#robert j zimmer

[denimbex1986]

'“A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent.” — J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1965, on the reactions from the people of the Manhattan Project after the world’s first nuclear detonation in 1945, the Trinity test.

1: DESTRUCTION

FLAMES WILL FLOOD THE FRAME. LIGHT TRAVELS FASTER THAN SOUND. THE SCIENTISTS WILL SEE THE BOMB THEY HATH WROUGHT. THEY WILL SEE THE LIGHT BEFORE THEY FEEL THE EFFECTS. THE SILENCE WILL HOLD AS FIRE SHOOTS TOWARD THE SKY AND OUT OVER THE DESERT. THEN THE THUNDER OF THEIR STOLEN LIGHTNING WILL RING OUT. ONCE IT HAS PAVED THROUGH PROJECT MANHATTAN, THERE WILL BE SILENCE FOR A MOMENT. THEN THE SCIENTISTS WILL CHEER, AND I WILL ONCE AGAIN FEEL TEARS FLOOD MY EYES.

2: creation

christopher nolan (“Inception”) begins “Oppenheimer” with an allusion to the ancient greek Titan Prometheus. this comes from the biography on which nolan bases the film: “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by kai bird and martin j. sherwin. the Titanic title is reminiscent of mary shelley’s “Frankenstein,” alternately titled “The Modern Prometheus” — but while the latter likens its haunted scientist to Prometheus for the Titan’s creation of humanity, bird and sherwin compare the birth of the atomic bomb to when, as quoted in the film’s opening shot, “Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. for this, he was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity.” they chose the wrong Titan.

3: Preservation

When William Faulkner won the 1949 Nobel Prize in Literature, he gave a speech chiefly concerned with the state of art and internal conflict in the Cold War era of nuclear proliferation: “Our tragedy today is a general and universal physical fear so long sustained by now that we can even bear it. There are no longer problems of the spirit. There is only the question: When will I be blown up?” The end of everything — whether by war, climate or some other disaster too monstrous for comprehension — is too enormous to examine. I have tried, in a way — but the only way to contain eternal apocalypse is to view it through the eyes of a mortal. Could I start with the end of everything that I knew?

WE EXPECT THE CAMERA TO STAY FOCUSED, PULLING OUT TO SENSE THE SCALE OF THE EXPLOSION. IT WILL NOT HOLD TO JUST ONE APPROACH. IT WILL CUT AROUND EVERY WHICH WAY, EVERY ANGLE OF THE EXPLOSION IT CAN. THIS IS A SCALE THAT COULD NOT BE SENSED. NEUTRONS BOMBARD UNSTABLE HEAVY METAL ISOTOPES UNTIL IT DESTROYS ITSELF INTO LIGHTER ELEMENTS. THE DIFFERENCE IN MASS RELEASES AS ENERGY. THAT IS FISSION: A SMALL AMOUNT RELEASES, BUT IT WILL LINK AND MULTIPLY INTO ENERGY INCOMPREHENSIBLE — INCOMPREHENSIBLE UNTIL IT WILL BE UTTERLY ECLIPSED BY FUSION.

no, there’s this look in the university-era oppenheimer’s (cillian murphy, “The Dark Knight”) eyes before he is ever burdened by the bomb, constantly straining with all the stars in the sky and the quantum dances of the atoms they contain — it reminds me of Atlas, who was punished by the gods for his loyalty to the old order and tasked to shoulder the skies and the stars and everything else we claim to know anything about. later on, oppenheimer takes on the weight of his lover (florence pugh, “A Good Person”) in addition to the sky as he reads out another title from the Bhagavad Gita: “i am become Death.” that translation isn’t the most accurate, though. that passage refers to Time, less a destroyer than a decayer. in Titanic terms, the Lord of Time is Kronos, the father of the gods, who, after eating his children for fear of being replaced, was cut down to nothing by those very children. then there’s the Trinity test — named for a poem about the Christian Trinity favored by both oppenheimer and his paramour — and it is darkest just before the dawn. the bomb blots out the stars and summons the sun before their time and oppenheimer becomes Helios, the Titan of the sun, who was condemned to watch his lover die by being buried alive, even after he unearthed her and bathed her in life-giving sunlight, all as punishment for his infidelity. after the test, oppenheimer calls his wife (emily blunt, “Edge of Tomorrow”) of nearly five years. he can no longer call his lost lover, their final meeting two years ago, and her suicide a year after that. to become a Titan is to become a cautionary tale. this is where nolan fails.

Before I knew the true shape of the universe, my infantile brain read in some Hindu story that the world was supported by four elephants who in turn stood atop a turtle. Shivaji, Brahmaji, Vishnuji and all the other gods I read in the scriptural retellings and Amar Chitra Katha comic books were the ones who drove this universe forward, the ones who my parents once told me — to keep alive some of my childhood magic, reinforce my religious faith or maybe just to mess with me — was not mythology, but history. It was my father who put on the first NOVA documentary I saw as a primary school child, which detailed the incomprehensible size of the universe and how all of that could end. I couldn’t rip my eyes away. It worked on comparative scale; the subdivision that felt giant to my child body was multiplied into the suburbs, the suburbs into the city, the city into a state, the state into the country, the country into the continent, the continents into the planet, the planets into the solar system, the solar systems into galaxies, the galaxies into superclusters and all of that contained with a universe — a universe that could die from its own expansion, weight, entropy. That revelation dragged my head beyond the clouds, into the stars, and I have never left. There was a never-ending question I had to cope with: How could I live in a universe that I could not comprehend?

FUSION CREATES HEAVIER ELEMENTS FROM ITS LIGHTER COMPONENTS. THE DIFFERENCE IN MASS IS RELEASED AS ENERGY. THE ENERGY RELEASED IS GREATER, AND THIS PROCESS IS ACCOMPLISHED WITH THE LIGHTEST AND MOST ABUNDANT ELEMENTS IN THE UNIVERSE. THIS IS HOW THE SUN SURVIVES. THIS IS HOW THE SCIENTISTS WILL ADVANCE THE ATOMIC BOMB INTO A WEAPON WORTHY OF THE STARS — ALL TO TURN IT UPON THE EARTH. THE WEIGHT UPON THE TITAN’S SHOULDERS IS SO GREAT IT WILL WARP TIME UNTIL IT BREAKS, SO THE DIRECTOR WILL SPLIT AND CUT HIS FILM BETWEEN FISSION AND FUSION, BETWEEN MULTI-COLORED SUBJECTIVITY AND GRAYSCALE OBJECTIVITY, BETWEEN THE IMPLOSION OF PLUTONIUM AND THE HELLFIRE OF HYDROGEN — BUT HE WILL OMIT THE THIRD NUCLEAR FATE.

i don’t think nolan cares about j. robert oppenheimer. he can claim that he regards the scientist as “the most important person who ever lived,” but nolan’s film does not focus on the man, only the tragedy of Titanhood he becomes. in nolan’s continuous prioritizing of concept over character, there are very few singular people who matter. even if the actors behind them are exceptional, the scientists are stage props for the next atomic advancement; the politicians are mouthpieces to spout famous historical soliloquies; the women — the brilliant botanist-biologist katherine “kitty” oppenheimer and the sophic psychiatrist dr. jean tatlock — aren’t safe from the fate of nolan’s women, to be punished and put in the ground for the sins of his protagonists. but in “Oppenheimer,” nolan doesn’t need to care about individuals, about titles, about nations — because what’s at stake is the entirety of humanity and the world itself. the story is centered around not oppenheimer the Father, but his Son, the bomb and the Holy Spirts that haunt him. nolan cares only about the Trinities, about art, about where he sees himself in the scientist by what the director’s art has unleashed. “Oppenheimer” is a Trinity of Hollywood staples: the boundless business of biopics, the star-studded and cameo-crowded blockbusters, the hans zimmer- / david julyan- / ludwig görranson-orchestrated (“Interstellar,” “Memento,” “Tenet”) nolanic ballads. it collects contradictions in its factual fabrications, its negligible name drops, its auteurist inanities — but contradiction is how “Oppenheimer” achieves its most exquisite ends.

Come primary school, I was obsessed with books on black holes, relativity and quantum mechanics — at least the ones that my pre-teen brain could process, the ones that turned sci-fi into fact. I had wanted to be some scientist for as long as I knew: The dream was Peter Parker first, then a paleontologist and now a professor of physics. Come middle school, I prided myself on my obsession with the atom and my declaration to earn a doctorate in my chosen field — staring at the glowing, ionized helium trails of cathode ray electrons and the condensed cacophony of cloud chamber alpha particles for science fair projects. I learned about Occam’s razor that year — the idea that the simplest model for a phenomenon is usually the best one — and used it to cut my gods out of the universe, believing science was supreme to my sensibilities, that faith was belief without evidence contradictory to a rational world. Come high school, my goals were set on Harvard — ranked the top in the US for both physics and education — and so I returned to my elementary, atomic experiments: refining my research on cathode rays, solidifying my studies on semiconductor band gaps and enriching my understanding of electromagnetic administration over plasma. I wanted to do much more, but I was limited to high school science and told I could do more elsewhere to get where I was aiming. I put in the work: well-rounded extracurriculars, sports, APs. I sacrificed night after night of sleep to study until sophomore year. Then in the spring of my sophomore year, I was hospitalized. Among other things, I found out my body had succumbed to the stress of my science-centered schedule. It ulcerated my intestines. It bled me from the inside for months. I finished that year with my GPA and goals crushed, but beyond that, I had a new question to cope with: What do you do when the thing that made you feel alive — that solidified your soul among the stars — is part of what tried to kill you?

DECAY IS WHAT WILL FOLLOW THE EXPLOSION. DECAY CREATES AND DESTROYS THE SUBATOMIC TO ACHIEVE ITS STABILITY. DECAY ELIMINATES INSTABILITY FROM ELEMENTS BY EMITTING IT INTO THE UNIVERSE. DECAY IS WHAT WILL HAUNT THE ISLANDS, THE PEOPLE AND THE WORLD LONG AFTER THE LAST BOMB HAS BEEN DROPPED. DECAY WILL SEE THE TITAN CUT OFF FROM THE FILM TO SPEND THE REST OF HIS LIFE CRUMBLING UNDER HIS SIN, TO DIE FROM THE BODY PART WITH WHICH HE TALKED SO MANY INTO DESTROYING THE WORLD, THE VERY SAME PART THAT DEIGNED TO DECLARE HIM LIKE “VISHNU … HIS MULTI-ARMED FORM … THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS.” BUT EVEN AS HINDU DEITIES ARE OFTEN ASSIMILATED, SHIVAJI IS THE TITLE MOST ACCURATE TO THAT CLAIM. THE HINDU TRINITY AND BALANCE WILL BE BROUGHT AS THUS: SHIVAJI / THE DESTROYER / ATOM SPLITTER, BRAHMAJI / THE CREATOR / ELEMENT FUSER, VISHNUJI / THE PRESERVER / STABILITY SEEKER.

what came before humans or gods or Titans was Chaos. Chaos is what sinks the skies, smashes seconds and swallows the sun. Chaos is neutrons bombarding every which way to ravage a desert and an island nation of people. Chaos is what happens when cells stack their functions in such a way that the organism they create now seeks to fulfill its function in countless contradictory ways. Chaos is that contradiction, a physicist-politician-philosopher attempting to end war by igniting the atmosphere. Chaos is the contradiction of grayed-out, grueling objectivity and vibrant, senseless subjectivity. but within Chaos lies its master — the invitation to control it.

Come college, come my senior year, come mere months away from graduating with my first degree in physics. I have gone through the virtual hell of Zoom honors courses, been Stockholm syndromed into liking Python and overcome the intimidation of participating in research projects that now feel far more advanced than I could have once imagined. I had to quit the latter position last summer. There were schedule conflicts, but there was something else. Especially after the discovery of my disability, how the world changed and reality was exposed while I went from secondary school to college, my attempts at activism have implanted themselves in my identity. I found myself embracing faith more when I realized the world was never rational; I have since needed some semblance of it to keep going. I eventually found a path to my goals that didn’t gut me, but I remained conflicted in this new life. Beyond the existentialism, beyond that science-induced stress, I now cope with one more question, one for our burning world: If the Earth is ablaze, how is any action of mine that doesn’t fight the flames of any use?

THIS WORLD WILL NOT BE ONE OF DUALITY. THIS WORLD WILL NOT BE DIVIDED THROUGH BLACK AND WHITE, THROUGH THE COLORLESS AND COLORFUL. THIS WORLD WILL NOT EITHER LIE ON YOUR SHOULDERS OR COLLAPSE ENTIRELY. THIS WORLD WILL NOT ONLY BELONG TO EITHER MICE OR MEN, TO MORTALS OR TITANS, TO SCIENCES OR GODS. THIS WORLD WILL NOT GIVE AN ANSWER TO EVERY QUESTION, ONLY EXPERIENCE. THIS WORLD EXISTS IN TRINITY: IT IS WHAT ISN’T,

of what opposes by what IS

and the absurd arose from that contradiction.

THE FUTURE WILL BE DESTROYED

if we only create the present

because we wanted the past to be pointlessly preserved.

WE WILL SAVE OUR DAYS

when it takes all of time to justify for itself

for what had actually ever mattered.

WE WILL SHOUT AS LOUD AS EVERY BOMB DROPPED TO TOPPLE THOSE AGED, OPPRESSIVE EDIFICES.

we whisper those new quiet Constitutions into existence to better what we replace.

We have found our balance to advance the upheavals.

PROMETHEUS WILL NOT BE TO BLAME FOR BRINGING FIRE BECAUSE WE WILL BE DESTINED TO DESTROY OURSELVES AND WE WILL BE DESTINED TO NEVER LEAVE OUR CAVES

and we are destined for the flames and we are destined to burn beyond ourselves

and light was wave and photon and we could never know both the location and momentum of a quantum particle and everything was matter and everything was energy. I have beseeched thee, Prometheus.

I WILL HAVE MY FIRE BACK. I WILL HAVE THIS WORLD CRUSH ME FLAT, EVISCERATE ME WHOLE, BURY MY HEART

so i can learn to lift the sky myself, raise myself and restore my love because

maybe the term “mad scientist” was always redundant. The existential melancholy at the heart of “Oppenheimer” wasn’t just that we created the weapon to end the world, but that we peered into infinity at one of the most fundamental levels of our existence — the boundless energy of our most basic atomic constituents — and harnessed its power for destruction. But harness it we did. I wanted that bit of divinity that is my birthright by Brahmanji. In all of this chaos, I have only ever sought a self-centered semblance of control in the hopes that one day it could save people in some way, including myself. Scientists have a good idea how to save the world, but the selfish won’t listen. The scientists of the Manhattan Project thought they were able to save the world through their science, but maybe they didn’t listen.

SCIENCE, ART, SPIRITUALITY — THEY WILL DESTROY THE WORLD IF WE FORCE THEM

and they are saving it when we allow them.

My melancholy has served its purpose; there are only so many tears you can shed until you flood the world before the oceans. But I still weep at Trinity — whether that is the Trinity of Titans, mine or Oppenheimer’s — and I know I always will. I mourn what the gods, what science and what humanity has wrought upon the world, yours and mine.

THE ACTORS WILL LAUGH,

the audience remains silent,

someone had to cry.'

[sparxentertainment]

Oppenheimer (2023): Review

Written by, J. Johnson A biopic for the ages! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.5 out of 5. Oppenheimer is a remarkable biographical thriller film that delves into the life and legacy of one of the most influential figures in modern history, J. Robert Oppenheimer. Directed by the visionary filmmaker Christopher Nolan, this highly anticipated release delivers an immersive cinematic experience that combines…

[paulinedorchester]

More here (and it's worth reading).

[beardedmrbean]

Few in the media seemed eager to attend a ceremony last week in Washington, D.C., where the prestigious American Academy of Sciences and Letters was awarding its top intellectual freedom award.

The problem may have been the recipient: Stanford Professor Dr. Jay Bhattacharya.

Bhattacharya has spent years being vilified by the media over his dissenting views on the pandemic. As one of the signatories of the 2020 Great Barrington Declaration, he was canceled, censored, and even received death threats.

That open letter called on government officials and public health authorities to rethink the mandatory lockdowns and other extreme measures in light of past pandemics.

All the signatories became targets of an orthodoxy enforced by an alliance of political, corporate, media, and academic groups. Most were blocked on social media despite being accomplished scientists with expertise in this area.

It did not matter that positions once denounced as “conspiracy theories” have been recognized or embraced by many.

Some argued that there was no need to shut down schools, which has led to a crisis in mental illness among the young and the loss of critical years of education. Other nations heeded such advice with more limited shutdowns (including keeping schools open) and did not experience our losses.

Others argued that the virus’s origin was likely the Chinese research lab in Wuhan. That position was denounced by the Washington Post as a “debunked” coronavirus “conspiracy theory.” The New York Times Science and Health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli called any mention of the lab theory “racist.”

Federal agencies now support the lab theory as the most likely based on the scientific evidence.

The Biden administration tried to censor this Stanford doctor, but he won in court

Likewise, many questioned the efficacy of those blue surgical masks and supported natural immunity to the virus — both positions were later recognized by the government.

Others questioned the six-foot rule used to shut down many businesses as unsupported by science. In congressional testimony, Dr. Anthony Fauci recently admitted that the 6-foot rule “sort of just appeared” and “wasn’t based on data.” Yet not only did the rule result in heavily enforced rules (and meltdowns) in public areas, the media further ostracized dissenting critics.

Again, Fauci and other scientists did little to stand up for these scientists or call for free speech to be protected. As I discuss in my new book, “The Indispensable Right,” the result is that we never really had a national debate on many of these issues and the result of massive social and economic costs.

I spoke at the University of Chicago with Bhattacharya and other dissenting scientists in the front row a couple of years ago. After the event, I asked them how many had been welcomed back to their faculties or associations since the recognition of some of their positions.

They all said that they were still treated as pariahs for challenging the groupthink culture.

Now the scientific community is recognizing the courage shown by Bhattacharya and others with its annual Robert J. Zimmer Medal for Intellectual Freedom.

So what about all of those in government, academia, and the media who spent years hounding these scientists?

Universities shred their ethics to aid Biden’s social-media censorship

Biden Administration officials and Democratic members targeted Bhattacharya and demanded his censorship. For example, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) attacked  Bhattacharya and others who challenged the official narrative during the pandemic. Krishnamoorthi expressed outrage that the scientists were even allowed to testify as “a purveyor of COVID-19 misinformation.”

Journalists and columnists also supported the censorship and blacklisting of these scientists. In the Los Angeles Times, columnist Michael Hiltzik decried how “we’re living in an upside-down world” because Stanford allowed these scientists to speak at a scientific forum. He was outraged that, while “Bhattacharya’s name doesn’t appear in the event announcement,” he was an event organizer. Hiltzik also wrote a column titled “The COVID lab leak claim isn’t just an attack on science, but a threat to public health.” 

Then there are those lionized censors at Twitter who shadow-banned Bhattacharya. As former CEO Parag Agrawal generally explained, the “focus [was] less on thinking about free speech … [but[ who can be heard.”

None of this means that Bhattacharya or others were right in all of their views. Instead, many of the most influential voices in the media, government, and academia worked to prevent this discussion from occurring when it was most needed.

There is still a debate over Bhattacharya’s “herd immunity” theories, but there is little debate over the herd mentality used to cancel him.

The Academy was right to honor Bhattacharya. It is equally right to condemn all those who sought to silence a scientist who is now being praised for resisting their campaign to silence him and others.

[aurora-daily]

Music recommended and/or mentioned by AURORA!

ABBA - Thank You For The Music

Advanced Language

Agnes Obel - Falling, Catching / Riverside / Dorian / The Curse (Robert Hampson Remix)

Air - Sexy Boy

Alice Phoebe Lou and Olmo - Devil's Sweetheart

Alt J - Fitzpleasure / Hunger of The Pine / Pulsher

Amanda Delara (suggested as an artist she recommends listening)

Amanda Tenfjord (suggested as an artist she recommends listening)

And Still I Rise - Wrecking Ball

Ane Brun - A Temporary Dive / All We Want is Love / Do You Remember

Anna of the North - Lovers

Annie Lennox - No More "I Love You's"

Antônio Carlos Jobim - Samba De Uma Nota Só

A Perfect Circle - The Outsiders / Weak And Powerless / Passive / Thirteen Steps (album)

Asbjørn - The Love You Have in You / Asbjørn

Askjell - The First Goodbye / L O S T M Y C O O L / Sofia

The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows / Revolver (album)

Beck - Blue Moon

Beethoven - Moonlight Sonata (Glenn Morrison’s version)

Bee Gees - How Deep Is Your Love

Beverly Glenn-Copeland - Sunset Village

Bjork -  Army of Me / Homogenic (album) / Human Behaviour / Hyperballad / Joga / Unravel / Violently Happy / All Is Full Of Love (Howie's Version)

The Black Keys - Lonely Boy 

Blondie - Heart Of Glass

Bob Dylan -  Emotionally Yours / Political World / Mr. Tambourine Man (live version) (mentioned as the first song she dug)

Cameron James Laing - The Way

Cats of Transistria - Good Night

Céline Dion - My Heart Will Go On (Titanic)

The Chemical Brothers -  Another World / Galvanize / Escape 700 / Hanna's Theme

Cher - Believe

Childish Gambino - This Is America

Claude Debussy, Alexis Weissenberg - Claire de Lune (mentioned as a song that impacted her as a child)

Cocteau Twins - Heaven Or Las Vegas

Coldplay - Fix You

College/Electric Youth - A Real Hero (mentioned as the song that got her through her teen angst)

The Cranberries - Dreams  

Crystal Castles - Air War / Celestica / Sad Eyes / Untrust Us

Daft Punk - Digital Love

Damien Rice - Cannonball /  Delicate / Volcano

Daughter - Youth

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust / Blackstar (album) / Life On Mars? / Let’s Dance

dePresno - Forever

Dido - Here with Me 

Dina Ögon - Tombola 94

DNKL - Hunt

Dolores O'Riordan - When We Were Young

Ed Sheeran- No Diggity vs. Thrift Shop (& Passenger, Kygo Remix) / I See Fire (Kygo Remix)

Edith Piaf - La Vie en Rose (mentioned as a song which makes her cry)

Edvard Grieg - Morning Mood (Morgenstemning) / Solveig’s Song

Enya - Amarantine / May It Be / Storms In Africa / Ebudae / Boadicea / Watermark / The Memory of Trees (album) 

Eric Whitacre - Lux Aurumque

EvighetenYoung (suggested as an artist she recommends listening)

Fever Ray - When I Grow Up

Fka Twigs - Water Me

Fleetwood Mac - Big Love / Landslide

Florence + The Machine - No Light, No Light / Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)

Frankie Valli - Can’t Take My Eyes Off You

Gabrielle - 5 fine frøkner

Gaahls WYRD (suggested as an artist she recommends listening)

Gojira -  Explosia / Mouth of Kala (mentioned as a song she loves that might surprise people)

Goldmund -  Image-Autumn-Womb

Great News - Now And Them (album)

Grimes - Flesh Without Blood

HALIE (suggested as an artist she recommends listening)

Hans Zimmer - Cornfield Chase

Henry Mancini & His Orchestra And Chorus - Moon River

Howard Shore - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Main Theme (mentioned as a song that she wishes she had written)

Imogen Heap -  Headlock / Hide And Seek

Iris -  Romance is Dead / lavender and heaven (mentioned as the song she wants played at her wedding)

Japanese Breakfast - Paprika

Jenny Hval - Golden Locks / Mephisto in the Water

John Williams - Hedwig's Theme (mentioned as a song she wishes that she had made)

John Wizards - Tet Lek Schrempf

Jóhann Jóhannsson - Arrival (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) / Kangaru

Johnny Cash (mentioned as the artist she likes)

Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now

Kate Bush - Cloudbusting / Babooshka

Khold - Myr

Kimbra - Top of the World

Kishi Bashi - I Am the Antichrist to You

Kvelertak (suggested as an artist she recommends listening)

Lana Del Rey - Young and Beautiful

Leif Vollebekk - Elegy

Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat (Live) /  Suzanne (Live) /  The Partisan (mentioned as an important song which her parents listened to) /  You Want It Darker (album) / It Seemed the Better Way / Greatest Hits (album) / Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye 

Lorde (mentioned as the artist she would like to collaborate with) 

Lou Bega -  Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of...)

Madonna - Frozen / Drowned world/Substitute for Love

Madrugada - Majesty

Marilyn Manson - Tainted Love

Massive Attack - Daydreaming /  Teardrop

Mastodon - The Hunter / High Road

Masterdon (mentioned as the artist she likes)

Matt Maltese - As the World Caves In

Max Richter - On the Nature of Daylight

Metteson - Under Your Shirt

Miki Matsubara - 真夜中のドア/ Stay With Me

Moby - Porcelain / A Seated Night

Moyka - Colder

Naaz (mentioned as the artist she likes)

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds ft. Kylie Minogue - Where The Wild Roses Grow

Nick Drake - Pink Moon

Nicholas Hooper - When Ginny Kissed Harry

O. Martin - Nowhere Is Home

Paolo Nutini - Everywhere

Phoebe Bridgers - Smoke Signals

Poliça - Happy Be Fine

Prince - Sexuality

Put Your Hands Up for Neo-Tokyo - Get By

Queen - Under Pressure

Radiohead - No Surprises

RED MOON (suggested as an artist she recommends listening)

RHODES - Turning Back Around

Rockettothesky - Grizzly Man (mentioned as the first song discovered on her own)

Röyksopp & Robyn - Monument 

Robot Koch - Nitesky (feat John LaMonica)

Rudimental - Waiting All Night ft. Ella Eyre

Rusted Root - Send Me on My Way

RY X - Berlin

Sarah Brightman - Eden

SEA CHANGE - Above

Secret Garden - Windancer / Windancer

Seigmen - Monument

Sei Selina - Only When You’re Asleep

Sigur Ros - Svefn-g-englar 

Silja Dyngeland / Silja Sol - Stemning (DC#27) / Løgneren / Skrubbsår

Silvana Estrada - Lo Sagrado (album)

Sinéad O'Connor - Nothing Compares 2U

Slayer (mentioned as an artist she likes)

Solå (suggested as an artist she recommends listening)Sondre Lerche - Why Would I Let You Go / Wrecking Ball (cover) / Palindromes / Sentimentalist / Lucifer / Bad Law / Patience/ I Love You Because It's True

Strange Hellos (suggested as an artist she recommends listening)

Stromae - L’enfer

Sufjan Stevens (mentioned as an artist she was excited to see at Panorama NYC festival 2016)

Susanne Sundfør - Silencer / White Foxes

Sushi x Kobe (suggested as an artist she recommends listening)

System of a Down -  Violent Pornography

Tame Impala - Let It Happen

The Prodigy -  Voodoo People / Smack My Bitch Up

The Secret Sisters - Tomorrow Will Be Kinder

Thomas Newman - American Beauty: Original Motion Picture Score

Tigran Hamasyan + Arve Henriksen + Eivind Aarset + Jan Bang - Hoy, Nazan / Holy

Tool - Aenema

Underworld (mentioned as an artist she’d collaborate with) - Born Slippy / Rez / To Heal / 1992-2012 (album she would put it at a rave party as a DJ) / Born Slippy (mentioned as the song that she listened to the most when she first started driving)

Vilde Tuv - Cellevevet / Det blåser ingen vinder inni huset

Wardruna - Yggdrasil (album) / Runaljod - Ragnarok (album) / Fehu / Algir-Tognatale

WDSTCK - Flowers

Wim Mertens - Iris

Wintergatan - Sommarfågel

Woodkid - Iron

Wolf Alice - How Can I Make It Ok?

The XX - Intro

Young Dreams (suggested as an artist she recommends listening)

And overall music without words like soundtracks, movie pieces or classical music

Sources (in no particular order and some might be missing as I’ve been working on that since February 2021):

“Aurora feirer Grieg” on NRK 2018, i-D interview “city guide: bergen with aurora”, INDIE mag interview “BLESSING OUR EARS WITH AURORA’S DEBUT ALBUM” 2016, Records In My Life (interview 2016), 2014 interview for GAFFA, Auto-Tune Interview for DIFFUS 2019, Aurora guest programs Rage 2019, NRK radio show “AURORA Up Close” 2017, “Like A Bird In The Night: Clash Meets Aurora” 2019 interview, Spotify Greenroom Wrapped 2021 With AURORA and Sub Urban, Mixtape with the songs for Kzradio, #TBT Mixtape for Billboard, 2016 Artist Survey: AURORA for Under the Radar, Records In My Life (2019 Interview), Nordic Playlist #83, Nine Songs: AURORA for The Line of Best Fit 2019, NPR’s Guest DJ: AURORA On Her Love Of Heavy Metal And Leonard Cohen 2016, IG story from March 2020, IG story from September 2021, Interview - Panorama NYC 2016, Tweet from 2016, Spotify's music & talk show 10 Songs That Made Me 2021, Playlist for Weibo 2022, Interview for NRK 2014, Interview with Jamie Taylor 2016, Playful Playlist for i-D 2022, Midnight Mixtape for Deezer 2021, Daydreaming playlist for HIGHJINKX 2021, ChillDaBeats #038 2021, AURORA’s official SoundCloud channel, NRK P3 - Plateprat (record talk) 2017

Special thanks to Amroth for the support and additional resources provided! 🖤

[nem0c]

Vietnam War - Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, June 1968

Sourced from: http://natsmusic.net/articles_galaxy_magazine_viet_nam_war.htm

Transcript Below

We the undersigned believe the United States must remain in Vietnam to fulfill its responsibilities to the people of that country.

Karen K. Anderson, Poul Anderson, Harry Bates, Lloyd Biggle Jr., J. F. Bone, Leigh Brackett, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Mario Brand, R. Bretnor, Frederic Brown, Doris Pitkin Buck, William R. Burkett Jr., Elinor Busby, F. M. Busby, John W. Campbell, Louis Charbonneau, Hal Clement, Compton Crook, Hank Davis, L. Sprague de Camp, Charles V. de Vet, William B. Ellern, Richard H. Eney, T. R. Fehrenbach, R. C. FitzPatrick, Daniel F. Galouye, Raymond Z. Gallun, Robert M. Green Jr., Frances T. Hall, Edmond Hamilton, Robert A. Heinlein, Joe L. Hensley, Paul G. Herkart, Dean C. Ing, Jay Kay Klein, David A. Kyle, R. A. Lafferty, Robert J. Leman, C. C. MacApp, Robert Mason, D. M. Melton, Norman Metcalf, P. Schuyler Miller, Sam Moskowitz, John Myers Myers, Larry Niven, Alan Nourse, Stuart Palmer, Gerald W. Page, Rachel Cosgrove Payes, Lawrence A. Perkins, Jerry E. Pournelle, Joe Poyer, E. Hoffmann Price, George W. Price, Alva Rogers, Fred Saberhagen, George O. Smith, W. E. Sprague, G. Harry Stine (Lee Correy), Dwight V. Swain, Thomas Burnett Swann, Albert Teichner, Theodore L. Thomas, Rena M. Vale, Jack Vance, Harl Vincent, Don Walsh Jr., Robert Moore Williams, Jack Williamson, Rosco E. Wright, Karl Würf.

We oppose the participation of the United States in the war in Vietnam.

Forrest J. Ackerman, Isaac Asimov, Peter S. Beagle, Jerome Bixby, James Blish, Anthony Boucher, Lyle G. Boyd, Ray Bradbury, Jonathan Brand, Stuart J. Byrne, Terry Carr, Carroll J. Clem, Ed M. Clinton, Theodore R. Cogswell, Arthur Jean Cox, Allan Danzig, Jon DeCles, Miriam Allen deFord, Samuel R. Delany, Lester del Rey, Philip K. Dick, Thomas M. Disch, Sonya Dorman, Larry Eisenberg, Harlan Ellison, Carol Emshwiller, Philip José Farmer, David E. Fisher, Ron Goulart, Joseph Green, Jim Harmon, Harry Harrison, H. H. Hollis, J. Hunter Holly, James D. Houston, Edward Jesby, Leo P. Kelley, Daniel Keyes, Virginia Kidd, Damon Knight, Allen Lang, March Laumer, Ursula K. LeGuin, Fritz Leiber, Irwin Lewis, A. M. Lightner, Robert A. W. Lowndes, Katherine MacLean, Barry Malzberg, Robert E. Margroff, Anne Marple, Ardrey Marshall, Bruce McAllister, Judith Merril, Robert P. Mills, Howard L. Morris, Kris Neville, Alexei Panshin, Emil Petaja, J. R. Pierce, Arthur Porges, Mack Reynolds, Gene Roddenberry, Joanna Russ, James Sallis, William Sambrot, Hans Stefan Santesson, J. W. Schutz, Robin Scott, Larry T. Shaw, John Shepley, T. L. Sherred, Robert Silverberg, Henry Slesar, Jerry Sohl, Norman Spinrad, Margaret St. Clair, Jacob Transue, Thurlow Weed, Kate Wilhelm, Richard Wilson, Donald A. Wollheim.

[tlaquetzqui]

Just saw someone describe a “holy trinity” of fantasy authors as J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Mervyn Peake. Um…what? Lewis is not on any adult’s list of most significant fantasy writers (except “significant to my childhood”, I suppose).

And Peake’s work isn’t really fantasy at all; Castle Gormenghast is a Ruritania where what is basically the British aristocracy practice what are essentially the rites of Chinese ancestor-worship. (“So, the Church of England?” I might say, were I slightly meaner than I actually am.) Ruritania is not fantasy.

I would say, like, Tolkien, Robert Howard, and…Ursula K. LeGuin? Maybe?

I mean I’d like to say Fritz Leiber or Clark Ashton Smith for the third one but the latter, particularly, is very niche, and the former is just Howard as a slightly better-rounded person. (Huh, apparently Leiber coined “sword and sorcery”. Who knew.)

Jack Vance casts a disproportionately long shadow by inventing the magic system D&D uses (but not inventing Dying Earth fantasy, because Smith’s Zothique already did). Larry Niven, of all fucking people, introduced the anthropological concept of “mana”, used by everyone that doesn’t use Vancian. (I still wanna know why anthropologists egregiously overgeneralized the specifically Polynesian concept of mana, even though we already have a word for that, namely “numen”, technical term of Roman religion.)

And then there’s Roger Zelazny, Poul Anderson, and (ugh) Marion Zimmer Bradley (I hated her before I knew she deserved it, because she always came off as “John Norman for lesbians”; now we just know she did in real life what Norman only fantasized about like a creepo). C. J. Cherryh is underappreciated as a fantasy writer (and in every other genre she writes in), but I still think we have to give it to LeGuin, since she’s the only one as well-known as Tolkien or Howard. (Which is why Vance and Niven don’t get it, despite everyone using mana or occasionally Vancian: nobody knows those are theirs.)

[oldmancarrot]

Books I’ve read (2024)

American Prometheus: Oppenheimer, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, by Herbert P. Bix

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Winterlight (#7), by Kristen Britain

Spirit of the Woods (7.5), by Kristen Britain

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

Rubicon, by J. S. Dewes

Ship of Magic (#1), by Robin Hobb

Pax, by Tom Holland

Babel, by R. F. Kuang

The First Book of Lankhmar (#1), by Fritz Leiber

The Mirror and the Light (#3), by Hilary Mantel

Teixcalaan Duology: A Desolation Called Peace (#2), by Arkady Martine

The Stranger Times (#1), by C. K. McDonnell

Unruly, by David Mitchell

Gideon the Ninth (#1), by Tamsyn Muir

Harrow the Ninth (#2), by Tamsyn Muir

Nona the Ninth (#3), by Tamsyn Muir

Tiffany Aching’s Guide to Being a Witch, by Rhianna Pratchett and Gabrielle Kent

A Stroke of the Pen, by Terry Pratchett

Hyperion (#1), by Dan Simmons

The Dawnhounds, by Sascha Stronach

Currently Reading

Stormlight Archive: Word of Radiance (#2), by Brandon Sanderson

Napoleon the Great, by Andrew Roberts

Anno Dracula, by Kim Newman

I’ll get to these someday

Foundation (#1), by Isaac Asimov

Against All Gods, by Miles Cameron

Shanghai Immortal, by A.Y. Chao

The Storm Before the Storm, by Mike Duncan

The Silk Roads, by Peter Frankopan

I, Claudius (#1), by Robert Graves

The Creeper, by Margaret Hickey

The Mad Ship (#2), by Robin Hobb

Ship of Destiny (#3), by Robin Hobb

Song of the Huntress, by Lucy Holland

Istanbul, by Bettany Hughes

The Rise of Kyoshi (#1), by F. C. Lee

The Shadow of Kyoshi (#2), by F. C. Lee

The Romanovs, by Simon Sebag Montefiore

The Deed of Paksenarrion, by Elizabeth Moon

36 Streets (#1), by T. R. Napper

Ghost of the Neon God (#2), by T. R. Napper

Spinning Silver, by Naomi Novik

Buried Deep and other short stories, by Naomi Novik

Saevus Corvax Deals with the Dead (#1), by K. J. Parker

She Who Became The Sun, by Shelly Parker-Chan

The Gormenghast trilogy, by Mervyn Peake

Howling Dark (#2), by Christopher Ruocchio

Mistborn: The Lost Metal (#7), by Brandon Sanderson

Stormlight Archive: Oathbringer (#3), by Brandon Sanderson

The Bone Season (#1), by Samantha Shannon

A Day of Fallen Night, by Samantha Shannon

The Bone Shard War (#3), by Andrea Stewart

The Book of Witches, by various authors, edited by Jonathan Strahan

City of Last Chances (#1), by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Service Model, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon, by Wole Talabi

Wild Dogs, by Michael Trant

Heroic Fantasy Short Stories (Anthology), by various authors

[identity-library]

Diverse Sexuality (Comics)

A:

Archie (Comics)

Jughead Jones (Asexual)

B:

Blue Lock (Manga)

Ryusei Shidou (Gay)

C:

D:

E:

F:

G:

H:

I:

J:

K:

L:

M:

Marvel (Comics)

Aaron Fischer/Captain America (Gay)

Aikku Jokinen (Lesbian)

Alana Jobson/Jackpot (Lesbian)

Alani Ryan/Loa (Bisexual)

Albert Moon Jr./Silk (Gay)

Aldrif Oddinsdottir (Lesbian)

America Chavez (Lesbian)

Aneka (Lesbian)

Annabelle Riggs (Lesbian)

Aura Charles (Bisexual)

Avril Kincaid (Lesbian)

Ayo (Lesbian)

Beatrice Bartholomew/Cyclops-Lass (Unspecified WLW)

Benjamin Deeds/Morph (Gay)

Benjamin Thomas (Asexual, Demiromantic)

Brandon Sharpe/Striker (Gay)

Brunnhilde/Valkyrie (Bisexual)

Carl Valentino/Somnus (Gay)

Carmen Cruz/Gimmick (Lesbian)

Cessily Kincaid/Mercury (Bisexual)

Charlie Cluster (Bisexual)

Charlotte Webber/Sun-Spider (Pansexual)

Christian Frost/White Bishop (Gay)

Christopher O'Leary (Bisexual)

Claire Voyant (Bisexual)

Cloud (Queer)

Cooper Coen/Web-Weaver (Gay)

Cullen Bloodstone (Gay)

Daimon Hellstrom (Bisexual)

Daken Akihiro (Bisexual)

David Alleyne (Bisexual)

Dennis Dunphy (Gay)

Doop (Bisexual)

Elizabeth Braddock/Captain Britain (Bisexual)

Ellie Phimister/Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Lesbian)

Felicia Hardy/Black Cat (Bisexual)

Gabe/Bad Guy (Gay)

Gabrielle Diwa (Lesbian)

Gaveedra Seven/Shatterstar (Bisexual)

Gwendolyn Poole/Gwenpool (Aromantic, Asexual)

Heather Douglas/Moondragon (Lesbian)

Heather Tucker/Tempo (Lesbian)

Hector Baez (Gay)

Hector Pullman (Gay)

Heidi Sladkin/Riot (Lesbian)

Hercules (Gay)

Hercules Panhellenios (Bisexual)

Hiroim (Gay)

Ian Soo/Telekinian (Bisexual)

Irene Adler/Destiny (Bisexual)

Isaac Ikeda/Protector (Gay)

Jacob Oh (Gay)

James Howlett (Gay)

Jamie Rogers (Asexual)

Jean-Paul Beaubier/Northstar (Gay)

Jennifer Kale (Bisexual)

Jin Joon-Sung/Kid Juggernaut (Gay)

Judah Miller (Gay)

Julie Power/Lightspeed (Bisexual)

Julio Richter (Gay)

Karolina Dean (Lesbian)

Katherine "Kitty" Pryde (Bisexual)

Kolgoth Antares (Gay)

Korg (Gay)

Kyle Jinadu (Gay)

Loki Laufeyson (Bisexual)

Marcus Roston (Gay)

Max Modell (Gay)

Megan Gwynn (Unspecified WLW)

Megan Ogawa/Kappa (Bisexual)

Monica Sellers (Queer)

Morgan Red (Asexual)

Mors (Bisexual + Polyamorous)

Nadia Van Dyne (Asexual, Quoiromantic)

Nathaniel Carver/Hindsight (Gay)

Nico Minoru (Bisexual)

Noh-Varr/Captain Marvel (Bisexual)

Odessa Drake (Lesbian)

Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Bisexual + Polyamorous)

Phyla-Vell/Captain Marvel (Lesbian)

Priscilla "Shay" Smith (Lesbian)

Raven Darkhölme/Mystique (Bisexual)

Raz Malhotra/Giant-Man (Gay)

Rebecca "Rikki" Barnes (Bisexual)

Ren Kimura (Lesbian)

Renata Da Lima/Bouncer (Lesbian)

Robert "Bobby" Drake/Iceman (Gay)

Romeo (Gay)

Roxanne Washington (Lesbian)

Rūna/Valkyrie (Lesbian)

Satana Hellstrom (Bisexual)

Sera/The Hunter Queen (Lesbian)

Simon Lasker/Pyro (Gay)

Sinclair Abbott/Spymaster (Bisexual)

Steck'ee (Pansexual)

Tamara Blake/Iron Cat (Lesbian)

Theodore "Teddy" Kaplan-Altman/Hulkling (Gay)

Thomas "Tommy" Shepherd/Speed (Bisexual)

Toni Ho/Iron Patriot (Lesbian)

Val Ventura/Flatman (Gay)

Victor Borkowski/Anole (Gay)

Victoria Hand (Lesbian)

Vivian Vision (Lesbian)

Vnn (Gay)

Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Pansexual)

William "Billy" Kaplan-Altman/Wiccan (Gay)

Xavin (Pansexual)

Xuân Cao Mạnh/Karma (Lesbian)

Yelena Belova/Black Widow (Asexual, Aromantic)

Ying Liu (Lesbian)

Yukio/Wild One (Bisexual)

Zoe Zimmer/Ms. Marvel (Lesbian)

N:

Nanbaka (Manga)

Jyugo (Bisexual)

Nimona (Graphic Novel)

Ambrosius Goldenloin (Gay)

Ballister Boldheart (Gay)

O:

Our Dreams at Dusk (Manga)

Anonymous (Aromantic, Asexual)

Ilya Tchaiko (Gay)

Kaname Tasuku (Gay)

Saki (Lesbian)

P:

Q:

R:

S:

T:

U:

V:

W:

X:

Y:

Z:

[mserratog]

Book Review: The Fifth Wave

The book is written by Michael Crow, President of Arizona State University. Malcolm Gladwell describes President Crow and this book as follows: “In a perfect world, we would clone Michael Crow, so every university would have the same advantage as Arizona State University. Until that happens, The Fifth Wave is our next best option.” Robert J. Zimmer, former President of the University of Chicago…

[denimbex1986]

'So we watched Oppenheimer on IMAX Laser. After writing a vast amount of articles dealing with the cinematography aspects of the film, we didn’t imagine how great the sound is. Indeed, the sound is brilliant and layered by the outstanding score composed by Ludwig Göransson. That was combined extremely well with the IMAX closeups.

First drama shot on IMAX

Oppenheimer is not an action movie, but an epic thriller. It’s the first drama shot on IMAX film cameras. As we wrote before, Director of Photography Hoyte van Hoytema has implemented very simple and accurate cinematography techniques, focusing on character’s faces, and maneuvering between color and B&W sequences. As mentioned before, Kodak developed the first B&W IMAX film stock for the movie. There’s a solid emphasis on the certain part of the faces, which enhance the dramaturgy of this unique cast that features five Oscar winners (Sir Kenneth Branagh, Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Casey Affleck, and Gary Oldman) and three Oscar nominees (Robert Downey Jr., Tom Conti, and Florence Pugh). Then the great acting is amplified especially when watching it on the huge canvas. There are no fast pace high-octane action shots in Oppenheimer. Just faces, and particles…a lot of particles to demonstrate the art of quantum physics. Furthermore, there is no CGI implemented. Just a minimal and precise dose of about 100 VFX shots, paired with practical cinematography, by using dedicated lenses on IMAX film cameras.

Atomic explosions created by practical effects

Here’s an intriguing fact: The Trinity detonation scene uses a combination of practical effects and digital compositing. Multiple explosions were performed practically, with a hybrid of gasoline, propane, aluminum, and magnesium substances involving big miniatures. These were filmed at high speeds from multiple angles, and then layered using digital effects to create the iconic “mushroom cloud”. You won’t see any conventional mushroom clouds in Oppenheimer. You will see a big explosion with a lot of fire. As explained – Zero CGI. This is the first time an imitation of an atomic exposition is done practically in a narrative feature. However, the factor that contributes the most to that phenomenon, is the sound. Great sound design, layered with outstanding music.

Kudos to Ludwig Göransson

The music composer of Oppenheimer is Ludwig Göransson. In fact, Oppenheimer is the second and consecutive collaboration between Nolan and Göransson, right after Tenet (2020). Frequent Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer wasn’t available since he was committed to the scores of Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2023) at the time of both Nolan films. Furthermore, the score of the film doesn’t feature any drums, as directors Nolan and Göransson felt using a sound typically associated with the military would be inauthentic to musically capture the character of J. Robert Oppenheimer. The music is powerful and fits the film accurately. Moreover, the soundtrack builds the tension as it’s been escorted by intense large-format closeups, wrapped by powerful sound design.

The sound department should get an Oscar

If we had to choose one factor that makes Oppenheimer so intense, we’d pick sound. Indeed, the sound design is brilliant and powerful. As many articles have written on the cinematography behind Oppenheimer, the sound hasn’t got much love. But after watching the movie, you will understand how impactful the sounds are, which mainly demonstrate flashbacks, physical occurrences, and particles clashing with each other. As characterized by Nolan’s film, the sound is strong and in high volume. So imagine this: Closeups of faces with massive cameras, macro/micro photography of physics, great acting, intense music, and extreme sounds. Of course, all of this is accompanied by a fascinating story and script.

Complicated but not too complicated

As a Nolans’ film, Oppenheimer demands concentration. It’s fairly complicated, but not too complicated. Viewers can understand it by seeing it once. Unlike other Nolan projects (Tenet, Interstellar) which require multiple views in order to connect the dots. This is a 3-hour movie. The highlight which is the Trinity test comes after 1 hour and 58 minutes. Till then, the tension is being built. A combination of practical macro cinematography, powerful sounds, excellent music, extreme close-ups, and great acting, help to make it through these 3 hours. The audiences were glued to their seats in a huge IMAX theater without blinking.

The ‘IMAX Experience’

As explained, there’re no fancy action shots in Oppenheimer. It’s a drama. But it was carefully stitched to the IMAX. Shot on an IMAX film camera, by a cinematographer that is specialized in shooting with IMAX cameras, conducted by a director that uses only this format, makes Oppenheimer an ideal movie to be seen at IMAX theater, and not less than that. If you can, go see it on IMAX, any IMAX. We saw it on laser and it was good enough. Just the sounds are worth it since the IMAX laser is armed with better speakers and sound technology. We wrote before that Oppenheimer is important for ‘IMAX cinematography’, and after watching it, we’re even more sure about this claim. Nolan has succeeded in making a powerful IMAX film with a very minimal dose of VFX and action sequences. That constitutes an important milestone. Moreover, Oppenheimer can be used as a case study for how to shoot faces with medium-format cameras. As Hoytema said before: “Oppenheimer relies on characters’ faces”, and he is right. BTW – Tom Conti (Einstein) is AWESOME!'

[thejacksmit]

First Take: Oppenheimer - Nolan has become death, the destroyer of worlds

SYNOPSIS: The story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.

Spoiler free as usual. Because In Nolan We Trust.

When it was announced that Christopher Nolan would be adapting the book American Prometheus to film, most film fans were a bit baffled. Why is the godfather of in-camera, practical effects making a film about J. Robert Oppenheimer - the godfather of the atomic bomb? In his first film with Universal after the high profile split from Warner Bros (after the handling of Tenet’s release during Covid), Nolan is back with a film which will play cinemas for no fewer than 100 days. And boy is this one powerful.

Writing and directing as usual, Nolan has turned around a 3 hour film that deals with Oppenheimer’s story in 3 acts - the first hour tackles his early life before joining Trinity, the second hour is about the development of the bomb, and then that final hour deals with the moral cost - arguably the heaviest part of the film, but also the most divisive through the way Nolan tells this story, as he has two separate timelines going on: the ‘truth’ (as told by Strauss), and then Oppenheimer’s version of events. A key way this timeline is done is with Hoyte van Hoytema’s cinematography - shooting on film (65mm as well as IMAX 70mm) with specially created black and white stock for select sequences, we have a clear distinction between these two very different versions of events. And much like Tenet, this is a Zimmer-free zone, as Ludwig Goransson returns to score - and he turns in a pretty decent soundtrack.

As for the cast, and arguably one man: Cillian Murphy. A long-time supporting talent in Nolan’s prior work, and now leading arguably the biggest film he has made. What a choice. Murphy absolutely nails it, and when you have Robert Downey Jr as your support, you know you’re gonna put in a hell of a performance. Rounding off this cast is Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Kenneth Branagh, Casey Affleck, Benny Safdie and just so many names that to list them all would take forever - the point is that while this might not be the usual kind of film for Nolan, it is a timely film given how the final act plays out. Sure, it is an incredibly heavy film, one which has been done as part of a double bill with the other ‘new opener’ this weekend, but what we have here is a tale that depicts the truth of what happened when one man changed the world forever - and what happened in the chain reaction which followed.

THE VERDICT

Oppenheimer goes into the levels of detail that no director would dare cover when it comes to this story. It might be long, it might be excessive, and it might be too much for some cinemagoers on account of its 15 certificate and subject matter. But what this is, as every Nolan film seems to be, is a shining endorsement of why films like this belong in cinemas first. If that very first public screening in Preston yesterday morning was any indication, this could be the Oscar race starting ridiculously early.

RATING: 5/5

[19blogmk]

Robert J. Zimmer, Who Promoted Free Speech on Campus, Dies at 75

Robert J. Zimmer, a mathematician who as president of the University of Chicago championed diversity not only quantitatively, in the recruitment of students and faculty, but also by protecting free expression on campus with a protocol that was later embraced by dozens of colleges across the country, died on Tuesday at his home in Chicago. He was 75. His wife, Shadi Bartsch-Zimmer, a classics…

[18blogmk]

Robert J. Zimmer, Who Promoted Free Speech on Campus, Dies at 75

Robert J. Zimmer, a mathematician who as president of the University of Chicago championed diversity not only quantitatively, in the recruitment of students and faculty, but also by protecting free expression on campus with a protocol that was later embraced by dozens of colleges across the country, died on Tuesday at his home in Chicago. He was 75. His wife, Shadi Bartsch-Zimmer, a classics…

[17blogmk]

Robert J. Zimmer, Who Promoted Free Speech on Campus, Dies at 75

Robert J. Zimmer, a mathematician who as president of the University of Chicago championed diversity not only quantitatively, in the recruitment of students and faculty, but also by protecting free expression on campus with a protocol that was later embraced by dozens of colleges across the country, died on Tuesday at his home in Chicago. He was 75. His wife, Shadi Bartsch-Zimmer, a classics…

[16blogmk]

Robert J. Zimmer, Who Promoted Free Speech on Campus, Dies at 75

Robert J. Zimmer, a mathematician who as president of the University of Chicago championed diversity not only quantitatively, in the recruitment of students and faculty, but also by protecting free expression on campus with a protocol that was later embraced by dozens of colleges across the country, died on Tuesday at his home in Chicago. He was 75. His wife, Shadi Bartsch-Zimmer, a classics…