Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Matt Damon in the Christopher Nolan movie ‘Oppenheimer’

It’s not every day that a biographical thriller set against the backdrop of history can build excitement ahead of its release like the Christopher Nolan produced and directed movie Oppenheimer (2023) has. Detailing the role American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer had in the development of the atomic bomb, Nolan wrote this movie based on the Pulitzer Prize winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer written by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin. The dynamic personality of Oppenheimer the man comes through with an energy equal to the explosive with which the Manhattan Project developed.

(From left, Emily Blunt as Katherine ‘Kitty’ Oppenheimer and Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in the Christopher Nolan movie Oppenheimer).

The movie-making personality of Christopher Nolan shines through his telling of the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, with the theoretical physicist’s portrayal being offered by Cillian Murphy. Alternating between black-and-white and color, using a non-linear model of accentuating the personal drama of a slowly growing explosion of the revealing the contradictions within the scientist’s personality, it strikes me as relevant that I find a parallel to the Nolan film Memento (2000), reviewed here, in the experience.

(From left, Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss and Matthew Modine as Vannevar Bush in the Christopher Nolan movie Oppenheimer).

The movie offers much based in fact surrounding the Oppenheimer biography from Cambridge, England to Los Alamos, New Mexico. We see Oppenheimer‘s security clearance hearing in 1954. Finally we Lewis Strauss‘ confirmation hearing for Secretary of Commerce from 1959. Then there are the relationships with Jean Tatlock, Katherine Oppenheimer, Frank Oppenheimer, Haakon Chevalier, Leslie Groves and scientists such as Patrick Blackett, Niels Bohr, Edward Teller, Isidor Isaac Rabi, David Hill and Albert Einstein.

(From left, Dylan Arnold as Frank Oppenheimer and Matt Damon as Leslie Groves in the Christopher Nolan movie Oppenheimer).

The epic quality of the J. Robert Oppenheimer‘s relevance stands shoulder to shoulder with the accomplishment in atomic energy, his philosophical positions on energy and political justice, and the tangled web these played on those levels alongside the notions of his public and private reputations explored with a force equal to a Christopher Nolan movie as well as the reality so strongly present in biography by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.

(From left, Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock and Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in the Christopher Nolan movie Oppenheimer).

The story of the Trinity test, or the first detonation of a nuclear weapon, is the story that makes the Oppenheimer movie. The many layers of complexity for Oppenheimer the man, both interpersonally for him with wife Katherine Oppenheimer and mistress Jean Tatlock, thunder home in the growing tension of the detonation of the nuclear device as presented in moments of quiet and explosive sound that lead to an enthusiastic aftermath of celebration following the success of the Trinity test. That Nolan‘s treatment of the Oppenheimer story bring us back to Lewis Strauss and Albert Einstein, narratively structuring the threat of Germany, the meaning of Hiroshima, Japan and Nagasaki, Japan, and the decision of Harry S. Truman to end the Pacific conflict, within the story of Strauss, interpersonal matters of the heart, and the nature of celebrity and power with Einstein all fascinate me.

(Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer at his moment of triumph in the Christopher Nolan movie Oppenheimer. Note the US flag in reverse profile; Is this a sign of the ‘attack forward’ honor on military uniforms or a subtle commentary on the conflicted feelings of Oppenheimer at the moment of his biggest success?).

There’s little doubt for me that the power of the movie Oppenheimer is high. Offering this review 3.5-days after watching the movie leaves me a bit transfixed by the question of whether I am undervaluing or overvaluing my admiration for the achievement of what I saw in the film. Regardless, I grant Oppenheimer as produced, directed and written for film by Christopher Nolan 4.5-stars a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, July 26, 2023

Don Henley and the album ‘Building the Perfect Beast’

Following a successful career as part of the band Eagles, Don Henley of Gilmer, Texas achieved success with work under his own name. The second album released in this way was Building the Perfect Beast, which was released in the third week of November, 1984.

(Shown is the album cover for Don Henley‘s second solo album Building the Perfect Beast).

The Boys of Summer opens Building the Perfect Beast with lyrics by Don Henley and music composed by Mike Campbell of Panama City, Florida and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. The song is a look back at what was had with a past relationship and wanting those feelings and experiences back again. Evoking a feeling of summer at a beach offers a pleasant sense of nostalgia for me.

(The Boys of Summer was the first single released from the Don Henley album Building the Perfect Beast on October 26th, 1984).

You Can’t Make Love offers a rather grim look into the physical and emotional limitations that keep the singer from a full expression of love. I sense Henley saying that engaging many of the heartfelt parts of love will offer simply the illusion of love without granting the intimacy that offers true emotional connection. Henley wrote this song with Danny Kortchmar of Larchmont, New York.

Man With a Mission offers a country dance floor sensibility to suggesting that is singular focus is on emotionally connecting with someone he wishes to know romantically. J.D. Souther of Detroit, Michigan joined Kortchmar and Henley writing this song.

You’re Not Drinking Enough went full country lament for the sadness of a love lost. The song focuses on the hurt of loving another, with advice to drink more as a coping mechanism against the pain. With writing credits for Danny Kortchmar here, this song was most popularly covered by Earl Thomas Conley of Portsmouth, Ohio, with another cover by Alan Jackson of Newnan, Georgia here.

(Supporting the Building the Perfect Beast album, Don Henley‘s Not Enough Love in the World was released as a single in 1985 and hit #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart).

Not Enough Love in the World lands with a soft rock sound with writing credits for Benmont Tench of Gainesville, Florida, Henley and Kortchmar. The song deals with another rocky relationship wherein the singer indicates he remains in love. As indicated here, the relationship sung about might be one between Henley and Stevie Nicks of Phoenix, Arizona.

Don Henley’s second studio album gains its title from the song Building the Perfect Beast. In what feels like a reference to the beast that couldn’t be killed in the song Hotel California by Eagles, this song offers a sarcastic look at the psychological torment that losing in love does in turning a man all around. That the distance traveled to building that beast is our own doing is a cruel feeling indeed.

All She Wants to Do Is Dance present writing credits for Danny Kortchmar. The song, as indicated by SongFacts here, “draws on classic literature for song inspiration.” The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald of St. Paul, Minnesota and The Ugly American by Eugene Burdick of Sheldon, Iowa and William Lederer of New York City, New York are those classics. The song itself is among Henley‘s more successful in his solo career in part due to the pop groove of the sound.

(All She Wants to Do Is Dance was released as the 2nd single from Don Henley‘s Building the Perfect Beast album. The song peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart).

Written by Don Henley alone, A Month of Sundays offers a sentimental ballad of a lifestyle lost and looked upon in retrospect. Looking back as a grandfather who built things with pride, the song is sadness, lament and acknowledgment that the current world is no longer the one he knew.

Sunset Grill offers the writing collaboration of Henley, Kortchmar and Tench once again. As captured here, the “Sunset Grill is a real place and a favorite spot for Henley. Located on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, it’s a place where Henley could see how everyday people interact, which isn’t always easy to do when you’re a celebrity in LA.” Further, the Sunset Grill was used as “a metaphor for what he liked, what he thought was great about society. And then he also used it to describe what he didn’t like, which is plenty.”

(Sunset Grill was released as the fourth single from Don Henley‘s Building the Perfect Beast album).

Drivin’ With Your Eyes Closed brings a perspective of the elevation of women in the eyes of men in romantic relationships. Stan Lynch of Gainesville, Florida and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers joins Henley and Kortchmar with writing credits, wherein Henley‘s lyrics point out that improperly appreciating women in romance is bound to end badly.

Land of the Living is the concluding song to Building the Perfect Beast, granting Henley and Kortchmar their final collaboration for this album. The messaging gets into an uplifting feel as an album sendoff. Lyrically the song is a call to slow down and metaphorically smell the roses with the one you’re with. The song does provide the light touch in bringing me home with satisfaction and lightness of spirit.

Additional musicians contributing to Building the Perfect Beast included Steve Porcaro of Hartford, Connecticut, David Paich of Los Angeles, California, Michael Boddicker of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Albhy Galuten of Hartsdale, New York, Randy Newman of Los Angeles, California, Bill Cuomo, Lindsey Buckingham of Palo Alto, California, Charlie Sexton of San Antonio, Texas, Larry Klein of California, Pino Palladino of Cardiff, Wales, Tim Drummond of Bloomington, Illinois, Ian Wallace of Los Angeles, California, Kevin McCormick, Jim Keltner of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Maren Jensen of Arcadia, California, Jerry Hey of Dixon, Illinois, Belinda Carlisle of Hollywood, California, Sam Moore of Miami, Florida, Martha Davis of Berkley, California, Michael O’Donahue, Carla Olson of Austin, Texas, Patty Smyth of New York City, New York, Waddy Wachtel of New York City, New York, Marie Pascale Elfman and Dominique Mancinelli.

Matt – Saturday, November 19, 2022