One of Christopher Nolan’s critics really made him sweat.
As he received the best director prize from the New York Film Critics Circle on Wednesday night, the man behind “Oppenheimer” told the room full of journalists that a movie of his was once criticized by a Peloton instructor mid-cycle.
“I was on my Peloton. I’m dying,” Nolan, 53, said onstage at Tao. “And the instructor started talking about one of my films and said, ‘Did anyone see this? That’s a couple hours of my life I’ll never get back again!’”
He added: “When Rex Reed takes a s – – t on your film, he doesn’t ask you to work out! In today’s world, where opinions are everywhere, there is a sort of idea that film criticism is being democratized, but I for one think the critical appreciation of films shouldn’t be an instinct but it should be a profession.”
He did not say which of his films the cyclist rudely ran over.
But Nolan did have some kind remarks for paid, experienced critics.
“What we have here tonight is a group of professionals who attempt objectivity,” he said. “Obviously writing about cinema objectively is a paradox, but the aspirations of objectivity is what makes criticism vital and timeless and useful to filmmakers and the filmmaking community.”
Nolan, who also directed “The Dark Knight” trilogy and “Dunkirk,” among other hits, hasn’t faced many rough reviews with his latest film.
“Oppenheimer” holds a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In a four-star review, The Post called the biopic about theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer “both a morally complex, informative, gripping drama and a mind-blowing visual feast.”
The movie is nominated for eight Golden Globes Sunday night, including best motion picture – drama, and it’s expected to receive plenty of Oscar nods later this month.
The New York Film Critics Circle named Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” best picture.