Oppenheimer. A Movie Bursting at the Seams!

The only thing the scientist Oppenheimer truly has to fear is his role as the destroyer of worlds as many a movie trailer showed.

Oppenheimer Movie PosterChris Nolan‘s movie, Oppenheimer, may feel long, but time went by quickly when I saw it again for the second time. That’s because the time differential from knowing when it’ll happen to searching for that reference regarding black holes kept me glued. Also, this film is not about when that bomb dropped to kickstart the atomic age. Instead, it’s about who J. Robert Oppenheimer is–a brilliant scientist and flawed individual who said, “I have become death, the destroyer of worlds.”

In what this filmmaker enthrals viewers with is how this individual sees the world. It’s a place where particles collide, and how it moves is non-linear. Just how he frames this story is with one overarching narrative with plenty of flashbacks laid in between. It’s easy to follow. And when he juxtaposes moments between the present and the past, what’s presented is like waiting for lit stick of TNT to explode.

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The Wind and the Reckoning Highlights a Tragic Moment of Hawaiian History

Ultimately, The Wind and the Reckoning is about this Pi’ilani;s willingness to be with her family till the end.

Tne Wind and the Reckoning Movie PosterDavid L. Cunningham‘s The Wind and the Reckoning, is a frightful reminder of the days of Imperialism. In what he adapted from Ka Moolelo oiaio o Kaluaikoolau (“The True Story of Kaluaikoolau” Amazon link) into a movie is a tale about love, commitment and hate. Thankfully, the former is about a family sticking together, and the latter concerns how America took control of Hawaii. This book has been reprinted many times since its original publication in 1906, and I believe it’s essential reading.

Because nobody back then knew how to treat leprosy, a lot of natives got displaced. Locals were expected to “do what’s right,” and the law would make sure it happened. The inhabitants feared being moved to the remote colony on Moloka’i and many no doubt fled to deeper inland if not to the caves. And in what made me invested is that what occurred there also transpired in various corners of the world too. In Victoria, BC, anyone with this condition, namely the Chinese, were sent to the nearby D’arcy Island, and weren’t given much to help them fend for themselves.

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