If you think Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan is untouchable, you’d be wrong. Because he found perhaps his harshest sci-fi critic at a sports class of all places
With Oppenheimer, master director Christopher Nolan has once again landed a hit movie this year. But even the celebrated creator of sci-fi works such as Inception and Tenet is not immune to criticism. At an awards ceremony, he reported how one of his films was belittled by his fitness trainer. And the video evidence has also emerged
“What was going on in that movie?”: Sci-fi director Christopher Nolan unexpectedly got clobbered during a workout
Variety reported from the New York Film Critics Circle, where Christopher Nolan accepted the award for best director for Oppenheimer this year. In an acceptance speech, he spoke about filmmakers having “a complex emotional relationship with critics and reviews”. In the age of social media, he said, many felt called to criticize films. However, he believes that it should remain a profession – and told a bizarre personal story (at 1:02):
Christopher Nolan accepting the Best Director award at NYFCC for OPPENHEIMER FilmTwitter pic.twitter.com/eHGnmuOUMC
– Matt Neglia (@NextBestPicture) January 4, 2024
I was on my Peloton [training bike] for a course. I was dying [from exertion]. And the lead fitness instructor started talking about one of my movies. She said, ‘Has anyone seen this? That’s a couple hours of my life I’ll never get back!’
Apparently, the instructor had no idea that her video course would also end up on the bicycle of Christopher Nolan, whom she criticized. And because we live in the Internet age, the course in question, including the rant, has now also been unearthed: It’s Jenn Sherman’s virtual 30-minute training session in December 2020, which was of course recorded:
This song [we’re working out to] is from a movie called Tenet. Has anyone seen this sh– besides me? Because I need instructions for it. Someone needs to explain it to me. I’m not kidding, what the fuck was going on in that movie? Did you guys get that? Seriously, you need a neuro-scientist to understand this. That’s two and a half hours of life I want back. I want it back!
Of course, if you had trouble understanding the sci-fi movie like Christopher Nolan’s fitness instructor, you can always read Tenet’s explanation on Moviepilot.
