Red Mosquito

So some colleagues of mine want to go see this in Chicago when they get home this weekend. All of the theaters there are showing this all day during the week, then only one theater is showing it over the weekend. We looked it up here in Cleveland, and the same thing is happening. Is this because of the perceived "threat"?

I'll wait till this comes out and watch it at home. It's sad, but I'd be too on edge to see this in a theater in the U.S. right now.

I loved this. Bleak and violent.

Also, I got major David Lee Roth vibes from Phoenix's portrayal of Joker. Image search Diamond Dave 1996 or later and you'll see what I mean.

Looks like I'll be seeing this tonight

This soundtrack is amazing. Between this and Chernobyl she's knocking it out of the park this year.

The good

Spoiler: show

- Joaquin Phoenix deserves every accolade he gets. His performance is truly incredible.
- Todd Philips was able to capture some truly sublime moments here with directorial panache. Really good-looking flick.
- The film is very good at establishing and maintaining a low background hum of dread
- Love the fact that a movie of this kind even exists, that takes its themes seriously and commits to exploring them without attempting to be a thrill ride.

The bad

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- Oof is it often awkward and heavy-handed in its messaging. There are moments that feel like the screenwriters literally wrote "INSERT MONOLOGUE WHEREIN JOKER EXPRESSES THE FILM'S THEMES IN THE MOST OBVIOUS AND EXPLICIT WAY POSSIBLE."
- There's a weird stiffness in the way the movie handles some of its turns and reveals, where it's like it doesn't trust the audience to figure things out by themselves. It ends up feeling cheap and didactic.
- The connection with Batman lore at the end was laugh-out-loud bad, and felt wholly incongruous to the rest of the film.

The ugly

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- Of course Todd Phillips is a jackass
- Of course the woke-minded liberal hand-wringing about this film is an intellectually bankrupt, surface-level, bad-faith readings of the marketing materials. And it is absolutely missing the points that the film VERY LOUDLY wants you to know it's making.
- Of course I am grateful for the risk WB took here. A low-mid-budget comic book movie that is more concerned with telling a story than franchising, that has a very deliberate and well-defined aesthetic, that is smartly written and shot with some style... it's a rarity. Especially in the age of the MCU, where everything feels like it's homogenized so much in terms of tone, look and structure. I just wish I'd liked the film more.

bune wrote:This soundtrack is amazing. Between this and Chernobyl she's knocking it out of the park this year.

Had no idea. The Chernobyl soundtrack is fantastic

It only dropped 43% in the second weekend. That's a pretty strong showing.

I saw it over the weekend. I think platy’s critique is pretty accurate. Ultimately I left the theater underwhelmed.

PHATJ wrote:I saw it over the weekend. I think platy’s critique is pretty accurate. Ultimately I left the theater underwhelmed.

Huh. I thought it was pretty great, but felt guilty for liking it as much as I did

loved the movie, and joaquin's performance, and know i will be rewatching this one for years to come.

i do agree with this:

theplatypus wrote:

Spoiler: show

- There's a weird stiffness in the way the movie handles some of its turns and reveals, where it's like it doesn't trust the audience to figure things out by themselves.

It's definitely heavy handed with the messages at times, but the setting, ominous mood and Phoenix's performance were so great I didn't mind. I do feel like the Wayne stuff was integral to the movie and not just thrown in though. But I am sick of that scene being remade in every Batman movie.

Saw it again.

I loved the cinematography. Its just beautiful. I also love how they handle Thomas Wayne. He is basically every millonaire bully in this world. Pretty cool.
I didnt catch it in the first view but

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Dr Benjamin Stone is who conducts the interviews with Art´s mother. He is a villain in the comics. Also, when Art is putting his makeup for the first time he finds a pic of his mother with a very suspicious firm of T.W. So, yeah he might be Bat´s brother in this movie

VinylGuy wrote:Saw it again.

I loved the cinematography. Its just beautiful. I also love how they handle Thomas Wayne. He is basically every millonaire bully in this world. Pretty cool.
I didnt catch it in the first view but

Spoiler: show

Dr Benjamin Stone is who conducts the interviews with Art´s mother. He is a villain in the comics. Also, when Art is putting his makeup for the first time he finds a pic of his mother with a very suspicious firm of T.W. So, yeah he might be Bat´s brother in this movie

Spoiler: show

I saw that as well but I think it was another of his hallucinations or his mother wrote it out of one of her delusions.

Also I Fucking loved the connection to the Batman legend. It had to.

How old is the Joker supposed to be?

Mecca wrote:How old is the Joker supposed to be?

Fifteen.

did joey see this yet

u guys should go see it together. then try to handle joey's progressive critique and see if you are still boning with total intimacy.

Strat wrote:did joey see this yet

I dont think joe is prepared for this one.