The time has come: Barbenheimer, the cinematic double-feature event of the summer, is here. Greta Gerwig’s sparkly fantasy comedy-drama Barbie premiering alongside Christopher Nolan’s gravely serious biopic Oppenheimer, about the man responsible for the atomic bomb, has made for one of the strangest (and most exciting) movie weekends in recent memory.
While audiences have no doubt already settled on which film they plan on watching first, it’s worth noting that technically, this is not the first time something like this has happened. Nearly every major release by Christopher Nolan has opened alongside a film that is at once its polar opposite and its perfect counterpart. From extravagant musical dramas and fantasy adventures to anachronistic biopics and fun and feisty comedies, there’s a Barbenheimer for all seasons.
We’ve pulled together a list of the oddest and most delightful movies to pair alongside a rewatch of Nolan’s best films.
Box office weekend: May 24, 2001*
Before Barbenheimer, there was Memento Rouge. While Nolan’s nonlinear neo-noir thriller may have been eclipsed by the bombastic maximalism of Baz Luhrmann’s musical romance drama at the box office, the two films nonetheless live on in the memories of filmgoers as exemplary breakthrough works by two of the most iconic directors working today. If you’re looking for a mind-twisting, high-flying double-feature rife with psychological menace and an abundance of confetti, there’s no better way to experience either director than to experience them paired together. —Toussaint Egan
*Both movies had limited releases in the spring before wider releases in the summer, around the same time. While it’s not technically same weekend, we are counting it because we make
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