Joker

Covert Rain

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Agreed. And Harley Quinn flick looks good too.

Yeah..that one looks pretty decent from the trailers. At least in that one there is an attempt at continuity. It appears the studio has not completely abandoned the idea of continuity but it sure feels like they still don't know what to do with it.
 

DeAnna

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Went to see it recently. Only because I was dragged to it - I had no interest in this film. I'm not a super-hero/DC comics fan and vaguely remember Adam West on TV.
Did not enjoy this - disturbing, in-depth look at mental illness that leads to violence. I just didn't buy some of the premises:

Who kills their mother in a hospital with all the machines beeping and not a nurse in sight? SMH
How do you kill a TV host and not one person on the set tackles the guy? SMH
How does a 2-bit comedian/clown amass a loyal following? SMH
He was not a vigilante – he only killed the guys on the subway because they beat him up. SMH
Why his neighbor would ever hook up with a skinny, crazy white guy is beyond me. SMH
The only interesting part to me was the connection with his childhood abuse and his laughter. "He was such a happy boy."

Joaquin Phoenix had an Oscar worthy performance, tho.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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Went to see it recently. Only because I was dragged to it - I had no interest in this film. I'm not a super-hero/DC comics fan and vaguely remember Adam West on TV.
Did not enjoy this - disturbing, in-depth look at mental illness that leads to violence. I just didn't buy some of the premises:

Who kills their mother in a hospital with all the machines beeping and not a nurse in sight? SMH
How do you kill a TV host and not one person on the set tackles the guy? SMH
How does a 2-bit comedian/clown amass a loyal following? SMH
He was not a vigilante – he only killed the guys on the subway because they beat him up. SMH
Why his neighbor would ever hook up with a skinny, crazy white guy is beyond me. SMH
The only interesting part to me was the connection with his childhood abuse and his laughter. "He was such a happy boy."

Joaquin Phoenix had an Oscar worthy performance, tho.
The neighbor didn’t hook up with him. That was his delusion.
 

Covert Rain

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Went to see it recently. Only because I was dragged to it - I had no interest in this film. I'm not a super-hero/DC comics fan and vaguely remember Adam West on TV.
Did not enjoy this - disturbing, in-depth look at mental illness that leads to violence. I just didn't buy some of the premises:

Who kills their mother in a hospital with all the machines beeping and not a nurse in sight? SMH
How do you kill a TV host and not one person on the set tackles the guy? SMH
How does a 2-bit comedian/clown amass a loyal following? SMH
He was not a vigilante – he only killed the guys on the subway because they beat him up. SMH
Why his neighbor would ever hook up with a skinny, crazy white guy is beyond me. SMH
The only interesting part to me was the connection with his childhood abuse and his laughter. "He was such a happy boy."

Joaquin Phoenix had an Oscar worthy performance, tho.

All good points. In fact, I wondered about your #1 as well when I watched. I mean they can tell medically if I am not mistaken aside from your point about the machines. Also, not sure if you are saying that you didn't know about the neighbor thing being what it was or are you saying being what it was it was still far fetched even for his character? The only point I disagree with is the 2-bit clown part. I mean, he was in the paper, talked about on TV, then on the show. He seemed to be bucking authority when the town was already a powder keg. People would look to grasp onto anything or anyone they could at that moment. So, that one I can buy.
 

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Went to see it recently. Only because I was dragged to it - I had no interest in this film. I'm not a super-hero/DC comics fan and vaguely remember Adam West on TV.
Did not enjoy this - disturbing, in-depth look at mental illness that leads to violence. I just didn't buy some of the premises:

Who kills their mother in a hospital with all the machines beeping and not a nurse in sight? SMH
How do you kill a TV host and not one person on the set tackles the guy? SMH
How does a 2-bit comedian/clown amass a loyal following? SMH
He was not a vigilante – he only killed the guys on the subway because they beat him up. SMH
Why his neighbor would ever hook up with a skinny, crazy white guy is beyond me. SMH
The only interesting part to me was the connection with his childhood abuse and his laughter. "He was such a happy boy."

Joaquin Phoenix had an Oscar worthy performance, tho.
There are literally answers that make sense to every single question you asked.

Who kills their mother in a hospital with all the machines beeping and not a nurse in sight? It's freaking Gotham City - this is probably the same hospital the Joker made it in to blow up in The Dark Knight. How much security/high-tech equipment do you think it has?
How do you kill a TV host and not one person on the set tackles the guy? He's got a gun and just shot a guy on national television. Yeah, exactly the kind of person someone wants to tackle. Considering the only people within 20 feet of him were the other guests.
How does a 2-bit comedian/clown amass a loyal following? It wasn't Arthur that got the following, it was the vigilante dressed as a clown that killed 3 yuppies that did. It just happened to be Arthur in real life, and there was really no connection to him being a 2-bit comedian at all. He wasn't even revealed to be the guy until he brazenly admitted it on live tv.
He was not a vigilante – he only killed the guys on the subway because they beat him up. Again, nobody knew the reality of the situation, and by the time they did, he was already a vigilante in everyone's eyes. Whether he actually was one or not is irrelevant.
Why his neighbor would ever hook up with a skinny, crazy white guy is beyond me. As Ouchie already said, that never happened. It was pretty clearly established that it was all a delusion. And almost certainly he killed her and her kid.
The only interesting part to me was the connection with his childhood abuse and his laughter. "He was such a happy boy."

I thought the whole movie from start to finish was out-freaking-standing. My absolute favorite Joaquin Phoenix role. Just spectacular. I loved it and is my #1 movie of 2019 right now.
 

Covert Rain

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So you're basically saying "It's a freakin movie, there will be plot holes" :D

I think you pointed out some good ones because you are not the first person I have heard bring up some of those.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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So you're basically saying "It's a freakin movie, there will be plot holes" :D
Actually i think chap filled in those holes pretty well. I would’ve answered the same for all had I had the time.
 

Covert Rain

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When asked, Todd Phillips doesn't deny entire movie could have been a delusion. He doesn't really say one way or the other. He leaves it up to the audience to decide.

"You could [read it that way]. I have a firm view on it too, but yeah you certainly could."

Meh...this isn't inception level good debate IMO. If the entire movie was a "dream" that takes something away from it. I hope he is just trying to drum up fan debate. That would suck.

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/24...-cagey-about-what-was-real-or-in-arthurs-mind
 

Chaplin

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When asked, Todd Phillips doesn't deny entire movie could have been a delusion. He doesn't really say one way or the other. He leaves it up to the audience to decide.

"You could [read it that way]. I have a firm view on it too, but yeah you certainly could."

Meh...this isn't inception level good debate IMO. If the entire movie was a "dream" that takes something away from it. I hope he is just trying to drum up fan debate. That would suck.

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/24...-cagey-about-what-was-real-or-in-arthurs-mind
Pretty sure that's what this is. He has no real reason to refute it.
 

UncleChris

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Saw this;last with the bride and two of our friends.

1. Phoenix should get an Oscar for this. Out, friggin' standing performance. He may be a screwball twinkie in real life, but the boy can act.

2. Liked the music and how it was placed in the film.

3. Outstanding camera work. The framing of the Joker in a number of sequences really magnified the feel.

4. The remainder of the stuff was a "no" for three out of four of us.

It was difficult for me to get over (in fact, I didn't) the utter destruction of the canon, and how it would impact everything else from the end of the movie until the Batman battles. These weren't little quirky differences.

We walked out of the theater with a depressed, "why" kind of attitude. It didn't connect in any way with us. The three of us pretty much agreed that it was a well made film that gave us little more than a "so what" feel.

2 out of 5 stars for us, the two of the rating being for points 1-3 above.


Glad I saw it, though. Phoenix is simply amazing.
 

Covert Rain

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Saw this;last with the bride and two of our friends.

1. Phoenix should get an Oscar for this. Out, friggin' standing performance. He may be a screwball twinkie in real life, but the boy can act.

2. Liked the music and how it was placed in the film.

3. Outstanding camera work. The framing of the Joker in a number of sequences really magnified the feel.

4. The remainder of the stuff was a "no" for three out of four of us.

It was difficult for me to get over (in fact, I didn't) the utter destruction of the canon, and how it would impact everything else from the end of the movie until the Batman battles. These weren't little quirky differences.

We walked out of the theater with a depressed, "why" kind of attitude. It didn't connect in any way with us. The three of us pretty much agreed that it was a well made film that gave us little more than a "so what" feel.

2 out of 5 stars for us, the two of the rating being for points 1-3 above.


Glad I saw it, though. Phoenix is simply amazing.

A die hard Batman friend of mine summed it up best. He said it was a great art house experiment of a film with a great performance by Phoenix. He said it was interesting but unless they planned on making Phoenix the new Joker and going in a different direction wasn't even sure why they made this. Pretty much sums up how I feel except I loved the last 30 and he felt it was a transparent attempt to connect a movie that up to that point had little connection to the DC Universe. We disagree on that point but the rest was spot on.
 

Chaplin

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A die hard Batman friend of mine summed it up best. He said it was a great art house experiment of a film with a great performance by Phoenix. He said it was interesting but unless they planned on making Phoenix the new Joker and going in a different direction wasn't even sure why they made this. Pretty much sums up how I feel except I loved the last 30 and he felt it was a transparent attempt to connect a movie that up to that point had little connection to the DC Universe. We disagree on that point but the rest was spot on.
The DC Universe has been a disaster. My guess is that Todd Philips had an idea for a Joker movie and WB decided to green light it with no intention of including it in the bigger universe.

They need to reboot the whole universe anyway, so who cares that Joker is a movie outside of it?
 

Covert Rain

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The DC Universe has been a disaster. My guess is that Todd Philips had an idea for a Joker movie and WB decided to green light it with no intention of including it in the bigger universe.

They need to reboot the whole universe anyway, so who cares that Joker is a movie outside of it?

They do? They don't need to reboot Wonder Woman, Aquaman or the TV properties which are making money. Sure, I would love to have a cohesive universe. I didn't mind the Joker being made. I just agree that if it's not going anywhere it's like getting a really good sample and being told you can't buy any because it's sold out.

If I were king for a day, I would fire Leto. Convince Phoenix to be the new Joker and implement him into the new Batman reboot.
 

Cheesebeef

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The DC Universe has been a disaster. My guess is that Todd Philips had an idea for a Joker movie and WB decided to green light it with no intention of including it in the bigger universe.

They need to reboot the whole universe anyway, so who cares that Joker is a movie outside of it?

why? Wonder Woman, Shazam and Aquaman were all not only either big or massive hits, but all the characters were generally well liked also. And Harley Quinn's pretty popular and I'm betting her movie next Feb will be big. That said, I don't think this Joker ever connects with the rest of any kind of established universe.

Also, seems like most people like Cavill's Superman... they just haven't been crazy about his movies. That said, they're definitely rebooting Batman. We'll see if he ties back in to the established remnants of the old DCEU with WW, Shazam and Aquaman.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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why? Wonder Woman, Shazam and Aquaman were all not only either big or massive hits, but all the characters were generally well liked also. And Harley Quinn's pretty popular and I'm betting her movie next Feb will be big. That said, I don't think this Joker ever connects with the rest of any kind of established universe.

Also, seems like most people like Cavill's Superman... they just haven't been crazy about his movies. That said, they're definitely rebooting Batman. We'll see if he ties back in to the established remnants of the old DCEU with WW, Shazam and Aquaman.
Is there a plan to connect Shazam with the rest? I think that’s an epic disaster waiting to happen.
 

Covert Rain

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Is there a plan to connect Shazam with the rest? I think that’s an epic disaster waiting to happen.

They already have..sort of. They establish by the Superman costume at the end it's Henry Cavill's Superman and it's in the same "verse". If they had worked out contract problems it would have been his face.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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They already have..sort of. They establish by the Superman costume at the end it's Henry Cavill's Superman and it's in the same "verse". If they had worked out contract problems it would have been his face.
Huh I totally forgot that. But are the seriously going to have them in team up movies? Way different tones.
 

Covert Rain

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Huh I totally forgot that. But are the seriously going to have them in team up movies? Way different tones.

It was like that in the comics and the animation. Totally different tonal characters coming together. Don’t ask me how but it worked. Not sure if the plan was to eventually team up or just leave it at a simple cameo.
 

Ouchie-Z-Clown

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It was like that in the comics and the animation. Totally different tonal characters coming together. Don’t ask me how but it worked. Not sure if the plan was to eventually team up or just leave it at a simple cameo.
Recall it in the comics but that’s way different imo.
 

Covert Rain

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Recall it in the comics but that’s way different imo.

If I recall correctly, Shazaam basically was an immature smart-ass just having fun and Superman was always serious and trying to get him to take things more seriously. I think if setup correctly it could work. However, the overall of the tone of the movie couldn't be too dark for sure. Still not sure if they ever intended this to ever go past a cameo. Black Adam seems to be the bigger planned crossover.
 

Covert Rain

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4K Disc Review:

FYI for those collectors. I bought the 4K Disc and it doesn't disappoint. This is my 3rd sitting through the movie and my original review hasn't budged. The first 35 minutes or so are a complete slug and I wish it had been edited much tighter.

Having said that the 4K disc is fantastic. If you have a 4K TV, the textures and colors are simply beautiful especially if you have the ability to see the HDR. There are some things that pop on screen. You can tell the transfer purposely keeps the movie desaturated overall probably on purpose but there are moments when appropriate the color pops. What I love is that some of the scenes are obviously setup to make for example the later scenes when Joker is wearing makeup or his outfit standout. The textures that show up on things like the walls, floors and clothing are pretty damn near perfect without taking away the "film" look which is hard to do.

The Audio track is also top notch. The Dolby Atmos track is excellent. One of my pet peeves is that often when movies make it home, the dialogue is often muted even if you have a dedicated center channel in your home setup. That is not the case here. The dialogue is clear and not muted at all. What also surprised me is that usage of discrete channels. For this type of movie (really not a typical action movie) I expected little usage of the discrete channels. However the discrete channels are used effectively which mimics the wideness of the movie theater sound pretty damn well. If you were a fan of the movie score it sounds fantastic on this disc as well.

Not sure I would ever pull this out as a demo disc. However, it's one of the best releases in my 4K collection so far in terms of picture and sound quality.
 
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Cheesebeef

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watched this again last night... man... this movie is INCREDIBLY overrated, IMO. That first half just draaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaags like no one's business. the last 45 minutes or so are really good, but it's a freaking slog to get there.
 
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