The Film Thread: Page 423 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

The Film Thread

MistaT

Finally got around to watching Joker. I think it's worth watching but it's short of being the masterpiece that some are decrying it as.

It makes the most of a well-executed origins story, strong acting, and cinematography. But the pacing and editing - particularly in the early parts - is sloppy. The story jumps around and you can tell a lot of filming was left out...perhaps only to set up one of Joker's delusions.

Solid 8, and probably closer to a 9 than a 7....but it's massively over rated on IMDB right now.

Asterix

Saw The Gentlemen today and really enjoyed it. Hugh Grant was having a lot of fun and there were some great set ups.

Mirth

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51090151

Oscar nominations announced.

QuincyAbeyie

Glad to see Parasite nominated for Best Picture, but they'll give it Best Foreign Picture and let OUATIH have the main one. Phoenix probably gets Best Actor, other than that there's a lot of movies I haven't seen. Scarlet Johansson is the first person in over a decade to be nominated both for a supporting and leading role in the same year.

Klaus

Kinda sad that the incel movie got nominated. I'm convinced Joker is just Twilight for men in their mid-30s. They were laughing at younger girls a decade ago for fawning over Edward when he pretended to be tortured and complicated, and now they're sitting there themselves and fawning over Phoenix while he's pretending to be tortured and complicated. I couldn't believe it wasn't a parody when I saw it.

QuincyAbeyie

I won't argue about the movie as it's obviously a very controversial one. I thought it was okay, not a masterpiece and not garbage, but Phoenix's performance was miles better than Pattinson's in Twilight. The latter has proven a good actor since then, but still. Either way, no way will Joker win Best Picture, nor should it of course.

Klaus

I thought Phoenix was completely ridiculous. I'll concede he's usually a better actor than Pattinson thogh (whom I also like).

But yeah, I don't think it'll win many of the heavy awards either. Best actor is probably its best shot, but I actually think Leo will snag it for Once Upon A Time. Nothing Hollywood loves more than when people make movies about the movie business.

Qwiss

Is Phoenix Joker supposed to be "complicated"? Didn't seem like it to me, there isn't really anything complicated about it. A man with mental health issues living in poverty has his medication removed by an uncaring upper class and gets sicker, comic book style.

Claudius

I liked Joker but I’m surprised to see it grab 11 nominations. The cynic in me thinks the Academy is using the movie and popular actresses like Scarlett to try to draw as large an audience as possible. This movie grossed an incredible $700m globally. This is basically 10x your typical Oscar movie. How many Americans would tune in if it was just movies like Jojo Rabbi and Parasite?

As for The Irishman, 3 weeks later I still haven’t gotten back to the last half of this laborious tale and its distracting CGI

Gazza M

Claudius wrote:
I liked Joker but I’m surprised to see it grab 11 nominations. The cynic in me thinks the Academy is using the movie and popular actresses like Scarlett to try to draw as large an audience as possible. This movie grossed an incredible $700m globally. This is basically 10x your typical Oscar movie. How many Americans would tune in if it was just movies like Jojo Rabbi and Parasite?

As for The Irishman, 3 weeks later I still haven’t gotten back to the last half of this laborious tale and its distracting CGI

that's either intentional or one of the greatest slip-ups ever 😆

Mirth

Klaus wrote:
Kinda sad that the incel movie got nominated. I'm convinced Joker is just Twilight for men in their mid-30s. They were laughing at younger girls a decade ago for fawning over Edward when he pretended to be tortured and complicated, and now they're sitting there themselves and fawning over Phoenix while he's pretending to be tortured and complicated. I couldn't believe it wasn't a parody when I saw it.

I don't really see the Twilight comparisons - to me it just seemed like a re-imagining of Taxi Driver, just not as good, but there's always been a market for that kind of movie.

Claudius

A good comparison I heard from NY Times culture writers was Fight Club. Urban male dealing with psychic break, experiencing delusions, acting out violently, and building a followership.

QuincyAbeyie

Qwiss! wrote:
Is Phoenix Joker supposed to be "complicated"? Didn't seem like it to me, there isn't really anything complicated about it. A man with mental health issues living in poverty has his medication removed by an uncaring upper class and gets sicker, comic book style.

I'm leaning towards it not being supposed to be "complicated", but that some people, r/im14andthisisdeep etc., are granting the movie unjustified attributes which then becomes jarring to others. Kind of similar to how those who don't care for The Dark Knight would probably dislike it less if there wasn't a bunch of people who called it the best movie ever made and other overly generous superlatives.

Also, haven't seen Uncut Gems yet, but kind of expected Sandler to be nominated. Heard a lot of praise for his performance.

jones

Quincy Abeyie wrote:
Kind of similar to how those who don't care for The Dark Knight would probably dislike it less if there wasn't a bunch of people who called it the best movie ever made and other overly generous superlatives.

😆 I had no idea people thought that about the film and I still found it offensively shit. I was sick and hungover and couldn't find the remote so had to endure most of the film and remembering it feels like a bad dream.

You're right though knowing people like it that much makes me dislike it even more.

Claudius

Quincy Abeyie wrote:
Qwiss! wrote:
Is Phoenix Joker supposed to be "complicated"? Didn't seem like it to me, there isn't really anything complicated about it. A man with mental health issues living in poverty has his medication removed by an uncaring upper class and gets sicker, comic book style.

I'm leaning towards it not being supposed to be "complicated", but that some people, r/im14andthisisdeep etc., are granting the movie unjustified attributes which then becomes jarring to others. Kind of similar to how those who don't care for The Dark Knight would probably dislike it less if there wasn't a bunch of people who called it the best movie ever made and other overly generous superlatives.

Also, haven't seen Uncut Gems yet, but kind of expected Sandler to be nominated. Heard a lot of praise for his performance.

It got caught up in the broader toxic male discussion and gained much more significance than it aimed for and warranted.

Qwiss

Claudius wrote:
A good comparison I heard from NY Times culture writers was Fight Club. Urban male dealing with psychic break, experiencing delusions, acting out violently, and building a followership.

Yeah another film hated by certain people because of its "bad" fans too. And one that got a luke warm/mixed reception from critics but became extremely popular with viewers. Both have anti-capitalist messages too, though I think there is a bit more satire to Fight Clubs.

Qwiss

Quincy Abeyie wrote:
Qwiss! wrote:
Is Phoenix Joker supposed to be "complicated"? Didn't seem like it to me, there isn't really anything complicated about it. A man with mental health issues living in poverty has his medication removed by an uncaring upper class and gets sicker, comic book style.

I'm leaning towards it not being supposed to be "complicated", but that some people, r/im14andthisisdeep etc., are granting the movie unjustified attributes which then becomes jarring to others. Kind of similar to how those who don't care for The Dark Knight would probably dislike it less if there wasn't a bunch of people who called it the best movie ever made and other overly generous superlatives.

Also, haven't seen Uncut Gems yet, but kind of expected Sandler to be nominated. Heard a lot of praise for his performance.

Sandler will probably have to play ball a bit more with Hollywood again to get nominated. He spends most of his time off doing his own thing.

Although no nominations at all for A24 this year is a bit of a disappointment.

QuincyAbeyie

The Lighthouse was nominated for Best Cinematography, but yeah that's the only one I noticed. I thought Midsommar had better cinematography than Joker as well and that's the only A24 film I've seen from last year.

goon

It's funny, everyone I know in real life thought Joker was a decent film at the very least, most really enjoyed it. It's the same with Fight Club. It's only when you go online that you find some really strong views against them.

For the large majority of the casual, mainstream cinema consuming audience, they're good films.

QuincyAbeyie

Decent is the word I'd use to describe Joker, 7/10 maybe. I love Fight Club though.

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