• Blackmist@feddit.uk
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    1 year ago

    Not high art, but refreshing to see actual acting in a comic book movie.

    Especially after they made an entire island of warrior women do Israeli accents just to paper over the fact that their lead actress can’t fake a different one.

        • otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          Specifically, Pacino’s “Cuban” accent was so bad that actual Cuban cast members were trained to mimic it just to help it be less glaring. Additionally, Pitt’s “pikey” was so nonsensical, the other actors couldn’t even begin to approximate it and the disconnect is visible onscreen in their reaction time to his lines.

          • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            and the disconnect is visible onscreen in their reaction time to his lines.

            I thought that was intentional, like part of his character, that he speaks nonsensically.

            • otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              1 year ago

              Nope. Pitt “panicked” and leaned into nonsensical rather than accuracy (likely due to his shite accent in The Devil’s Own).

              • RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                But it was part of the character. The other characters react to him with dialogue. He just couldn’t do *Cockney, so they improvised.

        • shinratdr@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          He’s saying that his bar for high art is higher than “other comic book movies” but still pretty low.

          To use the metaphor from the meme, he’s swam in a lake, but still not the ocean.

  • pimeys@lemmy.nauk.io
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    1 year ago

    I just didn’t watch this movie for years because I was thinking just like the reviewer here. This year I finally watched it and… it was ok. The biggest reason to see it was because I really like Joaquin Phoenix and I wanted to see the movie from which he won his Oscar.

    There’s a lot of things in his Joker performance worth a revisit: how he talks, and how he moves, is really unique and definitely worth the victory. I just wish he would’ve got his Oscar from The Master, which for me is a groundbreaking movie and has one of the best scenes of all time with Joaquin and Philip Seymour Hoffman in the jail cell.

    But he got it from the Joker, and I’m glad he got the recognition.

    • DrMango@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Joaquin carried the fuck out of Joker and his performance, as usual, was spectacular. Unfortunately, for me at least, that’s where the merits of the film ended. I get that it resonated with a lot of people so maybe I am just not in the right headspace to truly appreciate the message, but ultimately I share the thoughts of the reviewer in the OP on this one.

      • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It was a Taxi Driver remake that licensed a DC character instead of paying Scorsese. It was solidly okay.

        But Phoenix 100% earned the Oscar with it.

      • pimeys@lemmy.nauk.io
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        1 year ago

        I fully agree with you. We also went to see Napoleon because of him and were left disappointed. Please hire him for a great movie, somebody! PTA is making a new movie, so maybe we’re lucky?

  • IvanOverdrive@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I saw it in the theater and glad I did. What I saw on the screen was a reflection of my own mental problems. A lot of people didn’t see themselves up there, and that’s totally cool. But it’s pretty disingenuous to wave the movie off like it had zero meaning.

    And that werewolf scene is classic cinema.

  • FIST_FILLET@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    i dislike that sentiment so much. no one is saying joker is a deep movie, you’re just too far up your own ass to be able to enjoy something “simple” for what it is. joker is a very decent movie with a great performance from joaquin, and anyone who praises it as the best thing of all time or labels it as the worst thing in cinema, are idiots. reject both extremes and enjoy the fucking movie. 1 star is just petty and embarrassing

    • Gambit@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      anyone who praises it as the best thing of all time or labels it as the worst thing in cinema, are idiots. reject both extremes and enjoy the fucking movie. 1 star is just petty and embarrassing

      Do you extend this generous view that “opinions must be firmly middle of the road” toward all movies or do you just expect others to be charitable with their opinions when it concerns a movie you liked?

  • Floey@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Why does every piece of media need to be the deepest thing ever? Or why do we have to assume media is trying to be? This to me sounds like when people call music pretentious simply because it’s a combination of something they don’t like and also not like things normally on the radio. It’s even weirder in a case like this when the movie is a blockbuster film and not some indie joint.

    • Hugin@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      In the case of this movie a lot of people were saying it was an important and deep move. So this review is more a reaction the tremendous over hype joker got from some groups of people.

      • RobotsLeftHand@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        And in valiant battle against the edginess they just became more edge. Criticism doesn’t get much lower than basing the review on the “tremendous over hype” of others. That just makes the critic a tool.

  • yesman@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    You guys are crazy! Joker is a nuanced and thoughtful study on the ripple effects of sustained trauma and Joaquin Phoenix’s performance is perhaps the best of his carrier. No, wait, sorry I was thinking of “You Were Never Really Here” (2017)

    Anybody notice the Batman villain as social anxiety trend? Leger’s Joker channeled Islamic terrorists, Phoenix’s channeled lone wolf shooters, while Dano’s Riddler was an incel.

    Edit: i made a change

    • madcaesar@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      This whole trend of trying to make villains deeper and giving them reasons to be assholes needs to stop. It’s rationalizing asshole behavior. Plenty of people have shitty things happen to them without turning into monsters.

      • yesman@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’d say the ubermench protagonists who are assholes, but their behavior is justified by being superior is a bigger problem. Think of Sherlock, Rick Sanchez, or Tony Stark.

  • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    The truly outstanding thing about Joker was the OST by Hildur Guðnadóttir. Other than that, it was…fine.

    • Zozano@aussie.zone
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      1 year ago

      I didn’t enjoy it because it was just so damn depressing, but I can’t say it was a bad movie. It did what it aspired to.

  • Aarrodri@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I just want to say the comments in this thread are very interesting to read and thought provoking. Just taking a moment to appreciate this community.