‘Oppenheimer’ Is a Tragedy of Operatic Grandeur

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( movie review [Oppenheimer Is a Tragedy of Operatic Grandeur]( Christopher Nolan’s movie about the invention of the atomic bomb is almost too big to wrap your head around. Photo: Universal Pictures Christopher Nolan is [drawn to stories about obsessive men](, men who are consumed by their callings — space travel, dream stealing, stage magic — even when it comes at a catastrophic cost. J. Robert Oppenheimer is the latest of these men, though in this case his focus is one the world is willing to bend itself around. When Robert, played in Oppenheimer by Cillian Murphy at his most angular, gets appointed as head of the Manhattan Project, he has a whole town built at the remote site so the scientists he recruits won’t have to leave their families behind in order to develop the nuclear bomb. Even the location of Los Alamos, which he selects himself, is dear to him. “When I was a kid, I thought if I could find a way to combine physics and New Mexico, my life would be perfect,” he muses while on one of his trips out there to ride horses through the mountains. Robert has it all for a while, though the price turns out to be so much higher than he could have imagined. [read more]( The Latest TV Recaps • Justified: City Primeval: [An Angry White Guy (Episode 1)](, [Take a Seat, Cowboy (Episode 2)]( • The Afterparty: [More Horse]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like [We Shouldn’t Have to Grade Barbie on a Curve Greta Gerwig made a weird movie based on a famous toy line. Should that be enough?]( [Netflix Kills Its ‘Basic’ Plan Prepare to pay up if you want a new ad-free account.]( By Eric Vilas-Boas [The 15 Best, Most Essential Episodes of The Venture Bros. After seven seasons over 20 years, The Venture Bros. is miraculously getting a feature-length finale. These are the episodes to watch before it.]( By Mat Olson [Ira Glass Just Wants to Make a Decent Show The pioneering radio host reflects on the legacy — and business — of This American Life 800 episodes in.]( By Nicholas Quah [The Barbie-Merch Gestation Period Was 18 Months Long And just like Midge, it’s about to burst.]( By Jason P. Frank [Mark Ronson Went Full ‘Batshit’ on the Barbie Soundtrack “One of my favorite things … is this last line that goes, ‘My name’s Ken / And so am I.’ It’s so stupid, it’s the worst syntax.”]( By Justin Curto [How House of the Dragon Can Keep Filming Amid the SAG Strike It’s all about those local union rules.]( By Jennifer Zhan [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Today’s Crossword]( 26-Down, Four Letters: Drink brewed by Dylan Sprouse. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Getty Hollywood on strike A24 Can Still Make Quirky Li’l Movies Amid SAG Strike Photo: Allyson Riggs/A24 ➽ While [actors]( and [influencers]( are trying to figure out what they’re allowed to work on, there has been some clarity (and hope for some income). According to [Variety](, SAG-AFTRA has approved actors to work on 39 independent projects, including two [A24 films](, because they are not associated with AMPTP companies, a.k.a. Hollywood studios. A newsletter of TV and movie recommendations. [Sign up]( to get it every week. [Get the Newsletter]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe]( | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2023, All rights reserved