Joker (October 2019) Review

 Having come out in October 2019, Todd Philips' Joker is too young to feature on IMDB's top 1000 films of all time, but I am sure it will feature on the next iteration of this list.

Joker provides a re-imagined origin story for the Clown Prince of Crime. It follows Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a mentally-ill clown and stand-up comedian who goes through a dark journey into becoming the titular Joker. We see his descent into insanity as he navigates the dark underbelly of Gotham City. Robert De Niro and Zazie Beets co-star.

I've never been a fan of superhero films. In the Marvel/DC debate, I pick neither. I tried watching the MCU, but I got bored by the Age of Ultron. I've seen fewer DC films, but that's done little to convince me of joining their side. IMDB obviously disagrees with me as the Dark Knight featured at number four and you will find the various other superhero films scattered throughout the list.

I had low expectations going into Joker; I thought it would be the usual mess of CGI, gun fights and explosions, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Joker was a masterful psychological thriller exploring what happens when you push a nice man over the edge. It is a far cry from the campy 60's Batman and Robin TV series - tonally closer to the gritty, dark world that Christopher Nolan created in his Dark Knight trilogy.

And just like Heath Ledger, Joaquin Phoenix won a well-deserved Oscar for the role. It was a phenomenal performance, as he brought a scarily-human element to his role. His version of the Joker isn't a gangster or an anarchist, but an everyman who is pushed to his limit. He becomes a symbol for a revolution, as he inspires the down-trodden underclasses to rise up.

Considering Todd Philips is better known for his comedies like the Hangover franchise, it is impressive that he created such an intimate character study which is simultaneously fascinating and terrifying. The Joker could be any one of us. In may ways, he became a mouth piece for our deepest, most-repressed thoughts.

Critics of Joker have said that it is too derivative of previous films such as Martin Scorsesee's Taxi Driver or the King of Comedy - both of which also star Robert De Niro. However, Scorsesee certainly did not pioneer the dark, mysterious loner. I don't think Todd Philips so much ripped off Taxi Driver, as much as he was paying homage to it.

I did touch on Joaquin Phoenix before, but he gave an excellent performance, highlighting why he is one of the most versatile actors working in Hollywood today. You could argue that he should have won an Oscar before now, but Joker was certainly not a legacy win. He earned that award.

Yes, Joker has its critics, but that's only natural. As Frank Sinatra sings throughout the film: "that's life!" 

Sleepers review

 Number 792 on the top 1000 films of all time is the legal crime-drama Sleepers.

Lorenzo "Shakes" Carcaterra (Joe Perrino,) Tommy Marcano (Jonathan Tucker,) John Riley (Geoffrey Wigdor) and Michael Sullivan (Brad Renfro) are four boys growing up in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York. Father Bobby Carillo (Robert De Niro) keeps a watchful eye over them. But when a childish prank goes horribly wrong, the four boys are sentenced to Wilkinson's Home for Boys where they experience horrific abuse by the guards led by Sean Noakes (Kevin Bacon.) Cut thirteen years into the future, the now adult John (Ron Eldard,) Tommy (Billy Crudup,) Shakes (Jason Patric) and Michael (Brad Pitt) swear to take revenge on everybody who did them harm.

Sleepers is very much a story of two halves. We have the lives of the boys before they attend Wilkinson's and their lives afterwards. If anything I preferred the first half. We're given a rich tapestry and a deep insight into life within Hell's Kitchen. There's no doubt that our four protagonists are little shits, but they are still interesting to watch.

And then things go south in the second half. The narrative tension just stops, as we enter a courtroom drama. The contrivance of all four boys all being sent to the same prison aside, the second half was not as neat or tightly focussed, as the first half. *spoilers to follow*

Upon release, John and Tommy become hitmen in the Irish mob. By chance they see Noakes in a bar and they publicly assassinate him. The case goes to court. Michael, now an assistant district attourny, seeing an opportunity to punish the rest of the guards who abused them, takes the prosecution with the intention of botching it. He enlists the alcoholic Dan Snyder ( Dustin Hoffman) to defend John and Tommy.

But the problem lies in how Noakes was killed early on. Noakes was the ringleader. He was the big, bad villain. The other guards were just his cronies. Without him, we're just seeing John and Tommy being persecuted for a revenge kill that the audiences knows they were justified in carrying out. It was dull.

It would have been more interesting seeing Sean Noakes, and the other guards, standing trial for the atrocities they committed. Instead, we were focussing on John and Tommy. And that killed any narrative suspense. The second half felt almost disconnected from the first. It didn't help that Noakes' cronies were little more than names on a page with little characterisation other than being a crony. The one exception was Ralph Ferguson (Terry Kinney) who was the only guard to express any remorse over what he did.

Even though there were some big names in the cast; Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, Dustin Hoffman have five Oscars between them, I don't think anybody really shone. Brad Pitt and Dustin Hoffman only appear in the second half and De Niro was closer to a supporting character.

Overall, Sleepers was an entertaining if uneven film that went to sleep in its second half.

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within review

 Number 206 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Brazilian crime-drama 'Elite Squad: the Enemy Within.'

Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Nascimento (Wagner Mourra) is in charge of quelling a riot at the notorious Bangu prison. However, when his efforts to regain control end in disaster. The rioters die, and he is at risk of losing his job. But when the state secretary of Rio De Janeiro realises that Nascimento has become a folk-hero to the public, he instead promotes him to become a high-ranking intelligence officer. But there Nascimento quickly discovers the true corruption of the justice system.

Elite Squad was penned by Braulio Mantovani who also wrote City of God. And the similarities are apparent from the stark, gritty depiction of violence to the engrossing narration to a shared cast: Seu Jorge appeared as the prison-gang leader here and as Knockout Ned in City of God. In this sense, Elite Squad is just as good as City of God, and many of my readers know this is one of my favourite films ever.

Elite Squad has also been compared with HBO's hit TV series 'The Wire.' The comparison is easy to see. Whereas the first Elite Squad focussed on drug dealers and the gangs themselves, its sequel instead concentrated on the corrupt justice system that governs over these gangs. Or rather how it's supposed to govern over these gangs, but instead feeds the self-serving, corrupt politicians. It peels back another layer of an inherently flawed system.

The characters are great with returning favourites from its predecessor like Nascimento's former protege Mathias and the morally corrupt Fabio, but also morally-depraved officers like Major Rocha who soon forms a militia extorting the residents of the Favela. He was a truly despicable character, but, sadly, there are many power-hungry men like this in the world.

However, this film wasn't quite as cohesive as its predecessor. There is a four-year time jump that is quite disjointed - in this time, it is implied that Nascimento has divorced from his wife who has gone onto marry the liberal, human-rights activist and legislator Varga. This relationship was rushed and could have used more grounding.

My second criticism, which also applied to its predecessor, was that Mourra was criminally under-used. Sure, he narrates the film with his trade-mark charisma, but he doesn't appear on screen enough. This is only diluted by how he has been removed from the front lines and relegated to an office. The film seemed more interested on focussing on Varga and the corrupt officials governing Rio. Sadly, and this was of no fault of Mourra, but Nascimento largely faded into the background, when he should have been the star.

That notwithstanding, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within was still a terrific if uncomfortable watch.

Midnight Run review

 Number 731 on the top 1000 films of all time is the action-comedy Midnight Run.

Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) is a bounty hunter who has been enlisted to bring accountant Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas (Charles Grodin) to his bail bondsman Eddie Moscone (Joe Pantoliano.) After embezzling 15 million dollars from mob boss Jimmy Serrano (Dennis Farina,) the Duke then skips out on the bail that Moscone posts for him. But Walsh finds it more difficult to bring back the Duke than he thought, as he has to outrun the FBI, a rival bounty hunter and Serrano himself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It was funny, tense, but also very heart-warming. I thought that De Niro and Grodin had a great chemistry. They played off each other well. Their relationship contributed a lot to the film's humour. Grodin is a comedian by trade, so it's no surprise that he was so funny. But De Niro did surprise me. Perhaps I'm so used to him playing grumpy old men or grizzled gangsters that I wouldn't expect him to be funny, but he also had great timing. And he was very charismatic. The relationship between the two contributed greatly to the film's success.

And Joey Pants was great. He brought a great chaotic energy to his panicking bail bondsman of Eddie Moscone.  There were plenty of great gags such as the increasing number of obstacles that Walsh faces in bringing the Duke home. Of course, you would expect things to be anything but easy, it was still entertaining seeing everything play out.

However, beyond all the farcical humour, there is a strong emotional core that ties everything together. Both Walsh and the Duke are highly sympathetic characters. Initially, Walsh is closed-off and withdrawn, but he slowly opens himself up to the Duke, revealing how when he used to be a cop, he was drummed off the force after he refuses to take a bribe from a drug lord like the rest of his department had. This resulted in the breakdown of his marriage, as well as his gloomy outlook on life. Similarly, it's revealed that the Duke robbed Serrano so he could give the money to charitable causes. A naive goal, but an admirable one nonetheless.

Throughout the film, you see Walsh being conflicted by his conscience and by his love of money. Which direction would he take? Believing him to be an inherently good man, the Duke forges a relationship with Walsh hoping that he will let him go. And this tension drove the film along to a satisfying, heartfelt, and not at all, overly-sentimental conclusion.

I thoroughly enjoyed Midnight Run. Give it a watch. I think you will too.

Limitless review

 Number 926 on the top 1000 films of all time is the science-fiction thriller 'Limitless.'

Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) is a writer who is struggling to make ends meet. Out of desperation, he begins taking an experimental new drug called NZT which will enable him to access 100% of his brain instead of only 10%. While things start to improve, he quickly finds his life spiralling out of control.

Firstly, I need to say that the premise of this film is fundamentally flawed. We use far more than 10 or 20% of our brains. Certainly not 100%, but far more than the mythical 10% that Limitless propagates. Bearing that in mind, this film is definitely more science-fiction than science fact.

Nonetheless, it is still an entertaining if rather uneven watch. As a writer myself, the protagonist is scarily relatable to me. And Bradley Cooper is charismatic enough to pull off the transformation from shabby artist to suave, financial investor. I also enjoyed his narration. It helped to move the film along at a steady pace.

Unfortunately, he also makes a number of silly decisions for no other reason than to affect the plot. He borrows money from a dangerous Russian loan shark who was one of the more over-the-top, two dimensional villains I've seen in a while. Secondly, Eddie Morra is due to give advice to tycoon Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro.) Van Loon wants to merge his company with another and seeks Eddie's help. He sends him a bunch of files to review. But he has allowed himself to run out of NZT and goes ahead and reviews the files anyway. This would make sense if he was an average person like you and I. But this wonder drug is supposed to make him hyper-intelligent. Surely, he would be smart enough to know he can't trust shady loan-sharks or allow his supply to run low.

Robert De Niro was good as Van Loon who was a far more effective villain than the Russian loan shark. It's never explicitly clear why Eddie is borrowing money from him, but he is little more than a thug in a suit.

This film isn't necessarily bad. It gives a chance for Bradley Cooper to show off his many talents such as languages. I can only assume he learned Mandarin for the role, but I know he learned French after studying in the south of France for six months during college, and he also learned Italian form his mother. The script had plenty of humour and the soundtrack was good too. I also enjoyed the editing and camerawork. When Eddie is off the drug, the picture is greyscale, but when he's on it, it's oversaturated.

Although Limitless is built on a false premise, it is still an entertaining ride.

Stardust review

 Number 532 on the top 1000 films of all time is Matthew Vaughn's 2007 fantasy romantic-drama 'Stardust.'

Tristan Thorn (Charlie Cox) is a young man from the fictional Victorian village of Wall. In love with an already betrothed woman, he ventures into the neighbouring fantasy land of Stormhold to collect a fallen star that has taken the form of a woman called Yvaine (Clare Danes.) However, a coven of witches led by Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) are also seeking Yvaine in their quest for immortality. Meanwhile, Stormhold's dying king (Peter O'Toole) decides that his successor should be whoever can find the ruby he has thrown into the sky. His squabbling sons led by Prince Septimus (Mark Strong) start fighting to become the new king.

This was a fun re-imagining and subversion of the fairy-tale, as well a great take on the fantasy genre. Like science-fiction, I find fantasy to be full of pretentiousness - authors desperate to show off how creative they are put all their efforts into world-building and purple prose, neglecting their characters and narrative. The result is usually an overly-serious and stuffy story.

 Yet Stardust was refreshing and charming. There was no shortage of well-choregraphed, slapstick fights, as well as comedic characters. Robert De Niro as the effeminate pirate Captain Shakespeare is a prime example. De Niro has such a reputation for playing grizzled, old gangsters, it's difficult to imagine him as cross-dressing dame, but he did the comedy so well. He only had a supporting role, but a scene-stealing one.

Similarly, the old man (David Kelly) guarding the wall was great. He uses his staff to fiercely stop Tristan from crossing realms. Granted, he isn't very effective, but it was great slapstick all the same. And there's loads more examples of quiet humour from Lamia's youth potion wearing off leading to her hair falling out and her breasts sagging, to the king's sons committing fraticide one by one. When one of them has his throat slit, he bleeds blue blood. All of these were nice little touches.

I wish my praise could extend to Charlie Cox, but he was very bland and sappy as Tristan Thorn. Arguably, he becomes progressively more heroic, but he is still a rather dull protagonist. It's a shame as I've seen Charlie Cox in more action-oriented roles and he's very good, but he was nothing out the ordinary here. Mark Strong and Michelle Pfeiffer made great villains though. Generally, I've only seen Mark Strong in villainous roles, but he does do them so damn well.

All in all, I did enjoy Stardust. It was wonderfully creative. Yes, Charlie Cox, is sappy, but Stardust proved that fantasy does not need to be dark and serious all the time.

Mean Streets review

 Number 850 on the top 1000 films of all time is Martin Scorsese's directorial debut - the crime drama 'Mean Streets.'

Charlie Cappa (Harvey Keitel) is a low-ranking mafioso in New York. His best friend is the hot-headed Johnny Boy Civello (Robert De Niro.) Johnny Boy is reckless, aggressive and rude. He also owes a lot of money to many loansharks including the dangerous Michael Longo (Robert Romanus.) Cappa has to work hard to keep his friend out of trouble...and Johnny Boy gets into a lot of trouble - angering almost every gangster in the neighbourhood.

As well as being Scorsese's directorial debut, it also marked the start of his many collaborations with actors Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. Their relationship is at the heart of the film and the actors work brilliantly together. De Niro provides a chaotic, even manic energy which is balanced out by Keitel's straight-man approach. Johnny Boy antagonises every lone shark in the neighbourhood by stubbornly refusing to pay back his debts. As the film progresses, so does the tension and the drama. 

I certainly think you could argue that Mean Streets isn't always the most believable. No loan shark will give a little hot-head like Johnny Boy chance after chance to pay him back even if Charles Luciano was vouching for him. They might knock him around once or twice but if they don't get their money soon then they'll simply kill him. It is only at the end of the film that Michael Longo shoots Johnny Boy as punishment for not repaying his debts. And this happens as Johnny is attempting to drive to safety. And it's a botched attempt too. The car crashes and Johnny Boy stumbles to an uncertain fate. In reality, a loan shark would never let things get this out of hand. A loan shark would kill him earlier and far more efficiently than Michael Longo does. But this is a film, and not real life, so I'm prepared to suspend my disbelief. 

And I think that's because Scorsese creates such a fantastical world. Mean Streets, being Scorsese's first film, obviously didn't have the same budget as the Irishman or the Wolf of Wall Street, but Scorsese did well with what he had. He brought his world to life. And it is a dirty, gritty world. We are far away from the splendour and romance of the Godfather. It's grotty, ugly and unglamourous. But the best thing is that he presents this world without judgement. By completely immersing us in his world, he doesn't pass judgement on any of the characters living within it. Rather he allows the audience to judge for themselves. And I do judge Johnny Boy as a being an impetuous, little boy who would never measure up to the likes of the Corleones.

Also a quick shout out to the sound track. There were some great tunes that exemplified the sixties and the seventies. All of this helped provide some colour to a morally grey world.

If you're a Scorsese fan and you haven't already watched his directorial debut then what are you doing? It's a hell of a ride. Granted, not the most realistic of rides, but a great one nonetheless. 

Silver Linings Playbook review

 Number 420 on the top 1000 films of all time is David O'Russell's romantic comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook.

Patrizio Pat Solitano Jr (Bradley Cooper) is sent to a mental hospital after he beats his wife's lover half to death. In hospital he is diagnosed with Bipolar disease. Upon his release, he returns to live with his parents Pat Sr (Robert De Niro) and Dolores (Jacki Weaver) all while scheming to win his wife back. Part of his scheme involves entering a dance competition with the unstable Tiffany Meadows (Jennifer Lawrence.) Chris Tucker also co-stars as Pat's friend Danny Mcdaniels.

Any film that focusses on mental illness will be a tough watch and Silver Linings Playbook was no exception. It was intense with most of the characters suffering from some type of mental illness: Pat Jr has bipolar, Pat Sr has OCD, Danny and Tiffany both have undeclared illness, with the latter theorised to have BPD. On a number of occasions, tempers frayed as the characters spoke over and screamed at each other. But if that's what it's like in real life, can you imagine what it would be like inside their heads?

Silver Linings Playbook was released in 2012 and, even then, mental health wasn't as well understood or respected as it is now. There is still some stigma attached, but it was much worse over a decade ago. And when you don't fully understand something, it is easy to misrepresent or mischaracterise it. It's all too easy to have characters defined by their mental illness rather than characters who happen to have mental illness. Granted, I don't have mental illness, so I don't know what it's like, but I think Silver Linings was very respectful to all involved.

Pat has bipolar. He is erratic, intense and unpredictable. Yet he is also scared, vulnerable and anxious. And that was down to Bradley Cooper's very nuanced portrayal of him. He brought the character to life rather than making him a caricature. Similar Pat Sr has OCD and requires everything to be in the perfect place. But he truly does care for his son, helping to turn him into a real person.

The same applies for Jennifer Lawrence as Tiffany. Although it's never confirmed, it's generally believed that she has BPD. From her volatile nature to her blunt way of talking to how she goes quiet when things become heated, Lawrence captures the mannerisms perfectly. She really earned the best actress Oscar. Just like Bradley Cooper, she brought a sensitivity to the role without reducing it to a gross parody.

If I were to criticise the film for anything, it would be the amount of time spent on American Football.  This was a personal preference and I know playbook is in the title, but I didn't care at all. All of the weird schemes and gambling that bookmaker Pat SR was involved in, went right over my head. As this comprised a large part of the film, I did miss a lot. I know that American football is like a religion to most Yanks, but I'm a Brit who hates most sports, including regular football, so I didn't care for it.

Overall, I did enjoy this film. Sure it was intense with lots of shouting, but the two leads performed admirably. Just less American football, next time, please.