Dear reader, I’ve been writing more lately at Substack. It’s just proving to be a simpler, more community-oriented platform to work with. That means that those of you who have been reading me here have been left out in the cold, and I’m sorry. I’ll try to crosspost a few more things more regularly. For now, enjoy this piece on a couple of recent movies, published at Substack under the title “Of Fantasies and Tragic Flaws.”

Rachel and I had the rare chance to go (kid-free) to not one but two movies this weekend. The #Barbenheimer phenomenon was too much to resist. Both films were astonishing feats of what is possible with a big-studio movie in the hands of a capable writer-director given free rein. Both drew out some incredible performances; both leaned hard into all-encompassing sets and costuming. Though very different, both are great films and worthy of going to see (give Hollywood a reminder that the universe doesn’t have to be comic book movies all the way down).

After a couple of days to reflect, I’m still somewhat surprised that, of the two films, I liked Barbie more. Yes, it was constrained to the box Mattel allowed for it, but Greta Gerwig managed to craft something cry-laugh funny and replete with pop-culture references (that felt laser-targeted to us as “elder Millennials”). It also had quite a surprisingly deep heart, if a bit didactic at times. Satire is precisely the right tool for some messages.

If you know me, you know what a history and science nerd I can be, so what I said above surprised me. I am literally the target audience for Oppenheimer. And it was 99% what I hoped it would be. I can’t remember the last time I felt so emotionally drained leaving a movie theater. Christopher Nolan’s work shines as a study of power and the machinations of power on the most epic of scales, but…

**Some spoilers for both films beyond this point!**

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