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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Joker (2019) in Movies
Oct 8, 2019 (Updated Oct 23, 2019)
Believe the hype
Contains spoilers, click to show
Full disclaimer - I have not been a massive fan of any movies DC related since the Dark Knight trilogy. There have been highlights here and there, but it's a been a rough few years to say the least.
I went to see Joker under a pretty neutral assumption - I had heard the good reviews, the bad reviews, and seen the incredibly well put together trailers - but I was still worried that I wouldn't like it.
What I was presented with was quite possibly the film of the year (I can't realistically see anything beating it at this point)
Make no mistake - Joker is a character driven think piece, light on action, and at times difficult to watch.
Jaoquin Phoenix is absolutely phenomenal as Arthur Fleck, and as we watch his descent into madness (or mental freedom depending on which way you look at it), it's hard not to sympathise with him - I felt myself welling up on more than one occasion.
Frances Conroy deserves a round of applause as well, carving out a fading and sad character failing to realise just how low Arthur is spiralling.
The film itself is bleak, painting a realistic Gotham City, on the brink of anarchy, not too dissimilar to how our world is IRL. All it takes is someone ballsy enough to pull the trigger to set it all off.
The film is draped with tense scene after tense scene as the plot builds up to its climax.
The films depiction of mental health issues rings louder than ever, showing us an all too real world that dismisses and laughs at those who suffer with such issues. It's haunting.
The final act is breathtaking - watching Arthur/Joker on Murray Franklin's talk show - when he's underneath the make up, he's a completely different person, threatening, but with a point that makes sense, and that what makes him so sinister.
The much discussed violence is seldom, but impactful, and most importantly, has a purpose as it builds character growth. Everything just seems so wonderfully crafted - hats off to Todd Phillips.
The score is pretty much flawless, hitting all the right notes, as is the cinematography, showcasing fantastic shots continuously throughout.
Joker feels like a true stand-alone, and is concrete evidence why DC should maybe concentrate on one off efforts rather than building an underwhelming connected universe...
It's a fantastic film through and through, and Phoenix deserves an Oscar, at the very least a nomination.
I went to see Joker under a pretty neutral assumption - I had heard the good reviews, the bad reviews, and seen the incredibly well put together trailers - but I was still worried that I wouldn't like it.
What I was presented with was quite possibly the film of the year (I can't realistically see anything beating it at this point)
Make no mistake - Joker is a character driven think piece, light on action, and at times difficult to watch.
Jaoquin Phoenix is absolutely phenomenal as Arthur Fleck, and as we watch his descent into madness (or mental freedom depending on which way you look at it), it's hard not to sympathise with him - I felt myself welling up on more than one occasion.
Frances Conroy deserves a round of applause as well, carving out a fading and sad character failing to realise just how low Arthur is spiralling.
The film itself is bleak, painting a realistic Gotham City, on the brink of anarchy, not too dissimilar to how our world is IRL. All it takes is someone ballsy enough to pull the trigger to set it all off.
The film is draped with tense scene after tense scene as the plot builds up to its climax.
The films depiction of mental health issues rings louder than ever, showing us an all too real world that dismisses and laughs at those who suffer with such issues. It's haunting.
The final act is breathtaking - watching Arthur/Joker on Murray Franklin's talk show - when he's underneath the make up, he's a completely different person, threatening, but with a point that makes sense, and that what makes him so sinister.
The much discussed violence is seldom, but impactful, and most importantly, has a purpose as it builds character growth. Everything just seems so wonderfully crafted - hats off to Todd Phillips.
The score is pretty much flawless, hitting all the right notes, as is the cinematography, showcasing fantastic shots continuously throughout.
Joker feels like a true stand-alone, and is concrete evidence why DC should maybe concentrate on one off efforts rather than building an underwhelming connected universe...
It's a fantastic film through and through, and Phoenix deserves an Oscar, at the very least a nomination.
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Danielle (6 KP) rated A Little Life in Books
Jul 25, 2017
Queer relationships (3 more)
Character driven
Insanely engrossing
Beautifully written
Read this months ago and I'm still crying over it
oh my god. this fucking book. IT MADE ME CRY THREE TIMES. AND I'M NOT ONE TO CRY OVER BOOKS.
I loved this book. It was so incredibly engrossing and heart wrenching. I am surprised that I liked this book though because most of the themes in this book (mental health issues, self-harm, self-deprecation, that pretty much all the characters in the book were men) would typically have me going "ehh, this wasn't for me".
As the reader I felt like I was in the same boat as Willem and Harold where we were all in love (in some fashion) with Jude and we all just wanted to shake him and be like "talk to us, Jude! it's okay!".
I also found this book to be unbelievable only because I am doubting how good humanity could be. Like I found it unbelievable that Jude had people like Willem, Harold, Andy, Richard who all just unfaltering were there for him over and over and over again. How did they just not give up on him? Regardless, I think I also loved the book for these same reasons that I found unbelievable.
Also, the cover of this book is just so fucking perfect. I would have the book on my desk at work and I would always flip it over so I didn't have to look at how heartbreakingly sad the man looked on the cover. Then I found on the back sleeve that the photo is titled "Orgasmic Man" and ughhhh it's all just so perfect for this story.
UGH. MY HEART. IT'S TOO HEAVY.
I loved this book. It was so incredibly engrossing and heart wrenching. I am surprised that I liked this book though because most of the themes in this book (mental health issues, self-harm, self-deprecation, that pretty much all the characters in the book were men) would typically have me going "ehh, this wasn't for me".
As the reader I felt like I was in the same boat as Willem and Harold where we were all in love (in some fashion) with Jude and we all just wanted to shake him and be like "talk to us, Jude! it's okay!".
I also found this book to be unbelievable only because I am doubting how good humanity could be. Like I found it unbelievable that Jude had people like Willem, Harold, Andy, Richard who all just unfaltering were there for him over and over and over again. How did they just not give up on him? Regardless, I think I also loved the book for these same reasons that I found unbelievable.
Also, the cover of this book is just so fucking perfect. I would have the book on my desk at work and I would always flip it over so I didn't have to look at how heartbreakingly sad the man looked on the cover. Then I found on the back sleeve that the photo is titled "Orgasmic Man" and ughhhh it's all just so perfect for this story.
UGH. MY HEART. IT'S TOO HEAVY.
Midge (525 KP) rated The Year After You in Books
Feb 19, 2019
A Story Of Hope And Sadness
This is a wonderful, soul-searching, but sad story of hope and grief and it is one of the best books that I have read in a while.
It is set in Hope Hall, a Swiss boarding school located in the Alps. For me, one of the things that Nina de Pass did very cleverly was using the setting to maximum effect in THE YEAR AFTER YOU. Since my childhood, I have loved boarding school settings, as everything is so much more intense when in close proximity, such as romantic liaisons and relationships which tend to run at a different rate.
The main protagonist in this novel is Cara, who I found to be exceptionally frustrating at times, though this did not spoil the story for me in any way. From an honesty point of view, she was pretty unreliable as a narrator, however, I had a great deal of empathy for her because of what happened to her best friend Georgina. I loved that Nina de Pass developed Cara’s character so well.
I really liked all of the characters in THE YEAR AFTER YOU because they were so well formed as people with their own parts to play and were not just added after-thoughts to make the protagonist look better. For me, the story-telling also held some poignant messages about support mechanisms of friends and family and mental health issues.
I think that THE YEAR AFTER YOU is a book that I will remember. I would certainly recommend reading it.
Thank you to NetGalley, Black & White Publishing and Nina de Pass for a free ARC of this book in exchange for a voluntary, honest review.
It is set in Hope Hall, a Swiss boarding school located in the Alps. For me, one of the things that Nina de Pass did very cleverly was using the setting to maximum effect in THE YEAR AFTER YOU. Since my childhood, I have loved boarding school settings, as everything is so much more intense when in close proximity, such as romantic liaisons and relationships which tend to run at a different rate.
The main protagonist in this novel is Cara, who I found to be exceptionally frustrating at times, though this did not spoil the story for me in any way. From an honesty point of view, she was pretty unreliable as a narrator, however, I had a great deal of empathy for her because of what happened to her best friend Georgina. I loved that Nina de Pass developed Cara’s character so well.
I really liked all of the characters in THE YEAR AFTER YOU because they were so well formed as people with their own parts to play and were not just added after-thoughts to make the protagonist look better. For me, the story-telling also held some poignant messages about support mechanisms of friends and family and mental health issues.
I think that THE YEAR AFTER YOU is a book that I will remember. I would certainly recommend reading it.
Thank you to NetGalley, Black & White Publishing and Nina de Pass for a free ARC of this book in exchange for a voluntary, honest review.
ClareR (5859 KP) rated The Silver Road in Books
Mar 7, 2019
A wonderful debut
This is a novel of love and loss, guilt and grief, and of family in both the good and bad sense of the word. It has been translated so well from the Swedish by Susan Beard that I didn't actually occur to me that it had been translated at all.
Lille's daughter has been missing for three years, and he spends every night of the summer driving the Silver Road in an effort to find her. This has caused the breakdown of his marriage, and he has a tenuous grasp on his sanity: he drinks too much, he smokes too much, and he sleeps too little in the summer. His wife has left him, and he spends a lot of time alone with the ghost of the daughter he is searching for.
Enter Meja: her mother has mental health problems, and has decided to move in with a man she has only met online. Meja is used to being her mothers carer, and she's used to a series of men moving in and out of their lives. This is such an emotional novel. I became really invested in the characters of Lelle and Meja. There was a real atmosphere of sadness around both of them.
The peripheral characters were really well written as well: from the ex-wife to the local police officer, from the family of 'Preppers' to Meja's mother and her new boyfriend, Torbjorn.
I loved the atmosphere of this book: there was an air of 'something drastic is going to happen very soon', and the melancholy was palpable. Although the subject matter was very sad, it really was a joy to read.
Many thanks to Readers First, The Pigeonhole and the publisher for the chance to read this book.
Lille's daughter has been missing for three years, and he spends every night of the summer driving the Silver Road in an effort to find her. This has caused the breakdown of his marriage, and he has a tenuous grasp on his sanity: he drinks too much, he smokes too much, and he sleeps too little in the summer. His wife has left him, and he spends a lot of time alone with the ghost of the daughter he is searching for.
Enter Meja: her mother has mental health problems, and has decided to move in with a man she has only met online. Meja is used to being her mothers carer, and she's used to a series of men moving in and out of their lives. This is such an emotional novel. I became really invested in the characters of Lelle and Meja. There was a real atmosphere of sadness around both of them.
The peripheral characters were really well written as well: from the ex-wife to the local police officer, from the family of 'Preppers' to Meja's mother and her new boyfriend, Torbjorn.
I loved the atmosphere of this book: there was an air of 'something drastic is going to happen very soon', and the melancholy was palpable. Although the subject matter was very sad, it really was a joy to read.
Many thanks to Readers First, The Pigeonhole and the publisher for the chance to read this book.
Sam (74 KP) rated All That She Can See in Books
Mar 27, 2019
Cherry has a bakery. She knows exactly what people need and serves them something to cheer them up. What her customers don’t understand is that she bakes magic into everything to defeat their problems.
Cherry sees Meddlums – creatures that personify people’s problems. They are everywhere, following people around and never leaving them alone. That is until people go into her bakery, and Meddlums are stuck outside, slowly disappearing as Cherry solves everyone’s problems through food.
All That She Can See reminded me a lot of a Disney story, which isn’t surprising coming from Carrie. Lots of the reviews over on Goodreads slate this for being too Disney and pink and fluffy but I loved it. It makes a great change from the books I’ve been reading lately and it’s nice to read something that’s soft and an easy read.
It does have an abstract focus on mental health, showing how everyone has their own problems. It also raises the question of whether you can ever fully fix someone’s emotions. Cherry does everything to make people where she is happy, but in Plymouth, where this book is set, the happiness becomes too much and raises its own issues. It just goes to show that no matter what you do and how hard you work, people will always have their own issues.
I loved the way that Cherry sees bad feelings as monsters and Chase sees good ones as monsters. It shows their different personalities and how a generally happy person will easily see the bad things and a generally sad person will always see the good things happening to other people.
This is an absolutely brilliant read and I need a sequel!
Cherry sees Meddlums – creatures that personify people’s problems. They are everywhere, following people around and never leaving them alone. That is until people go into her bakery, and Meddlums are stuck outside, slowly disappearing as Cherry solves everyone’s problems through food.
All That She Can See reminded me a lot of a Disney story, which isn’t surprising coming from Carrie. Lots of the reviews over on Goodreads slate this for being too Disney and pink and fluffy but I loved it. It makes a great change from the books I’ve been reading lately and it’s nice to read something that’s soft and an easy read.
It does have an abstract focus on mental health, showing how everyone has their own problems. It also raises the question of whether you can ever fully fix someone’s emotions. Cherry does everything to make people where she is happy, but in Plymouth, where this book is set, the happiness becomes too much and raises its own issues. It just goes to show that no matter what you do and how hard you work, people will always have their own issues.
I loved the way that Cherry sees bad feelings as monsters and Chase sees good ones as monsters. It shows their different personalities and how a generally happy person will easily see the bad things and a generally sad person will always see the good things happening to other people.
This is an absolutely brilliant read and I need a sequel!
Sam (74 KP) rated The Dead Fathers Club in Books
Mar 27, 2019
Philip’s father has just died in a car crash, but he doesn’t think it was an accident. His father’s ghost comes back and tells him that he must have been murdered because he is part of the Dead Fathers Club – just for murdered fathers. He tells Philip that it must have been his Uncle Alan who murdered him, and tells him that he must get revenge.
In an odd take on Hamlet, The Dead Fathers Club follows Philips hunt for revenge for the death of his father.
It’s definitely a disturbing read. Philip is a young boy whose father has just died unexpectantly, and now he sees his father’s ghost, telling him to do awful things, to the point where he is listing ways he could kill his uncle.
The novel is written like it was Philips diary, so the childish grammar with the disturbing thoughts that Philip is experiencing work together to create a definitely troubling novel.
I was definitely questioning Philip’s mental health throughout the novel and wondering whether his father’s ghost was all in his imagination or it was actually happening.
Philip is a misfit with no friends, a girlfriend in part of the novel (which I’m not too sure what that did to the plot) and he’s bullied constantly. He found comfort in the fact that he had the chance to change his own life. He knew he could kill his uncle if he tried, and he saw that as the only way ahead. In killing his uncle, he would get revenge for his father’s death and stop his father from suffering and finally send him to heaven. He could get everything he needed and at the same time feel like he had a friend in his father’s ghost.
It was definitely a good read, but a big change to Matt Haig’s usual writing style.
In an odd take on Hamlet, The Dead Fathers Club follows Philips hunt for revenge for the death of his father.
It’s definitely a disturbing read. Philip is a young boy whose father has just died unexpectantly, and now he sees his father’s ghost, telling him to do awful things, to the point where he is listing ways he could kill his uncle.
The novel is written like it was Philips diary, so the childish grammar with the disturbing thoughts that Philip is experiencing work together to create a definitely troubling novel.
I was definitely questioning Philip’s mental health throughout the novel and wondering whether his father’s ghost was all in his imagination or it was actually happening.
Philip is a misfit with no friends, a girlfriend in part of the novel (which I’m not too sure what that did to the plot) and he’s bullied constantly. He found comfort in the fact that he had the chance to change his own life. He knew he could kill his uncle if he tried, and he saw that as the only way ahead. In killing his uncle, he would get revenge for his father’s death and stop his father from suffering and finally send him to heaven. He could get everything he needed and at the same time feel like he had a friend in his father’s ghost.
It was definitely a good read, but a big change to Matt Haig’s usual writing style.
It’s not often that we’re given the chance to read a book set in the UK from a black protagonists perspective, and here is a great book to do just that. I’d also like to say though, that although this book was lauded as a cross between Bridget Jones and Americanah, I’m relieved that I’ve read a book that was wholly it’s own story. It’s not a comedy, although there are parts that were funny, and it’s not a story of immigration, because Queenie is second generation British-Jamaican. However, it does hold up to us issues surrounding race - how when a white person thinks they’re being accepting of other cultures, many of them aren’t - and mental health.
Queenie has a breakdown after she splits up with her (white) boyfriend, and suffers so badly with anxiety. Her family believe that the ‘cure’ is to pull herself together, and can’t understand the need for counselling. I’m glad she does it though, because her actions after the split had involved risky sexual behaviour, and her life (personal and work) was unravelling. This is just what happens to some people with anxiety. And Queenie’s childhood has been far from ideal.
Queenie is a great character though: she’s funny, intelligent, outspoken, sensitive and independent. She has some great friends, and her family, even though they have their faults (and whose family doesn’t?!), are there for her - and they’re all fascinating characters.
I really, really enjoyed this. It’s not some cute and fluffy read, and it can be quite raw at times.
For those who appreciate trigger warnings, there may well be some in this book, but it’s a book that reflects Queenie’s life.
Candice Carty-Williams will definitely be a name that I watch out for in future!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.
Queenie has a breakdown after she splits up with her (white) boyfriend, and suffers so badly with anxiety. Her family believe that the ‘cure’ is to pull herself together, and can’t understand the need for counselling. I’m glad she does it though, because her actions after the split had involved risky sexual behaviour, and her life (personal and work) was unravelling. This is just what happens to some people with anxiety. And Queenie’s childhood has been far from ideal.
Queenie is a great character though: she’s funny, intelligent, outspoken, sensitive and independent. She has some great friends, and her family, even though they have their faults (and whose family doesn’t?!), are there for her - and they’re all fascinating characters.
I really, really enjoyed this. It’s not some cute and fluffy read, and it can be quite raw at times.
For those who appreciate trigger warnings, there may well be some in this book, but it’s a book that reflects Queenie’s life.
Candice Carty-Williams will definitely be a name that I watch out for in future!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.
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mnemonic, noun: a short rhyme, phrase, or other mental technique for making information easier to...