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Barbenheimer

“While it’s tough to say exactly what Barbie is, it’s easy to say what it isn’t: Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, a biopic about the father of the nuclear bomb, which is premiering on the same day in a largely black-and-white color scheme that almost definitely won’t contribute to a pink-paint shortage. Come July 21, some fans will trek offline to see Robbie grinning in her Corvette; others will be readying themselves to watch Cillian Murphy gaze despondently at an atomic explosion. Early box-office tracking estimates suggest there may be slightly more of the former than the latter.” — Jason P. Frank, “The Dawn of Barbenheimer”

Everything else

  1. this barbie is emotional
    Get in, Losers, We’re Making TikToks About GirlhoodThe saddest part of Barbie, now in 15 seconds or less.
    By Bella Arnold
  2. barbenheimer
    Which Barbie Is Oppenheimer?Barbie can be anything, including a scientist who stole the world’s innocence by developing a harbinger of the apocalypse.
    By Jason P. Frank and Rebecca Alter
  3. this barbie can’t stop crying
    Release the Barbie Fart-Opera CutRemember what they took from us …
    By Bella Arnold
  4. q&a
    The One Thing Missing From Oppenheimer’s ScoreLudwig Göransson strategically avoided an entire instrument family and built one of the most beautifully agitating movie soundtracks.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  5. vulture lists
    12 (Even More) Depressing Things to Read and Watch After OppenheimerThese books, movies, and pieces of pop culture are a guide to the atomic era Oppenheimer unleashed.
    By Kelsey Atherton
  6. vulture lists
    Greta Gerwig’s 10 Favorite BooksGeorge Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Joan Didion, and more.
    By Greta Gerwig
  7. barbenheimer
    Benny Safdie Is Really Proud of How His Eyebrows ‘Shined’ in Oppenheimer“Every once in a while I have a straggler that I’ll just pluck out. But Chris said, ‘Don’t do that. Let’s just let it go crazy.’”
    By Bilge Ebiri
  8. he’s kenough
    Rob Thomas Accepts His KenergyHe correctly assumed Matchbox Twenty would be “the butt of the joke” in Barbie.
    By Devon Ivie
  9. moment of (t)ruth
    Who Was the Real Ruth Handler From Barbie?Here’s the (t)ruth about the Mattel co-founder who created the iconic doll.
    By Jennifer Zhan
  10. explainers
    OPPENHEIMER
    What’s Fact and What’s Fiction in Oppenheimer?Even this most rigorous of biopics must at times employ shortcuts and shorthand.
    By Nate Jones
  11. women!
    Greta Gerwig Explains the Final Line in Barbie“I knew I wanted to end on a mic-drop kind of joke, but I also find it very emotional.”
    By Zoe Guy
  12. at the box office
    I Am Become Barbenheimer, Destroyer of Box Office RecordsBarbie and Oppenheimer’s staggering returns seem to signal franchise fatigue — or at least that audiences want alternatives to the same old, same old.
    By Chris Lee
  13. let’s go party
    Who’s Winning the Barbenheimer Box Office?Barbie had the largest domestic opening of any female director, ever.
    By Alejandra Gularte
  14. da movies
    Barbenheimer Weekend: Fires, Chaos, and Memes[demonic voice] “Hi, Ken!”
    By Bethy Squires
  15. back to the movies
    How Are Movie Theaters Handling Barbenheimer?Here’s to hoping there are Kenough screens for every Barbie wearing a porkpie hat.
    By Alejandra Gularte
  16. scene report
    Even a Dog in a Pink Bandanna Did BarbenheimerIt’s cinema’s biggest night!
    By Zoe Guy
  17. character guide
    Who’s Who in Oppenheimer: A Guide to 36 Scientists, Soldiers, and RedsOppenheimer is a cavalcade of white men in suits exchanging rapid-fire dialogue about physics and war. Here’s how to tell them apart.
    By Siddhant Adlakha
  18. endings
    OPPENHEIMER
    The ‘Troubling Reverberations’ at the End of Oppenheimer, ExplainedIt’s the most shattering ending of anything Christopher Nolan has made, and maybe even of any studio blockbuster in recent memory.
    By Bilge Ebiri
  19. kenergy
    Did Sam Smith See Ken on Grindr?Meet Bicurious Ken on “Man I Am.”
    By Justin Curto
  20. let’s go party
    Breaking: Barbie Has Entered the Real WorldAnd Sam Smith and Ryan Gosling brought some Ken-ergy to the soundtrack.
    By Jason P. Frank and Ashley Shannon Wu
  21. solidarity
    Don’t Worry, Your Barbenheimer Plans Don’t Cross Picket LinesThe double strike doesn’t have to affect your double feature.
    By Jennifer Zhan
  22. this is my hair i don’t wear wigs
    Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan Wage War (Against Wigs)This Barbie is all natural.
    By Jason P. Frank
  23. vulture lists
    The 11 Biggest Box-Office BombsWhere does Oppenheimer rank?
    By James Grebey
  24. review roundup
    Can Barbie Have Her Cake and Eat It Too?Critics say the existential comedy is well done, but some wonder how subversive Mattel’s IP-driven movie can be.
    By Zoe Guy
  25. vulture lists
    Let’s Revisit the 41 Other Barbie MoviesBefore Greta Gerwig came along, the Mattel doll already had a surprisingly vast cinematic universe.
    By Savannah Salazar
  26. girlbossery
    The Barbie-Merch Gestation Period Was 18 Months LongAnd just like Midge, it’s about to burst.
    By Jason P. Frank
  27. chat room
    Mark Ronson Went Full ‘Batshit’ on the Barbie Soundtrack“One of my favorite things … is this last line that goes, ‘My name’s Ken / And so am I.’ It’s so stupid, it’s the worst syntax.”
    By Justin Curto
  28. is pink the new black?
    Barbenheimer Memes Are Blowing UpIs it a war or an alliance?
    By Jason P. Frank
  29. into it
    Barbiecore Is Nothing NewForemothers Elle Woods, Paris Hilton, and Nicki Minaj walked so Barbie could run.
    By Sam Sanders
  30. on the record
    Ryan Gosling’s Got This Ken-ergy, ‘If You Will’Ken-derwear takes center stage in Gosling’s essentials list.
    By Zoe Guy
  31. double feature
    The Only Way to Watch Barbie and OppenheimerYou’re wrong. We’re right. Long live Barbenheimer.
  32. here we go again
    The Battle of Barbenheimer Is Mamma Mia! vs. The Dark Knight All Over AgainVeterans of the last time a long, brooding thriller by Christopher Nolan faced off against a colorful, pop-tune-heavy romp weigh in on the parallels.
    By Matthew Jacobs
  33. my single is dropping
    Billie Eilish Is Sad Barbie on ‘What Was I Made For?’Playing with doll-size looks from her past eras.
    By Justin Curto
  34. vulture bets
    Which Supporting Characters in Oppenheimer Will Die of Radiation Poisoning?Let’s go down the 70-person cast list one by one until we find the most likely suspects.
    By Nate Jones
  35. theories
    Is This What the Barbie Movie Is About Or Am I Crazy?Four theories about what Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s Barbie is really about.
    By Vulture Editors
  36. he’s just ken
    Ryan Gosling Drops Sad Himbo Anthem“Is it my destiny to live and die a life of blond fragility?”
    By Zoe Guy
  37. do your thing
    Is Drake on the Barbie Soundtrack?Producer Mark Ronson teased a surprise artist with an “idiosyncratic tie to Barbie.”
    By Justin Curto
  38. doppelgangers
    Margot Robbie Says Thank You to Fans Who Mistake Her for Emma MackeyThe pair were set to do a look-alike joke in the Barbie movie.
    By Charu Sinha
  39. rewrites
    Juno Writer Diablo Cody Knows Why Her Barbie Movie Didn’t WorkNonetheless, the Greta Gerwig movie is still her “Joker.”
    By Alejandra Gularte
  40. retro
    Michael Cera Is Embracing the T9 Texting LifeHe’s a certified green texter.
    By Alejandra Gularte
  41. barbie world politics
    This Barbie Is Not a GeopoliticianWarner Bros. addresses “childlike” map that got the film banned in Vietnam.
    By Zoe Guy
  42. double feature
    The Dawn of BarbenheimerWhen it comes to Barbie vs. Oppenheimer at the box office, the film girlies are Team Cinema.
    By Jason P. Frank
  43. fantastic
    Barbie Is Still a Personal Movie to Greta Gerwig“Oh, man, I didn’t hide anywhere.”
    By Alejandra Gularte
  44. why not both?
    Tom Cruise Is a Barbie-Oppenheimer Double-Feature Evangelist“It doesn’t get more explosive (or more pink).”
    By Zoe Guy
  45. putting the bar in barbie
    Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice Are Barbie Girls in a ‘Barbie World’Starring alongside their own custom dolls in the music video.
    By Jennifer Zhan
  46. the color pink
    Do You Guys Ever Think About Pink?Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig open the doors to the Barbie Dreamhouse.
    By Jason P. Frank
  47. playtime
    Amy Schumer on Why She Left the Barbie MovieSchumer was one of the many Barbies cast over the years.
    By Alejandra Gularte
  48. c’mon danny let’s go party
    Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling Leave a Life in Plastic for a Life of CrimeStarring in a period Ocean’s 11 prequel in Monte Carlo (Selena Gomez not included).
    By Jason P. Frank
  49. think pink
    Wait, Did Barbie Actually Cause an International Pink-Paint Shortage?It depends on who you’re asking.
    By Jennifer Zhan
  50. jump in
    The Barbie Soundtrack Rollout Has BegunWho has Nicki M. on the first album? Who has Oppenheimer saying she a problem?
    By Jennifer Zhan
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