Joker:Folie a Duex(2024) will be hated today but appeciated years later.

 

When Todd Phillips released Joker back in 2019, it was a very different sort of film.  Now Batman’s most famous arch nemesis has gone from very goofy and campy when Ceasar Romero played him in the 60’s television series to the dark, unhinged performance Heath Ledger gave in the Dark Knight.  Each actor from Jack Nicholson to Mark Hamill have their own take on this iconic character and how you feel about each performance is really up to you.  Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal was something different than the others because this time.  The story would be focused solely on him and it became an alternate origin story and a somewhat character study on mental illness.  Taking inspiration from Martin Scorsese classics like Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy.  Joker was met with a lot of  praise from critics and audiences and even won Phoenix an Oscar for best actor.

Film Criticism and the problems associated with it .

I should start off this by saying that this article was fueled by at least 2 bloody Mary's,  a strong mixture of cheap whiskey and Root Beer, and maybe one joint.  There most likely will be some typos and a few grammar issues as well.  Hell even if I wasn’t consuming the things I mentioned.  There will still be problems with this article.  These are just more random thoughts of a movie insomniac. 

I got this idea for this article as I was watching Ghostbusters.  Not the 1984 original, on which is a classic and I don’t need to explain why it is so loved by many people.  I’m referring to the 2016 reboot with an all female cast.  Many people and critics trashed on this movie before even seeing it.  When they did watch it, the one from 84 was so in graved in their minds that they couldn’t get past that the only connection between both movies Is that both sets of characters catch ghosts.  I don’t think the 2016 version is perfect but I did enjoy very much the story it told.  I found it kind of odd that in the original one, when The Ghostbusters started their business; everyone believed that ghosts were real.  There was only one skeptic in Walter Peck(the guy who wanted to shut down the storage containment center) and he was painted as the villain.  In the reboot, only the four women believe they saw a ghost and it’s everyone else that does not.  I found this to be a much more plausible plot and I loved that the gadgets they used were flawed and not perfect. 

The Vern's guest spots on Whatever with Jason Soto

I was recently a return guest on Whatever with Jason Soto.  A fun comedy podcast where Jason and guest host Mary Mitchell talk about random things going on in the world.  On this episode, Mary, Jason, and I compare weird videos we saw on the net, celebrities trying to do the right thing but failing brilliantly, and end with a fun game involving google translator.




If you enjoyed that, than I recommend checking out the very first appearance I had on the pilot episode of the podcast. Jason and I discuss about how wrong people were about Joker calling it white male rage, and we get into the whole woke culture debate as well. Watch video on YouTube below