Joker

I have seen Joker yesterday at Venice an early ill-fated screening. We had some trouble with audio that lead to a near-hour delay, but it definitely was worth it.

Joker deserved to be presented at Venice Film Festival, an event that regards cinema as a form of art, because this film is far from a blockbuster or a mere entertainer movie, as most films in the genre are.

It focuses on the psyche of the main character, as it slowly crumbles under the pressure of society. And thus, Joaquin Phoenix does a wonderful performance, earning almost surely a nomination at the oscars at least. It's a take on the Joker that differs from Ledger's, but I'd say that both are equally as good. The main difference might be that Ledger's joker is a rational that acts insane, while Phoenix's is insane to the root.

Despite being a movie about a superhero villain, Joker is much superior to most of the movies of the genre (I'd exclude the Dark Knight Trilogy only, but Joker is easily as good as Nolan's movies, or at least very close). It is a small-scaled film, with a distinct style and cinematography (that cannot but be appreciated) and a set of very cinephile references that however do not feel too forced or overly opressive. (most notable are the similarities to Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver' and his 'The King of Comedy', but also Chaplin's 'Modern Times' is somewhat referenced).

I am eager to see more non-comedic efforts by Todd Phillips. This movie was so far probably the best of 2019 (at worst contested so far only by Dolor Y Gloria or Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), and that should be very convincing.

Most of the time movies are anticipated like this they end up falling short, way short. Joker is the first time I was more than happy with the hype. Please ignore the complaints of "pernicious violence" as they are embarrassing to say the least. We haven't seen a comic movie this real before. If we ever "deserved" a better class of criminal - Phillips and Phoenix have delivered. This is dark, Joker IS dark and you will fall in love with the villain as you should. The bad guys are always more romantic anyway.

I get why some people hate this . It's because of the political message and how some people think that you need get empathy for Arthur's madness. But come on that is not the point and it will never be. Enjoy this masterpiece because Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips overdid themselves with this movie . The acting,music and cinematography are just amazing ! Please enjoy the movie without overthinking it.

Let me start off by saying if Joaquin Phoneix doesn't get his Oscar for this movie. Then the Oscars should be cancelled. Phoneix is amazing as you might've heard from every review ever! But Todd Phillips. Is at his best here. The story lines he takes and visuals are just breathtaking. The score!! Omg the Score! Every time that score came on, I felt very uncomfortable, like something horrible was about to happen. It was GREAT. The Inspirations from Taxi Driver and King of Comedy are there, and add so much for the movie. And I got to be honest. There are scenes that are very violent. And its disturbing. But I honestly expected it to be WAYYYY more violent from all the controversy going on. Overall this movie was GREAT. Come Oscar season, it needs to be nominated for Best Picture, ScreenPlay, Cinematography, Actor, Score and Director

What can I say about it that hasn't already been said? It's not a terrible film, but it's not a great (or even a really good one) either. The technical aspects are great. The score and cinematography are really good. Many individual scenes are also good. But as a whole, it just feels unnecessary. Not just that, but tone deaf as well. What it's trying to say about mental illness is problematic. Why? Because it's not really sure what it's trying to say or if it's even trying to say anything about it at all. Instead, it was added in there because, well, it's easy right? Joaquin Phoenix really does excel in many scenes of the film, but I'm not sure I would want him winning an Oscar for this. Overall, it's also just not that interesting. It's kind of... boring at times. And for a Joker film to be boring? That's a crucial offense. And I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I seriously wonder if those people calling this a "masterpiece" have even seen Taxi Driver or The King of Comedy.