🍿 The dawn of 'Barbenheimer'

Barbenheimer Friday

July 21 – Two big, diametrically opposed films – “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” – both open today with movie fans planning to see both back-to-back. Here’s a guide to celebrating “Barbenheimer”, and you can read Sammie’s review of Christopher Nolan’s flick below.

🌞 Mostly sunny and 93° today. There’s rain in the forecast for Saturday, but Sunday will be sunny and hot.

📉 Georgia’s unemployment rate was unchanged last month at 3.2%, while the number of jobs rose to an all-time high, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.

🚨 Sandy Springs Police have arrested two female juveniles for a pair of pedestrian armed robberies on July 6.

🚗 Atlanta Police recovered multiple stolen vehicles and made an arrest at a chop shop in west Atlanta.

🚲 Atlanta Streets Alive is returning after a four-year hiatus on Sun., Sept. 24, which will see a three-mile stretch of Peachtree Street closed to vehicles for walking, biking, and skating.

🍝 The Junction Krog development in Old Fourth Ward along the BeltLine has announced that Italian restaurant Yeppa & Co. will be its first restaurant tenant.

🕖 Today’s newsletter is ④ stories.

• Working Artist Project
• Film Review: ‘Oppenheimer’
• The Sports Section
AND
• Top Stories of the Week

Have a good weekend,
Collin, Sammie, and Madison

🍅 Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival (#AKTF) returns on Sun., July 30 from 1-4 p.m. for an annual celebration of the juiciest fruit in Georgia: tomatoes. Passes include tastings and beverages featuring tomatoes from restaurants, bars, and other tomato-serving establishments. Tickets are here.
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MOCA GA staff and WAP winners pose during the WAP Bash on July 14, 2023. Provided.

1. MOCA GA announces winners of the 2023-2024 Working Artist Project

🎨 The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA) has announced that Namon Choi, José Ibarra Rizo, and Jane Foley have won the 2023-2024 MOCA GA Working Artist Project complete with $15,000 stipends for their work in the coming year.

The Working Artist Project (WAP) was developed to support established artists in the Metro Atlanta area. This annual award is funded by the Charles Loridans Foundation, the Antinori Foundation, the AEC Trust, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Including this year’s winners, MOCA GA has supported 48 fellows over the past 16 years.

“This legacy initiative provides an unparalleled level of support for individual artists, expands the Museum’s mission, and promotes Atlanta as a city where artists can live, work, and thrive,” said Annette Cone-Skelton, Director of MOCA GA in a statement. “MOCA GA supports artists by granting a major stipend to create new work; by presenting a solo exhibition of the new work; by producing an accompanying exhibition catalog; and by providing paid studio apprentices over the course of one year.”

🏆 You can learn more here.

Summer lovin’ for your canine
SPONSORED BY SCENTHOUND

🐶 With summer in full swing, your fur family needs some extra TLC. Keeping your dog clean with regular baths is an important part of your pup’s health throughout the season.

– Bathing protects their coats from chlorine, saltwater, and bacteria after dips in the ocean, pool, or romps through the sprinklers.
– Summer brings fleas, ticks and mosquitos, and regular baths are crucial to keeping the pests away.
– Dogs sweat just like people, and bathing keeps their paws clean and minimizes smells and bacteria.

💦 Learn more about the benefits of bathing here, or call or click to schedule an appointment at one of our Scenthound locations:

➡ Buckhead : (470) 607-5100
➡ Dunwoody: (678) 990-1900
➡ Tucker: (770) 538-1790

Cillian Murphy in “Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures)

2. ‘Oppenheimer’ is a thrilling set of contradictions
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW | BY SAMMIE PURCELL

💣 Christopher Nolan’s new film “Oppenheimer” puts forth the idea of the man as a set of contradictions. The father of the atomic bomb who felt pride in his accomplishment, and later a martyr who felt tremendous responsibility for the violence and death that creation wrought. A patriot and a Soviet sympathizer. An egoist and a self-aggrandizing prophet with questionable social skills. A visionary and a teacher, whose colleagues and students affectionately called him “Oppy.”

Most things that have been said about and by Oppenheimer – good, bad, or middling – are represented here.

So, who was J. Robert Oppenheimer? That is the ever-constant question in Nolan’s film and one that has been of historical significance since the end of World War II.

But in “Oppenheimer,” neither the measure of the man nor his belief system ultimately matters much in the end. Nolan enjoys trying to understand the psyche of tortured, complex men, and there’s plenty of that to be found here. But by choosing to tell Oppenheimer’s story in part through the lens of one of his greatest enemies, he also points to the futility of that particular endeavor.

📽️ Read my full review here.

🍿 Stay in the picture with Scene by Rough Draft, our weekly newsletter about Georgia’s film industry. Movie reviews, profiles, what’s filming where, plus more. Directed by Sammie Purcell. Subscribe for free.

3. The Sports Section

Between soccer in New Zealand and Australia and golf in England, sports fans are sure to be sleep deprived this weekend.

🏌️‍♂️ The 2023 British Open (aka the Open Championship) began yesterday. Georgia Tech grad and reigning amateur champion, Christo Lamprecht, topped the leaderboard after the first day of play. Catch the action here or on USA Network and NBC (pictured).

⚽ USA plays Vietnam for their first match in the FIFA Women’s World Cup tonight at 9 p.m. The team features Georgia natives Kelley O’Hara and Emily Sonnett (TV: FOX). Check out our list of watch parties around town.

⚾ The Atlanta Braves stopped their four-game losing streak by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday. They start a weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers tonight (8:10 p.m., TV: ESPN+).

Earlier this week, the Braves became a publicly traded team trading under “BATRA” and “BATRK” on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

🏀 The Atlanta Dream broke their seven-game winning streak after losing to the Connecticut Sun yesterday. The two teams tip off again on Sat., July 22. (1 p.m., TV: ESPN).

🎾 Qualifying for The Atlanta Open starts tomorrow, but the court is being christened today at 11 a.m., featuring Chris Eubanks, who recently captured our hearts with his incredible Wimbledon run.

The Sunday Showdown between Atlanta native Coco Gauff and Leylah Fernandez is Sun., July 24 at 7 p.m.

🤸 Clark Atlanta University is hosting the 7^th annual Brown Girls Do Gymnastics conference through Sun., July 23. It’s open to the public on Sat., July 22. Tickets are $10.

💕 Meet Hatched Dating, the free and fun dating app redefining the swipe by making it less “show me” and more “know me.” Exclusively available in Atlanta, Hatched is changing the digital dating game by diving deeper into values, attitudes, personality, and interests to help users discover more meaningful matches. Check it out here!
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