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Reviews
Joker (2019)
A masterclass in acting in a very nice looking movie that partially makes it's case.
When i first heard about "Joker", i was excited. I thought using a very popular character to depict descent into madness is a pretty good idea. When i heard Todd Philips was gonna direct it, i was a bit sceptical. He never made this kind of movie. But from the movies i've seen of him, he is a competent director. He didn't disappoint. "Joker" is his finest work. I hope he gets good offers in the future. "Joker" is a competently helmed, beautifully made movie. Which is one of it's strengths. Though it's not flawless.
Before talking about the flaws. I have to give due applause to Joaquin Phoenix. He did one of those transformative works, showing his acting prowess, in such a royal way...this will be something that will be talked about in coming times. He gorgeously put on the screen - his characters vulnerabilities, his anguish and his need to do something to spark life in his life. Joaquin's Joker is a ride to behold.
But...i don't think the script properly holds up his performance. By no means it's a bad script, it's superior than most. But here's the thing, this movie is dealing with some sharp subjects. I felt like it failed to uphold them properly. It did partially though. I saw two things in this movie. Arthur's journey towards chaos and the city he is in, that city's impoverished people's journey with him. When it came to Arthur, the movie did a pretty good job. It made a proper case for him to become someone like Joker. The things he went through, the revelations he found out about him, the conditions he already had ...yeah, i can see that throwing someone over the edge. There are one or two things i felt like could've been emphasised more. But nothing is flawless. So, good job movie, on that front. But as for the city's journey with him...i felt like the movie didn't properly illustrate that. The movie needed to make a strong case for the city's madness, as much as it had to do for Arthur's. The approach they took, it just didn't do it for me. I would say "V for Vendetta" made better case for this type of unrest. There were also a couple of weird, kinda shoehorned in scene that disrupted the flow of the movie for me. I felt like the movie kinda dropped the ball in the last scenes, after Arthur got on television, those scenes were weak and didn't give the movie a strong finish.
So, i would watch this for Joker himself and Joaquin, but as for the larger case the movie alluded to, i thought it was murky. But this movie is still important, it's very different in the comic book adaptation movie crowd. If this encourages producers and directors to take more risks, i am all for it.
Dickinson (2019)
A nice quirky idea ruined by incompetent writing
When Apple TV+ announced "Dickinson", upon seeing the trailer, it was one of my most anticipated show. It's about Emily Dickinson, they did a mash up of old times and present sensibilities, it's a comedy and they hired Hailee Steinfeld, who is one of the youngest actress to be nominated for an Oscar, for a character, that is not as comedic but just as a rebel, like the character she is playing in this show. But here's the thing, good comedy is hard to write. A show where two very different times is tangled like this, that would be way harder. The writing just wasn't upto the task. They broke the idea. This is one of those productions where they go such a way to be funny it becomes too much of a silly product to care about. The time this show is portraying, women lived a really restrictive life. I believe you can absolutely make fun of that in a humorous way. But this got way out of line as to have whatever point it had to be burried under juvenile "comedy". It's a shame, because steinfeld was perfectly cast. "The death of Stalin" did pretty good with this type of approach. But "Dickinson" isn't it.
Watchmen (2019)
An interesting start
I never read the comics. Only saw the zack snyder film. I am writing this after watching the pilot.
Watchmen is about a different world than ours. Here the police force wears masks to cover their identity. In the pilot the main threat was a white supremacist group in rorshach masks. If the movie i watched closely followed the comics i would say this series is going to be different. There are many easter eggs and callbacks though. The pilot revolves around the main characters finding out about the threat and gearing up to stand against it. The way that happens kept my intrigue. They didn't let the story fall flat, there was always some momentum. It had some aptly handled tense scenes. Not too flashy action scenes but they had a punch, held interest for me. Acting was as good as it can be. There wasn't any scene that called for amazing, stand out acting. The actors and actresses did the best that can be done. There were competent character interactions inbetween. Also good tease for things to come. So, all over i wasn't bored at all. Along with the satisfying character interaction and up to the mark action and tense scenes, i was enterntained. I was hooked enough to want to see what would come next. Would definitely check out the next episode. The production is really good. Aesthetic is eye cathing. I liked how it's edited, i specially liked some transitions. The music is very well produced. There's a synth track i would like to get my hands on. So, an interesting pilot.