Somewhere Over The Rainbow

"Pass the bottle. Wash the pills down, what went wrong?" From "Friday" by Joe Jackson

Joker broke box office records for an October opening. $234 million worldwide. I just contributed my $10 for a senior citizen ticket. Because of the box office bonanza, there's been a hot bed of activity in the press with thorough reviews from just about every major media outlet. That's why you won't get one from me. Nevertheless, I will make a few comments about my perception of the movie. In a nutshell, it's like Taxi Driver with a joy buzzer. And as with so many of Martin Scorsese films, it flows from beginning to end with a dark and gritty backdrop. Instead of Travis Bickle ("Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets."), we have Arthur Fleck, aka, Joker, ("Is it just me, or is it getting crazier out there?").

Throughout the film, I kept wondering when the story takes place. That was a slight annoyance, but didn't take away from a great viewing experience. With a little detective work after the fact, I came up with the year. Primarily because a marquee of a movie theater in one of the scenes advertises, Zorro, The Gay Blade, which was released in 1981. Secondly, Gotham has a garbage strike throughout the entirety of Joker which coincides with a 1981 garbage strike in New York City. There are plenty of twists in the plot, and this is no spoiler alert, but if you're familiar with the Batman narrative, the ending won't surprise you. Even so, that doesn't detract from a great allegory of our times.

Joaquin Phoenix stars as the title character. When I think of Joker, the actor that's etched in my mind is Cesar Romero playing Batman's foil in the campy 1960's television series. Perhaps because I was so young and impressionable when that show aired. However, that all changed after watching Joaquin tackle the role. Not only did he give a great performance, but he carried the movie. Should at least get a swag bag for Best Actor nomination at the Academy Awards. Too early to tell who will win, but he's got to be up for an Oscar. When you consider that Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger also played the Cape Crusader's criminal nemesis to much applause, that's a big compliment. Ledger won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Jared Leto was also cast as Joker in 2016's Suicide Squad, but I didn't see that movie. That was a flop.

Before Joker started, there were the usual previews of coming attractions, plus an advertisement for the 40th anniversary screening of Ridley Scott's Alien. Four decades is almost half a century, and I saw the original. Watched all the sequels, too, and some of them were good, but you can't get any better than the first from 1979. Many of the popular feature length serials such as the Terminator series or Star Wars franchise originated in the late 70's and early 80's. I was fortunate to be able to see them in the prime movie goer demographic of 18 to 25 years old. During the past ten years, I've tried to keep up with the prequels and sequels, especially for Star Wars, but they just seem dumb and trite.

I wouldn't necessarily call Judy, the Judy Garland biopic, a comeback role for Renée Zellweger. After all, she never went anywhere, just stopped making movies for awhile. But in today's world, you're either on top, or you're a nobody, so maybe it is her comeback role. Rotten Tomatoes gives Judy an 83% on the Tomatometer and 87% for the Audience Score, so it's a good story. What sets it apart from other productions is the Oscar worthy performance by Zellweger. You'd almost think it was a documentary, not a drama the way she portrayed the Wizard of Oz star. She just looked like her. Tinseltown buzz has Renée as a shoe-in for Best Actress nomination at the 2020 Academy Awards. I agree. I was fixated on Zellweger throughout the entire production. Not because she was beautiful, but because she wasn't.

There are many similarities with Judy and Joker. First, the acting is not only extraordinary, but the eponymous title characters hold the movies together. Secondly, they are both dark stories. I would argue that Judy is much more disturbing than Joker because it's not only about a real person, but a person we looked up to growing up. Judy Garland. She was Lady Gaga before Lady Gaga and Barbara Streisand before Barbara Streisand. Only this time she wasn't in character as Dorothy Gale with her little dog Toto. She was portrayed at the end of her short life - 47 years - as a suicidal, pill popping booze hound. Broke, too. Whenever Dorothy got in trouble, she kicked the heels of her ruby red slippers together and repeated, "There's no place like home". Judy Garland tried that and it was a one way ticket to the boneyard.

Judy and Joker are worth watching. They're both sad and sadistic stories, but that's what good drama is all about. This is a great time of the year to be going to the movies. I just hope I don't end up like Arthur Fleck - a crazed clown in a mental asylum.