The Joker always gets the last laugh, isn’t that right? Todd Phillips’ Joker is one of the most unusual movies on the awards circuit this year, and its acceptance into Venice one that has sparked a ton of conversation. Is it truly the prestige movie it appears to be and Warner Bros. is clearly presenting it as? The reported 8-minute standing ovation it received after the world premiere would seem to indicate so, but then…well, I always told you the “festival bubble” is a real thing and you must take such responses with a grain of salt. Actual reviews for the film have been quite mixed.
Well, we now have a little more reason to look at Joker as a serious Oscars contender, because Venice has awarded it the prestigious Golden Lion for Best Film, finishing just ahead of another highly-divisive movie, Roman Polanski’s An Officer and a Spy.
So, yeah. Roma, The Shape of Water, The Woman Who Left, Somewhere….Joker.
Does Joker really belong among films like that? I guess we’ll find out soon as it opens on October 4th.
