But there's also something to be said about him trying to keep theaters afloat during a downright terrible time.

Nolan is currently the eighth highest-grossing director in history, with his dozen feature films raking in more than $5.1 billion worldwide. He sits just ahead of J.J. Abrams and just behind David Yates, but Nolan doesn't have seven "Harry Potter" movies under his belt to goose his total. Yes, he's got his "Dark Knight" trilogy, but the most impressive thing about Nolan's resume at this point is that he's accomplished so much of this with hit blockbuster originals, much like he's doing right now with "Oppenheimer."

At the very top of the list is Steven Spielberg, with $10.6 billion to his name, but that's across 36 movies. Other names in the top 10 include Peter Jackson ("The Lord of the Rings"), Joe and Anthony Russo ("Avengers: Endgame"), and Michael Bay ("Transformers"). All of them have more franchise films under their belts. Nolan stands out.

Nolan's greatest hits

After scoring one of the biggest hits in history with "The Dark Knight," Nolan followed that up with an ambitious (and expensive) original sci-fi thriller in "Inception." Despite having a potentially tough concept to execute and sell, the movie was an absolute smash hit, taking in $728.5 million worldwide and earning a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars. Nolan would follow that up with "The Dark Knight Rises," which earned $1.08 billion and was DC's biggest movie ever at the time, but he's yet to make another franchise film since.

Next was "Interstellar" which, on the surface, had a sellable concept but proved to be a pretty heady, emotional trip. Audiences again turned out in droves, with the film making $647.8 million against a $165 million budget. In other words, another home run. What next? How about a World War II movie telling three parts of the same story from three different timelines in the form of "Dunkirk." $150 million budget, $512.3 million at the box office. Nolan is simply unstoppable. "Tenet," released under better circumstances, would have undoubtedly kept this amazing hot streak going.

Even his earlier, more modestly budgeted films such as "The Prestige" ($104 million/$40 million budget) are damn respectable. Plain and simple, Christopher Nolan does not miss. He budgets reasonably for the film at hand and audiences trust him almost implicitly now. If there's a safer filmmaker to bet on working today at this scale, and at this level of consistency, I'm struggling to find them. Sure, James Cameron knocks it out of the park every time, but we're lucky to get a movie from him once a decade at this point. Nolan is doing it every two or three years. That's impressive.'

[anixknowsnothin]

🖤 Heyyy, I'm Anix! - Pronouns: She/Her - VERY Bisexual - Zodiac Sign: Virgo - MBTI: ENFP-T (The Campaigner) - Prison Gang Member

🖤 Quick Facts: - Spotify: Anix - Birthday: 14th September - My other blog: @women-throughout-history (check it out or I'll murder you)

🖤 Books and Series: - The Song of Achilles - Percy Jackson series (and the entire Riordanverse) - Harry Potter - KOTLC - They Both Die At The End - Circe

🖤 Movies: - Dead Poets Society - Da Vinci Code - The Barbie Movie - Chhichhore - YJHD (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani) - ZNMD (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) - Oppenheimer - Mean Girls - The Adams Project

🖤 Musicals: - Hamilton - In The Heights - Beetlejuice - SIX - Mean Girls - Heathers - West Side Story - Ghost Quartet - EPIC - Chicago

🖤 TV Shows: - How I Met Your Mother - The Big Bang Theory - B99 (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) - FRIENDS - Suits - Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Blood, Sex and Royalty - Mismatched - Wednesday - Young Royals

🖤 Artists: - Taylor Swift - Olivia Rodrigo - girl in red - Lin Manuel Miranda - Panic! At The Disco - Fall Out Boy - Melanie Martinez - Tate McRae - Sabrina Carpenter - Dove Cameron - Arctic Monkeys - Lana Del Ray - Lorde - FINNEAS - Halsey - Doja Cat - Lyn Lapid - Mitski - Katherine Li

🖤 Hobbies: - Baking - Reading - Listening to Music - History - Playing the Piano

🖤 Moots Whose Blogs You Should Check Out: @a-beautiful-fool, @a-wondering-thought, @alex-has-sleep-paralysis, @alltheliars, @augustpoem, @booyahbomber, @bribery-muffins, @buttercup-in-wonderland, @chronic-crierr, @conjectureand-gloom, @cowboylikegeet, @darlindreamer, @deepak44, @dobry-slimak, @donewithlifefr, @drummerboypico, @flamingogreen, @folkloregirlfriend, @heart-patch-jacket, @imperpetuallylost, @loulooser, @measuredmotion, @mqstermindswift, @mymuses-acquiredlikebruises, @nickbutnodick, @noproof-youjustknow, @nothing-but-glitter-and-lashes, @pardonmydelays, @rainswhenyourehere, @redwidow616, @rorythinks, @rosaadiazs, @sarcasmiclife, @skeelly, @starryalpacasstuff, @suburbanlegnd, @sunfireshards, @thebestieyoureinlovewith, @typingwithmyhandstied, @wouldvecouldveshouldve, @worms-probably, @yanzinator

🖤 my pride, my soul, my joy (prison gang): @measuredmotion (mermaid) @mymuses-acquiredlikebruises (lady of chocolate/m&m) @noproof-youjustknow (mother) @pardonmydelays (ghost) @redwidow616 (agent)

❌ DNI: Homophobes, racists, misogynists, creeps, etc.

Lastly,

I AM ALWAYS THERE FOR YOU IF YOU NEED TO TALK, VENT, OR ANYTHING ✨🖤

[disenchantedif]

For each of the Ro’s: Barbie or Oppenheimer?

Viktor: Both. He’d pregame Barbie with Oppenheimer, go out for mimosas, then see Barbie.

Theo: Same as Vik. Let’s be real, they’re going with the squad and everyone is slightly tipsy.

Charlie: The designated driver of the squad, watches the mayhem unfold with a smile and an orange juice in hand.

Luci: Doesn’t want to see either. Cam forces them to go watch Barbie.

Cameron: Very enthusiastic about going to see Barbie. Buys a shirt and everything, makes Luci buy the candy and pose for a photo by the movie poster.

Amri: Again, both. Penny, who’s Amri’s roommate, wants to see Barbie, Amri wants to see Oppenheimer, so they compromise and make a day of seeing both.

Penny: So fascinated by the fashion in Barbie and the lore behind the film. Watches all the old animated movies the week before and forces Amri to make snacks and watch them with her.

Harlow: Doesn’t really have an opinion, also doesn’t really want to go see either alone. Would go watch either with MC if they asked.

Avery: Would go see Oppenheimer for the vibes, then go watch Barbie to cheer themselves up.

??? (Wraith): Has no idea about either movies, but happily drifts along if MC goes to see either.

[pedropascal24-7]

Saturn Awards Nominations

Pedro, Bella, and Nick have been nominated at the Saturn Awards and TLOU is nominated for Best Horror Series

[dear-indies]

full list of biden letter 2:

Aaron Bay-Schuck Aaron Sorkin Adam & Jackie Sandler Adam Goodman Adam Levine Alan Grubman Alex Aja Alex Edelman Alexandra Shiva Ali Wentworth Alison Statter Allan Loeb Alona Tal Amy Chozick Amy Pascal Amy Schumer Amy Sherman Palladino Andrew Singer Andy Cohen Angela Robinson Anthony Russo Antonio Campos Ari Dayan Ari Greenburg Arik Kneller Aron Coleite Ashley Levinson Asif Satchu Aubrey Plaza Barbara Hershey Barry Diller Barry Levinson Barry Rosenstein Beau Flynn Behati Prinsloo Bella Thorne Ben Stiller Ben Turner Ben Winston Ben Younger Billy Crystal Blair Kohan Bob Odenkirk Bobbi Brown Bobby Kotick Brad Falchuk Brad Slater Bradley Cooper Bradley Fischer Brett Gelman Brian Grazer Bridget Everett Brooke Shields Bruna Papandrea Cameron Curtis Casey Neistat Cazzie David

Charles Roven Chelsea Handler Chloe Fineman Chris Fischer Chris Jericho Chris Rock Christian Carino Cindi Berger Claire Coffee Colleen Camp Constance Wu Courteney Cox Craig Silverstein Dame Maureen Lipman Dan Aloni Dan Rosenweig Dana Goldberg Dana Klein Daniel Palladino Danielle Bernstein Danny Cohen Danny Strong Daphne Kastner David Alan Grier David Baddiel David Bernad David Chang David Ellison David Geffen David Gilmour & David Goodman David Joseph David Kohan David Lowery David Oyelowo David Schwimmer Dawn Porter Dean Cain Deborah Lee Furness Deborah Snyder Debra Messing Diane Von Furstenberg Donny Deutsch Doug Liman Douglas Chabbott Eddy Kitsis Edgar Ramirez Eli Roth Elisabeth Shue Elizabeth Himelstein Embeth Davidtz Emma Seligman Emmanuelle Chriqui Eric Andre Erik Feig Erin Foster Eugene Levy Evan Jonigkeit Evan Winiker Ewan McGregor Francis Benhamou Francis Lawrence Fred Raskin Gabe Turner Gail Berman Gal Gadot Gary Barber Gene Stupinski Genevieve Angelson Gideon Raff Gina Gershon Grant Singer Greg Berlanti Guy Nattiv Guy Oseary Gwyneth Paltrow Hannah Fidell Hannah Graf Harlan Coben Harold Brown Harvey Keitel Henrietta Conrad Henry Winkler Holland Taylor Howard Gordon Iain Morris Imran Ahmed Inbar Lavi Isla Fisher Jack Black Jackie Sandler Jake Graf Jake Kasdan James Brolin James Corden Jamie Ray Newman Jaron Varsano Jason Biggs & Jenny Mollen Biggs Jason Blum Jason Fuchs Jason Reitman Jason Segel Jason Sudeikis JD Lifshitz Jeff Goldblum Jeff Rake Jen Joel Jeremy Piven Jerry Seinfeld Jesse Itzler Jesse Plemons Jesse Sisgold Jessica Biel Jessica Elbaum Jessica Seinfeld Jill Littman Jimmy Carr Jody Gerson

Joe Hipps Joe Quinn Joe Russo Joe Tippett Joel Fields Joey King John Landgraf John Slattery Jon Bernthal Jon Glickman Jon Hamm Jon Liebman Jonathan Baruch Jonathan Groff Jonathan Marc Sherman Jonathan Ross Jonathan Steinberg Jonathan Tisch Jonathan Tropper Jordan Peele Josh Brolin Josh Charles Josh Goldstine Josh Greenstein Josh Grode Judd Apatow Judge Judy Sheindlin Julia Garner Julia Lester Julianna Margulies Julie Greenwald Julie Rudd Juliette Lewis Justin Theroux Justin Timberlake Karen Pollock Karlie Kloss Katy Perry Kelley Lynch Kevin Kane Kevin Zegers Kirsten Dunst Kitao Sakurai KJ Steinberg Kristen Schaal Kristin Chenoweth Lana Del Rey Laura Dern Laura Pradelska Lauren Schuker Blum Laurence Mark Laurie David Lea Michele Lee Eisenberg Leo Pearlman Leslie Siebert Liev Schreiber Limor Gott Lina Esco Liz Garbus Lizanne Rosenstein Lizzie Tisch Lorraine Schwartz Lynn Harris Lyor Cohen Madonna Mandana Dayani Mara Buxbaum Marc Webb Marco Perego Maria Dizzia Mark Feuerstein Mark Foster Mark Scheinberg Mark Shedletsky Martin Short Mary Elizabeth Winstead Mathew Rosengart Matt Lucas Matt Miller Matthew Bronfman Matthew Hiltzik Matthew Weiner Matti Leshem Max Mutchnik Maya Lasry Meaghan Oppenheimer Melissa Zukerman Michael Aloni Michael Ellenberg Michael Green Michael Rapino Michael Rappaport Michael Weber Michelle Williams Mike Medavoy Mila Kunis Mimi Leder Modi Wiczyk Molly Shannon Nancy Josephson Natasha Leggero

Neil Blair Neil Druckmann Nicola Peltz Nicole Avant Nina Jacobson Noa Kirel Noa Tishby Noah Oppenheim Noah Schnapp Noreena Hertz Odeya Rush Olivia Wilde Oran Zegman Orlando Bloom Pasha Kovalev Pattie LuPone Paul & Julie Rudd Paul Haas Paul Pflug Peter Traugott Polly Sampson Rachel Riley Rafi Marmor Ram Bergman Raphael Margulies Rebecca Angelo Rebecca Mall Regina Spektor Reinaldo Marcus Green Rich Statter Richard Jenkins Richard Kind Rick Hoffman Rick Rosen Rita Ora Rob Rinder Robert Newman Roger Birnbaum Roger Green Rosie O’Donnell Ross Duffer Ryan Feldman Sacha Baron Cohen Sam Levinson Sam Trammell Sara Foster Sarah Baker Sarah Bremner Sarah Cooper Sarah Paulson Sarah Treem Scott Braun Scott Braun Scott Neustadter Scott Tenley Sean Combs Seth Meyers Seth Oster Shannon Watts Shari Redstone Sharon Jackson Sharon Stone Shauna Perlman Shawn Levy Sheila Nevins Shira Haas Simon Sebag Montefiore Simon Tikhman Skylar Astin Stacey Snider Stephen Fry Steve Agee Steve Rifkind Sting & Trudie Styler Susanna Felleman Susie Arons Taika Waititi Thomas Kail Tiffany Haddish Todd Lieberman Todd Moscowitz Todd Waldman Tom Freston Tom Werner Tomer Capone Tracy Ann Oberman Trudie Styler Tyler James Williams Tyler Perry Vanessa Bayer Veronica Grazer Veronica Smiley Whitney Wolfe Herd

Will Ferrell Will Graham Yamanieka Saunders Yariv Milchan Ynon Kreiz Zack Snyder Zoe Saldana Zoey Deutch Zosia Mamet