Saturday night, like I tend to do most Saturday nights, I journeyed a few miles up the road to see a flick. This weeks film was Joaquin Phoenix in Joker. I’m a huge fan of Joaquin Phoenix and have loved his work. Gladiator, Walk the Line, The Master among other were great films that were brought to new levels by his performance. I was also excited to see a different take on the comic book genre and that was an origin story of a super villain, instead of a super hero.
At 7:30 I was in my seat with a popcorn and oversized soda that’s probably not good for me. The usual twenty some odd minutes of trailers played. A few caught my eye but that’s for another day.
Two things stood out for me in the movie about all else. The first was how dark and slow paced the movie ended up being. I remember fondly when Jack Nicholson played the joker in Tim Burton’s Batman, and 2019’s Joker throws the camp out the window. It also expands the craziness of Heath Ledger’s joker from 2008’s The Dark Knight. That combination added to the darkness of the film.
The other thing that stood out for me was Joaquin Phoenix’s performance. The performance elevated a mediocre script to another level. The other thing that elevated the movie was the cinematography. It made the movie feel like a gangster film of a generation ago.
I don’t agree with some of the Oscar buzz the film is generating. I have a tough time seeing the film compete for best picture with films like Rocketman and the excellent Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. I can easily see Joaquin Phoenix being nominated but I still haven’t seen films getting acting buzz like The Two Poles and the always great Christian Bale in Ford V Ferrari.
Looking ahead the 919 festival is next week. I have tickets to five films, I may pick up a sixth. I think I’ll blog about that next week.
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