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.

The List of the 819 New Academy Members Is Here!

LaKeith Stanfield

It's that time again. Every year The Academy puts in an effort to expand their voting base to include a lot of the best and brightest in the entertainment industry. This includes a goal of expanding diversity to include talents globally. With 819 new members, the list features an exciting new group that will help determine what next year's ceremony will look like. Along with the first time choice to let agents vote, check out the list of new faces, which continues to show how many interesting voices are out there, ready to make a difference. Who are some of your favorites? Feel free to leave them in the comments section.

Having Broken A Billion Dollars, "Joker" Becomes One of the Most Profitable R-Rated Movies of All Time

Scene from Joker (2019)

Considering that it took Avengers: Endgame less than a weekend to earn a billion dollars, it seems like every film with a comic book source has a guaranteed success margin. However, there was one film that has been running rampant in the culture that seemed less of a surefire deal. Director Todd Haynes' Joker entered the Fall season as the wildcard Oscar favorite, including the belief that it would start mass shootings and drive incel audiences to revolt. Well, that hasn't happened (that we know of), but what has happened in the process is one of the few pop culture phenomenons of the year, drawing criticism, parodies, and even visits to the stairs where it was filmed. With all of that in mind, Joker making a billion dollars doesn't seem that wild of an idea. However, it being the first R-Rated movie of its kind to do so is a distinctive achievement. 

A24 A-to-Z: #73. "Slice" (2018)

Slice (2018)

In case you didn't know, A24 is one of the great purveyors of modern cinema. Since 2013, the studio has found a way to innovate independent cinema by turning each release into an event. As a result, A24 A-to-Z will be an ongoing series that looks at every release from the studio by analyzing its production history, release, criticisms, and any awards attention that it might've received. Join me on a quest to explore the modern heroes of cinema by exploring every hit and miss that comes with that magnificent logo. They may not all be great, but they more than make A24 what it is and what it will hopefully continue to be for years to come.

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.