NATIONAL CINEMA DAY

 

          Sunday was National Cinema Day. Regal emailed me at the beginning of the week offering $4.00 tickets (actually $6.09 after taxes, etc.). Since I hadn’t been to the movies in a very long time, I decided to take advantage of this offer. And, since it was going to be a HOT Sunday, I figured there wouldn’t be a better place to spend the day than in an air-conditioned theater.

          I decided on two movies…Barbie because how can I not see this movie, the biggest grossing movie in all time; and Oppenheimer because who doesn’t want to know how the worst killing method was brought to fruition. I began with Barbie at 1:00 pm and transitioned to Oppenheimer at 4:00 pm. I didn’t even leave the theater between movies. I did have to wait about ten minutes before I could enter Oppenheimer, but I just played a game on my phone.

          It was rather surprising to see so many advertisements for stuff on the screen. The last time I went to the movies, there was a woman who entertained us with information and guests while we waited for the previews to begin. This time, it was ad after ad for one thing and another, and not many of them were for products you could buy at the concession stand. There was even an ad for a man who needs a living kidney. I could use my phone to take a photo of the QR code in order to become a kidney donor.

          There also were not very many previews, but that may be because of the writers’ and actors’ strike. They did preview Dune which is supposed to open in December, but I heard it’s been pushed back to 2024 because of the strike.

          I was a bit surprised by Barbie. I expected it to be rather frothy and perhaps it was, but the premise was a good one…too bad the premise isn’t the actual case in real life as opposed to Barbieland. Both Ken and Barbie were very attractive and did a good job of acting like dolls. A friend who raised three daughters loved the movie and said there were lots of things that I might not get not having had any Barbie experience. I suppose that’s true, but it did amuse me in several places.

          Oppenheimer seemed a bit slow and I sort of kept waiting for the end. It also moved forward and backward in time. I don’t usually have a problem with that sort of movie, but I did find myself wondering now and then where and when we were. The actor who played Oppenheimer was excellent and I did like the movie a lot. I didn’t know a lot about Oppenheimer or the Manhattan project, but I left the movie wanting to know more. I think I’ll be doing a bit of research in order to get my questions answered.

          I also didn’t know there were actually four different sites where research into making the bomb happened. Again, I have questions. They set off a couple of bombs at Los Alamos. Did it become radioactive? I don’t think I ever realized they set off small test bombs on US soil. I did know they made uranium isotopes (I think that’s what they were) in Oak Ridge Tennessee because my biological father worked there on that project. He and his entire crew died early from various cancers, probably the result of working at Oak Ridge. And, is any part of Oak Ridge still radioactive?

          See, lots of questions. I’d like to know more about Oppenheimer as well. He was a brilliant man with morals, at least that’s how he came across in the movie. At the same time, he was portrayed as a womanizer, but was he really? Did he or any of the people who worked at Los Alamos die of cancer?

          There’s one other thing that surprised me about spending six plus hours in a theater…my back was killing me Monday morning. I don’t know if it was the seats or simply the lack of activity. Still, I’d do it again.

          Anyway, I guess if I’m going to get the answers to any of my questions, I need to put my fingers to work on the internet as opposed to flying over the keyboard writing this blog.