NS: Joker nominated for eleven Oscars including Best Actor and Best Picture

[cyberghostface]

Joker was nominated for eleven Oscars, making it the most nominated film this year and the most nominated comicbook film in history. 

The big ones are for Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture. It's also been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Costume Design, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Original Score, Cinematography and Makeup and Hairstyling.

I expected a few of these but it getting this much is a big surprise. Big congrats to Joaquin and everyone else involved, but especially for the Joker himself whose eightieth anniversary is this year; it's great seeing the Clown Prince of Crime achieve this level of recognition on such a milestone.

Comments

[leahandillyana]

Congrats, much respect.

[shadowseeking]

Not too sure this is a big win for comicbook films considering this is the least comic book film and one made with clear disrespect for comicbook fans and the source material.

[cyberghostface]

Maybe the first part but I don’t see how it’s disrespectful towards fans or the source material. I’d say it’s far more reverential to them than something like Thor Ragnarok (just one example). As a Joker fan I certainly didn’t feel disrespected.

[tcampbell1000]

I almost never feel like movies these days are "disrespecting the fans" when they make changes, even changes that I myself wouldn't have made. "Missing the point" seems like a much better accusation, one more likely to stick.

I salute the movie's ambition: I can't think of a high-profile film since, well, The Dark Knight that tried to marry the superhero genre with real-world anxieties and art-house filmmaking (for all the pleasures Marvel Studios offers, it's pretty politically toothless). I don't think Joker is as worthy as Nolan's Joker, though, partly because making comics' most famous mass murderer into the face of anticapitalist protest may not be doing either the Joker or the movement any favors, and partly because it's really difficult to imagine the movie's middle-aged victim of brain chemistry and happenstance getting through the next few years alive, let alone maturing into any kind of criminal genius.

That said, as the portrayal of one disturbed man's descent, it has a lot going for it, and certainly its best asset is Joaquin Phoenix, who turned in one of the strongest performances of the year. He deserves recognition, at least.

[magicrubbish]

See I get your point . And you've put it in a quite eloquent way , but I think the best thing about this movie is - people who couldn't care any less about DC movies, much less about DC comics and characters can resonate and connect with this movie and that's what made the movie such a giant.

[mindsweeper]

Considering that the source material is King of Comedy and Taxi Driver, I think it respects the source material too much.

[magicrubbish]

This is one movie which completely utterly and entirely deserve all it's getting and so much more. Strongly rooting for it to win in every single category that it has been nominated for , especially for the main 3 - actor, director and movie.

[lencannon]

It's nice to see Scorsese nominated twice in the same category

[lordultimus]

And not a single shooting inspired by it.

[thanekos]

It did inspire people to visit a staircase, though.

[joetuss]

Bronx native here...God forbid anything happens to anyone ignorant enough to visit the Highbridge area, but if you're stupid enough to walk into any neighborhood and take pictures without doing a little research first, you're probably asking for it.

[icon_uk]

I think my question is; beyond this using the name "Joker" in what way is it connected to the concept or character of The Joker, Batman's nemesis?

If this had beene exactly the same movie, but the Leto character had called himself "Punchinello" or "The Jester", would it be viewed in any way as a "comic book movie"?

For all I'm sure it's an amazing movie for those who enjoy such things, and technically and artistically impressive, referring to it as a comic book movie seems odd.

[cyberghostface]

Here's my take on it.

If you look at something like "Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity" -- that's something that's largely in name only (which is fine, I'm not begrudging it). You could take that story and change the names, make a few cosmetic changes and no one would be any wiser.

With 'Joker'... if it had been exactly the same movie just without the Joker name people would probably still compare the character to the Joker or at least 'The Killing Joke'; you have a failed stand up comedian becoming a murderous clown.

Plus the Thomas Wayne/ Bruce Wayne subplot only works if you know Bruce is destined to become Joker's frenemy. This scene would lose half its impact if this you didn't know this is Joker and Batman meeting for the first time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8bW0Yz0Kmw

[icon_uk]

Well spotted, thanks!

[lego_joker]

Maybe I'm way too deep down the comics geek rabbithole, but both of those names feel like something an Indie publisher would use for its Captain Ersatz of the Joker.

We all like to talk about evil clowns being a pop-culture staple, but really, the (non-parody) market is pretty much divided between Joker and Pennywise. Any evil clown without supernatural powers feels like it owes something to the J-man.

[joetuss]

Or maybe John Wayne Gacy?

[coldfury]

I saw this on twitter and it speaks to me:

Joker getting the Oscar nom is *my* super villain origin story.

[lencannon]

actually laughed out loud

[mesmiranda]

Ha!

[janegray]

I hate the character. I have zero desire to watch the movie.

But even I am getting really really really irritated with all the people on twitter whining that they rewarded "a movie about a white guy who starts murdering people because he got rejected by women." And when you point out that it's not even remotely true, that the whole point is that he was insane to begin with and imagined the relationship with a woman he barely spoke to, and that the movie makes it clear he is at fault for projecting his issues onto her, they go "I didn't ask! You are stupid for thinking I care about it! I don't give a damn!"

As always, I'm a firm believer in "if you are gonna hate something, you should hate it for something it actually did." Don't make shit up about something to justify your hatred of it.

[cyberghostface]

This. Most of the controversy was due to a combination of media fearmongering and people making assumptions/projections because it was about the Joker.

In the end its overall message wasn't that much different from 'Parasite' in that they both dealt with classism and the divide between the rich and poor.

[mesmiranda]

I'd take Knives Out, The Farewell, Booksmart, Midsomar, or The Lighthouse over Joker, but good for Joaquin Phoenix.

[lencannon]

Hustlers, Us, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, The Last Black Man In San Francisco, Greener Grass, Her Smell, Uncut Gems

......... John Wick 3..........

......................................................Cats, probably

That tiktok of the color blind guy trying to sort skittles by color

[informationgeek]

I mean, Cats is certainly one of the most entertaining and memorable films of the year.

[trooper924]

I don't know if Cats counts as a real movie. It sounds more like an out of body experience.

[mastermahan]

Yeah, but I don't think it counts if they do it by accident.

[trooper924]

The real joke is that, yet again, no female directors have been nominated for any award while the faux-deep sad clown flick gets all the accolades.

I literally cannot think of a less deserving film.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

[deh_tommy]

...and once again, LEGO is snubbed in the animation category. Ah, well, there was some really tough competition this year, so I’m not surprised. I was hoping that would have gotten a nomination in Best Original Song, though. I would have gone with Show Yourself in place of Into The Unknown, though that would have been a bit spoiler-y. Glad to see Klaus and I Lost My Body get some recognition.