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Joker
No masks, no hoodies, no sunglasses, on and on was the sign that greeted us at our local theater in small-town America and this was not on the door because of the newest Disney movie.
Joker is not an easy film to review. Because it is a complicated delve into the psychosis and mental illness of this delusional man and then also touches upon the failures of a system that would prefer to lock up the ill rather than treat them.
This is a look into the downward spiral of a man who has suddenly been neglected by the system. Budget cuts don't you know. He lives with his mother and she is ill.
But this is the perfect back story to the Batman character Joker. Portrayed magnificently by Joaquin Phoenix who can always make the screen his own playground. He has deftly morphed from Johnny Cash, and the lonely man in Her, to this complicated character. Some may complain that there wasn't enough action, things blowing up, and exploding, but that will happen later. This is how The Joker came to be.
It adds layers of complexity to a character some may have written off as just another criminal with a gimmick, giving himself a clown face and so on. But no. So much deeper than that.
I for one, now have even more respect for Heath Ledger's uncanny portrayal of this character because it all makes more sense now.
I would recommend this film, but not if you just want another boring superhero movie. This is levels above that.
I think there may be an Oscar nod for Joaquin and although he may not win, this performance is worthy of a nomination.
Grade: B
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Monday, August 26, 2019
Blinded By The Light
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'Blinded By The Light' is a Bruce Springsteen song from his first album "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J." His music was great from the beginning but it was so different that it took awhile for it to sink in and begin provoking thoughts and eventually establish itself at the big boys table. As John Stewart said in his opening remarks at Springsteens Kennedy Center Honors induction, he believed that Bob Dylan and James Brown had a baby - and that baby was Bruce Springsteen.
So fast forward a few years. In London a Pakistani kid is struggling through a crazy environment of a town and country that doesn't want him, and an extremely oppressive Father. He doesn't have much luck with girls. In fact there is a scene where a friend of his tells him there will be a girl at the party that may go for him. His girlfriend chimes in 'she's not fussy.' And he's thrilled.
A different friend at school turns him on to Springsteen saying this is the guy that gets what we are going through. He takes the cassettes and puts them in his backpack and forgets about them for a few days. And then after a particularly frustrating row with his domineering father, he goes to his room notices the tapes, and puts one in his walkman. And it is an awakening.
As he continues to listen to Springsteen he becomes more and more entrenched and starts having urges to stand up for himself in the community and at home. And his passion for Springsteen and the music continues to grow.
The film uses interesting techniques such as putting the lyrics on buildings as he walks past as the music is playing through his headphones. That often happens in the film as he is in a situation and the Springsteen lyrics in his headphones fit it perfectly. This happened bordering on hokey. But not quite.
However the fact that India the second largest movie audience in the world, loves their dance numbers and there is a misguided scene that borders on a dance number but not all the way, still the hint is there. And his quoting the lyrics constantly becomes nearly over the top. But this is a true story after all.
Finally he and the kid that turned him onto Bruce got to come to America to visit Bruce's hometown. And it's the thrill of his life.
In real life, he has seen Bruce in concert over 150 times [in concert is where Bruce is the superstar], and has met Bruce on many occasions. Stay for the credits and you'll see photos from his trip to Freehold, New Jersey and pictures of him with the Boss.
This is a fun film but not a great film. It touches on hokey too often. I think it's better than Yesterday, but there won't be any Oscar nominations coming for this one. But still I think I may have to buy this one.
Grade: B
'Blinded By The Light' is a Bruce Springsteen song from his first album "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J." His music was great from the beginning but it was so different that it took awhile for it to sink in and begin provoking thoughts and eventually establish itself at the big boys table. As John Stewart said in his opening remarks at Springsteens Kennedy Center Honors induction, he believed that Bob Dylan and James Brown had a baby - and that baby was Bruce Springsteen.
So fast forward a few years. In London a Pakistani kid is struggling through a crazy environment of a town and country that doesn't want him, and an extremely oppressive Father. He doesn't have much luck with girls. In fact there is a scene where a friend of his tells him there will be a girl at the party that may go for him. His girlfriend chimes in 'she's not fussy.' And he's thrilled.
A different friend at school turns him on to Springsteen saying this is the guy that gets what we are going through. He takes the cassettes and puts them in his backpack and forgets about them for a few days. And then after a particularly frustrating row with his domineering father, he goes to his room notices the tapes, and puts one in his walkman. And it is an awakening.
As he continues to listen to Springsteen he becomes more and more entrenched and starts having urges to stand up for himself in the community and at home. And his passion for Springsteen and the music continues to grow.
The film uses interesting techniques such as putting the lyrics on buildings as he walks past as the music is playing through his headphones. That often happens in the film as he is in a situation and the Springsteen lyrics in his headphones fit it perfectly. This happened bordering on hokey. But not quite.
However the fact that India the second largest movie audience in the world, loves their dance numbers and there is a misguided scene that borders on a dance number but not all the way, still the hint is there. And his quoting the lyrics constantly becomes nearly over the top. But this is a true story after all.
Finally he and the kid that turned him onto Bruce got to come to America to visit Bruce's hometown. And it's the thrill of his life.
In real life, he has seen Bruce in concert over 150 times [in concert is where Bruce is the superstar], and has met Bruce on many occasions. Stay for the credits and you'll see photos from his trip to Freehold, New Jersey and pictures of him with the Boss.
This is a fun film but not a great film. It touches on hokey too often. I think it's better than Yesterday, but there won't be any Oscar nominations coming for this one. But still I think I may have to buy this one.
Grade: B
Sunday, July 7, 2019
Entertainment
People like to be entertained. And we are so bombarded with entertainment today that we don't know where to turn half the time. But back in the 1880s they didn't have recorded music, movies, TV, smart cell phones, telephones, facebook, youtube, netflix, hulu, or amazon prime.
I'm reading a book about Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft. I learned that Taft's future wife used to hold things called salons once a week. They would announce a topic each week that would be discussed next week and everyone would go to the library and learn as much about the topic as they could to be able discuss it intelligently at the next salon. Can you imagine that as your only source of entertainment? Topics were broad, varied and interesting. So people not only entertained themselves, they got smarter.
Their alternative was card games and other games. Or picnics or nature walks. And of course this was the perfect atmosphere for PT Barnum to create his circus. The most loved pastime was reading. Can you imagine? People getting smarter for entertainment?
I guess what I'm trying to observe is that I feel like everybody staring at their phones and Facebook all day are getting dumber. God help us all.
People like to be entertained. And we are so bombarded with entertainment today that we don't know where to turn half the time. But back in the 1880s they didn't have recorded music, movies, TV, smart cell phones, telephones, facebook, youtube, netflix, hulu, or amazon prime.
I'm reading a book about Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft. I learned that Taft's future wife used to hold things called salons once a week. They would announce a topic each week that would be discussed next week and everyone would go to the library and learn as much about the topic as they could to be able discuss it intelligently at the next salon. Can you imagine that as your only source of entertainment? Topics were broad, varied and interesting. So people not only entertained themselves, they got smarter.
Their alternative was card games and other games. Or picnics or nature walks. And of course this was the perfect atmosphere for PT Barnum to create his circus. The most loved pastime was reading. Can you imagine? People getting smarter for entertainment?
I guess what I'm trying to observe is that I feel like everybody staring at their phones and Facebook all day are getting dumber. God help us all.
Yesterday
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I was able to see the film Yesterday today and as a die hard Beatles fan I was dying to see it.
The premise was fun. There is a power outage all over the world and after that, no one remembers The Beatles. No one except musician Jack Malik. So after he recovers from an accident his manager gives him a beautiful guitar to replace the one that was wrecked in the accident. So he plays her Yesterday. She says something like when did you write that? And he answers, "I didn't write it, Paul McCartney wrote it. The Beatles." And everyone says, "Who?"
So after he investigates he realizes there is no history of The Beatles ever. So he decides to go for it. And he starts cranking out Beatles tunes and getting all the credit. He'a becoming a mega-star. But it always gnaws at his conscious that this wasn't his stuff.
So who doesn't love the music? And it's performed very well. Even Eleanor Rigby on the acoustic guitar when in fact there was only a string quartet playing on that track.
But here are my problems with it. It was cut a bit fat. I keep thinking "get on with it." It dragged a lot. A lot.
Also the whole romantic thing took way too long to materialize. And the first performance of "Let It Be" with the parents and their constant interruptions was funny for a little bit but it dragged on too long. And along his meteoric rise there were a lot of memorable moments, although too many. There are a lot of other problems with this.
Finally there is a roof top concert and he [*spoiler*] he comes clean.
The ending was great but it took too long to get there.
Grade: B+ [mostly for the John scene]
I was able to see the film Yesterday today and as a die hard Beatles fan I was dying to see it.
The premise was fun. There is a power outage all over the world and after that, no one remembers The Beatles. No one except musician Jack Malik. So after he recovers from an accident his manager gives him a beautiful guitar to replace the one that was wrecked in the accident. So he plays her Yesterday. She says something like when did you write that? And he answers, "I didn't write it, Paul McCartney wrote it. The Beatles." And everyone says, "Who?"
So after he investigates he realizes there is no history of The Beatles ever. So he decides to go for it. And he starts cranking out Beatles tunes and getting all the credit. He'a becoming a mega-star. But it always gnaws at his conscious that this wasn't his stuff.
So who doesn't love the music? And it's performed very well. Even Eleanor Rigby on the acoustic guitar when in fact there was only a string quartet playing on that track.
But here are my problems with it. It was cut a bit fat. I keep thinking "get on with it." It dragged a lot. A lot.
Also the whole romantic thing took way too long to materialize. And the first performance of "Let It Be" with the parents and their constant interruptions was funny for a little bit but it dragged on too long. And along his meteoric rise there were a lot of memorable moments, although too many. There are a lot of other problems with this.
Finally there is a roof top concert and he [*spoiler*] he comes clean.
The ending was great but it took too long to get there.
Grade: B+ [mostly for the John scene]
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Speculation
TUBE
amazon prime
I haven't posted in quite a while, and as I've gone through all of the drafts I meant to post about TV, I haven't posted much at all. But let me just say one of the things I have been most excited about in the last couple years is The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The end of the second fantastic season left us with a lot of interesting ideas.
Midge is going on an extensive tour of Europe with Shy Baldwin. He is the Johnny Mathis character. So this is a big deal. Suzie is excited but is carrying a big secret.
Susie has agreed to manage Sophie Lennon and she will pull Sophie out of comedy and get her in some dramatic spot on Broadway, eventually making a big splash in Long Days Journey Into Night or some such thing.
Learning that Suzie is managing Sophie will undoubtedly create tension between Midge and Susie.
Joel has been given an unusual sum of money and instead of buying a house, will realize that his real place in comedy isn't the stage, but rather owning a comedy club.
The Doctor fiancé will ultimately get screwed over in this deal because Midge isn't smart enough to realize where her true best interests lie. She has a messed up opinion that Joel is her anchor. This will ultimately be her downfall down the road.
Midge's Parents will assume parental opportunities for Midge's children as Midge tours Europe. Papa will deal with the fact others where he teaches hate him, and he agrees to take an early Sabbatical. Midge's Mama will still be trying to relocate to Paris and they very well might.
Midge will persuade Lenny Bruce to appear in Joel's club a lot, and she will, and between the two of them, they'll make the place a hit. And then Lenny gets unfunny ranting abut his legal struggles on stage, and dies.
These are my guesses, and if I'm remotely in the ballpark, what a season that will be.
amazon prime
I haven't posted in quite a while, and as I've gone through all of the drafts I meant to post about TV, I haven't posted much at all. But let me just say one of the things I have been most excited about in the last couple years is The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The end of the second fantastic season left us with a lot of interesting ideas.
Midge is going on an extensive tour of Europe with Shy Baldwin. He is the Johnny Mathis character. So this is a big deal. Suzie is excited but is carrying a big secret.
Susie has agreed to manage Sophie Lennon and she will pull Sophie out of comedy and get her in some dramatic spot on Broadway, eventually making a big splash in Long Days Journey Into Night or some such thing.
Learning that Suzie is managing Sophie will undoubtedly create tension between Midge and Susie.
Joel has been given an unusual sum of money and instead of buying a house, will realize that his real place in comedy isn't the stage, but rather owning a comedy club.
The Doctor fiancé will ultimately get screwed over in this deal because Midge isn't smart enough to realize where her true best interests lie. She has a messed up opinion that Joel is her anchor. This will ultimately be her downfall down the road.
Midge's Parents will assume parental opportunities for Midge's children as Midge tours Europe. Papa will deal with the fact others where he teaches hate him, and he agrees to take an early Sabbatical. Midge's Mama will still be trying to relocate to Paris and they very well might.
Midge will persuade Lenny Bruce to appear in Joel's club a lot, and she will, and between the two of them, they'll make the place a hit. And then Lenny gets unfunny ranting abut his legal struggles on stage, and dies.
These are my guesses, and if I'm remotely in the ballpark, what a season that will be.
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