Category: Todd Phillips
“Joker” Broke A Whole Lot Of Box Office Records This Weekend
Joker is making news today, and thankfully it’s not for the reason people were nervous about leading up to the premiere last Friday. Reports from the weekend’s box office are in, and it looks like the only negative press Warner Bros. has to deal with is whatever yikes-worthy shit comes out of Todd Phillips or Joaquin Phoenix’s mouths. Because Joker broke a bunch of records and made a ton of money.
Journalists Have Been Banned From The Red Carpet At The “Joker” Premiere
Controversy continues to swirl around Todd Phillips‘ Joker movie. It stars what is surely a now bereft Joaquin Phoenix seeing as he’s had to watch his chances of an Oscar zip down the toilet due to all the controversy around the film. Joker drops next weekend at your local multiplex. And that’s where the press will have to see it because Warner Bros has disinvited journalists from the premiere’s red carpet according to Variety.
“Joker” Controversy Prompted A Both Sides Argument From Director Todd Phillips, And The Military Has Issued A Warning
Joaquin Phoenix is probably in a panic right now as he watches his Oscar chances slip through his fingers with every new complaint that his portrayal of the Man Who Would Be Joker, Arthur Fleck, might incite violence. But things must slip through his fingers all the time, it’s hard to hold things when you’ve always got a cigarette in your hands. Besides, his little lettuce-fed Joker weight arms probably can’t really hold much of anything, least of all a heavy gold trophy.
But he’s got good reason to be concerned, the closer we get to Joker’s October 4 release date, the more pressure is being put on director Todd Phillips, theater owners, and now the military, to address the possibility of Joker inspiring a mass shooting or other violent acts.
Joaquin Phoenix Walked Out Of An Interview Because He Was Asked If “Joker” Could Inspire Violence
IndieWire says that Joker may be getting Oscar buzz and winning festival awards and may be the next great clown movie since ever, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t getting the other end of the stick. People have been calling it out for “glamorizing” the main character of Arthur Fleck, played by Joaquin Phoenix, who goes from lonely loser with probably a mental disorder, to full-blown murderous psychopath who you should feel bad for because society ignored the poor, lonely crazy dude. Even the families of the Aurora shooting victims have written letters to Warner Bros. about the violence in Joker. Well, Joaquin obviously can’t really handle the question about that, because he walked out on one interview after being asked about the movie’s violence.
“Joker” Won The Golden Lion At The Venice International Film Festival (And Roman Polanski Won Silver)
Why do I get the feeling that Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix aren’t exactly 100% thrilled with that win for Joker? It’s bad enough they’ve got to deal with the anti-superhero franchise crowd responding to this news by suggesting legitimate filmmaking is dead. But until the next award is handed out, they’ve got to see six dozen headlines in which their win is joined by the words: “Roman Polanski also a big winner!” I guess it could be worse? “Woody Allen nabs bronze!” Yeah, that would be worse.
“Joker” Got An 8-Minute Standing Ovation At The Venice Film Festival, And There’s Oscar Buzz For Joaquin Phoenix
Joker looks like the antidote for people who hate today’s ever-present superhero movies. From the trailers alone, it comes off as a gritty Scorcese-type 70s movie with a tortured wackjob embracing the futility of life and a couple of Batman details thrown in to make the nerds happy. Like in real life! And before people started arguing over whether or not Joker is white male terrorist propaganda, the audience at the Venice Film Festival loved it so much that they gave it an eight-minute standing “O,” according to Variety.