Joker

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Anyone else excited about this? He's probably one of my more favorite villains, so I'm very intrigued by this, especially how it appears to be some kind of a riff on Scorsese's King of Comedy (De Niro as a talk show host can't be a coincidence). I think some people are complaining that it's not the "true" origin of the joker (the same thing people said about Nicholson), which is weird, because my understanding from Wikipedia is that he doesn't have a "true" origin. In that sense, I suppose the Dark Knight was the closest.

Oh, and it comes out a day before my birthday. This appears to be a good time for evil clown stories.

 

[The Cat]

I'm really looking forward to it, the character has always resonated on some level, and this one has a lot of potential from what Ive seen.

 

[Abcdenfp]

“Bold, devastating and utterly beautiful, Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix have not just reimagined one of the most iconic villains in cinema history, but reimagined the comic book movie itself.”

They are saying that this movie will redefine the entire genre.

I can not wait.. I have always loved Phoenix there is a hollow other worldliness to him . When I have heard he would be playing the joker I got goosebumps.

Jouquin is not afraid to walk entirely into the darkness of the mind . He is one of the only actors I think can.

 

[The Cat]

“Bold, devastating and utterly beautiful, Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix have not just reimagined one of the most iconic villains in cinema history, but reimagined the comic book movie itself.”

They are saying that this movie will redefine the entire genre.

I can not wait.. I have always loved Phoenix there is a hollow other worldliness to him . When I have heard he would be playing the joker I got goosebumps.

Jouquin is not afraid to walk entirely into the darkness of the mind . He is one of the only actors I think can.

I just hope it doesnt break him. Or me this one is gonna be pulling a lot of my strings

 

[Abcdenfp]

I just hope it doesnt break him. Or me this one is gonna be pulling a lot of my strings

Its gonna be close , he does enter the brink of madness , but i do believe he was always close to it so if anyone can pull back from this exploration i do believe its Joaquin. He has a sort of comfort level with Madness.

Its gonna pull at my strings as well. I am seriously debating watching it by myself. We have an Imax here (second largest in the world) and im thinking of just plunking myself upstairs in vip with a bottle of wine and watching the world turn mad.

 

[Tomb1]

Sure, I want to see it.

 

[ceecee]

Not going to a theater to see it but I will see it eventually.

 

[Abcdenfp]

it was fantastic,

an exploration into mental illness and how both the individual and society are interchangeable in being a part of the problem with our current social ills.

it gets to the core of why when we isolate people in our society it perpetuates a situation that is just merely on simmer for the moment.

It also tied together very neatly batman and joker in a much more seamless and understandable way.

in no way does Joker encourage violence IMO . instead it is a movie that dares to finally focus on the very real kind of emotional and mental trauma that would result in a person who happens to fall into role following a series of unfortunate life set back and long suppressed emotional issues.

Amazing work by Phoenix and Phillips.

 

[Maou]

Watching it tonight.

 

[anticlimatic]

Very enjoyable. That dude can ACT.

A lot of people are calling it overly triggering and calling on it to be banned, and I can see why- on the drive home from the theater all I could think about was murdering rich people and laughing about it.

 

[Abcdenfp]

Very enjoyable. That dude can ACT.

A lot of people are calling it overly triggering and calling on it to be banned, and I can see why- on the drive home from the theater all I could think about was murdering rich people and laughing about it.

Isn’t he fantastic. I think I could just relate to his feeling of total loss of control and inability to effectively be heard. People cry out all the time for help but people don’t engage.

Personally the scene with him and De Niro at the end was so powerful for me. And with his mother .

Parental figures and disappointment and disillusionment heightened to show the pain of those disappointments.

Tight as fuck script

 

[anticlimatic]

Isn’t he fantastic. I think I could just relate to his feeling of total loss of control and inability to effectively be heard. People cry out all the time for help but people don’t engage.

Personally the scene with him and De Niro at the end was so powerful for me. And with his mother .

Parental figures and disappointment and disillusionment heightened to show the pain of those disappointments.

Tight as fuck script

I could relate to the turning point in his life after the incident in the subway. When he says "I never knew that I existed, but now I do" he seems to be speaking to that transitional moment in adulthood where you realize your own agency and power to change the world around you, which can be a very good thing if you've been cultivated and raised under the right circumstances. Bruce Wayne will go one to have a similar moment as he becomes Batman, but with a different upbringing and instilled set of values he pivots in a (slightly) different direction. No wonder the joker is always accusing him of being 'the same.'

I liked that he didn't hurt anyone who was nice to him in this movie, though I think a sequel- if it follows the same trajectory- would see him transform further into someone who would. I'd like to see another movie by the same people in which Harley Quinn provides such a catalyst.

 

[Abcdenfp]

I could relate to the turning point in his life after the incident in the subway. When he says "I never knew that I existed, but now I do" he seems to be speaking to that transitional moment in adulthood where you realize your own agency and power to change the world around you, which can be a very good thing if you've been cultivated and raised under the right circumstances. Bruce Wayne will go one to have a similar moment as he becomes Batman, but with a different upbringing and instilled set of values he pivots in a (slightly) different direction. No wonder the joker is always accusing him of being 'the same.'

I liked that he didn't hurt anyone who was nice to him in this movie, though I think a sequel- if it follows the same trajectory- would see him transform further into someone who would. I'd like to see another movie by the same people in which Harley Quinn provides such a catalyst.

I agree on all this!!! Didn’t it tie his relationship to Bruce and why they are two sides of the same coin together so cohesively?! The moment when he says to the therapist “you don’t listen do you ?”as well .. aghhh SO good and the moment on the subway where he’s laughing but really crying omg.

I also loved the moment where he didn’t kill the small clown and said to him “ you were the only one who was nice to me” .

I know when I watch it again I will find nw nuances but that story was tight, cohesive and in my opinion a proper origin story .

 

[anticlimatic]

I agree on all this!!! Didn’t it tie his relationship to Bruce and why they are two sides of the same coin together so cohesively?! The moment when he says to the therapist “you don’t listen do you ?”as well .. aghhh SO good and the moment on the subway where he’s laughing but really crying omg.

I also loved the moment where he didn’t kill the small clown and said to him “ you were the only one who was nice to me” .

I know when I watch it again I will find nw nuances but that story was tight, cohesive and in my opinion a proper origin story .

That scene where he lets the little clown go was unnerving. I remember noticing the door getting locked, and thinking that there was a reason the director wanted me to notice that, and until the guy actually left I was unsure if he was going to survive the encounter. I'm glad he did- but it felt really close. I just wasn't sure what he was going to do, which is really the foundation of the 'creepy' uncanny valley instinctual self-defense mechanism.

A lot of the critical reviews that panned the film accuse it of promoting mental illness stigmas while giving incels motivation to hurt people, and I'm kind of torn on the mental illness one. Sure it reinforces the idea that mental illness can be bad or dangerous, but if someone gives you the creeps- like he gave the creeps to the girl in his apartment building- what's the right thing to do there? Risk your neck (and your daughter's neck) for the sake of promoting a more macro level of societal inclusiveness, or listen to your instincts and protect what's yours?

 

[Hive]

I could relate to the turning point in his life after the incident in the subway. When he says "I never knew that I existed, but now I do" he seems to be speaking to that transitional moment in adulthood where you realize your own agency and power to change the world around you, which can be a very good thing if you've been cultivated and raised under the right circumstances. Bruce Wayne will go one to have a similar moment as he becomes Batman, but with a different upbringing and instilled set of values he pivots in a (slightly) different direction. No wonder the joker is always accusing him of being 'the same.'

I liked that he didn't hurt anyone who was nice to him in this movie, though I think a sequel- if it follows the same trajectory- would see him transform further into someone who would. I'd like to see another movie by the same people in which Harley Quinn provides such a catalyst.

I don't think this Joker is the same individual as Batman's nemesis, and I think it'd be a stupid idea to make a sequel starring the same character. There are several reasons why I think this is. For one, he simply isn't capable of the kind of villainy the Joker is known for, he's not a planner or a schemer, and all the bad shit he did happened because of the right combination of provocation and opportunity. His actions did have large scale consequences, but the escalating anti-rich sentiments and the climactic riots also happened without any such intentions from Arthur himself. All he wanted was a life that was bearable, and his revenge was personal. Secondly, Arthur seems to be in his mid-to-late 30s, maybe even 40s, and Bruce Wayne seems to be around 10, meaning by the time he becomes Batman, Joker would be about 60, which just doesn't seem to add up. Thirdly, the Joker's true name, identity and origin has never been known, and it makes little sense to try and make a movie series where this is so clearly established since the lack of all these things is pretty integral to the character. The one exception I can think of is Alan Moore's Joker in The Killing Joke, but Moore always had a very iconoclastic take when writing already established characters, and it isn't considered canon.

I think a possible explanation is that Arthur's actions and the riots inspires the individual who later becomes the Joker we know, which would be neat because that'd mean he is indirectly responsible for the birth of both Batman and Joker.

 

[EllevenSevenSounds]

I would love to check it out unfortunately some personal matters are causing me to just lay low and go with the flow.

 

[Tomb1]

darkly brilliant movie ... I hope they give that poor bastard an Oscar.

 

[anticlimatic]

I don't think this Joker is the same individual as Batman's nemesis, and I think it'd be a stupid idea to make a sequel starring the same character. There are several reasons why I think this is. For one, he simply isn't capable of the kind of villainy the Joker is known for, he's not a planner or a schemer, and all the bad shit he did happened because of the right combination of provocation and opportunity. His actions did have large scale consequences, but the escalating anti-rich sentiments and the climactic riots also happened without any such intentions from Arthur himself. All he wanted was a life that was bearable, and his revenge was personal. Secondly, Arthur seems to be in his mid-to-late 30s, maybe even 40s, and Bruce Wayne seems to be around 10, meaning by the time he becomes Batman, Joker would be about 60, which just doesn't seem to add up. Thirdly, the Joker's true name, identity and origin has never been known, and it makes little sense to try and make a movie series where this is so clearly established since the lack of all these things is pretty integral to the character. The one exception I can think of is Alan Moore's Joker in The Killing Joke, but Moore always had a very iconoclastic take when writing already established characters, and it isn't considered canon. I think a possible explanation is that Arthur's actions and the riots inspires the individual who later becomes the Joker we know, which would be neat because that'd mean he is indirectly responsible for the birth of both Batman and Joker.

Did you not like the movie?

 

[Cellmold]

I will be going to watch it at some point, but I'm not particularly excited to see it.

From a distance and only viewing it through trailers (which is unfair and partially why I am going to see it) it looks like a straightforward social commentary type of affair. With the disaffected and suffering on one side (and a large dose of the struggles of mental illness) and then, from what I've seen, the system of rich and powerful on the other.

I'm going to guess he rallies them or he sees a movement that helps him transform and focus his problems as a reflection of a rotten society. Probably culminating in some kind of mass killing, I'm going to guess shooting, given the parade with the pistol he does in front of that mirror.

Still, I like Joaquin Phoenix, so that's another reason to see it. But I bet it's a case of him carrying the movie, more than anything else.

I'll report back when/if I've watched it.

PS: The claims about it encouraging copycat killings are just stupid. As always, you will just get the one or two individuals on the fringe who will act that out, and as always, those same people will have latched onto something else if it wasn't this film.

 

[Hive]

Did you not like the movie?

I thought it was great. Nothing I said was a criticism of the film, I just don't think it was made with a sequel in mind, and I think this iteration of the Joker strays far enough in significant ways from usual portrayals of the character to make it worth considering that he might not be Batman's nemesis.