OPPENHEIMER VS BARBIE!

Oppenheimer

What a fantastic time for cinema lovers recently, as Oppenheimer and Barbie lent a muchwelcome break from the flood of superhero films that seem to have dominated the big screens over the past few years! I made a beeline for tickets to the former, the Christopher Nolandirected biopic about J Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist behind the atomic bomb’s development during World War II.

It didn’t disappoint. Vividly shot with sharp, rapid dialogues, the film blends science and politics with Oppenheimer’s personal struggles and questions about morality. Cillian Murphy gave an Oscar-worthy performance, and three hours flew by. It does cover a lot of ground, though, so non-history buffs would benefit from reading up on the physicist and the Manhattan Project before going to better follow along.

Cherry Lai

Barbie

I’d heard mixed reviews about Barbie, so I didn’t have high expectations. As a fashion enthusiast, the film’s setup and stylistic choices immediately caught my attention, for both the Barbie and Ken characters. The vintage-style Barbie dream houses were also quite a visual treat throughout. While I initially found parts of the story too didactic for my liking – I prefer a more subtle approach – as it progressed there were uncomfortable parallels to the real world that struck an emotional chord with me.

This is an ultimately fun ride of a movie that helps us embrace our inner Barbie or Ken, a celebration of femininity and what it means to be authentic in a messy world, whether you’re a man or a woman.

Yimin Huang