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The true, dramatic story of Robert Downey Jr.'s 'Oppenheimer' villain

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Re: The true, dramatic story of Robert Downey Jr.'s 'Oppenheimer' villain

#51

Post by bell-cot »

newsclues wrote: post #18
bmitc wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every picture I have seen indeed shows it was a bunch of shacks and hastily built buildings. I'm not for sure a tour of Los Alamos was necessary. An overhead shot might have worked.

That’s an expensive overhead shot unless it’s a model or cgi.

If Peter Jackson could CGI Lord of the Rings two decades ago, then it should be pretty cheap to CGI a zoom shot on a cookie-cutter WWII "boom town" now. And there are probably quite a few WWII-era aerial photographs to start from.

Re: The true, dramatic story of Robert Downey Jr.'s 'Oppenheimer' villain

#52

Post by somenameforme »

joshuacc wrote: post #36
somenameforme wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uncommonly known factoid: movie ticket sales have been sharply declining for decades. We hit 'peak Hollywood' in 2002. [1] That's especially remarkable when you consider that the population has continued to increase since then. The 'record breaking sales' since then are mostly a product of inflation alongside a mix of price increases. Here [2] is a table of best selling movies, inflation adjusted. No movie made in th…

> Here [2] is a table of best selling movies, inflation adjusted. No movie made in the past 25 years, including the endless men in spandex movies, is among them. The Force Awakens (2015) is #11. Avatar (2009) is #15. Avengers Endgame (2019) is #16. And that’s just in the top 20. Not too bad for a list that covers a century of films, especially when you consider the limited entertainment options available in the first…

Unfortunate 'typo.' I meant in the top 10. Edited the post.

Re: The true, dramatic story of Robert Downey Jr.'s 'Oppenheimer' villain

#53

Post by somenameforme »

macintux wrote: post #31
somenameforme wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uncommonly known factoid: movie ticket sales have been sharply declining for decades. We hit 'peak Hollywood' in 2002. [1] That's especially remarkable when you consider that the population has continued to increase since then. The 'record breaking sales' since then are mostly a product of inflation alongside a mix of price increases. Here [2] is a table of best selling movies, inflation adjusted. No movie made in th…

I’m not convinced you can draw strong correlations between ticket sales and movie quality, or even movie popularity. DVDs, streaming, high definition TVs…there are a lot of technological improvements that have changed the way we consume media.

There's a really interesting poll (that was not so easy to dig up!) here. [1] It's from 2005, so still quite near peak movie, on why Americans aren't going to the movies. The interesting thing about the poll is, as you mentioned, the leading reason for people stated for why they aren't going to the movies anymore is they prefer to watch at home (33%).

Yet when the identical question is asked in a slightly different way, you get a very different result. When asked if they would see more movies if they were cheaper, 43% said they would be much more likely. When asked about movies being better quality, 36% said they would be much more likely to see more movies. And that was back in 2005 when movies were still far from the rock bottom current era of spandex, sequels, and remakes!

[1] - https://news.gallup.com/poll/17113/What-Will-Get-Americans-M...

Re: The true, dramatic story of Robert Downey Jr.'s 'Oppenheimer' villain

#54

Post by tinco »

slily wrote: post #30
tinco wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone with an interest in the history of physics as I'm sure many people here are, I didn't much like the film either. I liked the renditions of the different physicists and the overall arc of the story, but more like I'd be interested in a documentary. What's impressive about the movie is that they managed to create drama, artistry and tension in what's fundamentally something you can't really make a movie abou…

Calling Barbie a better movie because it's easier to watch is something I didn't expect to witness on HN.

The Barbie being an easier to watch movie than Oppenheimer is a take I didn't expect to see on HN. I'm pretty sure a lot of people on here were a lot more uncomfortable watching the Barbie movie than they were watching Oppenheimer.

I suspect a lot of people even plain didn't see the Barbie movie because they were more comfortable watching a movie that skirts over criticising American fascism/authoritarianism of the 40's and 50's, than watching a movie that treats modern American culture without kid gloves.

Re: The true, dramatic story of Robert Downey Jr.'s 'Oppenheimer' villain

#55

Post by Unfrozen0688 »

nebula8804 wrote: post #49
tinco wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone with an interest in the history of physics as I'm sure many people here are, I didn't much like the film either. I liked the renditions of the different physicists and the overall arc of the story, but more like I'd be interested in a documentary. What's impressive about the movie is that they managed to create drama, artistry and tension in what's fundamentally something you can't really make a movie abou…

They did pretty good given that Barbie got the higher number of views/sales as well as the videos floating around of people who did the whole "Barbieheimer" tour who just surfed TikTok on their phones during the film (because of how bored they were I presume). If this is how the general public reacted to a movie like Oppenheimer, its impressive how well they actually did viewer wise.

People on TikTok will not have the attention span for a film like Oppenheimer.

Re: The true, dramatic story of Robert Downey Jr.'s 'Oppenheimer' villain

#57

Post by slily »

tinco wrote: post #54
slily wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling Barbie a better movie because it's easier to watch is something I didn't expect to witness on HN.

The Barbie being an easier to watch movie than Oppenheimer is a take I didn't expect to see on HN. I'm pretty sure a lot of people on here were a lot more uncomfortable watching the Barbie movie than they were watching Oppenheimer. I suspect a lot of people even plain didn't see the Barbie movie because they were more comfortable watching a movie that skirts over criticising American fascism/authoritarianism of the 4…

Now America was fascist and authoritarian in the mid-post WWII era?? Are you guys competing for biggest contrarian or did I accidentally step into a neomarxist forum?

Re: The true, dramatic story of Robert Downey Jr.'s 'Oppenheimer' villain

#58

Post by slily »

rfrey wrote: post #43
slily wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling Barbie a better movie because it's easier to watch is something I didn't expect to witness on HN.

Setting aside whether "easier to watch" is somehow beneath an HN reader, your parent said "more entertaining" not easier to watch. The primary goal of the movie industry is obviously to entertain. (Well, the primary goal is to make money, but they do that by entertaining people.)

Nah, I don't think so. Every time I've seen something criticized or praised for its "entertainment value" it's been code for less challenging, simpler, easier to watch. It's fine if you like that, but you can't call a tropey, confused toy advertisement better because it has dancing instead of court scenes, come on. I guess it's unfair to expect much artistic sophistication in tech circles. In tech terms it's like dogpiling about Firefox having telemetry on by default and recommending Chrome as a better alternative without any justification.

Re: The true, dramatic story of Robert Downey Jr.'s 'Oppenheimer' villain

#59

Post by nebula8804 »

Unfrozen0688 wrote: post #55
nebula8804 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They did pretty good given that Barbie got the higher number of views/sales as well as the videos floating around of people who did the whole "Barbieheimer" tour who just surfed TikTok on their phones during the film (because of how bored they were I presume). If this is how the general public reacted to a movie like Oppenheimer, its impressive how well they actually did viewer wise.

People on TikTok will not have the attention span for a film like Oppenheimer.

Good point. However that is a substantial portion of the American audience.

Re: The true, dramatic story of Robert Downey Jr.'s 'Oppenheimer' villain

#60

Post by Unfrozen0688 »

nebula8804 wrote: post #59
Unfrozen0688 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People on TikTok will not have the attention span for a film like Oppenheimer.

Good point. However that is a substantial portion of the American audience.

I am aware and it is awful. I do hope intelligent movies like Oppenheimer continue to be made.
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