Director Watch Ep. 163: 'Oppenheimer' (Christopher Nolan, 2023)

On episode 163 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter are joined by AwardsWatch Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello to discuss the next film in their Christopher Nolan series, Oppenheimer (2023).

Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you've got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love.

In 2023, there was no bigger cinematic event that double feature of Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Nolan's Oppenheimer, each dominating the box office and culture for the entire summer. But as the year went on, it was clear, Nolan's historical, biopic epic was something more than his average popcorn film, but the epic of our time following the man who created the atomic bomb, thus it leads Nolan to not only to one of his most celebrated films to date, and a film of the decade candidate, but Oscar dominance as he reigned supreme over Hollywood and cemented his case the major filmmaker of his time. Ryan, Jay, and Sophia break down their thoughts on Oppenheimer, the questions of morality the film asks, the horror Nolan shows in the aftermath of testing the bomb, the structure of the "fission" and "fusion" storylines, Nolan's cynicism over humanity, the incredible work by all of his artisans, the brilliant performances from Cillian Murphy and the entire ensemble, and how this became one of the most rewatchable films of the decade so far but also one of the most vital films in the modern era.

You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more. You can also listen on the AW YouTube page.

This podcast runs 3h07m. The guys will be back next week to conclude their series on the films of Christopher Nolan with a review of his new film, The Odyssey. You can rent it via iTunes and Amazon Prime rental in preparation for the next episode of Director Watch. Till then, let's get into it.

Music: MUSICALIFE, from Pond5 (intro) and "B-3" from BoxCat Games Nameless: The Hackers RPG Soundtrack (outro).