Review of Movie Joker

I recently saw the movie Joker which stars Joaquin Phoenix and was directed by Todd Philips. With a screen play by Philips and Scott Silver.  The movie also has Robert De Niro as a talk show host, Zazie Beetz as a possible love interest and some others in supporting roles.

Over all, I thought is was a good movie that was very well made if you like physiological thrillers you will enjoy this movie, it is not an action movie.  It is a departure from many comic book movies in that it is more realistic than most.  It is also an origin story for the classic DC Comics character the Joker of Batman Comics fame. There are many very well shot scenes, all the actors in the movie do a good job.  Especially the actor Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker, his portrayal is captivating.

New York is shown in all of its glory, even though the movie was shot in some different locations including New Jersey and there is some CGI to recreate the time frame of the movie.  It delights the eyes, the costumes and other props in the movie create a very realistic late seventies, early eighties vibe.

The plot of the movie has some political overtones, there are some themes that mirror events of today (have vs the have not's). This origin story is of a character named Arthur Fleck who lives with and cares for his mother in Gotham City.  The movie does a great job of creating the gritty, dirty, grimy background of the early 1980's Gotham. The city has crime, unemployment and a population caught up in a class war. Arthur suffers from mental illness and laughs uncontrollably at the wrong moments.

Arthur is not a very reliable narrator of his own story, and there are times when it is not clear that Arthur is providing a correct narrative due to his mental illness.  There are many relationships that are depicted as the Joker sees them, and then there are other ways to view both his actions and what he thinks others have done.  His relationships with his social workers, his mother, and his girlfriend are all relationships that will make you wonder if Jokers view is correct or not.

Arthur has two different father figures, in the movie. One is the Robert De Niro character Murray Franklin who is a talk show host.  Arthur works as a party clown who after he loses his job tries his hand at being a stand up comedian.  The first scene in which Arthur daydreams about being on Murray's show gives early insight about Arthur's state of mind.  The other is the Thomas Wayne who is played by Brett Cullen,which is a very interesting take on the relationship between these two characters.  Which also makes you think about the relationship between Batman and the Joker.

The movie is a slow decent into madness by Arthur as he becomes the Joker.  The movie does a really good job with pacing, you get to see the Joker grow and become more confident as he interacts with other characters and the hardships of life press on him. And this is probably what I enjoyed the most about the movie, but I will say that is was difficult for me to completely suspend disbelief because I could not totally buy the idea that this character could become the character of Joker from the comic books. He does not display the mental strength, nor the amount of evil associated with the comic book character, and this was a problem for me.

The movie could have been a movie about any mentally ill character that is pushed over the edge.  And it borrows a lot from the gritty crime action thrillers from the 1980's movies by Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy (which both stared Robert Di Nero). I just see the Joker character as a larger character who is more intelligent and has bigger goals than are depicted in the movie.

All in all it is a good movie and well worth seeing.  It may require another movie to better develop this character as a criminal mastermind.

Interview with Clint Eastwood

Love Clint Eastwood and his movies. I found this interview very interesting and hope you will enjoy watching it also.

Avatar: The Movie (New Extended HD Trailer)

Avatar: The Movie (New Extended HD Trailer)

I saw the movie Avatar in 3D the other day. It was my first 3D movie, and all I can say is wow. You really have to see this movie in 3D that is the only way to see it.

I thought the story and plot were very well done, it has many parallels to today's situations with war and global warming and the loss of resources in the real world.

The new technologies developed my James Cameron truly are amazing, I went into the movie thinking that there is no way this can live up to the hipe, but in my opinion it does.

Great movie, I give it my strongest recommendation.

How to Read a Film: The World of Movies, Media, Multimedia

How to Read a Film:
The World of Movies, Media, Multimedia:
Language, History, Theory

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According to Samson Raphaelson, Film Comment

"This book is a compliment to the reader....Monaco's spirit is gracious; he has a gift for making accumulations of detail relevant and uncluttered. His manner is modest and undidactic, and he is painstakingly scrupulous."

The Nightmare Before Christmas Movie Poster

NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
3D REPRINT 27X41 POSTER



Nightmare Before Christmas
27x40 Movie Posters

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The Movie Elf

Elf [Blu-ray]

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You know, Elf was another Christmas movie that I enjoyed more than I thought I would. I really liked the music in that movie. And just thinking about that scene with the angry Elf makes me crack up.

According to Bret Fetzer

Elf is genuinely good. Not just Saturday Night Live-movie good, when the movie has some funny bits but is basically an insult to humanity; Elf is a smartly written, skillfully directed, and deftly acted story of a human being adopted by Christmas elves who returns to the human world to find his father. And because the writing, directing, and acting are all genuinely good, Elf is also genuinely funny. Will Ferrell, as Buddy the adopted elf, is hysterically sincere. James Caan, as his rediscovered father, executes his surly dumbfoundedness with perfect aplomb. Zooey Deschanel, as a department store worker with whom Buddy falls in love, is adorably sardonic. Director Jon Favreau (Swingers) shepherds the movie through all the obligatory Christmas cliches and focuses on material that's sometimes subtle and consistently surprising. Frankly, Elf feels miraculous. Also featuring Mary Steenburgen, Bob Newhart, Peter Dinklage, and Ed Asner as Santa Claus.

Amazon.com 60% DVD Blow Out Sale

A Review of Cadillac Records

Cadillac Records
27x41 Original Movie Poster


Movie Review

I saw Cadillac Records yesterday. It is a musical biopic that is now showing in theaters, it was written and directed by Darnell Martin. The film explores blues music starting in the early 1940s to the late 1960s. It chronicles the life of the influential Chicago-based record-company founder Leonard Chess, and some of the musicians who created and recorded Chicago blues music.

Cast

Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess
Beyoncé Knowles as Etta James
Emmanuelle Chriqui as Revetta Chess
Mos Def as Chuck Berry
Gabrielle Union as Geneva Waters
Columbus Short as Little Walter
Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters
Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon
Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf

I thought it was a good movie, all things considered. The performances for the most part were well done and you can see that the actors wanted to put in a good performances. And some of them really shined.

Adrien Brody and Jeffrey Wright both did good jobs acting. But I could not totally suspend disbelief when it came to Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters. I think this maybe because I am such a big fan of Muddy Waters. I really like Jeffrey Wright as an actor, but here it was a hard sell. Having said that I can not think of anyone who could have done a better job, but Muddy Waters is such a strong character to play.

I thought as a whole that the movie packed too may threads into the same movie. Any one of the musicians depicted in this movie could have a movie made about their lives (and I hope someone makes those movies too). But too many threads caused the movie to play fast and lose with the facts, which again was kind of annoying to me, and again that may be because I'm such a big fan of the musicians depicted in this movie.

I was pleasantly surprised by Beyoncé Knowles as Etta James. I think she brought a lot of emotion to the part and of course her singing came across very well and is probably the high point of the movie.

Another highlight was Mos Def as Chuck Berry. I thought he really played the role well and he puts you in the mind of Mr. Berry. His mannerisms were perfect. I also really liked the part of Howlin' Wolf as played by Eamonn Walker. And because I enjoyed the way he played the part, it made me think that I would love to see a movie about Wolf's life played by Eamonn Walker.

Columbus Short as Little Walter was very well acted and he played the part in a way that portrays much of the volatility and sadness of Little Walter's life. And both Gabrielle Union as Geneva Waters and Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon put in notable performances.

The movie was very enjoyable, and while I have some criticisms of the film they are minor. This movie is a great introduction to blues music for young music fans. It has many popular young actors who may be able to attract young people to the blues pioneers and to be inspired by them.