The hills are alive with the sound of Joker (Folie a Deux)

[todd-parker]

I know this film is getting some rough reviews and I know it's going to tick off many of the comic fan-boys who are going to be put off by the musical numbers and not getting an ending they were hoping for, but I thought this was a pretty interesting, satisfying film.

I had forgotten that the musical aspect was going to be a part of this before showtime but, not to give away too much, it makes sense within the context of this particular story, with these characters, plus it stops this "sequel" from becoming another non-stop 2+ hours of discomforting brutality like the first film. Of course, having Lady GaGa and Phoenix performing doesn't hurt, either.

I can appreciate it when filmmakers take chances so if If you have the patience for some musical numbers and not having your expectations met in a predictable way then give this one a shot. At the very least, it's better than Megalopolis.

[Dicktar2023]

I hated the first movie, but I was mildly curious when I heard this was going to be a musical. Sounds crazy. Then I caught Todd Phillips on Teri Gross and they played a clip of Gaga singing "Close to You" a capella. I actually had to turn the radio off. I'd seriously rather go to the dentist than sit through 2 hours of that.

Now I read about the ending, and...hooo boy. Wow. Just wow. These movies don't just suck, they're actually trying to pull other, better movies into their (bleep) event horizon.

Although it does answer my biggest question about Joker...

Spoiler

Isn't the Joker supposed to be a criminal mastermind? How would this boring, pathetic loser Fleck ever give Batman a sleepless night?

And then answer is, well, he's not the "Joker." He's just a boring pathetic loser. So yeah, this whole franchise was exactly the giant waste of time we all suspected it was.

[Dicktar2023]

Oh no, this miserablist comic book movie-that-isn't-a-comic book movie that's peppered with Karaoke versions of soft rock songs and has a pretentious, unpronouceable title doesn't seem to be connecting with the audiences...

[Dicktar2023]

‘Joker’ Box Office Shocker: ‘Folie à Deux’ Bombs With $40M Opening After Receiving D CinemaScore

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie ... 236025168/

[todd-parker]

Whew, that was close. I thought we might start seeing studios and production companies begin to take chances on comic book movies that aren't formulaic and boring.

I would wager that Joker: Folie a Deux becomes one of those films that people look back on in the future and re-think their initial response.

Until then, can't wait for Madame Web 2! We definitely need more movies that are easy to pronounce. THUNDERBOLTS!

[Dicktar2023]

Whew, that was close. I thought we might start seeing studios and production companies begin to take chances on comic book movies that aren't formulaic and boring.

I would wager that Joker: Folie a Deux becomes one of those films that people look back on in the future and re-think their initial response.

Until then, can't wait for Madame Web 2! We definitely need more movies that are easy to pronounce. THUNDERBOLTS!

We can agree that the lesson WB et al take from this will be: stick to the formula. Which only makes life worse for everyone--creators and audiences.

Honestly, I shouldn't pile on this movie, since I haven't seen it. I have a lot of bad will left over from the first one, so there is some schadenfreude. But I totally agree that this is not going to help people who are trying to make challenging movies.

[MikoTython]

Whew, that was close. I thought we might start seeing studios and production companies begin to take chances on comic book movies that aren't formulaic and boring.

I would wager that Joker: Folie a Deux becomes one of those films that people look back on in the future and re-think their initial response.

Until then, can't wait for Madame Web 2! We definitely need more movies that are easy to pronounce. THUNDERBOLTS!

jmho, but I would prefer these scarce chances be spilt on NON comic book movies. Imagine a culture where every story/drama/comedy needed to be expressed thru kabuki. That would get (or could we say has gotten) old.

[3dender]

Whew, that was close. I thought we might start seeing studios and production companies begin to take chances on comic book movies that aren't formulaic and boring.

I would wager that Joker: Folie a Deux becomes one of those films that people look back on in the future and re-think their initial response.

Until then, can't wait for Madame Web 2! We definitely need more movies that are easy to pronounce. THUNDERBOLTS!

There are ways for studios to know if a swing-for-the-fences movie is gonna be terrible before they spend $100M+ on it. Like reading the script, for example.

They could also learn the lesson that not every $1B grosser should automatically have a sequel greenlit.

Bottom line: we don't have to champion bad movies just in hopes that studios will keep trying new stuff. It's much easier (and more honest) to just stop paying for their stale products.

[Cool Papa Con]

Yikes



I am one of those who thinks this could have been a good movie had the studio not completely allowed Todd Phillips to run unchecked and that simple things like Test Screening would have resolved a good chunk of its issues.

For some reason, Phillips got very arrogant. He either believed he needed to preach to moving goers, didn’t trust the audience drawn to this adaptation, or both.

There are fans of Christian Bale’s ‘American Psycho’ who didn’t go out and murder ladies of the night. It didn’t cause a sudden uptick in psychopathy because people watched the movie and they didn’t need to make a second film to undercut the first one in order to save humanity from art. Thats sort of the vibe I got from this.

[3dender]

Yikes



I am one of those who thinks this could have been a good movie had the studio not completely allowed Todd Phillips to run unchecked and that simple things like Test Screening would have resolved a good chunk of its issues.

For some reason, Phillips got very arrogant. He either believed he needed to preach to moving goers, didn’t trust the audience drawn to this adaptation, or both.

There are fans of Christian Bale’s ‘American Psycho’ who didn’t go out and murder ladies of the night. It didn’t cause a sudden uptick in psychopathy because people watched the movie and they didn’t need to make a second film to undercut the first one in order to save humanity from art. Thats sort of the vibe I got from this.

The vibe I get is that Phillips is not that bright and also not that courageous.

He never stopped to think about the pretty obvious way his first film would be received, and then when he saw what was happening he spent the next 3 years of his life working on a really misguided apology for it, instead of just having a presser and saying "I think incels are pathetic and that's not what my movie was supposed to be about."