The battle of the blockbusters between Barbie and Oppenheimer is the last stand for traditional moviegoing. It was almost nostalgic to sit through months of trailers as the studios ginned up an imaginary rivalry between Barbie and Bobby. Reading about the payoff, the fourth-most lucrative weekend in box office history, felt like a collective triumph. This was how show business used to work, and how mass entertainment once united a nation.

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