Will you watch the sequel? BATMAN Playlist: kzfaq.info/sun/PLQHhQlj8i5drBSzNvmBZkvf87VhW3a1nV SUPERHERO Playlist: kzfaq.info/sun/PLQHhQlj8i5dopvtiurLnZTGXuc5ngzQD6

"You're the only one that was ever nice to me." Those words have never been more powerful.

I remember seeing this in the theater. Absolutely blew me away. The acting, the cinematography, the unreliability of reality, the mood, everything was top notch. I distinctly remember absolute silence when the movie was over. Nobody said a word, they just walked out of the theater in shock. I'm really happy that these sorts of movies can actually still be made even if they are extremely rare. The fact that you can fear someone and have empathy/pity for them at the same time is a refreshing take on villains. Regardless of how this fits in(or doesn't) to the entire Batman/Joker world, this movie is a masterpiece.

The saddest thing about this movie is the struggle he has for human connection. It's all because he can't interface with people normally. He craves that connection with other people, but his disability won't allow him to form it. That's why he's watching the comedy show, he's trying to analyze and figure out what other people thing is funny because it just doesn't compute for him. It's not even his descent into madness - it's society pushing him into madness. Anger, indifference, a system that doesn't help the people it purports to help, etc.

"That crazy run" is how you'd run if you constantly wore huge clown shoes. What a great acting detail.

Hildur Guðnadóttir was hired to compose the film's score and began writing music without having seen a single frame of film (very unconventional as most scores happen in post-production) after reading the script and meeting with writer/director, Todd Phillips, and managed ti compose a wholly unique theme for the Joker. Guðnadóttir would go on to win the Oscar for Best Original Score, marking herself as the first solo woman to win since the music categories were combined. When I think of the Joker, I immediately think of her cello work. It’s so defined and beautifully elegant with an air of unsettling doom. In fact the bathroom scene where Phoenix does the dancing after the train murders he was able to listen to a piece of the score and improvised those dance moves.

I LOVE this film - completely blew away expectations when it came out and pulls no punches with its look at mental illness.

I was fearful for Gary’s life when he’s trapped in the apartment room. He is the one person who treated Arthur with kindness.

Ledger and Nicholson a tough act to follow but, by showing a grounded real world story of a damaged guy in a crumbling society, it really worked.

In the comics, we never really get a definitive origin for the Joker. The character once said "If I have to have a past, I'd prefer it to be multiple choice." That's part of the mystery of the character and what makes him such a compelling and alluring character. In some incarnations it's shown that he might have at one time been a failed stand up comedian, similar to how it's shown in this interpretation. Also, in the comics, Batman's parents are killed by a man named Joe Chill. Joker only killed his parents in the 1989 Batman film.

This movie is a cinematic masterpiece, it’s so intense and mind blowing. Joaquin’s performance was absolutely phenomenal, he definitely deserved his Oscar win for this role.

I like the fact that traditionally, the Waynes were killed after seeing a Zorro film. Here, they were seeing “Zorro the Gay Blade”

This movie is a gamechanger, one of the greatest comic book related productions, period. I am DYING for Joker Folie Au Deux!

Hey Jen, I lived in NYC Washington Heights and the endless rows of stairs is intense and so see it used as pictoral element in the movie. ------ To portray the uphill climb he faces at the start of the movie. ------ Then the easy dance down the stairs once Aurthur embraces his madness.

What made this adaption so incredibly is how could the Joker exist in the real world. It took something that was so surreal and made a practical adaption. You really feel for 'the villain' because it isn't his failure but our failure as a society.

The color science and over saturated scenes were *chef's kiss*

So glad i could catch your reaction Jen. One thing I'll say, Jack Nicholson, Heath ledger and Joaquin phoenix each owned their versions of the Joker.

My opinion has not changed since the cinema premiere: I wish there were more films like this. There is a place for simple "good vs. evil" stories (everyone knows the classic examples) but more layered character portrayals and stories that cannot be told in one sentence represent more value to me. Here, movie references are also part of the creative concept.

This movie was very much made in open homage to Taxi Driver, which yes, is a must-watch.

Taxi driver + King of Comedy = Joker All three have De Niro

Joaquin Phoenix has to be one of the greatest actors of this generation. His portrayal of the Joker here, and his role as Commodus in Gladiator are some of the best dramatic performances in the history of television.

The thing with Batman's Rogues Gallery (his villains) is that many DO have tragic backstories, or were given tragic backstories over time as comics started delving into more mature subject matter.

Nominated for 11 Oscars including Best Picture but won for Best Actor Joaquin Phoenix and Best Original Score. It made $1 billion dollars at the box office, making one of the highest grossing R Rated movies ever made. It drew controversy upon release as David Fincher hated the film, stating that "it glorifies someone who has serious mental health issues as the protagonist is made into the hero rather than the villain."

Hey Jen, It's crazy that you mentioned the dancing scene especially because the director said it wasn't supposed to be in the film originally at all. ------- Joaquin Phoenix just adlibbed it and they all went with it. -------- The man is next level on the acting scale. ------- His performance was so impressive it redefined a character we all thought was set in stone. -------- But as we all know the Joker draws in his own sandbox.

Joe Chill is actually the one who canonically kills Thomas and Martha Wayne, The Joker being the killer was only done by Tim Burton as a creative liberty.

I read that the punching of the timecard machine and him getting into the fridge were not planned at all...he just did it in his performance, and the director loved it. Hey that's life 🤡

What a remarkable performance from Joaquin Phoenix! His character is such a monster, yet I feel so bad for him. Oscar well deserved. See you in the chat, Jen!

Having grown up in the New York area in the 70s/80s, they absolutely NAILED the vibe. A lot was filmed in Newark New Jersey.

I already know this movie will blow you away. Even before the reaction. Helluva acting job by Joaquin.

It really just shows if your just kind to people how much a difference it makes in their day even if their world is dark

The chaotic scene at the end when he's freed by his supporters looks a bit like San Francisco and NYC at the moment...

Until this movie I never thought of joker as a tragic figure but for sure after this

This movie’s a masterpiece. To think that it’s the same man (Todd Phillips) that made The Hangover movies is just wild. Cause that’s such a leap & a huge difference in 2 entirely different type of movies. Props to Phillips for creating a timeless masterpiece. I’ve watched this movie at least 7 times. Only seen the hangover movies once & was not the biggest fan. Joker is one of my favorite dc movies ever.

So glad you checked this out. Yeah, in a lot of pop culture the limited time restraints tend to gloss over the deep character stuff in favor of plot and action. But a great thing about Batman's Rogues are that they all represent serious psychological problems that possibly could have been helped in a better culture that valued people and mental health.

Joaquin Phoenix is a masterclass actor in this! The greatest role he's ever been imo! 💜 💚

Masterpiece on many levels, portrayal of mental illness, written and acted.

This might as well be Joker's canonical backstory because it's better than anything anyone else could come up with. Amazing movie with an amazing performance. I was ready for this to be the worst thing ever made when it was announced but i have never been more wrong about a movie in my life.

11:10 Madness? His behaviour is absolutely sane.

Good reaction to what really is a very different comic book movie. It does touch upon so many things that affect so many mentally ill, or even just disillusioned people. You can see the similarities to Taxi Driver, which is a Scorsese masterpiece with DeNiro. However, this film directly references Scorsese's The King of Comedy (with DeNiro also, in the main role that ironically parallels Phoenix's in Joker) in so many of the scenes. Both great films worthy of a reaction.

It's been implied that Joker knows he's a fictional character and plays his role to the hilt for the audience. It's also why he thinks his reality is a joke and nobody else gets it but him.

This movie blew me away. I saw it for the first time yesterday and can't believe how awesome it was. An incredible piece of cinema.

It was a richly deserved Oscar win considering how much of his performance was improvised. the dancing in the bathroom, punching the time clock, climbing into the fridge among other things

Jen, how is it you manage, in your reactions, to articulate my own? Must be a Vulcan mind meld. Or maybe you're just the best, Jen!

Absolutely the spiritual successor to Taxi Driver

He's not twisted. He's a representation of what most want to do but can't.

Joaquin Phoenix deserved his Oscar for the Joker. He took the character and ran with it. The character was creepy yet you almost sympathize with him. It is a great movie to watch after a long day.

Hey Jen, you asked for someone to help Authur Fleck. In the end he helps himself. In the most gruesome darkest way. Great reaction Jen. This might have been you're best yet.

It's very loosely based from Joker's origin story in "The Killing Joke" comic. He's a struggling comedian, had a pregnant wife (who perished) and was forced to join a mob heist in Axis Chemicals, causing him to fall into a stream of toxic waste, and the rest is history. Arthur's "laughing sickness" is real, it's called Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA) with sudden bursts of crying, laughing or anger out of nowhere. You did notice that scene from the medical file from the child abuse that caused the brain damage.

The Joker is not actually a singular character- there have been many Jokers. Joker is sort of a archetype that emerges as result of society.

A reminder that there are still breathtakingly excellent movies being and still to be made. One of the best films I have seen.

The way Arthur says "Murray" is how I always think of Jen's last name. I've been waiting for this one.

This movie is all about the sound design. The most brilliant use of which is when Arthur is in Sophie’s apartment and the music builds to a stifling crescendo and then just stops. I was in the theater thinking, “What the hell just happened?” And then they reveal that she didn’t know who he was beyond his name and that he lived down the hall with his mother. That was mind blowing, and amazing use of sound in film. So good. Also, I haven’t read all of the comments because there are too many but this movie is highly derivative of Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” and “The King of comedy.”

Villains are made, they are not born. This is a tragedy of declining mental health

This was one of the absolute best modern comic book films I've ever seen in a theater. Joaquin Phoenix absolutely crushed this role. It was like a combination of Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger all together. I also loved how it was the Joker who was the one responsible for the deaths of the Waynes reminiscent of Batman 1989. Little fun fact, Arthur's boss who fires him is the voice of Raphael from the 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

This movie also explains why Joker always has followers. They think they are part of a movement.

This movie gives you chills. A masterpiece. The composer is the same as from Chernobyl tv show, Hildur Guðnadóttir.

Just to be clear, Arthur doesn't kill Sophie, according to the filmmaker Todd Philips. It was left intentionally ambiguous, but he spares her because she was nice to him. Making things even more conflicting as, for the most part, Arthur only kills "bad" people.

Life is never just black and white and villains are never two dimensional. IMO, this is the best version of the Batman cannon. On every level, this film is great. Joaquin's acting is superb, right up there with Heath Ledger.

There is one constant here that is considered canon to the character. As stated in "The Killing Joke" - The Joker prefers his origin to be multiple choice. "Joker" is a disturbing masterpiece with brilliant writing and acting. There are many nuanced layers, analogies, symbolic metaphors, and Easter eggs that yield far too much discussion to be had in the comment section. Most of all, there were questions. What was real, and what was in Joker's head? Arthur Fleck was a kind, little man trapped in a dangerous society - forced to beg that society to help him "open the door to salvation". - (Easter egg: A. Fleck = Affleck - referencing Ben Affleck's Batman) Arthur saw himself in Gary (the kind little man) trapped in the apartment with him. The little man was forced to beg Arthur (the dangerous killer) for help. Society wouldn't open the door to help Arthur, but at least Arthur could open the door for Gary. *"What if Thomas Wayne arranged to cover up his embarrassing affair?"* He had the power and the means. If so then Thomas had 2 mentally ill children with opposite behaviors. Arthur as an agent of crime & chaos with uncontrollable laughter. And Bruce, the somber boy - an agent of law & order with PTSD who could not smile. Whether true or illusion, it explains Joker's "obsessive bond" with Batman. - *Was Arthur locked in Arkham Asylum the entire time imagining everything?* At the end, he stood on the police car smearing a bloody smile on his face as he was accepted by the violent anarchy. If this were imagined - Reality would shatter this illusion the Joker had of acceptance. Was reality only at the end with the Psychologist Session? If she could pull him into reality he would lose the illusion where he was accepted. The 'joke' Arthur mentioned the Psychologist wouldn't get: He recognized she was trying to help him. This made her a threat to his illusions of finally being accepted. Therefore Arthur "The Joker" Fleck needed to murder the only person he ever met that was trying to help him.

Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy had a child and it was this film.

Pheonix's portrayal of Joker in this film has got to be some of the best acting of all time. The Direction was amazing, as was the music too. My only sympathy was for Arthur, in this film. This film held up a mirror to society and its cruel and barbaric treatment of the poor, and the mentally ill. Society turned Arthur into the Joker. A person with a brain injury, and other mental illnesses, acting as a carer, no money, trying to work, trying to connect on a human level with others, and he's beaten, abused, treated with disdain, cut off from support and medication. The simple fact that in the US you can be denied essential medication if you cant pay, is barbaric..and its a real thing. Being from the UK with Universal free healthcare,..this just seems disgraceful. ... is it any wonder the character of Arthur snaps under the harsh and heartless conditions? Folk have said they feel sorry for Arthur untill he crosses the line,.. but to me, I can only see how he was pushed over it. Nope,.. he is'nt at fault in this film. Society and Politics bears that responsibility.

I liked it a lot in the movie theater but I never felt the need to rewatch. It was a lot.

"King of Comedy" is the movie you are talking about that influenced this one.

The score was actually created BEFORE Filming even started. Hildur Guðnadóttir (the composer) made it purely by reading the script

Hi Jen hope you are having an great and awesome day ❤

Hey Jen. Your reaction to 'JOKER" was so impressive ------ You're emotional intelligence was off the charts on this one. ------ Also, you are so emotionally and psychologically in tune, that made the reaction become top level. ------- It's such a Top-level reaction in my opinion. ------- Watching you analyze the subject matter of the movie on the fly was very impressive with Aurthur's decent into madness. ------- Keep up the awesome work.

An absolutely amazing film, has to be up there as one of the greats. One of the best performances ive ever scene by an actor

Yes, the movie that makes you sympathetic towards a psychopath and makes you ponder the question "should...should I be rooting for this guy?...because I worryingly am."

God I remember when this movie came out. I saw it in theatre I got chills in some of the more iconic scenes.

Awesome.

As someone who suffers with mental illness, this is a raw look at how the mental ill are treated in our society. Great film and great reaction.

Joaquin Phoenix and Heath Ledger both won Oscars for their portrayal of the Joker character. They were the second pair of actors to win Oscars for portraying the same character joining Marlon Brando and Robert DeNiro for playing Vito Corleone in the Godfather movies. A couple of years ago Ariana DuBose won for playing Anita in the remake of West Side Story. Rita Moreno won an Oscar for playing the same role in the original.

This movie is amazing I’m.. blown away everytime I see it 🔥

Pseudo Bulbar Affect is the condition Arthur is suffering from. 5:20

This film , is a character study of complete and utter systemic failure , from being left with his abusive/crazy mother , up till the social worker who is completely disinterested , and a then add-on top of a city that is falling apart, and the film illustrates how people just fall through the cracks when nobody cares .

I read that this was influenced by two Scorsese films: The King of Comedy; and (I think?) Taxi Driver (both starring De Niro; which is one of the reasons why he was in this).

For me I put this movie on the same level as the Dark Knight, different yes but just as good. Two things heavily inspired this Taxi driver by Martin Scorsese and the Dark Knight returns. That talk show scene came right of that book, also I've heard that kings of comedy was another inspiration.

Something that heroes and villains have in common in the comics. Usually they both have tragic beginnings.

The rats mentioned on TV in the joker make me imagine The Ratcatcher appearing for the first time in Gotham City.

People have argued over what the joke he was laughing at at the end was, but personally I think that this is a post Batman Joker. He knows by now that Batman is Bruce Wayne and that he became what he is thanks to the Jokers actions. Ergo, he made his own arch nemesis.

Hey Jen, you break down many times in both parts of this Joker reaction. -------- The two that stand out to me are when Authur shoots the men on the train and when you find out that his GF is not really in a relationship with him. ---------- My God to see your face is next-level pain and empathy. You are one of the best for sure.

looking forward to chilling in the live chat even if its kinda late , no worries i have matchsticks lol this was disturbing and dark but as always a great outro and a top reaction :)

Thank you Jenn for doing a reaction to this movie. I saw this the first week it came out in theaters and loved it. Joaquin Phoenix earned his Oscar Award for his performance as The JOKER. 🃏🤡

I felt very sad when watching this Joker movie, I had empathy and misery. Very good movie.

I Am The Night: The font used in-studio above the Franklin's host table is used in the 90's Batman The Animated Series. Crime Alley: While it is slightly different in each iteration, basic components of the night the Waynes diee - Zorro movie, pearl snapping, Thomas being killed first. And usual mugger is the guy called Joe Chill. I Like It To Be Multiple Choice: I highly suspect that whole story is a sympathy story he tells shrink in Arkham's cell, as Joker is known to tell different origin story to garner trust from certain victims, in particular Harley Quinn.

hmmm i don't remember those last scenes; the police talking to him, the robber telling Bruce's dad something or how they actually died. neither I recall the joker singing at the end. this was added after? I really don't remember those scenes. Great reaction!, I definitely enjoyed you feeling the suspense this movie make us all feel the first time we saw it. A truly master piece, a rare gem this days.

"Batman fires the Joker" had quite a few things to say about this interpretation.

I was stuck during a typhoon in Japan and this was the only english dubbed movie in the theater. Didn't know anything about the movie or the batman lore except that the Joker was a villian. Oh my how was I suprised, moved and swept by this film, to my opinion the best of 2019 along with Parasites.

Jen, Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver' from 1076 would be the film to watch. You'll see a very similar character arc between that film's protagonist, Travis Bickle and the Joker.

This cinematic masterpiece almost had me feeling sympathetic for the Joker, and then I remembered in the comics all the atrocities he has caused.

He only laughs when he is nervous, uncomfortable. This movie, u really feel sympathy for Author. He just keeps getting knocked down, emotionally and physically. Till, the event on the train incident, he snapped. He was just a product of his environment.U see, this is an elsewhere story. Not connected to anything u have watched before. He never wanted to hurt anyone. He only killed people that deserved it.

13:08 It's Joe Chill, a low level street thug, who kills the Waynes in most of the comics. Although that changes sometimes.

In most versions the murderer of Batman's parents is Joe Chill. In the 1989 movie it was Jack Napier who would become the Joker.

When I read Batman comics (1960's) , Batman did NOT kill people.

It's like the difference between thinking the universe runs on cause and effect or fate. Would a better life prevent Arthur from becoming the Joker or was he just born with an evil soul.

He is both the villain and the victim.

This should of got a best picture Oscar

Me and my friend saw this opening day. While there are so many fantastic shots and sequences we both left with a sort of sick feeling. We usually discussed movies we saw on the care ride back but we were just silent after this one

I don't give them easily but this movie is a 10/10 for me. Its perfect in every way and Phoenix has got everything to do with it. DC can go really deep. Especially the moment he reads his dossier in the stairwell, when his laughter is clearly a cry, a wail. thats a good actor, that is a great actor.

If you haven’t seen Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, it flips the script to where De Niro plays the disturbed one and Jerry Lewis is the talk show host.