[psmith2.0]

That’s what others are saying. Love it or hate it, the movie did its thing, and had a start, middle and an ending. I even remember Phoenix saying it wasn’t a “franchise” and that he had no interest in a sequel, which I knew was bullcrap.

In the back of my mind I always knew this news was coming.

I’d seen Joker before, actually. A few times, in fact. One of the better ones had Robert De Niro driving a cab, hoping to rescue 12-year-old Clarice Starling from her hooker existence.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie try so hard to be the modern, 21st century version of a far better take on the matter.

Something about Joker just hit me as manipulative and unearned, on top of my previous comments. I just hate this movie on so many levels. Obviously.

“This dead-eyed, ginned-up piece-of-shit gets a Fleck Strikes Back: Joke Harder part two?! Oh, whatever…”.

[709]

Kinda blows my theory that he suicided himself the fridge half-way through the movie... I too thought it was a decent one-off and was hoping DC might leave it alone, but after its massive $uccess the writing was kinda on the wall.

Small related tangent: I didn't mind Pattison's Batman movie – it wasn't world-changing but it didn't suck either. Farrell's Penguin chewing up scenery was a definite highlight. I've grown to really like him as an actor.

[psmith2.0]

The makeup job they did was very impressive. If you’d showed me a pic of Colin Farrell in character as Penguin and said “you have three months to guess the actor”, I wouldn’t be able.

I’d name about 7,400 others. Richard Kind? Danny DeVito? Jason Alexander? Joe Pesci? Every chunky, balding white guy I could think of! Hell, Burt Ward in a bit of stunt-casting/nudge-wink move?

Most makeup jobs you can still see/recognize the actor below (a bit of aging, a bit of weight gain or even stylized exaggerating for a fantasy/sci-fi type of project). But they went all-in on full transformation here. There is absolutely zero trace of Farrell remaining.

That’ll have to be nominated for - if not outright win - a boatload of awards when that time rolls around.

Throw in the voice on top of the makeup/visual and I would never guess that’s the actor underneath!

[kscherer]

Hustle from Adam Sandler. It's on Netflix.

Yeah, yeah, I know, it's Adam Sandler (but we like him — mostly ). This was a breakout roll for him, and a very nice Rocky-style movie. About an NBA scout looking for the next big star. I'm not gonna leak all the details, just going to recommend it. It wasn't the typical toilet-humor Adam Sandler film, although there were parts that made me giggle. It was a drama centered around Sandler's favorite sport (basketball) and it was very well done. I was quite surprised and impressed with the effort, and I love that Sandler continues his family-focused films.

I would give this one 4 stars.

[psmith2.0]

Along those same lines, check out another Adam Sandler drama called Uncut Gems (we might’ve even talked about this movie somewhere in this thread). Same sort of vibe, a drama with some darker comedic touches.

Like Robin Williams, I can’t stand Adam Sandler when he’s trying to be funny; grates on my nerves. I’ve never found either man particularly funny (I know, I know…heresy!) But I’ve enjoyed their dramatic roles.