“Oppenheimer”

Twenty-five years into Christopher Nolan’s lauded career, he has crafted not just his best film yet, but one of the most monumental and important filmmaking achievements of all time in the tension-filled, earth-shattering “Oppenheimer.” It is a project that feels like it could not exist without every Nolan film that came before it.

Based on “American Prometheus” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, this biopic follows brilliant physicist Robert J. Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) as he is chosen by Leslie Groves Jr. (Matt Damon) to lead the Manhattan Project. The narrative switches back and forth between three different storylines in Oppenheimer’s life, beginning with his world-changing work on the Manhattan Project and relationships with Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) and Kitty Oppenheimer (Emily Blunt). Nolan then immerses the audience in two hearing scenes: one when Oppenheimer was accused of being a communist by the U.S. government, and the other — gorgeously filmed in black-and-white —  when AEC Chairman Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.) goes after Oppenheimer’s character. 

Nolan wastes no time kicking the momentum off from the very first frame of his big-screen epic — a momentum that never lets up throughout these interweaving story arcs.

Nolan harnesses the power of sound design and Ludwig Göransson’s masterful score to create a viscerally overwhelming and deeply unsettling experience. Even before the heart-pounding Trinity Test scene, the abstract, mind-bending way Nolan depicts Oppenheimer’s fascination with the field of quantum and nuclear physics brings his worldview to fruition. 

When Oppenheimer learns that there is a tiny chance the atomic bomb will cause a chain reaction and destroy the world, Nolan illustrates the fusion of molecules and the horrifying image of the Earth on fire to drive home this rampant nightmare.

On top of being a technical showcase, “Oppenheimer” also has some of the best performances given in a Nolan film. Murphy’s lead performance is pitch-perfect  — matched perfectly by Nolan’s knack for a good close-up —  while Blunt and Downey Jr. are the definitive standouts of the enormous supporting cast. It is a true ensemble film where each and every performance brings purpose and emotional staying power, no matter how brief the appearance may be.

Nolan is a brilliant enough director to not just perfectly situate this film in its historical time period, but allows for the never-ending fear of world implosion and annihilation to linger, haunting the audience to no end. It is a reality that the world will forever have to grapple with, far beyond Oppenheimer’s restless nights and eventual realizations that come just a few years too late. This very terror is what makes “Oppenheimer” a timeless feat that will be remembered far beyond its box office success and inevitable Oscar wins.

“But Here We Are”

On June 2, 2023, the Foo Fighters released “But Here We Are,” their first album since their drummer, Taylor Hawkins, died on March 25, 2022. Frontman Dave Grohl was also faced with the death of his mother, Virginia, who died that same year. Following these tragedies, “But Here We Are” takes listeners on a journey through grief, loss and acceptance. 

The album in its entirety feels reminiscent of the Foo Fighters’ hit, “My Hero,” which many fans have interpreted as being in remembrance of Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain, and may be one of the best Foo Fighters albums in the past twenty years. 

Over time, the Foo Fighters have strayed from their alternative ‘90s roots as their music has developed for the modern age, losing some of their original grittiness. Both their past and present fans will be pleasantly surprised by the album’s modern take on the classic raw, grunge sound. 

The album’s final song, “Rest,” ends the track with a soft yet raw melody that depicts loss in a hauntingly beautiful way. Grohl repeats the lines “Rest, you can rest now / Rest, you will be safe now / Rest, you can rest now,” ending the chorus with “You will be safe now.” Here Grohl speaks directly to his lost loved ones, both to Hawkins and his mother. 

This final chorus of the album ends with a direct reference to Grohls’ mother, Virginia, with the perfect heartbreaking ending — “Wakin’ up, had another dream of us / In the warm Virginia sun, there I will meet you.” Throughout the album, Grohl and his bandmates have been able to turn tragedy into a beautiful work of art, creating a musical eulogy at its finest.

“The Age of Pleasure”

Only running 32 minutes and 4 seconds, Janelle Monáe’s new album, “The Age of Pleasure,” passes by quickly alongside the soothing sound of Monáe’s voice. Every track has a well-crafted groove that makes it absolutely impossible to sit still while listening, but this is not uncommon for the music put out by Monáe. The first single released from this album was “Lipstick Lover,” and with a reggae bounce and romantic vocals from Monáe, this was the perfect, early taste of the album.

Moving through the album, the listener is put through a very feminist-driven narrative, speaking on the hyper-sexuality and beauty of women, as well as portraying God as a strong female. Listeners to this album can only believe that it was incredibly intricate to make, with each song perfectly transitioning into the next, making this piece feel like one larger piece of music. 

A common complaint of female pop and rap music is that it is overly sexual and inappropriate, and while this album is very overt in those topics, when combined with the backing tracks and vocals, it is very easy to slip into and enjoy the music and not notice the topic of the songs. 

While every track on the album is enjoyable —  especially “Lipstick Lover”  — the album itself felt far too short. Monáe’s last few albums ran between 48 minutes and over an hour, so to release a 32-minute album felt underwhelming and as if there was more that was missing. Extending songs or adding more songs that are shorter could have made this album feel much more like a complete piece, rather than a sliver of what could have been. That being said, Monáe consistently puts out interesting music and this album is no exception. 

“Strange New Worlds”

As more and more prequels with more modern casting come out, “Star Trek’s” newest series, “Strange New Worlds,” follows suit, detailing the lives of the early Enterprise crew under Captain Pike (Anson Mount) before the iconic Captain Kirk took the commander’s seat in the 1966 original “Star Trek” series. 

Emotions and coping with mental health are themes the writers have chosen for SNW’s second season, clearly targeting a much younger audience than the Trekkies who were alive when “The Original Series” (TOS) first aired. 

However, the season proves to be nostalgic by creating backstories never written before and making the original characters, many of whom were very two-dimensional, now suddenly feel human — perhaps too human in the case of Lieutenant Spock. Spock is a Vulcan, a species known for their logic and suppression of emotions. La’an Noonien Sighn (Christina Chong), the ship’s chief security officer, is as emotionally unavailable as Spock. Viewers watch on several occasions as the two parallel characters each have their emotional breaking points. 

Highlights of the series include the ninth episode’s comedically awkward musical numbers, as each crew member trauma dumps in rhythmic verse, allowing Uhura’s character (Celia Rose Gooding) to have new depth as her original TOS storyline was essentially formless and hyper-sexualized. Finally, in the season’s cliffhanger tenth episode — hinting at a third season — viewers are introduced to a long-beloved TOS character, Montgomery Scott (Martin Quinn). 

Overall, SNW maintains the original values of “Star Trek” but has evolved the franchise seamlessly into a society that is more comfortable talking about mental health than it was 57 years ago.