- I did a double feature of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer." They both absolutely lived up to the hype.
- They'll both give you an existential crisis, but there's a correct order to see them.
It's a double feature for the history books: "Barbenheimer" is finally here.
This weekend, 2023's biggest movies are hitting theaters. "Barbenheimer" is a cultural phenomena, kicking off memes — everything from categorizing each US state senator by which movie they'll be seeing to crossover posters of Barbie watching a nuclear explosion — and more buzz and excitement than cinemas have seen in years.
It's like "Avengers: Endgame," but bigger. And the movies are way better, too.
I didn't need any convincing to see both back-to-back (I've been ready to see both movies from the moment they were announced).
But I did heavily debate which order to see the films. Do you see "Oppenheimer," which follows the development of the first nuclear weapons during World War 2, before or after the fun pink fantasy of "Barbie"?
I went to the double feature on opening night, and both movies live up to the hype. Even more importantly, there is a correct order to watch them — and it's not what everyone thinks.
I saw "Barbie" first, and it gave me an existential crisis
Yesterday, I clocked out of work and rushed over to my local theater. After grabbing a box of Junior Mints — inarguably the best movie theater candy, besides Milk Duds — and a Diet Coke, I sat for my late afternoon viewing of "Barbie" in a packed theater of pink-wearing moviegoers.
Greta Gerwig's fantasy film about the famous Mattel doll is just as pink and plastic as you'd imagine.
The trailers and character posters don't do it justice; this movie is deeply entrenched in Barbie history and aesthetic.
Barbie is Margot Robbie's movie, but Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera almost run away with it, demonstrating a breathtaking level of commitment. The one-liners are hilarious — especially from Issa Rae and Helen Mirren — and the chemistry is palpable.
But like Gerwig's two previous movies "Lady Bird" and "Little Women," "Barbie" is more complex under the surface.
It's not just a movie about a doll entering the real world. Here, Gerwig's flick grapples with identity, religion, the existential struggle for purpose, capitalism, mortality, patriarchy, and gender in a subtle way. You'll barely notice it until it gut-punches you.
Gerwig's ability to subvert expectations shines through. "Barbie" is earnest and funny about it all, and it's also not afraid to embrace the mess.
I had a nice, long, somewhat nihilistic sob, thinking about how nothing and everything matters — the perfect headspace to go see "Oppenheimer."
Then I saw "Oppenheimer" and had another existential crisis
After finishing Barbie around 6:30 p.m., I stepped outside, cried again, called my mom, and declared to no one in particular: "I need a margarita!"
After dinner and drinks, I returned to AMC for "Oppenheimer."
Christopher Nolan's latest is a technical masterclass that reminds you he's at the forefront of some of the most fascinating and advanced filmmaking in the game.
Simply put: See it on the biggest screen possible.
The story itself is just as gripping as you'd expect, weaving between the narrative of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), the father of the atomic bomb, and that of former US Atomic Energy Commission Chair Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.), who sought to discredit him.
The film flits between two starkly different moments: a naive world unaware of what ushering in the Atomic Age might mean, and a second, post-bomb era, horrified by the Pandora's Box it's opened.
I left "Oppenheimer" quite nauseated. A second existential crisis had come over me — this one less about nihilism and more about the threat of impending nuclear annihilation. Fun stuff!
This is the best order for a 'Barbie' 'Oppenheimer' double feature
You should definitely see both "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer." It'll be well worth it — these movies feature Gerwig and Nolan at the height of their powers, telling incredible stories with stacked casts and technical prowess.
But if you do a double feature, make sure to watch "Barbie" first.
It's easier to emotionally transition from "Barbie" into "Oppenheimer" than the other way around. Ending on "Barbie" might seem like the correct move, especially if you go out for drinks and dancing after, but you'll be going into the film thinking about nukes and death. If you're trying to have a good time with "Barbie," you probably don't want that!
Instead, finish with "Oppenheimer" and then hit a 24-hour diner and have some coffee and a cigarette. You'll have some time to decompress both films, and you'll feel like a real cinephile.