Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Joker" (2019)

Scene from Joker (2019)

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

How Joaquin Phoenix Encouraged Me To Start The Oscar Buzz

Joaquin Phoenix

Among the many winners at last night's Academy Awards was Best Actor winner Joaquin Phoenix (Joker). For months following the release of the divisive film, he's been the category front-runner and in the process has excelled at giving some of the most memorable speeches. For as much as Brad Pitt made his run seem polished and charismatic, Phoenix chose to make his feel from the heart, addressing whatever issues came to mind. Who could forget his speeches detailing Australian forest fires, or the more recent backlash at The Academy where he called out their lack of diverse nominations? There is so much to take from Phoenix that it kind of makes up for the fact that I wasn't that impressed with his Oscar-winning performance. To me, Joker was mediocre and lacked any real substance that it was vying for. However, his win had a lot more power than simply recognizing a movie or an actor. Phoenix's win sort of brought a certain narrative regarding The Oscar Buzz to a close.

Composing Greatness: #18. The Freshman Class of the 2010's - "Joker" (2019)

Scene from Joker

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

Review: "Joker" Says a Lot About the World's Troubles, But Does Less With It

Scene from Joker

With last year's Black Panther earning a Best Picture nomination, the idea of the superhero film has become something more prestigious. Suddenly every Avengers movie has an aura around it, thinking that the genre is about to evolve into something new and rich, enhancing the potential of cinema by leaps and bounds. While director Todd Phillips' Joker is far from the first "dark" comic book movie, it's the first since The Dark Knight to chase acting awards for its star Joaquin Phoenix, an enigmatic actor if there ever was one. With a brutally earned R-Rating, the film shot onto the scene and escorted controversy into every theater. It's a film rich with complicated thoughts, where there's plenty to discuss even if you hate the film. It's a serious film after all. The best of cinema brings out big emotions.

Joker is a film that wants to capitalize the I in Importance, suggesting something that is apparent about the modern era. In a world where mass shootings happen weekly, there is a need to discuss controversial topics in a way that advances the discourse. It's what should make this film one of the most biting, exciting films of the decade. Instead, it feels like Phillips' first dramatic film is too insecure to dive deeper into the character. Everything is surface-level, coddling the audience through major scenes by stating Arthur Fleck's (Phoenix) internal grief so bluntly. There's plenty that it says, but what it does is far less effective, only surviving by the unnerving laugh that Phoenix brings to his character. Phillips knows his references, citing everything from Martin Scorsese to Charles Chaplin to Stephen Sondheim to Jerry Lewis. But what does all of this bring to the bigger picture? At most, it brings forth a conversation that isn't entirely eloquent in the film. It may be enough to make it one of the most staggering superhero movies ever to be released by a major studio, but that doesn't mean it's a success.

The New "Joker" Trailer is Ready for Its Close-Up

Scene from The Joker (2019)

On the heels of 2018's Black Panther, this Oscar season can't help but include another comic book movie in the conversation. While technically Avengers: Endgame is still being discussed, most prognosticators are awaiting the first screenings from Venice Film Festival of director Todd Phillips' The Joker, which is being pushed as a surprise contender. At this moment, it's an exciting alternative, if just because it finds Joaquin Phoenix finally joining the superhero genre after over a decade of provocative and memorable arthouse roles. What could he possibly bring to the role that is worthy of this much praise? As the final trailer would suggest, he is probably the only thing worth remembering in this marketing.

Todd Phillips Considers "The Joker" (2019) Oscar Worthy, Though Skepticism Remains

Scene from The Joker (2019)

The past few weeks of the summer have produced a lot of reasons to look forward to Oscar season. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood marks a potential return for Tom Hanks, and this weekend's Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood is a Quentin Tarantino movie (so we'll be talking about it for a while). However, there's one outlier that has made the rounds in recent days... and it is not what you'd expect. Even in a post-Black Panther world, it still seems ridiculous to think that any superhero movie could crack the Oscars again. It's why it seems odd that there is one to not forget this Fall, or at least The Hangover director Todd Phillips will have you believe. The Joker is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and there are talks that the Oscars are not too far behind. It seems like a risky gamble, but maybe what this season needs.