Movie Recommendations

[Adorno]

I'm not sure I want to watch Napoleon. The trailer looks daft.

Oppenheimer is a decent movie. The first hour or so is a little rushed, compact and intense. We're introduced to Oppenheimer's family, love interests, 'Communist tendencies', time as a young student, and how he brings quantum mechanics to the US.
When we get to Los Alamos the movie finds its pace and it's thrilling to watch the project grow, assembling the team, the discussions on the design of the bomb; and not least the ethical concerns vis-à-vis the arms race with Germany/Russia.
I expected Einstein and Bohr to give valuable scientific insight, instead they are presented as wise philosophers/prophets. I like that.

There's a surprising emphasis on Oppenheimer's legacy which takes up quite a bit of time at the end, about 1 hour (and as flashbacks throughout the movie). It's something I knew little about.
We're in the McCarthy era and Oppenheimer's Communist sympathies are being scrutinised, as well as his entire life and personality (convenient for a biopic).
All in all the movie is a grand attempt at showing the whole person and the legacy of Oppenheimer. That makes it long (just shy of 3 hours) and never dull, but almost oversaturated with characters and events.
I'm not sure Oppenheimer's love life - wife and mistress - needed that much attention, but the explicit sex scene with his famous Bhagavad Gita quote makes it clear it was imperative for the writer/director.

 

[Arvenski]

the explicit sex scene with his famous Bhagavad Gita quote makes it clear it was imperative for the writer/director.

When I read this, I (momentarily) lost most of my interest in seeing this movie.

I just don't like this Hollywood trend of trying to make movies and shows 'grittier' with gratuitous sex scenes, violence, and swearing. When used in moderation, all those things can add to a story, but it feels like Hollywood keeps taking them to excess, to the point where it feels unnecessary and even detracting from the rest of the movie/episode. Say, for example, where a quick shot of the actress topless would have sufficed for story purposes, instead we'll get an extended scene of her and a guy, both completely bare-ass naked, with him pounding her doggystyle. Which feels uncomfortable to watch on the living room TV with my boomer parents. I'm not clutching at pearls, I'm just saying, that kind of thing adds nothing to the story. If I want to watch people **** I'll watch porn and see the whole picture.

 

[NPC99]

I'm not sure I want to watch Napoleon. The trailer looks daft.

I've watched Napoleon and it was an interesting work of fiction. Don't go if historical inaccuracy destroys your immersion. Napoleon's repulses in siege of Toulon were ignored and everything condensed into a single assault where the assaulting troops could instantly fire heated shot (without ovens or preparation etc) down onto the English fleet. Instant heroic depiction rather than grinding reality. The simplistic representation of Napoleon's tactics at Austerlitz was equally ludicrous. Similarly for zero-attention span viewers, Napoleon was depicted as leading a cavalry charge (when almost 46 years old) at Waterloo and cutting down enemies with a saber (when he was laid up part of the day with stomach problems).
Never-the-less the main focus of the film is actually the relationship between Napoleon and Josephine, which despite my low expectations was quite watchable.