Rod and Chris Lamberth of The Mundane Festival Podcast discuss Todd Phillip’s “Joker.” Is it the incel wet dream you all heard it was? Come find out. Also we discuss movie trailer, your feedback to Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and ramble about racism.
Spoiled Reviews: (Protected Content)
I think it’s interesting that Karen doesn’t care for “scary movies”, but loves the violence & gore in movies like Rambo & John Wick (as Rod has already pointed out). *I* on the other hand LOVE scary movies, but am turned off by certain types of violence & gore. Maybe we’re just weirdos, Karen? Hmmm…
Thanks for your review guys. I always enjoy “The Lamberth” opinion on these movies. I had a blast. I saw the movie 3 times. I guess I enjoyed how Gotham City closely matched the griminess of early 80’s New York City. I grew up in the Bronx in that time frame and I can remember the 81 sanitation strike, the subway gunman incident, the wolfpacks, and the overwhelming apathy. The decor of the buses and subways were spot on! Also a lot of easter eggs regarding stand up comic culture, Scorcese movies, comic book lore. For example, the comedy shop Pogo’s named after John Wayne Gacy’s Pogo the clown. My second and third viewings I had a chance to enjoy some of the jokes from the standup comics. Shout out to the black girl magic exhibited in the movie. I also loved seeing Atlanta alum Zazie Beetz and Brian Tyree Henry. And I agree with you on Joaquin Phoenx’s performance. He had me on edge the entire time. Rod, I also believe it’s plausible that somebody can carry out those murders the way he did and get away with it. We’ve got proof: Ted Bundy. That white boy got away so much shit in the 70’s and early 80’s. The movie is not perfect but it did bring up some good points about our apathy towards mental illness. Some people think that some or all of what happened in the movie was all in the Joker’s head. It was established that Joker was an unreliable narrator, so who knows what was real and what was made up. Overall it was a good movie. I hope Joaquin gets an Oscar nod.
Hey y’all! Another great episode! As someone who didn’t intend to see this movie, I think you hit the nail on the head about why people like me weren’t going to bother. Shitting on other comic book movies did put a bad taste in my mouth. I can’t really judge this film. It was what it was. I do think this was one of those performances that is Oscar bait. That laugh was great, and I liked the explanation for it. I feel like they were trying to sabotage this movie to make it seem even more avant-garde than it really is, like this movie is more artistic than other comic book movies. But they’re all enjoyable in different ways.
I will say, I went in not knowing a lot of what to expect from this film. I was surprised that the Wayne’s were in it. Because of all the badmouthing that the creators were doing, I didn’t even watch a trailer. I enjoyed what I saw and it did surprise me, but after I saw the Wayne’s I found myself waiting for the BIG moment for the rest of the movie. And that surprised me as well.
I think the creators did a disservice to this film by dissing other movies.
Love y’all,
Iman
Off topic comment. I watched Fast Color on Google Play. I really liked and I’m glad you reviewed it because I would have skipped it based on the synopsis that the streaming services gave it. I loved the ending and hope there is a series. The scene where Ruth is running in the rain with the colors flashing around here is my favorite. But I do have some questions. 1) What does the title Fast Color have to do with the move? 2) What does seeing colors in general have to do with making rain and 3) If there was a water shortage, how did they make gas? Gas refineries use a lot of water to turn oil into gasoline. and 4) Was there any significance in making Ruth’s favorite band XRay Spex? The lead singer was a half Somalian British woman. So, maybe?
Joker is one of the most standard fake deep auture. I thought it wasn’t terrible, certainly not to the standards of any film that Todd Phillips envisioned this would be. Joaquin Phoenix certainly did a great job in his role here & I tried diligently to separate comic bookish Joker from this one, so I didn’t get mad or anything. It’s beautiful & I love the score, but I was so relived when the credits rolled on this production, because I’m never watching this again or any other “indie” style movie like this or to a much lesser extent Venom. This idea that comic book films need to be more “adult” for the masses, is so played out, at this point. When Martin Scorsese said his piece on the issue, I had to chuck the deuce & live with the idea that some people don’t like these movies & it’s OK. At the same time, if you’re gonna attempt a Joker film or any other villain, make sure you have certain pieces that fit the puzzle. Arthur Fleck’s “laughing” disorder was a “mileage may vary” issue, but it fit that loser ass character anyway. Anyway, I enjoyed yalls review of it.
I wrote the “Anonymous” review, btw. WP must’ve timed me out or something.
I was gonna sit this one out and see it at home, but I kept hearing how great it was and I should’ve followed my instincts. It was cool, but I didn’t need to see this in the theater. While Joaquin’s performance was great, the story felt hollow to me. I def think the runtime contributed to that, bc it felt like some the ac-Ting moments meandered and messed with the flow.
I will say, I busted out laughing when we saw the Waynes catch that hot one. It didn’t bother me in terms of straying from the comics. I just found it hilarious that DC/WB was having us watch these niggas get popped, yet again.
As with everything currently, people projecting all over the place. I don’t think it glorified violence or the “bad guyâ€, but I think it was a bit too basic in its attempt to explain him for it to high art. I just think it’s an okay movie that benefited greatly from well done pastiche and a stellar performance from Joaquin.
yeah i think ima skip this one. i just like regular ass comic movies but i appreciate the candid opinion yall shared