Joker Folie À Deux

I do apologize for the halt in the Rings series, yesterday was indeed a day and I barely got any work done so accept this movie review as my burnt offering.

Madness For Two? Don't mind if I do! If there ever was a word to concisely sum up this movie it would be, ballsy. I mean a comic book musical movie, that is polarizing enough as is! But me being a bit of a theater kid and fan of musicals, my reaction when that tidbit of information was, far out. This movie is one part court drama, one part romance, with a splash of musical and is that everyone's beverage of choice? Of course not, but I'll recommend it anyway. So we pick up not long after the ending of the last movie with Arthur in Arkham getting ready for his court case when he meets musically inclined Lee and a mad romance blooms, with Arthur almost having an identity crisis during the trial that could lead to his death. How on earth do you make a sequel to Joker? The answer is, you go off the rails and do your own shit unapologetically making an already unique movie all the more a beast of it's own. We kick off the movie with a Looney Tunes style short, which is a splendid gauge cause if you don't like that the musical madness ain't gonna do much for you either. Well while we are on that topic how was the music? I didn't expect original composition per sé but the selection of songs they picked were good ones, and there is indeed many a musical moment, and the vocal performances from Joaquin and Lady Gaga worked well. Even the romance while kind of a switcheroo in the Joker/Harley dynamic I found to be interesting and just fine, not super deep but functional. I felt the movie did a very good job proposing the question of is it Arthur or is it Joker? Is there indeed a split personality or is the man also the legend? It's not super involved or has monologues of flowery dialogue, because Joaquin can do so much with his face and before he even meets Lee he's kind of in a rut very much like comatose Joker in The Dark Knight Returns. How the Joker got his groove back would be a fun subtitle. The pacing is good, it gets artsy from time to time which of course my cinema snob heart sings to see, the direction taking in terms of plot is in short bold, and I am almost waiting with baited breath how this movie will be recieved now or a year from now or even a decade from now. 3 stars from me, 8/10, and we cap off the week with the forging of the Seven.

Get Out

F***ing white people, I swear to God.

I'm whiter than sour cream and I can tell you right now, I just don't trust those guys! Partial jokes aside, holy shit Get Out was great! I mean this was like the most revered and celebrated horror film in recent memory for me so with a reputation like that I did attempt to keep my expectations limited and I got a damn fine film. I'm very very tempted to just go all the way out there, spoilers and all, because it's a hard movie to really voice your opinions on without speaking on everything. So the basic plot goes as follows, a young couple Chris and Rose are heading to her parent's place for the weekend to finally meet the parents and break the ice they are an interracial couple. Already things are off, and it at first seems just a bit of awkward and uncomfortable conversations but boooooy does it go south quick. Just go see the movie. The cinematography is wonderful, it has it's artsy moments, the cast is spectacular in every sense, it's honest to God a movie that I had no idea horror could go to. Cause usally horror can be split in two categories, it has a 1,000 subgenres but you can fit every one of them in either the supernatural category with monsters, atmosphere, and fantastical ideas or you have it in a visceral, gory, realistic category. Get Out is in both and yet neither of those camps, it's original and yet screamed Lovecraft at me. Not so much the cosmic horror side of it but the more down to earth stories, dark and twisted yes but more about the evil men do to one another, and it really does play out like something you would see in the Arkham Sanitarium in his works. Daniel Kaluuya is magnificent, he gives such a strong performance and no doubt took a lot of his personal experiences into this role especially when he's meeting the extended family. I mean Jesus God, you want to talk about racially charged questions, what in the shitting hell man. Granted it's more subtle period, than The Wicker Man remake but that's all I'll say about that. Allison Williams did such fine work here and just a side note, if you know anybody who does not mix milk and cereal and eats it seperately put a bullet in their heads, they are a psychopath. Best character though, my guy Rod. Ah, Rel Howery you were my shining star in this, I cherish you and I have never identified more with a horror character. And any movie that brings up a Stanley Kubrick film is clearly a masterpiece, and appeases my inner cinema snob fully. I could ramble on about this movie all day in terms of cast, plot, just how weird and f***ed up it is and how it affects you better than any drama could, the very clear metaphors with race and prejudice that I will leave for more intelligent minds to talk about, big thumbs up from me. Great film, 4 stars, 9/10! Thank you gods above and below for giving me a great horror film this week. I was honestly torn between this and Don't Breathe but I chose very wisely this day, and it's time for Dune tomorrow. I will confess I've made it only 1/4 of the way through the book because of work and life so it looks like I will be walking into both versions of Dune relatively blind. And yes I said both.