Nolan's Oppenheimer

[Relic]

Just now, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Sunday matinee, IMAX 70mm, front row center, bitches. Hit me with your best shot No-lan. 

In hindsight, I probably should have purchased my tickets when they went on sale. Literally the only seats left for the IMAX showings at the theater I’m going to are in the front row. On the plus side, we’ll have the row to ourselves and I’ll be able to stretch out. 

 

Schedule a neck massage for right after.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

46 minutes ago, Relic said:

Schedule a neck massage for right after.

My head will be torn clean off, so maybe a stump massage if I have the wherewithal to swing it.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Who wants to sit in the front row of any theater?  

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

I’d gladly sit a little further back if someone would let me sit on their lap. The theater is packed.

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II]

Would  you guys rather take front row with center seats or center row but with seats on either left or right sides ? I’ve taken the latter for Oppenheimer due to limited seating…

[IFR]

I just watched it. Exemplary movie. It followed extremely close to the actual historical record. Many lines were verbatim the documented dialogue of these individuals.

I will be curious what the reception here is.

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

1 hour ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Would  you guys rather take front row with center seats or center row but with seats on either left or right sides ? I’ve taken the latter for Oppenheimer due to limited seating…

My choice were front row, one row back but off to the side, or two rows back and way off to the side. Literally every other seat is taken.

[Durckad]

Just saw it as well. A very good movie overall, but some of the reviews were correct on the audio mixing for the dialogue. Goddamn was it awful. Maybe it was better in iMax or something but on just a regular screen? Almost incomprehensible. I didn't see Tenet in theaters and I know that one was plagued by similar issues, but it was fine on my TV and basic home setup. I felt Oppenheimer was much worse in this regard so hopefully it fares a bit better on a home theater setup as well. 

That said, that was my biggest complaint with the movie. It definitely did not feel like it was three hours long, though I did check my watch once near the very end.

2 hours ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Would  you guys rather take front row with center seats or center row but with seats on either left or right sides ? I’ve taken the latter for Oppenheimer due to limited seating…

I hate, hate, hate the front row and normally err towards seats on the side (in case I need to get up and go to the bathroom) so my choice would've been similar, even if there had been more center seats available.

[Corvinus85]

16 hours ago, Durckad said:

Just saw it as well. A very good movie overall, but some of the reviews were correct on the audio mixing for the dialogue. Goddamn was it awful. Maybe it was better in iMax or something but on just a regular screen? Almost incomprehensible. I didn't see Tenet in theaters and I know that one was plagued by similar issues, but it was fine on my TV and basic home setup. I felt Oppenheimer was much worse in this regard so hopefully it fares a bit better on a home theater setup as well. 

That said, that was my biggest complaint with the movie. It definitely did not feel like it was three hours long, though I did check my watch once near the very end.

Pretty much agreed with this. Great movie, outstanding performances, but fuck Nolan for allowing the music to almost constantly cover up the dialogue. Great score, too, just overused.

Spoiler

I had trouble following how the problems developed between Oppenheimer and Strauss. Straus didn't like that two of the greatest scientific minds of the time may have sniggered at him behind his back? Surely there was more than that.

And I was a bit underwhelmed by the heavily advertised Trinity test. Maybe Nolan should have used some CGI. He couldn't really disguise the big practical chemical explosion.

 

Edited July 22 by Corvinus85

[Durckad]

1 hour ago, Corvinus85 said:

Pretty much agreed with this. Great movie, outstanding performances, but fuck Nolan for allowing the music to almost constantly cover up the dialogue. Great score, too, just overused.

Like, not just the music but any background sound would regularly just drown out the dialogue. I vaguely recall Dune being criticized for similarly poorly mixed audio resulting in the dialogue getting drowned out, but I saw that in the very same theater and didn't have anywhere near the issues with Dune as I did with Oppenheimer.

This will very definitely be a movie that will be improved when seeing at home and I can turn on the subtitles but goddamnit Nolan, fix your shit. Seriously.

Don't get me wrong, this is definitely worth seeing, but just be aware if you're hard of hearing spoken dialogue this may be a difficult movie to enjoy. Or maybe not. Maybe the iMax screenings have better audio or something. 

1 hour ago, Corvinus85 said:

 

  Hide contents

I had trouble following how the problems developed between Oppenheimer and Strauss. Straus didn't like that two of the greatest scientific minds of the time may have sniggered at him behind his back? Surely there was more than that.

And I was a bit underwhelmed by the heavily advertised Trinity test. Maybe Nolan should have used some CGI. He couldn't really disguise the big practical chemical explosion.

 

Spoiler

I got the feeling Oppenheimer and Strauss had a bit of a "falling out" over some policy disagreements, namely the proliferation of hydrogen bombs and there was a hearing where Oppenheimer publicly ridiculed some of Strauss's ideas (the audio being shit means I didn't catch all the details here) and Strauss ended up nursing a grudge over it because he's a vindictive prick. 

I thought the Trinity test was pretty impressive and I'll applaud Nolan for relying on practical means to make the boom-boom be big.

 

[Corvinus85]

12 minutes ago, Durckad said:

Like, not just the music but any background sound would regularly just drown out the dialogue. I vaguely recall Dune being criticized for similarly poorly mixed audio resulting in the dialogue getting drowned out, but I saw that in the very same theater and didn't have anywhere near the issues with Dune as I did with Oppenheimer.

This will very definitely be a movie that will be improved when seeing at home and I can turn on the subtitles but goddamnit Nolan, fix your shit. Seriously.

Don't get me wrong, this is definitely worth seeing, but just be aware if you're hard of hearing spoken dialogue this may be a difficult movie to enjoy. Or maybe not. Maybe the iMax screenings have better audio or something. 

  Hide contents

I got the feeling Oppenheimer and Strauss had a bit of a "falling out" over some policy disagreements, namely the proliferation of hydrogen bombs and there was a hearing where Oppenheimer publicly ridiculed some of Strauss's ideas (the audio being shit means I didn't catch all the details here) and Strauss ended up nursing a grudge over it because he's a vindictive prick. 

I thought the Trinity test was pretty impressive and I'll applaud Nolan for relying on practical means to make the boom-boom be big.

 

Spoiler

The buildup to the explosion was, imo, the stronger part of that whole sequence. Terrific tension.

 

[Tywin et al.]

2 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Pretty much agreed with this. Great movie, outstanding performances, but fuck Nolan for allowing the music to almost constantly cover up the dialogue. Great score, too, just overused.

  Reveal hidden contents

I had trouble following how the problems developed between Oppenheimer and Strauss. Straus didn't like that two of the greatest scientific minds of the time may have sniggered at him behind his back? Surely there was more than that.

And I was a bit underwhelmed by the heavily advertised Trinity test. Maybe Nolan should have used some CGI. He couldn't really disguise the big practical chemical explosion.

 

It's kind of amazing he keeps doing this. Can no one stand up to him or does he just not listen? The sound editing is wrecking his films.

[Durckad]

44 minutes ago, Corvinus85 said:

  Reveal hidden contents

The buildup to the explosion was, imo, the stronger part of that whole sequence. Terrific tension.

 

Spoiler

I would very much agree with that. The buildup was fantastic.

 

[Martell Spy]

Great movie. I did experience the sound problems, but I was able to follow the plot. Probably missed about 4 lines. Cillian Murphy was pitch perfect for that part. The Strauss part seemed kind of a mismatch for Robert Downey Jr. though. Just that he's very skilled at being a bombastic type and this part probably restrained him. Loved Rami Malek's speech. Definitely the best movie I've seen in a very long time.

[Spockydog]

On 7/22/2023 at 12:13 AM, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Who wants to sit in the front row of any theater?  

 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

Fuck yeah.

ETA: I’ll make a report about the sound mix from the front row. I have a theory…

Edited July 23 by Deadlines? What Deadlines?

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

1 hour ago, Spockydog said:

 

So… you’re stareing up Cilian’s nostrels…

[polishgenius]

5 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

It's kind of amazing he keeps doing this. Can no one stand up to him or does he just not listen? The sound editing is wrecking his films.

 

 

He justifies it by saying that people don't mind unorthodox visuals or filming on an iphone or stuff like that so they should be okay with unorthodox soundmixes too. 

And it's like yes, Chris, but those unorthodox visuals still need to be understandable. There have been films with some very unorthodox soundmixes that were fantastic, because that served what the story was doing (I haven't seen Sound of Metal but that's one that got a lot of praise for it. I have seen A Prayer Before Dawn, and more people should because that film is incredible). 

[IlyaP]

5 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

It's kind of amazing he keeps doing this. Can no one stand up to him or does he just not listen? The sound editing is wrecking his films.

FFS, he pulled this stunt again? Did he learn nothing from Tenet? Film viewers actually *do* want to hear what's spoken in a film.

[Tywin et al.]

34 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

He justifies it by saying that people don't mind unorthodox visuals or filming on an iphone or stuff like that so they should be okay with unorthodox soundmixes too. 

And it's like yes, Chris, but those unorthodox visuals still need to be understandable. There have been films with some very unorthodox soundmixes that were fantastic, because that served what the story was doing (I haven't seen Sound of Metal but that's one that got a lot of praise for it. I have seen A Prayer Before Dawn, and more people should because that film is incredible). 

I've got some friends and family who have to work with sound mixing/general editing. Most of them love Nolan, but they also say they could fix a lot of his issues with their laptops. It breaks their brains that he's allowed to be this bad at it. He's the athlete that's amazing at 90% of the game, but that 10% flaw is so obvious.

29 minutes ago, IlyaP said:

FFS, he pulled this stunt again? Did he learn nothing from Tenet? Film viewers actually *do* want to hear what's spoken in a film.

Tenet should have been a warning for anyone about to pay him. I've never seen it in that I put it on once at like midnight and fell asleep immediately. Again, almost everyone I heard talking about it said it was bad, and not the fun kind of bad. No matter how smart you are you need people around to be like, "Buddy, that was a nice try, but don't do that again." It's why I always joke about men's haircuts. You know you have real friends when they mock the shit out of you for getting a bad cut. If you're an adult about it you get a tight fade and start over. If not, well you do what Nolan is doing with his sound mixing.