Anybody seen it on the opening weekend?

Seems to get great reviews. Worth it?

Just seen it.

I’ll be honest it doesn’t feel at all like a super hero movie- for one thing it is very much devoid of any heroes! To the point where you don’t really have any one to root for. It is bleak, gritty and considerably more realistic and believable than the usual comic book stuff. If that is something you might be looking for then it’s right up your strasse

Not seen it yet but plan too. Reviews have been a but marmite.

Shermer – it wasn’t ever meant to be a superhero movie.

I can’t wait to see it.

It’s the first time I’ve watched an origin story and came away thinking ‘that could actually happen’. The price for all that plausibility is all the thrills and wise cracks that you’d get with a Marvel movie. I was moved by it, but definitely at the unsettling and thought provoking end of things. I was very surprised when I found out that it was the same director as The Hangover!!

Shermer – it wasn’t ever meant to be a superhero movie.

I can’t wait to see it.

Super villain movie then?

Just got back – posted in the ‘movies’ thread. I absolutely loved it. Was not expecting anything like a superhero film and didn’t get one. Really surprised it’s been so popular actually, as it’s like a very dark, indie film, a character study and a disturbing one at that. There are no laughs, except ‘that’s awkward’ type ones. It’s packing cinemas and that’s pretty incredible for such a disturbing film with not a lot of action (and thank the lord, no CGI!).

In a word yes, stunningly intense and brooding movie.

Oh, sounds like one for me then – worthy of a cinema rather than waiting for it to be available at home?

Definitely see it at the cinema!

Other thing that I just remembered- I wonder who gets royalties for the use of Gary Glitter’s music!? Mind boggling! 😁

Watched it on Friday and thought it thoroughly lived up to the hype, it leaves quite a bit too the imagination and definitely left it’s mark on me, still discussing what we think happened with the Mrs today.

Great performance. Let down by the script. To answer the question – no it doesn’t.

The price for all that plausibility is all the thrills and wise cracks that you’d get with a Marvel movie.

Going by DCs previous output they could do worse than just handing it to Marvel.

People have been walking out, expecting the usual ‘theme park’ cinema of a superhero movie (Scorcese’s words not mine) and getting an actual film. Yay the revolution! Maybe I will break my No **** Blokes In Tights rule and see this one then.

Superb film. Best movie I’ve seen in years.

Superb film. Best movie I’ve seen in years.

Exactly my thoughts. Cinema was full of teenage boys – not sure it was what they were expecting/wanted, but I thought it was ace. Not as violent as the reports led me to believe either.

Will Gompertz review on the BBC site was really interesting. Suggesting it was pushing the 15 certificate as well, definitely not one for little super hero fans

The 15 cert is pretty open

The BBFC permits the following within the bounds of the 15 certificate:

Theme: No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds.
Language: There may be frequent use of strong language; the strongest terms are only rarely acceptable. Continued aggressive use of strong language and sexual abuse is unacceptable.
Nudity: There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex: Sexual activity and nudity may be portrayed but without strong detail. The depiction of casual sex should be handled responsibly. There may be occasional strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.
Violence: Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain, and of injuries. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief.
Imitable techniques: Dangerous combat techniques such as ear claps, head-butts and blows to the neck are unlikely to be acceptable. There may be no emphasis on the use of easily accessible lethal weapons (in particular, knives).
Horror: Sustained or detailed infliction of pain or injury is unacceptable.
Drugs: Drug taking may be shown but clear instructive detail is unacceptable. The film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug use.

I warned my son, who’s 17, that it was more psychological than superhero beforehand. Joked that it would help with his Psychology A’level… I didn’t expect it to be quite so disturbing though. He thought it was a good film and said some clever things about it afterward (that I can’t remember the correct wording of, so won’t embarrass myself by trying!). Should be an 18 really though, I wouldn’t have felt right with him seeing that at 15.

As an R rating these days is mostly concerned with detailed violence detailed drug taking, issues about consent and injury through sex, you really have to work hard to get a film tipped over from a 15 to anything higher. Surprisingly, most of what we would consider Horror movies are 15 rated.

A fun game for all the family is spot the R rated scenes in Deadpool

excellent – needs the big screen.

Cinema was full of teenage boys

incels ??

I don’t think we have “R” ratings over here, do we?

Just followed a link about something else, and found that Joker is causing quite a stir in the US, what with possible mass shooting threat , etc…
And Josh Brolin has done a cool Insta post

View this post on Instagram

To appreciate “Joker” I believe you have to have either gone through something traumatic in your lifetime (and I believe most of us have) or understand somewhere in your psyche what true compassion is (which usually comes from having gone through something traumatic, unfortunately). An example of dangerous compassion would be to, say, make a film made about the fragility of the human psyche, and make it so raw, so brutal, so balletic that by the time you leave the theatre you not only don’t want to hurt anything but you desperately want an answer and a solution to the violence and mental health issues that have spun out of control around us. This film makes you hurt and only in pain do we ever want to change. It’s all in the irony of trauma — a fine line between the resentment of wanting to hurt society back for raping you of a decent life, for not protecting you, and accepting what feels like alien feelings with softening to those others who seem freakish in our era of judgment, and digital damnation. Like kids in Middle School: man, they can just be mean. For no reason. And, sometimes, those awful little clicky kids breed an evil in someone that rages much later, when everyone pretends we are all back to normal, when we all thought it had just manned up and gone away. We have a habit of hating and ostracizing and dividing and sweeping our problems under the rug. “Joker” is simply lifting the rug and looking underneath it. Nothing more. Nothing less. It’s there.

A post shared by Josh Brolin (@joshbrolin) on Oct 5, 2019 at 7:34am PDT

I don’t think we have “R” ratings over here, do we?

Sorry, yes, 18, the trials of living with a Canadian…

I’ve heard all the stuff about Incels and so on, Partner is in Toronto currently, and she said the cinema complex has cops frisking the audience going into to screenings of Joker.

I saw it on Saturday, with my wife who would never go to a “superhero film” which this definitely isn’t. I enjoyed it, if enjoy is the right word most of the film is pretty unsettling.

I wouldn’t rate it as the best film i’d seen in ages but its a solid four stars. Joaquin Phoenix’s performance is extraordinary and the setting – Gotham as a kind of horrible early eighties New York works really well too.

Todd Phillips seems to be borrowing a bit from Martin Scorcese but if you’re going to copy someone then I guess Scorcese isn’t a bad place to start.

I saw it Saturday as a last minute something to do with the wife, didnt have any expectations, it was okay, as mentioned above kinda dark and actually a good origins story, also that you didnt know who to root for throughout made it slightly more interesting.

But that is my issue with it, DC in the last few years had a joker in suicide squad and there is sequel planned without this joker, this just appears to be a one off film so hard to rally behind I find. Trying to forget Heath Ledgers joker was quite tough too, although seemed like some scenes were a nod to Heaths joker IMO.

Super villain movie then?

Not really. He’s far from a super-villain in this.

Cinema was full of teenage boys

Will be interesting to see how it does – it’s not a comic book movie in any conventional sense and all the better for it.

It is violent – not in the ‘continuous blood and guts’ sense but where there is violence it’s cold, hard and shocking. I’m not convinced it’s going to see people rioting in the streets (could that be film company PR hype?)

Looks stunning, well acted, great score. Definitely cinematic.

Spoiler alert…

Just followed a link about something else, and found that Joker is causing quite a stir in the US, what with possible mass shooting threat , etc…

Hopefully it will cause a reaction of the scale of ‘mee-too’ where people realise that the way society acts does an awful lot towards forming these dissassocated characters.

It wasn’t him that orchestrated the abuse as a kid, the muggings from the kids on the street, the ridicule and failed mugging from the jerks in the tube, the orchestrated public humiliation from Robert De Niro, that turned him into what he eventually became.

‘Reap what you Sow’ on a societal level.

Saw it last night. Simply stunning. Way, way darker and more off the wall than I anticipated. As Will Gompertz said in his review, it’s an art house film that’s tricked it’s way onto the big hollywood scene.

Visually it’s absolutely stunning. The sets, the street scenes, the camera work. It’s all fantastic. Tonally I think it fits in perfectly with Nolan’s films.

I loved how they managed to tie in “batman” to the whole thing.

The violence wasn’t actually as bad as the wet blanket reviews were whining about. If anything, the most horrifically violent moment isn’t actually shown on screen. You know it’s happened, you just never see it.

Phoenix is of course fantastic. the physical performance is mind blowing.

Semi-spoiler-ish, so hidden 🙂

Spoiler:

the orchestrated public humiliation from Robert De Niro

That bit really reminded me of the X Factor a few years back, when they used to make semi-celebs out of the really useless, deluded ones. Luckily that seems to have stopped (although I do avoid X Factor and it’s ilk like the plague these days)

And ^^ nicely put, BoardingBob.

Just back from watching it. BoardinBob nailed it:

Simply stunning. Way, way darker and more off the wall than I anticipated. As Will Gompertz said in his review, it’s an art house film that’s tricked it’s way onto the big hollywood scene.

Visually it’s absolutely stunning. The sets, the street scenes, the camera work. It’s all fantastic. Tonally I think it fits in perfectly with Nolan’s films.

I loved how they managed to tie in “batman” to the whole thing.

The violence wasn’t actually as bad as the wet blanket reviews were whining about. If anything, the most horrifically violent moment isn’t actually shown on screen. You know it’s happened, you just never see it.

Phoenix is of course fantastic. the physical performance is mind blowing.

Not once in the film did I think that any of it had been overdone, dramatised, over CGI’d (some of the background is CGI, it has to be) or had violence for violence’s sake. Glad I went to see it on the big screen, can’t imagine it has anywhere near as much impact watching it at home. I might have to re-watch the Nolan Batman films sometime soon!

I might have to re-watch the Nolan Batman films sometime soon!

Watched the first 2 when I got home and the last one tonight.

Heath’s Joker didn’t seem so exceptional afterwards though…

Just been to see it.

Lots of positives – the performances, the cinematography, the editing and the score.

Love the idea of it being closer to something indie; perhaps even French in its tone – but placed on the canvas of a blockbuster. That’s a smart trick.

I didn’t quite think it was the sum of its parts though. Many brilliant moments and a satisfying climax couldn’t quite save the disjointed nature of it for me. The story didn’t particularly flow even though the character’s journey was entirely convincing.

I also thought it didn’t quite pull off the real-world versus the comic book world particularly well (Arkham hospital looking like a typical CGI exterior from the regular DC stuff – didn’t blend here.) Christopher Nolan is a master at this. He fits the stories into a solid reality.

Actually it needs an extra bit of appreciation though for making a story out of what should be an impossible character to relate to.

I liked the commentary on capitalism too. Plenty to go at.

As above a solid four stars from me.

(The soundtrack was really was amazing BTW.)

Just back too. Also came away talking about the soundtrack!

Worth every ounce of hype imo!!! Phenomenal.

The soundtrack was really was amazing BTW

Didn’t realise they’d used a Gary Glitter song till I saw some outrage online!

You should’ve read this thread 😉

Just back from watching it.

It’s basically a re-make of ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ from 2006.

Saw it on Sunday and thought it was great. Soundtrack was really good too – had not long finished reading about Ginger Baker’s death before White Room came on during the film which was a weird coincidence.

It’s basically a re-make of ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ from 2006.

???

The Pursuit of Happyness

“Based on a true story about a man named Christopher Gardner. Gardner has invested heavily in a device known as a “bone density scanner”. He feels like he has it made selling these devices. However, they do not sell well as they are marginally better than x-ray at a much higher price. As Gardner works to make ends meet, his wife leaves him and he loses his apartment. Forced to live out in the streets with his son, Gardner continues to sell bone density scanners while concurrently taking on an unpaid internship as a stockbroker, with slim chances for advancement to a paid position. Before he can receive pay, he needs to outshine the competition through 6 months of training, and to sell his devices to stay afloat.”

Christ yeah! Why didn’t anyone else spot that!? 😆