Headlines Algeria bans ‘Barbie’ movie

[G-Luke]

For anyone who has participated in the movie event of the year? What are your thoughts on the movies in question? What was your own experience like? Is "Barbenheimer" even legit?

Most important question though - which did you watch first?

I'll start with my own experiences. Barbie hasn't opened yet in my country, so I watched Oppenheimer. Honestly incredible, I don't usually care about Christopher Nolan films, but this one was so hyped up I had to check it out. I was not disappointed. It's a pleasure seeing Robert Downey Jr being able to really act in something for a change tbh. Bro might score an Oscar. Great film all around, a cool 8.5/10 for me.

Anyways, I'd love to hear what everyone else has to say about this phenomenon.

 

[McGrrr]

It takes a lot to persuade me to go to the cinema nowadays; I've only been a couple of times since 2019. I'm completely indifferent to the Barbie source material, so I've no intention to see it. That said, my understanding is that it's another shallow "men bad, women good" instalment from the industry that's lacking in subtlety/nuance, but I'd be happy to be wrong.

On the other hand, Oppenheimer seemed like a confluence of many of my interests, so I saw it yesterday. The movie exceeded my expectations and its impeccable pacing meant that the runtime never felt like 3 hours. There was one

Hide

cowgirl sex

scene that I thought was gratuitous, but my only other gripe was the occasional incomprehensible dialogue. Cillian and RDJ will receive many well deserved plaudits, but there's an Emily Blunt scene during the final act that is perfection. Oppenheimer won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you have the slightest intellectual curiosity about the history, the politics, the science, the morality, the person, or you want to know how a complex/flawed protagonist should be written, then it's a must see movie.

 

[Adeleine]

watched oppenheimer first, seeing barbie soon. maybe i'll talk on the latter after i see it.

Oppenheimer. Good movie! A- to me. I'll try and avoid spoilers. Great exploration of a flawed protagonist and, for lack of a better word, quality direction that shines through throughout, but I do have a few qualms. The scene editing style provided great immersion into a turbulent life, but for me, it struggled to establish the setup to the climax as convincing and clear. In contrast to McGrr, I found the pacing to be imperfect, I definitely felt the higher runtime, but that may be a me thing. One last critique but I have to spoil for it to make sense.

here there be spoilers

While the movie spends one second to quasi-acknowledge that the Los Alamos area was not entirely unpopulated, it has no real interest in the Hispanic and Native American residents that were forced from their homes, and it clearly cares more about gender discrimination versus ethnic/racial discrimination in the compound. It feels like a shoo-in for this film to poignantly contrast Oppenheimer's interaction with recurring antisemitism versus his total apathy (to my knowledge) towards racial bigotry and discrimination as project manager. While that bigotry was obviously not comparable to the Holocaust, residents were (to my knowledge) forced from their homes at gunpoint (sometimes), underpaid with English-language agreements they couldn't understand, denied their agreed-on pay (sometimes), and perhaps most dangerously, not given gloves to work with radioactive materials in the compound. Not particularly sure why this film didn't try to establish that divergence, I'm sure there is less-compelling material it could replace.

other ratings i gave recent movies if you're curious abt what "A-" means for me here

new indiana jones: B+
spiderverse 2: B
mario movie: A-

 

[ZippyDoo200]

Forced meme by movie companies to try and get you to go

 

[tendokiddo]

BARBENHEIMER FOR LIFE

 

[cookie]

my only gripe about oppenheimer (and it's a minor one) is

gripe

early on where he reads "that" line in the bhagavad gita while getting sloppenheimer'd. It turned him saying it later on into a callback which is completely unnecessary for a biopic. It's history, my guy. You can occasionally deviate from the absolute need to have everything later on set up earlier in the film.

the portrayal of the trinity test was nothing short of a masterpiece, the ensemble cast knocked it out of the park, and I think it generally struck a great balance between storytelling and accurately portraying history. as a physics nerd i knew a little about some of the physicists of the early 20th century so it was a treat to see them come to life, particularly

only rly a spoiler if you know nothing about the physicists

edward teller who's a fucking nutjob - i loved the scene where he's not satisfied with an atom bomb and wants to build an even bigger one

barbie was never properly on my radar like oppenheimer was (christopher nolan film about history of physics and war? AND cillian murphy/rdj? sign me the fuck up), but when i read about it being some sort of commentary on feminism i was interested.

HOWEVER I feel like the film has been forced down everyone's throats - I don't think I've ever seen such an aggressive marketing campaign for a film. I got multiple adverts for it on bumble, and google refuses to let me google greta gerwig without stupid pink animations. It's too much. I refuse to see it.

Forced meme by movie companies to try and get you to go

+1, only thing I'll add is that the internet was 1-0 up after morbius so hollywood can have this one if they want

 

[BKC]

I refuse to see it.

If nothing else, do not deprive yourself of Ryan Gosling delivering one of the all-time greatest comedic performances, certainly the best we have seen in many, many years. The commitment alone is unbelievable, never mind the execution (which is nothing less than stellar). To see something so fully intent on being as absurdly silly and over-the-top as possible in today's perpetually detached, irony-poisoned cinematic landscape is not just special, but important. I was in hysterics throughout, and that's before the musical number sent my sides into orbit. As a film Barbie definitely has its flaws but it is well worth seeing. I had a great time.

Ditto Oppenheimer, which is edited with the most propulsive force of Nolan's career, an urgent, desperate clarity permeating throughout. Doesn't quite escape some of his worse habits but it also covers some excellent new ground for him which I really enjoyed. I had the pleasure of seeing it in 70mm IMAX and think it is definitely the best work he's ever done.

Barbenheimer has definitely been a win for The Cinema.

 

[Surgo]

The only reason I'm not going to see Oppenheimer, and this might seem a little petty, is that I think Nolan shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the sound mixing desk. His idea that "dynamic range" means "dialog should be inaudible" is incompatible with my viewing sensitivities. I'll see it when it comes out on TV or streaming, where I can fix that particularly stupid idea of his.

Very much looking forward to seeing Barbie in theaters.

 

[antemortem]

Ryan Gosling nailing a hyperbolic parody role in an americana anti-biopic wasn’t in my 2023 bingo card and yet here we are

 

[Oglemi]

Our fits for BARBENHEIMER (Me on the right)

Barbie unironically entered my top 10 favorite movies list it is that good. The movie isn't perfect by any means but it is so funny and you can feel the fun that the cast had making it.

Oppenheimer was a good movie with possibly the worst sex scenes I've ever endured in a movie. Like, I'm still traumatized by them. Surgo You're also right about the sound mixing, it got ridiculous by the third hour, my ears needed relief.

 

[faint]

As a director myself, I don't see how Nolan could have implied a complicated, nuanced sense of guilt in the main character without frequent, often jump scare inducing deafening cacophonies throughout the film.

Stomp your feet on that like button if you agree.

 

[UberSkitty]

 

[antemortem]

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/algeria-bans-barbie-movie-media-official-source-say-2023-08-14/

ALGIERS, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Algeria has banned the movie "Barbie," which had been showing at some cinemas in the country for several weeks, an official source and the local 24H Algerie news site said on Monday.

The official source said the film "promotes homosexuality and other Western deviances" and that it "does not comply with Algeria's religious and cultural beliefs."

Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, the movie sends Mattel Inc's (MAT.O) doll on an adventure into the real world. The film has topped $1 billion in box office ticket sales worldwide since its July 21 debut.

Lebanon and Kuwait have both also banned the film.

Algeria's Culture Ministry supervises the contents of films projected in cinemas and can stop them being shown.

 

[antemortem]

of all the themes the plot was glutted with, I wouldn’t even say homosexuality was among the top contenders…

 

[awyp]

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/algeria-bans-barbie-movie-media-official-source-say-2023-08-14/

View attachment 543458

ALGIERS, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Algeria has banned the movie "Barbie," which had been showing at some cinemas in the country for several weeks, an official source and the local 24H Algerie news site said on Monday.

The official source said the film "promotes homosexuality and other Western deviances" and that it "does not comply with Algeria's religious and cultural beliefs."

Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as Barbie and Ken, the movie sends Mattel Inc's (MAT.O) doll on an adventure into the real world. The film has topped $1 billion in box office ticket sales worldwide since its July 21 debut.

Lebanon and Kuwait have both also banned the film.

Algeria's Culture Ministry supervises the contents of films projected in cinemas and can stop them being shown.

As a former Arab I can say that none of this shit shocks me, North Africa / Middle East be living like they’re in the 1800s women cover themselves from head to toe, I didn’t watch the movie but from what I was told some of the themes wouldn’t go over well in Arabic countries

 

[Catzzadilla]

View attachment 541800

hey how do I nominate this for post of the year

That said, my understanding is that it's another shallow "men bad, women good" instalment from the industry that's lacking in subtlety/nuance, but I'd be happy to be wrong.

I went into Barbie fearing that, and was glad to see that it wasn't the case, instead of being portrayed as a nuisance, men are understood and still represented well. It's a feminist movie, but not a misandrist one. Ryan Gosling's Ken is fantastic.