saw this earlier, it was... okay, obvs its politics are all over the place but it looks pretty good and Phoenix is excellent. The "is it all in his head" stuff is kind of infuriating. It woefullly fails the Bechdel Test, of course.
― Captain ACAB (Neil S), Saturday, 5 October 2019 18:09 (four years ago) link
The first instance of "is it in his head" is completely obvious immediately but that doesn't stop Phillips from his cloying reveal scene that explains it like you're an idiot.
He must have been a real joy on April Fool's Day growing up
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Saturday, 5 October 2019 18:13 (four years ago) link
Also Alfred Pennyworth is a dick in this
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Saturday, 5 October 2019 18:15 (four years ago) link
Wayne Manor has very bad security as well
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Saturday, 5 October 2019 18:19 (four years ago) link
yeah far too much "DO YOU SEE???", which is totally unnecessary and serves to undermine Phoenix's performance.
― Captain ACAB (Neil S), Saturday, 5 October 2019 18:20 (four years ago) link
it had the positive effect of making me want to watch The King of Comedy again, so we'll be doing that this weekend
― Captain ACAB (Neil S), Saturday, 5 October 2019 18:21 (four years ago) link
I cannot imagine wanting to see this shit a second time. It's Polanski's "Repulsion" levels of ugly and the last five minutes were overload for me.
But i didn't dislike it? Just didn't go in expecting any real philosophy which helped
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Saturday, 5 October 2019 18:21 (four years ago) link
must remember to set my concerns over bechdel criteria aside also before prepping for evaluation of this piece
― too many cuckth thpoil the broth (darraghmac), Saturday, 5 October 2019 20:57 (four years ago) link
Yeah, the 'it was in his head!' reveal was hilarious in how unnecessary but then after that we're never told what he does to Sophie, which is infuriating.
― Frederik B, Saturday, 5 October 2019 21:11 (four years ago) link
Worse than bad, this movie is baggy and boring and its problems are not interesting. Joaquin’s performance is incredible as expected but fuck me running this movie could’ve been so much better OR a disaster, which at least would’ve been entertaining. Dropping the gun in the children’s hospital was hilarious tho
― flappy bird, Saturday, 5 October 2019 21:19 (four years ago) link
― flappy bird, Saturday, 5 October 2019 21:21 (four years ago) link
― too many cuckth thpoil the broth (darraghmac), Saturday, October 5, 2019 8:57 PM (forty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
will you actually watch the film or do you prefer just to comment on the reactions of those that have
― Captain ACAB (Neil S), Saturday, 5 October 2019 21:51 (four years ago) link
WHAT is that fuckin mournful cello motif? It’s becoming the new Lux Aeterna
― flappy bird, Saturday, 5 October 2019 21:53 (four years ago) link
The first instance of "is it in his head" is completely obvious immediately but that doesn't stop Phillips from his cloying reveal scene that explains it like you're an idiot.He must have been a real joy on April Fool's Day growing up
kind of weird that he’s this pay by the hour clown working for a clown agency but he has all these fluid body movements and dance moves that imply he’s maybe trained? like he went to the same French clown school as Baskets and it’s an essential piece of character background they just left out
― mh, Saturday, 5 October 2019 21:57 (four years ago) link
― Captain ACAB (Neil S), Saturday, 5 October 2019 21:51 (five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
a fair question!
still only a v few reviews/indications as to whether its worth catching and ive been away tbfttc
― too many cuckth thpoil the broth (darraghmac), Saturday, 5 October 2019 21:58 (four years ago) link
xp comment on overeducation and the thwarted expectations of graduated in the gig economy obv
― too many cuckth thpoil the broth (darraghmac), Saturday, 5 October 2019 21:59 (four years ago) link
I didn't quite make it through the first hour before I turned to my date and asked "Are you enjoying this?" — she wasn't, and neither was I (though I did get some good are-you-kidding-me laughs just now, reading a Wikipedia summary of the remainder of the plot). The strongest memory I retain of this unpleasant and idea-starved film will be the feeling of nausea I experienced when a couple sat down beside me accompanied by a quiet girl who couldn't have been more than 10 years old.
― Subaru owners I have wordlessly loved (bernard snowy), Saturday, 5 October 2019 22:41 (four years ago) link
Oh jeez.
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Saturday, 5 October 2019 23:47 (four years ago) link
Also it's not every piece of Joker media where Joker whines about nobody being civil unironically before plugging someone
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Saturday, 5 October 2019 23:48 (four years ago) link
Dropping the gun in the children’s hospital was hilarious tho
Otm
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Saturday, 5 October 2019 23:49 (four years ago) link
Yes that was the one perfect scene, I was like "He really *is* an excellent dancer!"
― Subaru owners I have wordlessly loved (bernard snowy), Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:08 (four years ago) link
Michael Moore raves.
― ... (Eazy), Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:09 (four years ago) link
What was the vibe like in theaters everyone went to? I gotta say I was more taken by the audience than the movie.... NO ONE was laughing, even at the obvious jokes, there was this really tense and funereal and deathly serious atmosphere.... I was just like fuck am I watching Joker in a theater full of aspiring Jokers? I didn't dare stick around to get a demographic read.
― flappy bird, Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:14 (four years ago) link
Amazing to me that y’all dont have anything better to do than prop up this schmuck’s career
― Οὖτις, Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:21 (four years ago) link
It was a Filipino theatre at 11:30 am with two other people. They were quiet throughout.
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:24 (four years ago) link
Joaquin's GOAT performance outweighs Philips' thoroughly dull and facile social critique.
This nails it tho:
you've seen great films by fantastic directors be reduced to college dorm room poster movies. A Clockwork Orange. Scarface. Pulp Fiction. Fight Club. what Joker presupposes is what happens when you set out to make a college dorm room poster movie on purpose.— Carol Grant (@carolaverygrant) October 5, 2019
― flappy bird, Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:26 (four years ago) link
Hah exactly. It was like Phillips showed his first test screening to a robot with a Grit sensor
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:29 (four years ago) link
lol @ michael fucking moore
Yes, there’s a disturbed clown in that mirror, but he’s not alone — we’re standing right there beside him.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:41 (four years ago) link
the whole 'what about the children' vibe with this film is super weird to me. like, if you don't want to see the movie, don't see it! Who's forcing everyone to take part in this BAD CULTURAL TOUCHSTONE that we've all agreed is bad... but if I don't see it, how will i know how bad it REALLY is?!?!?!? I'm an immense culture vulture but i've determined this is gonna suck so I'll stay home and finish Unbelievable instead so my review is "maybe watch Unbelievable on Netflix instead'.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:43 (four years ago) link
for fuck's sake, i had a killing joke t-shirt in like eighth grade, nothing about this is new or noteworthy except for the press
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:44 (four years ago) link
Otm, it is very easy to ignore a cultural product like a film.
― Van Horn Street, Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:47 (four years ago) link
We're not standing besides the Joker, the Reagan administration is.
And Phillips is pointing at them going BAD! BAD! BAD!
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:49 (four years ago) link
Phoenix is a great actor but what really makes this a waste is that Fleck is just not very compelling as a character. Being “crazy” isn’t interesting by itself.
And since we have to spend the entire movie with him, it kind of makes for a
Joker is obviously indebted to King of Comedy and Taxi Driver, but those movies have scenes give you a glimpse outside their protagonists’ heads once in a while. Everything here is filtered through Fleck’s POV,
Occasionally there are glimmers of a better movie.
― Conceptualize Wyverns (latebloomer), Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:55 (four years ago) link
Good god I wrote a whole thing and had to log in and then I posted it but it was the older draft. >:(
― Conceptualize Wyverns (latebloomer), Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:56 (four years ago) link
Being “crazy” isn’t interesting by itself.
It really is uncomfortably watching one man lose his mind, truth
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Sunday, 6 October 2019 00:57 (four years ago) link
Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here is a brilliant movie starring JP as a traumatized vet turned mercenary that superficially has a lot in common with Joker (entirely from JP's perspective/mind, NYC underbelly, 'we live in a society') but it's a stunning and taut masterwork and Joker really is the work of an amateur in comparison. check that movie out!
― flappy bird, Sunday, 6 October 2019 01:04 (four years ago) link
I watched The Wind this weekend. If you want to see a genuinely compelling movie about someone descending into madness, entirely from that person's POV, watch that instead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVZBNT0Ap-A
― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Sunday, 6 October 2019 01:09 (four years ago) link
You Were Never Really Here was dope. Also very prescient about the Epstein/sex trafficking stuff
― Conceptualize Wyverns (latebloomer), Sunday, 6 October 2019 01:12 (four years ago) link
OTFM
― Conceptualize Wyverns (latebloomer), Sunday, 6 October 2019 01:17 (four years ago) link
This movie felt like being in a room for two hours with one of the Heath Ledger Joker’s henchmen/followers from The Dark Knight. And that movie arguably had more humor in it than this.
― Conceptualize Wyverns (latebloomer), Sunday, 6 October 2019 01:22 (four years ago) link
I did like seeing Batman’s dad portrayed as a (possibly?) gaslighting, quasi-Trumpian rich asshole. That was an interesting angle that I would have liked to see explored more.
It was also kinda hilarious that this has yet another staging of Bruce Wayne’s primal scene. How many cinematic versions of this scene do we have by now? Poor little bastard, can’t get a break in any of these fictional universes.
― Conceptualize Wyverns (latebloomer), Sunday, 6 October 2019 01:46 (four years ago) link
What was the vibe like in theaters everyone went to?
ILX: This Looks Awful And We're All Going the First Night
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 6 October 2019 01:48 (four years ago) link
TBH I wish it had been more awful rather than the utter mediocrity it was
― Conceptualize Wyverns (latebloomer), Sunday, 6 October 2019 01:58 (four years ago) link
Some of us are in a foreign country where we work during the evening and sleep during the day and sneaking in a movie is like the only recreation we've had in the entire last month xpost
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Sunday, 6 October 2019 02:04 (four years ago) link
I did like seeing Batman’s dad portrayed as a (possibly?) gaslighting, quasi-Trumpian rich asshole. That was an interesting angle that I would have liked to see explored more.It was also kinda hilarious that this has yet another staging of Bruce Wayne’s primal scene. How many cinematic versions of this scene do we have by now? Poor little bastard, can’t get a break in any of these fictional universes.
― i'm not a government man; i'm a government, man. (m bison), Sunday, 6 October 2019 03:00 (four years ago) link
Batman has apprehended Rick Scott
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Sunday, 6 October 2019 03:05 (four years ago) link
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/movies/ct-ent-joker-screenings-security-20191005-qnbxvljo4ja4tbywihfxnftbu4-story.html
― When I am afraid, I put my toast in you (Neanderthal), Sunday, 6 October 2019 03:36 (four years ago) link
I kinda like the idea of some alternate Bruce Wayne transition into Batman. What if his parents died because of a bad healthcare system? Then he vows revenge on the American healthcare industry.
― i'm not a government man; i'm a government, man. (m bison), Sunday, October 6, 2019 3:00 AM (thirty-seven minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
Ohh I like this. Is he still rich in this scenario? Or is he like a working-class healthcare vigilante? That would be cool
― Conceptualize Wyverns (latebloomer), Sunday, 6 October 2019 03:44 (four years ago) link
I had a reasonably good time seeing this. It's remarkable that Todd Phillips supposedly told Joaquin Phoenix that this was "a way to sneak a real movie in the studio system under the guise of a comic book film," because to me, the fact that it was a comic book movie is what saved it. I kept thinking about how this story and visual aesthetic probably would have worked better as a graphic novel in the vein of the obvious touchstones, The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke. Some of the clunkier aspects of it would have been more forgiveable in that context, or absent altogether (e.g. the score).
Speaking of clunky aspects: there were so many things in this that were dumber than they needed to be. Arthur's social worker saying he's on "seven different medications" (so you know he's REALLY crazy). The way it hammered the point about Arthur imagining the relationship with his neighbor, as if the dialog wasn't enough. The setup to Arthur's last joke being "what do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash?", which almost seemed like fan service for people who post ironic "we live in a society" memes. I know it's silly to ask for the Joker movie to be subtler, but I really think it could have been substantially better with a few tweaks here and there.
If they make a sequel, I'll probably see it. I can imagine something with a young James Gordon as Joker's foil.
― JRN, Sunday, 6 October 2019 03:47 (four years ago) link