I’ve seen Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, now there are only two movies remaining in 2019 that I care about… It: Chapter Two and Joker.
If you’ve been following Nerdbot’s coverage of the project, you’ll know we’ve highlighted our theories on everything from the plot to the way Joaquin Phoenix will look at the end of the film. Personally I’ve seen the trailer so many times I can almost recite it word for word.
Maybe I’m currently entrenched in a self-fulfilling prophecy lately, but it seems as though there’s some early positive buzz about Phoenix’s performance and the movie as a whole. Warner Brothers is even screening Joker at the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals, events that usually don’t cater to the comic book movie crowd. But they are known for debuting major players when it comes to awards season and director Todd Phillips may have something capable of legitimizing an entire genre in the eyes of the Academy.
Actually, I can remember a certain Nerdbot writer’s piece on Joker being DC’s first “real” movie with the potential to contend on Oscar Sunday. Oh yeah… that was me. And it looks more and more like my prediction will happen. You can read the piece by clicking here.
I think the studio knows they have something special, only question is… how special?
I found an article from ComicBook.com on August 5th via the Toronto Sun when the co-head and artistic director of the Toronto International Film Festival Cameron Bailey provided an interesting quote on the upcoming Joker solo shot; “cinematic achievement on a high level.”
Bailey also adds; “First of all it’s terrific. So it should play on our largest stage. But it’s a really original take on comic book movies and on the Joker character in particular. It’s not based on an existing story, it has one of the greatest actors in modern cinema, Joaquin Phoenix in the lead, and Robert De Niro is in it as well, one of the best actors that has ever lived.”
“It’s set in the late ’70s, early ’80s and it feels like it was made then. It’s gritty in its look. It has references to Martin Scorsese’s filmmaking and it feels like a cinematic achievement on a high level. Although it’s working with very populist material, it has great ambition. That’s why it’s a Gala.”
Notice how Martin Scorsese is referenced? That’s not the only time. Michael E. Uslan, a producer of Joker, also brought up the acclaimed auteur;
“It’s maybe more like a Martin Scorsese, low-budget film noir crime drama, but I have all the faith in the world in Todd, the brilliantly talented Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro. It’s an incredible, incredible group of people that’s brought this to life.”
Believe it or not at one point Scorsese was going to helm the project with Leo as the Clown Prince Of Crime. God… what could have been… However, the Hollywood machine had other plans, and things became what they became. But I can see Marty’s early involvement with the film influencing Phillips’ vision. The dude’s a legend.
I hope I’m not getting too excited but hearing this stuff makes me believe Joker is going to be amazing. There’s no way the likes of Scorsese, DeCaprio, Phoenix, DeNiro even gave the screenplay a once over if there wasn’t something incredible about this story. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait two more months to find out if the product matches the hype.
God I hope so… DC, Warner Brothers, Phillips, Phoenix, none of the can afford to mess this up.
Joker arrives in theaters on October 4th,
By Adam Chmielewski
@PolishKaiju
Photo Credits- Warner Brothers
Do you think Joker will live up to the hype? Let Nerdbot know in the comments!!
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