Physics | the m0vie blog

340. Oppenheimer (#59)

Posted on July 22, 2023 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This time, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.

Physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer brought quantum physics to the United States. However, as the Second World War rages, the scientist finds himself drafted on to the Manhattan Project, and set a single all-consuming task: the creation of an atomic bomb. Oppenheimer throws himself into his work, but can even the best scientific mind of his generation be fully prepared for the consequences of this revelation.

At time of release, it was ranked 59th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: atomic, atomic age, auteur, certainty, Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, director, ego, fame, film, J. Robert Oppenheimer, los alamos, Movie, nuclear bomb, oppenheimer, Physics, revolution, science, star, trinity, uncertainty, universal, vanity | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Gravity

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Darren

Gravity is a phenomenal piece of filmmaking, and one of the highlights of the year. It’s a bold and visually stunning survival movie, built around the most simple of premises with incredible craftsmanship. It’s a lean and well-constructed thriller that manages to effortlessly capture the impossible isolation experienced by those flying in the void. Never over-wrought or over-strained, Gravity is an absolutely beautiful accomplishment for all involved.

Floating in a most peculiar way…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 3d film, Alfonso Cuarón, film, Filmmaking, george clooney, Gravitation, Gravity, hollywood, Houston, Physics, Ryan, sandra bullock, Sound design, Space station | 12 Comments »

About Time: Time Travel Logic, Paradoxes and Looper…

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Darren

I watched Looper again at the weekend. It’s still a pretty great movie, well-constructed and thoughtful. Of course, it still doesn’t feel like a proper “time travel” movie, because the time travel element doesn’t logically gel as easily as it otherwise would. After all, the original time line sees young!Joe kill old!Joe as soon as he appears. Therefore, old!Joe can’t logically kill Sara. If old!Joe doesn’t kill Sara, then why does Cyd become the Rainmaker? After all, we’re told (or it’s heavily implied) that young!Joe killing himself (and old!Joe) prevented Cyd from becoming the Rainmaker. So if this never happened in the time line where young!Joe grows into old!Joe, how did the Rainmaker come to be?

Oh no, I’ve gone cross-eyed.

This is the thing with time travel movies, and it’s something I’ve been thinking about. How important is internal consistency to a time travel movie? How necessary is it for a time travel movie to flow relatively logically from its own premise? At what point do we just stop trying to apply rules of logic and just enjoy the movie for what it is?