Joker Movie issues

[Jacques Strap]

Wasn't Bat Girl like 14 or 15?

Rarely has Batgirl been depicted as <18yo, most often she's nebulously between 20 and 25, sometimes 27 or older.

[SumJongGuy]

Rarely has Batgirl been depicted as <18yo, most often she's nebulously between 20 and 25, sometimes 27 or older.

I' only familiar with the TV show bat girl who was Gordon's daughter and worked at the library after school.

[Vt-Freeheel]

Yvonne was 30 when she played Batgirl on the TV show.

wiki/Yvonne_Craig

[Jacques Strap]

Yvonne was 30

Not a day over 15

[SumJongGuy]

Yvonne was 30 when she played Batgirl on the TV show.

wiki/Yvonne_Craig

So was everyone at Ridell High in Grease..

[dookeyXXX]

Damn you all with your Batgirl thread drift.

I just got sucked down the nerd/geek comic book rabbit hole and learned the following:

According to the comic books, Barbara Gordon was 18 when she was Bat-Girl.

The "troubling" stuff, imho, has always been the ages of the various Robin the Boy Wonders. They have all been minors, to the best of my knowledge and Batman "adopted" them (i.e. they became his ward).

Thankfully somebody waaaaaay nerdier than me spent the time to figure out each of the various Robin's ages:
https://aminoapps.com/c/comics/page/...e6a4KQa7Grl8dJ

That said, dude left out Carrie Kelley, the Robin from Frank Miller's seminal The Dark Knight Returns. She was 13.

[Vt-Freeheel]

It's the big night. Plenty of cops getting overtime for the premiere including plainclothes screening the show looking for Jokers out to cause trouble.

[SumJongGuy]

This reminds me of the clown costume paranoia around Halloween a couple years ago..

[dookeyXXX]

This reminds me of the clown costume paranoia around Halloween a couple years ago..

Speaking of clowns, this dude is WAY freakier than any cinematic variation of the Joker...



I am tentatively planning to brave an early screening of the film this afternoon...

[dookeyXXX]

I survived!

No Incel activity at the 4:20 screening today in Reno. Heck, they didn't even have increased security. Perhaps for the later shows tonight?

At any rate, my Initial impressions (I'll post a full-length review later in the Ongoing Movies thread): Don't rush to the theater to see it. It has it's moments, but I feel it has been seriously over-hyped.

And in regards to incels, wouldn't they be more apt to go apeshit at the upcoming Birds of Prey film with Harley Quinn? If I am to understand the term incel, it's guys who feel they can't get a girlfriend, so wouldn't they be triggered more by an attractive woman (i.e. Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn) than a dude (i.e. Joaquin Phoenix as Joker)?

[dookeyXXX]

JOKER
2.5 out of 5
There is absolutely no question that Joaquin Phoenix is mesmerizing in his role as Arthur Fleck. Yet despite this I couldn’t help feeling as if he were purposefully channeling Crispin Glover for the entirety of the film (this is particularly noticeable during the talk show bits in the film). In the end this similarity is distracting and disconcerting. Then again, that’s kind of the vibe of the entire film.
Director and co-screenwriter Todd Phillips, who is best known for blunt, in-your-face comedies (Old School, The Hangover trilogy) instills his first foray into “serious drama” with a singular heavy-handedness that never lets up. Let’s just say that dude needs to learn the art of subtlety. The myriad messages contained within the story (inadequacy of social services systems in America, corrupt businessmen, mental illness, the cult of personalty, amongst others) are delivered with somewhat ham-fisted bravado and utterly lacking any sense of nuance.
One thing not lacking is exposition. I usually feel that most modern Hollywood fare tends to go light on exposition, here, however, Phillips generously ladles it out. The judicious amounts of set-up prevent the film from really percolating until the latter half of the third act. I get it, it’s meant to be a character study, but there is such a thing as too much character development. Also, the pacing could have been just a tad more brisk. By the time our protagonist completely unravels it’s a bit underwhelming. The long journey we are led on just doesn’t warrant the ultimately predictable end.
But perhaps the most distracting element is the relentless and overbearing score by Hildur Guonadottir. Her string heavy sounds feel as if they were meant for a different film, possibly some cold, arctic drama, not a gritty urban nightmare. What’s more, Phillips has her atonal notes blaring at maximum volume throughout the bulk of the film, rarely allowing for moments of subdued background noise or quietude. The end result is that the music often drowns out the emotional impact of the story, almost as if Phillips is trying to force particular emotions on the audience rather than letting them be cultivated naturally.
The other things bogging the film down are the obvious nods to DeNiro’s classics The King of Comedy and Taxi Driver. The fact that DeNiro himself is a character in the film doesn’t help alleviate these comparisons. While some might find it ironic having the former Travis Bickle be the object of Fleck’s obsession, I did not.
On the plus side there’s Zazie Beets, who although a minor character in the story, still manages to outshine just about everyone else in the cast (fwiw, she has become one of my favorite actors in terms of her ability to disappear completely into every role she has taken to date). Additionally, sprinkled throughout the film are some truly spectacular moments: Fleck, amidst utter chaos in the streets, spreading his bloody fingers across his mouth to create a demonic crimson grin; Fleck’s sweetly creepy clown routine at a children’s hospital; All of Fleck’s Gene Kelly-inspired flights of fantasy; The next-to-last scene when he walks out of a counseling session at Arkham Asylum. There are others, but alas a smattering of well choreographed and artistically composed scenes do not a great movie make; for every one of these moments there are equal moments that were unnecessary or just fell flat (the final scene with Phoenix running through the hallways of Arkham being chased by an orderly as if recreating some scene out of an Abbott and Costello film, for example).
All in all it feels as if Phillips was just a bit too earnest with his first “serious” film, trying too hard to prove that he is more than a a master of crude comedy fare. It also doesn’t help that the spectre of the Batman mythos lurks in the background, yet is never fully developed. In many ways this film might have worked better had it not had any ties to the Caped Crusader at all.

[Woodsy]

Speaking of clowns,.

best clown movie ever, even with out the Robin Williams mime cameo, which further solidifies its status.

[bobz]

Thanks for the review, Dookie. Having seen this flick's inspirations, King of Comedy and Taxi Driver (and I also saw Todd Phillips' GG Allin documentary, which Joker supposedly also draws a bit from), and given that Joker doesn't even look fun, I think I can safely pass on it.

And yes, ^^, Shakes the Clown rules.

[SumJongGuy]

Spoiler Alert LOL! Ya, will wait and watch this one at home for free.. Did that with pretty much all the Batman and Gotham villain movies post the OG reboot late 80s.

[Ski to Be]

I accidentally saw this. We bought tickets for AD Astra and after the preview Joker started and we realized we were in the wrong theatre. We rolled with it since I was interested in seeing it anyways. I wasn't emotionally ready for something so disturbing. It was like going to see the Bucket List and instead seeing Schindlers list. Joaquin Phoenix was amazing and should win an Oscar. People are talking about violence but this felt disturbing on an emotional level so much that I hardly noticed the violence. Nobody says anything about John Wick for crying out loud.

[dookeyXXX]

My buddy stumbled upon this review and forwarded it to me. Interesting, to be sure.

https://wallstreetplayboys.com/joker...nzLzJAlN18eMIY

My only skepticism is that I cannot find any info about the site (i.e. who runs it, their credentials, etc.).

[m2711c]

long boring loud

[Ripzalot]

finally saw it last weekend. loved joaquin's performance but noticed immediately the parallels to taxi driver. still enjoyed it though. was the inclusion of de niro an intentional nod to ripping off his earlier movies?

[dookeyXXX]

finally saw it last weekend. loved joaquin's performance but noticed immediately the parallels to taxi driver. still enjoyed it though. was the inclusion of de niro an intentional nod to ripping off his earlier movies?

I believe it is.

There are a number of interviews floating around the webz with co-screenwriter/director Todd Phillips where he discusses/admits how much of an influence Scorsese was...

[Ripzalot]

I believe it is.

There are a number of interviews floating around the webz with co-screenwriter/director Todd Phillips where he discusses/admits how much of an influence Scorsese was...

influence or source of plagiarism? i mean, it's too close to just take as a nod to Scorsese.

[Game Over]