loufalce

Georges Melies, the magician turned pioneering filmmaker envisioned how a salvage operation on the USS Maine, sunk in Havanna harbor would look. This very old ,very short film from 1898 takes a fanciful look at what the divers might have encountered. Painted set of the wreck was filmed in front of a large glass tank with fishes swimming about give it a sort of real look even though the film has a very stylized, almost dream like quality to it. From what I understand, the first and last parts of it are missing, so only this this middle part survives. Maybe someday they'll turn up. Karel Zeman, the Czech animator-director of fantasy films was obviously inspired by the underwater scenes when he made 'The Fabulous World of Jules Verne' A. K. A 'Vynalez Zkazy' (1958).

Nolan's long awaited Oppenheimer is here , and to put it frankly, it 's a bomb. This is a cash grab, Oscar bait and (maybe) a tentpole rolled into one. Murphy s decent in the title role and some of the cinematography is good, but it will be hard to stay awake through most of it. Long, dull and pointless sequences go on for just too long. When the next sequence comes, you probably will have forgotten the previous one. And on, and on and on it goes for three l-o-n-g hours. About the best aspect that is touched upon is the guilt he feels after his creation is used. Also then time period of the 40s to 50s is presented in a matter of fact, non nostalgic fashion and Blunt is fairly decent as his wife. Kenneth Branagh has some decent scenes impersonating Nils Bohr However,Matt Damon seems ill at ease in his role. Now back to the review. Even though Oppenheimer probably had no idea of the Pandora's box he would be opening, it must be remembered that at least a million or more Japanese and American lives would have been lost if America was to invade Japan. It also touches on his personal life and his run-ins with the State Department when it is revealed his wife is a communist. Now don't get me wrong. I'm a history buff and a movie fan and I have no problem with long historical film biographies like 'Lawrence of Arabia', 'Gandhi' and 'Patton'. These were gripping, well made, exceptionally well acted films by master directors. Unfortunately in this era of diminished expectations about the entire movie going experience. Director Nolan is still very wet behind the ears and still has a lot to learn before he can even consider making a film of that magnitude Most likely this film will appear to techno geeks and algebra nerds, but you want a real feature about Oppenheimer, you'll be better off renting good documentary on the subject. Though its not as junk movie like 'The Dial of Destiny', at best it's an interesting misfire and a waste of three hours. Another PU movie review from Lou in a miserable movie summer.