This past summer, cinema’s popularity had increased majorly. With blockbusters such as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer”, everyone made their way to the theater. Along with the Barbenheimer frenzy, movies like “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” also garnered large crowds. The cinema was the place to be.

“Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” clash in a summer movie frenzy. Photo: theguardian.com

“Oppenheimer”, directed by Christopher Nolan, was undoubtedly the headliner. This film covered the story of the creation of the atomic bomb and its aftermath. With a star studded cast including Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Emily Blunt and Rami Malek, how could anyone turn down this movie. Due to its historic nature and Nolan’s desire, the film was also fitted for 70 mm IMAX at select locations. This viewing method provides the most perfect camera quality in all of film. “Wow, just wow,” said senior and movie enthusiast Ross Bernath, “It felt as if magic was happening before my eyes.” Many others across the globe gave similar testaments to the brilliance of the film as it earned a 93% on rotten tomatoes and similar scores on other platforms. The film is a huge success and has been nominated for numerous awards.

The other major film of the summer was “Barbi”e. Margot Robbie plays Barbie and Ryan Gosling plays Ken, and the two navigate through the human world and discover that it is not what they expected. This movie, even though it was a bit childish, was a big hit. Loads of people went in full pink outfits to go admire either Barbie or Ken. Senior Rebecca Thompson said, “I loved it. Every second. I wanna be Barbie.” Due to its popularity, Barbie generated $1.286 billion in the box office. “Barbie” was a major hit and now all “Barbie” fans can be easily recognized in their full pink outfits.

While “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” did not get the attention the others got, it still put up great numbers. With Miles Morale’s back against the wall, he once again must find a way to defeat an intermultiversal villain. Voiced by Shameik Moore, Miles Morales always adds a nice humorous and youthful touch to the movie, which makes it more enjoyable. The film gets a whopping 95% from rotten tomatoes and IMDB rates it an 8.8/10. Due to the quicker release to streaming services, the film did not gain as much attention as the others, but it must not be overlooked. “I never would have thought an animated Spider-Man could be good until I saw this,” said junior Drew Thompson, “This new version is better than anything I have ever seen before.”

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” follows Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, embarks on a mission to get back a humanity threatening weapon before it is too late. Ethan Hunt is once again tasked with saving humanity in what seems like an impossible mission. Sophomore Ethan Holmes said, “I enjoyed that the character had the same name as me and how action packed the film was.” The film earned a surprising 96% on rotten tomatoes, while only earning a 8/10 on IMDB. This movie did not get the same traction as the others, but still turned a big profit at the box office.

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