Joker

[Liam Hall]

Christ on a bike, that's a movie.

Dark. Very dark. And violent. Very violent. And an uncomfortable watch. A Very...

....you get the idea. But goodness me what a movie.

Not for everyone, for sure, but for me, Joaquim Phoenix gives a master class in physical acting.

Oscar worthy. Phenonemal. But boy, is it dark. If you've seen "You Were Never Really There", it's that performance, turned up to eleven.

*Edit go see it in Imax. Great cinematography (apart from two shots of De Niro). Great soundtrack.

 

[optitek]

It's always been fascinating to me trying to understand why would anyone want to pay to see violence for entertainment. I guess it's going back to the romans and gladiators. Primal instincts?

 

[Batutta]

It's always been fascinating to me trying to understand why would anyone want to pay to see violence for entertainment. I guess it's going back to the romans and gladiators. Primal instincts?

We're apes at the base of of our brains. The once did a study where they tried advertising to Chimpanzees in a zoo. They found the chimps reacted most strongly to images of strong, violent alpha males and female genitalia.

 

[Liam Hall]

It's always been fascinating to me trying to understand why would anyone want to pay to see violence for entertainment.

It's visceral.

 

[Josh Bass]

I am intrigued. Would be intrigued if it were same movie but had no Joker affiliation. However colleague told me today its getting a lot of bad reviews.

 

[Eric Coughlin]

It's always been fascinating to me trying to understand why would anyone want to pay to see violence for entertainment. I guess it's going back to the romans and gladiators. Primal instincts?

Because violence is one of the strongest forms of conflict, and conflict drives story.

If one was to tell someone the story of their life, if they had had violence in their history, those stories would likely be some of the more interesting stories of their life.

 

[kevin baggott]

Watch or rewatch local hero - ya dont need blood on the walls conflict to drive story.

 

[Josh Bass]

Personally I dont care about the violence itself (that is, the onscreen depiction—-they can cut away or imply whatever hes done rather show it directly). More intrigued by watching someone get pushed so far that he becomes completely unhinged and the exploration of that.

 

[JPNola]

Christ on a bike, that's a movie.

Dark. Very dark. And violent. Very violent. And an uncomfortable watch. A Very...

....you get the idea. But goodness me what a movie.

Not for everyone, for sure, but for me, Joaquim Phoenix gives a master class in physical acting.

Oscar worthy. Phenonemal. But boy, is it dark. If you've seen "You Were Never Really There", it's that performance, turned up to eleven.

*Edit go see it in Imax. Great cinematography (apart from two shots of De Niro). Great soundtrack.

I have not watched any movie in at least three years. And I’m not just talking about it being at least three years since seeing a movie in a theater, it’s been at least three years since I’ve watched any movie at all. . The trailer for Joker, along with compelling feedback like that of Liam’s here, might well break that streak and cause me to watch a film again.

If a filmmaker can compel someone to watch a film for the first time in literally years, that filmmaker is surely doing something right. Critics be damned.

 

[JPNola]

Watch or rewatch local hero - ya dont need blood on the walls conflict to drive story.

Who said or even suggested that you do? Clearly, from the audience feedback, what is driving the success of Joker is character and performance. The draw for audiences of Joker isn’t the same as with gore-films where the blood and gore is a primary appeal in and of itself. Personally, I just like dark films and darkish films. No Country for Old Men being one of my favorite films along with Cool Hand Luke, a film that is pretty dark for its time. After all, the “hero” in CHL is defeated and dies in the end. One of my favorite Westerns is The Outlaw Josey Wales, another dark film. Like Joker, OJW was a dark “revisionist” film that turned a genre on its head and did so in dark manner.

 

[DLD]

93% audience score on Rotten Toms. The critics scores are up to 69% (were in the 30's earlier)

 

[DLD]

It's also breaking October box office records.

 

[Josh Bass]

Well I am definitely an audience and I am not a critic so that's encouraging. I wonder how many of the poor suckers who went to see it think it has more than the absolute minimum to do with Batman/DC universe? I know most "regular" folks don't read reviews.

 

[Liam Hall]

I wonder how many of the poor suckers who went to see it think it has more than the absolute minimum to do with Batman/DC universe? I know most "regular" folks don't read reviews.

Well, this poor sucker went to see it with an open mind. You should try opening yours.

I am intrigued. Would be intrigued if it were same movie but had no Joker affiliation.

It's called Joker because it is about the Joker and how he became the character we've seen in other films. So, pretty tough to make a film about the Joker without the Joker... That said, if you'd never seen any Batman film ever or didn't know anything about those films it still works as a study of a man drifting grappling with his own madness.

Watch or rewatch local hero - ya dont need blood on the walls conflict to drive story.

And you don't need cheese to enjoy a good sandwich... That's false equivalence and a total logic fail. I can enjoy both films with violence and those without.

Personally I dont care about the violence itself (that is, the onscreen depiction—-they can cut away or imply whatever hes done rather show it directly). More intrigued by watching someone get pushed so far that he becomes completely unhinged and the exploration of that.

How do you know how you would feel about the violence in this film when you haven't seen it? Utterly preposterous comment. The violence is hard to watch in this film. It's meant to be...

 

[Josh Bass]

I dont know what youre on about. I already said I was interested in seeing it. Ive also heard that Todd Philips originally didnt want it to be a joker movie (was going to be about a regular guy going nuts and have nothing to do with the world of DC) but felt pressure to slap the Joker thing onto it to get it made.

 

[kevin baggott]

"Because violence is one of the strongest forms of conflict, and conflict drives story.'

I was referring to this quote by Eric. And was not trying to make a big point with it.

 

[cyvideo]

Watch or rewatch local hero - ya dont need blood on the walls conflict to drive story.

Oh how true! A charming film with a touch of magic. With the bonus of Burt Lancaster and Mark Knopffler's magical musical mastery. One of the my favorite DVD's.

Chris Young

 

[JPNola]

Well I am definitely an audience and I am not a critic so that's encouraging. I wonder how many of the poor suckers who went to see it think it has more than the absolute minimum to do with Batman/DC universe? I know most "regular" folks don't read reviews.

You make it sound like the film is a sham that "suckers" audiences into wasting their money. Below you make it out, based on what you "heard", as if the director of the film had no interest in the film being in any way related to the DC character and only did so grudgingly, against his will. And then unhappily made a film that wasn't what he wanted to make but he had no choice in the matter.

I'm annoyed by your posts, honestly.

 

[Liam Hall]

You make it sound like the film is a sham that "suckers" audiences into wasting their money. Below you make it out, based on what you "heard", as if the director of the film had no interest in the film being in any way related to the DC character and only did so grudgingly, against his will. And then unhappily made a film that wasn't what he wanted to make but he had no choice in the matter.

I'm annoyed by your posts, honestly.

Spot on.

 

[Batutta]

This film was gorgeously shot, and Joaquin's performance is amazing. I appreciated the films single minded focus, especially after the Avengers films with their nine thousand characters and storylines to follow. I think the script grapples with ideas that are slightly above the pay grade of the filmmakers but it almost doesn't matter. Every now and then a movie comes along that is of the moment and really resonates. The film speaks to fundamental truths about a certain toxic type of male character that our isolating society seems to produce, refracted through a funhouse mirror. Sure, Scorsese covered this material in his masterpiece Taxi Driver but these themes bear repeating. That it was done in the framework of a comic book movie is kind of amazing, so I forgive that the reach of this film exceeds its grasp. It's worth watching just for Phoenix's riveting performance.