Despite making $360 million dollars and being loved and reviled in equal measure, sometimes I feel like Christopher Nolan’s spy-meets-time-travel hard sci-fi epic TENET doesn’t exist. The movie came out in the deepest of COVID, and even among those who saw it, more than half were put off by its (at times) unintelligible dialogue and convoluted plot. It has had a few returns to movie theaters since, and is available on physical and digital media, but isn't among his most celebrated or most visible works.

But at this moment, in the summer of 2023, it feels like it exists now more than ever. With OPPENHEIMER in movie theaters and enjoying massive success, more and more people seem to be talking about TENET. I'm a big fan. And I wanted to talk about it with another big fan.

On this episode, I'm talking to NYMag film critic Bilge Ebiri. Bilge has spent the summer writing and talking about OPPENHEIMER, and his work really brings us into the world of the making of a new classic.

We talk about TENET, OPPENHEIMER, and how they are speaking to each other. We also talk about Kenneth Branaugh (the best), the anxiety of parenting, Turkish history, how every scene in TENET is the best scene in the movie, and a lot more. We also reveal the secret agenda of this podcast episode: to get TENET re-released in 70mm iMax.

Oh, yea, and DARK KNIGHT RISES. It rules.

If you want more Bilge on this feed, scroll back to our episode on Akira Kurosawa's masterful HIGH AND LOW.

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