Barbie cast turn London Eye pink to celebrate film premiere
Hollywood feels more like the centre of the universe than ever this week as the arrival of the two biggest films of the year coincides with a historic actors’ strike.
Anticipation for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has reached a fever pitch ahead of their release in unison on 21 July.
Axios has reported this week that movie theatres in Texas, Washington DC and Atlanta have already sold out of tickets for the Margot Robbie-led feature about the famous toy doll.
Meanwhile, Oppenheimer star Matt Damon got personal about his decision to join the movie, which came after he promised his wife he’d take an acting break in couples’ therapy.
Oppenheimer’s London premiere was cut short, however, as the cast left early in preparation for the SAG-AFTRA strike order, which was initiated hours after the event.
The actors’ union joined the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike since early May, over demands for increases in base pay and residuals in the streaming TV era, plus assurances that their work will not be replaced by AI.
The Independent gives ‘Oppenheimer’ four stars
In her four-star review, The Independent’s film critic Clarisse Loughrey called Oppenheimer Christopher Nolan’s “best and most revealing work”.
“The film is constructed in a way that allows its audience to comprehend, on an intellectual level, the profound power and chaos that led its central character to see himself as the ‘Death, destroyer of worlds’ of Hindu scripture,” she writes.
However, Loughrey adds that Oppenheimer perhaps fails to burrow deeply “into that profound, emotional space that can be both overwhelming and difficult to verbalise. It’s a little too conscious of itself, and the ways cinema crafts its own reality.”
Read the review in full here:
Matthew Cooper19 July 2023 17:17
When Barbie is released in cinemas tomorrow, eagle-eyed Love Island fans might notice a blink-and-you’d-miss-it cameo from one unexpected face.
Chris Taylor, who appeared on the dating show in 2019, has a one-line role in the new film – and it’s all thanks to Margot Robbie.
Isobel Lewis20 July 2023 08:35
Barbie: The Album unveils full tracklist
As Barbie arrives in cinemas on Friday (21 July), the long-awaited soundtrack will drop too.
While songs from Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, and Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice have already been released, fans are eagerly awaiting tracks from the likes of Lizzo and Ava Max.
You can find the full tracklist below:
2. “Dance the Night” – Dua Lipa
3. “Barbie World” – Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice with Aqua
4. “Speed Drive” – Charli XCX
5. “Watati” – Karol G feat Aldo Ranks
6. “Man I Am” – Sam Smith
7. “Journey to the Real World” – Tame Impala
8. “I’m Just Ken” – Ryan Gosling
9. “Hey Blondie” – Dominic Fike
11. “What Was I Made For?” – Billie Eilish
12. “Forever & Again” – The Kid Laroi
13. “Silver Platter” – Khalid
14. “Angel” – PinkPantheress
15. “Butterflies” – Gayle
16. “Choose Your Fighter” – Ava Max
17. “Barbie Dreams” – Fifty Fifty feat Kaliii
Isobel Lewis20 July 2023 08:17
‘Oppenheimer’ blasts past ‘Barbie’ on Rotten Tomatoes
Barbie debuted on Rotten Tomatoes yesterday (18 July) with an impressive critics’ score of 90 per cent.
However, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has taken the cherry with a near-perfect score of 94 per cent at the time of writing.
Tom Murray20 July 2023 06:39
‘Oppenheimer’ review: Clever, imaginative and Christopher Nolan at his best
Read The Independent’s four-star review here:
Tom Murray20 July 2023 05:41
Christopher Nolan explains why he cast his daughter as girl who gets blown up in nuclear explosion
Speaking in a new interview with The Telegraph, Nolan revealed that when his daughter, Flora, 22, visited the set with his wife, the producer Emma Thomas, it struck him that he could cast her as a nameless young woman whose flesh is flayed from her face in a nuclear explosion, in a sequence that happens within Oppenheimer’s mind.
Flora is credited on IMDb as “Burn Victim” for her work on the film.
Tom Murray20 July 2023 04:40
How did a former ‘Love Island’ star get a cameo role in ‘Barbie’?
If you know Margot Robbie then you know how much of a fan the Australian actor is of Love Island.
The Barbie star is a self-obsessed fanatic of the ITV dating show – so much so that season five contestant Chris Taylor found his way into her movie.
Taylor confirmed in an interview at the Barbie premiere in London that he has a small, speaking part in the picture.
Tom Murray20 July 2023 03:42
How long are ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’?
Christopher Nolan isn’t known for quick afternoon flicks and Oppenheimer is no different, clocking in with a runtime of three hours exactly.
Great Gerwig’s Barbie, meanwhile, is a more manageable hour and 54 minutes long.
Margot Robbie in ‘Barbie’ and Cillian Murphy in ‘Oppenheimer’
(Warner Bros/Universal)
Tom Murray20 July 2023 02:43
What’s the true story behind ‘Oppenheimer’ and the Manhattan Project?
Wondering how far Nolan’s Oppenheimer strays from reality?
You can read this full rundown of the history behind the atomic bomb and the real J Robert Oppenheimer here:
Tom Murray20 July 2023 01:46
Oppenheimer branded ‘most important film of this century’ by Taxi Driver’s Paul Schrader
Writer and filmmaker Paul Schrader has described Oppenheimer as the “best” and “most important film of this century”.
Tom Murray20 July 2023 01:08