In September, the world bid a fond farewell to a number of stars of the silver screen and the small screen. In brief, shown below, is my passing tribute to those stars who leave an indelible mark on the entertainment industry, and in particular the world of film and television. May you all Rest In Peace, and thanks for the memories . . . .
Carol Lynley, John Wesley, Robert Axelrod, Paul Cronin, Phyllis Newman, Suzanne Whang, Aron Eisenberg, Sid Haig, Linda Porter and
Rob Garrison.
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Carol Lynley - born Carol Ann Jones on 13th February 1942 and died on 3rd September 2019, aged 77. Lynley was an American Actress who began her career at the age of fifteen as a child model appearing on the April 1957, cover of
'Life' magazine. She started her acting career in 1958 with the Disney film
'The Light in the Forest' followed by 1959's
'Holiday for Lovers' and
'Blue Denim' that same year. In 1959, Lynley was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female for the film
'The Light in the Forest'. In 1960 she was again nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female for the film
'Blue Denim'. From there Lynley starred in numerous films, TV movies and television series over the years amassing 103 Acting credit to her name, including movies such as
'Return to Peyton Place', 'The Last Sunset' with Rock Hudson,
'Under the Yum Yum Tree' with Jack Lemmon,
'Harlow' with Efram Zimbalist Jnr.,
'Bunny Lake is Missing' with Laurence Olivier, 1972's
'The Poseidon Adventure' with an all star cast,
'The Four Deuces' with Jack Palance,
'The Cat and the Canary' with Honor Blackman and
'Drowning on Dry Land' with Barbara Hershey. Amongst her small screen roles, these included turns in
'The Virginian', 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.', 'The Invaders', 'The F.B.I.', 'Mannix', 'The Magician', 'Police Woman', 'Kojak', 'Hawaii Five-0', 'The Love Boat', 'Charlie's Angels', 'Hart to Hart', 'The Fall Guy', 'Fantasy Island', and
'Hotel' amongst numerous others. After her first marriage ended in divorce in 1964, Lynley had an eighteen year on again off again relationship with British writer, broadcaster and television personality David Frost.
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John Wesley - born 3rd August 1947, died 7th September 2019, aged 72. Wesley was an American film and television Actor who had 120 Acting credits to his name spanning from the early '60's up until the present day. His film credits included
'Hang 'Em High', 'Missing in Action 2 : The Beginning', 'Nuts', 'Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot', 'Born Yesterday', 'The Little Rascals' and
'Holly Day' most recently in 2018. His small screen credits take in over the years
'Dr. Kildare', 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.', 'Knight Rider', 'Benson', 'Hill Street Blues', eleven episodes on
'Dirty Dancing', 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air', 'Baywatch', fifty-three episodes of
'Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad', 'Melrose Place', 'The Bill', 'The Practice', 'Cold Case', 'Medium', and
'NCIS' as recently as 2018. Wesley also enjoyed a stage career with many productions ranging from London to Los Angeles.
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Robert Axelrod - born 29th May 1949 and died 7th September 2019, aged 70. Axelrod (aka Axel Roberts) was an American Actor who started lending his voice over talents to numerous films from the late '70's onwards. All up Axelrod had 160 Acting credits to his name and nine as Writer. His big screen acting work took in the likes of
'Murphy's Law', 'Assassination', 'Death Wish 4 : The Crackdown', and
'Kinjite : Forbidden Subjects' all starring Charles Bronson. There was also
'The Blob' (1988 remake),
'Midnight', 'Fortress of Amerikkka', 'Repo Jake', 'Deep Freeze', 'The Light in the Forest', 'The Last Shot', 'Boonville Redemption' and
'The Clapper' most recently in 2017. In the meantime Axelrod lent his voice talents to numerous English language versions of Japanese Anime productions and animated television series, including 85 episodes of
'Robotech', as Lord Zedd/Finster on the
'Mighty Morphin Power Rangers : The Movie' plus its spin off video's and animated series taking in 118 episodes of
'Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' and fifteen episodes of
'Power Rangers Zeo' plus
'Power Rangers in Space'. Then there was 38 episodes on
'Transformers : Car Robots', fifty episodes on
'Digimon Adventure 02', 45 episodes on
'Digimon : Digital Monsters' plus various episodes on
'Ghost in the Shell', 'Danguard Ace 1, 2 & 3', and
'Gaiking I, II & III' amongst numerous others.
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Paul Cronin - born 8th July 1938 and died 13th September 2019, aged 81. Cronin was an Australian Actor perhaps best known for his role on 228 episodes of
'Matlock Police' from 1971 through to 1976 and 1,077 episodes as Dave Sullivan on
'The Sullivans' from 1976 until 1983. There were also thirteen episodes on
'Solo One' in 1976, plus single guest appearances on
'The Flying Doctors', 'The Late Show', 'Frontline' and
'State Coroner'. He won the Silver Logie for Best Actor five times, including three years consecutively from 1978, making him the equal most awarded actor in Australia.
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Phyllis Newman - born 19th March 1933 and died 15th September 2019, aged 86. Newman was an American Actress of stage, screen and television and a Singer. Newman made her Broadway debut in
'Wish You Were Here' in 1952 and over the following years appeared in such stage plays as
'Bells Are Ringing', 'Pleasures and Palaces', 'The Apple Tree', 'On the Town', 'The Prisoner of Second Avenue', and
'Subways Are for Sleeping', for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She became a major television celebrity in the '60's and '70's, a frequent panelist on the network game shows
'What's My Line?', 'Match Game' and
'To Tell the Truth' and a frequent guest of Johnny Carson's on NBC's
'The Tonight Show'. On the big screen, she appeared in 1955's
'Picnic', 'Let's Rock' in 1958,
'Bye Bye Braverman' with George Segal in 1968,
'To Find a Man' with Lloyd Bridges in 1972,
'Mannequin' with Andrew McCarthy in 1987,
'Only You' with Robert Downey Jnr. in 1994,
'The Beautician and the Beast' with Timothy Dalton in 1997,
'A Price Above Rubies' with Renee Zellweger in 1998 and 2003's
'The Human Stain' with Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman. In 1995 Newman founded 'The Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative' of the Actors Fund of America, which raised more than US$3.5M and served 2,500 women in the entertainment industry. In recognition of her efforts, in 2009 Newman received the first 'Isabelle Stevenson Award', a special Tony Award, for her work with her Health Initiative recognising her humanitarian work.
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Suzanne Whang - born 28th September 1962 and died 17th September 2019, aged 56. Whang was a
an Actress, national television host, award-winning stand-up comedian, published author, professional keynote speaker, radio host, spoken word artist, teacher, creativity coach, metaphysical minister, and political activist. Of her film and television roles, of which she had 73 credits which launched with a small role in the 1990 comedy film
'A Matter of Degrees' which was followed up by the Steve Martin RomCom offering
'Housesitter' in 1992. Then came
'Constantine' with Keanu Reeves,
'Material Girls' with Hilary and Haylie Duff,
'The Widow's Mark', 'Til Death Do Us Part' and
'The Pipeline' currently in Post-Production. Of her small screen roles, there was the likes of
'NYPD Blue', 'The Practice', 'Two and a Half Men', 'Nip/Tuck', 'Criminal Minds', 'Cold Case', 'Without a Trace', on twelve episodes of
'Las Vegas', on eight episodes of
'General Hospital', on six episodes of
'From Here on OUT', 'Dexter' and
'Arrested Development'. She is however, perhaps best known for having been the host of the popular series
'House Hunters' for nine years from 1999 through to 2007.
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Aron Eisenberg - born 6th January 1969, and died 21st September 2019, aged 50. Eisenberg was an American Actor and Producer of stage, screen and television, who is perhaps best known for his recurring role across seven seasons of
'Star Trek : Deep Space Nine' from 1993 until 1999 in the role of Nog, the first Ferengi to join Starfleet. His film acting career began in 1989 on
'The Horror Show' and
'Beverly Hills Brats' and over the ensuing years he starred in mostly B-Grade movies and straight to video productions taking in
'Streets', 'Playroom', 'Prayer of the Rollerboys', 'Puppet Master III : Toulon's Revenge', 'Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills' and
'Star Trek : Renegades' in 2017. Additionally, there were several made for TV movies and appearances on television series including over the years his debut role in 1988's
'Straight Up', and then
'The Wonder Years', 'Tales from the Crypt', 'The Secret World of Alex Mack', 'Star Trek : Voyager', 'Brotherly Love' and
'The Division'. He was also a Co-Host and Producer of the Star Trek themed podcast
'The 7th Rule'. Eisenberg was born with only one partially functioning kidney and received a kidney transplant at the age of seventeen which had the effect of limiting his growth to five feet. In August 2015 Eisenberg was once again diagnosed with kidney failure and before the year was out he received a second successful kidney transplant.
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Sid Haig - born Sidney Eddie Mosesian on 14th July 1939, died 21st September 2019, aged 80. Haig was an American Actor, Producer and Musician whose career launched in 1960 with his debut in a Jack Hill Directed film
'The Host' and he would go on to star in several other Jack Hill films over the years that followed -
'Blood Bath' in 1966,
'Spider Baby' in 1968,
'Pit Stop' in 1969,
'The Big Doll House' in 1971,
'The Big Bird Cage' in 1972,
'Black Mama, White Mama' and
'Coffey' both in 1973 and
'Foxy Brown' in 1974. He also starred in two Quentin Tarantino productions -
'Jackie Brown' in 1997 and
'Kill Bill : Volume 2' in 2004, plus a number of outings for Horror maestro Rob Zombie, namely
'House of 1000 Corpses', 'The Devil's Rejects', 'Halloween', 'The Haunted World of El Superbeasto', 'The Lords of Salem' and the yet to be released
'3 from Hell'. Haig has often been called an icon of horror cinema, performing in other horror genre films over the years including
'Galaxy of Terror', 'The Aftermath', 'Night of the Living Dead 3D', 'Brotherhood of Blood', 'Dark Moon Rising', 'Creature', 'Hatchet III', 'Devil in My Ride', 'Death House', 'Cynthia' and the currently in Post-Production
'Abruptio'. In the meantime there was also more mainstream fare taking in
'Point Blank', 'Che!', 'THX1138', 'Diamonds Are Forever', 'Little Big Top' and
'Bone Tomahawk'. Over the years there were also numerous television series appearances, more notable among these were
'The Untouchables', 'Batman', 'Gunsmoke', on nine episodes of
'Mission : Impossible', 'Star Trek', 'Get Smart', on 55 episode of
'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman', 'Charlie's Angels', on 28 episodes of
'Jason of Star Command', 'Fantasy Island', 'The Fall Guy', 'The Dukes of Hazzard', 'The A-Team' and
'McGyver'. All up Haig had 149 Acting credits to his name and three as Producer, and seven award wins and two other nominations from around the festivals circuit.
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Linda Porter - born 31st January 1933, died 25th September 2019, aged 86. Porter was an American Actress whose career started later on in life with her first role on a single episode in the 1988 television series
'Beauty and the Beast'. From here her film credits took in
'Twins' in 1988 with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito and then
'The Truth About Cats & Dogs', 'Becoming Rebecca', 'Tumbleweeds', 'The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human', 'Stanley's Gig', 'Dude, Where's My Car?', 'Duplex' with Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore,
'Uncross the Stars' with Barbara Hershey,
'Mercy' with Frances O'Connor,
'Pee-wee's Big Holiday' and
'The House' with Will Farrell and Amy Poehler most recently. Added to these, there were numerous appearances in made for TV movies and television series including
'Frasier', 'Roseanne', 'ER', 'The X-Files', 'Melrose Place', 'Dharma & Greg', 'Spin City', 'Gilmore Girls', 'Scrubs', 'The King of Queens', 'CSI : NY', 'How I Met Your Mother', 'American Horror Story', 'Twin Peaks' and on 35 episodes of
'Superstore' up to the present. Porter had 74 Acting credits to her name.
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Rob Garrison - born 23rd January 1960, died 27th September 2019, aged 59. Garrison was an American Actor and one time Writer who had an intermittent career particularly through the '90's up until the present, with the bulk of his work occurring in the latter half of the '70's and throughout the '80's. His career launched with a small part in 1977's
'Starship Invasions' with Robert Vaughn and Christoper Lee, and then
'Search and Destroy', 'Lost and Found' with George Segal and Glenda Jackson,
'Brubaker' with Robert Redford,
'Prom Night' with Jamie Lee Curtis and then perhaps the role that he is best known for as Tommy in
'The Karate Kid' with Ralph Macchio in 1984 and the role he would reprise in 1986's
'The Karate Kid Part II' and again in 2019's web TV series
'Cobra Kai'. In the meantime there was
'Best Revenge', 'Iron Eagle', 'Human Error' and
'The Pledge'. In addition there were appearances on television shows taking in the likes of
'The Littlest Hobo' (of which Garrison wrote ten episodes),
'St. Elsewhere', 'MacGyver', 'Tour of Duty', 'Columbo', 'Homefront', 'Coach' and
'Kung Fu : The Legend Continues'. Garrison had 25 Acting credits to his name.
And so this week we have four new cinematic offerings with which to tempt you out to your local Odeon in the coming week. We kick off with an already acclaimed stand alone origin story of a failed comic who becomes the arch nemesis of one certain caped crusader in the fabled city of Gotham. We then turn to an epic Spanish foreign language crime drama charting the rise of the marijuana trade in 1960's and '70's Colombia and the impact this has on one family in particular. Next up is a live concert by the highly acclaimed former frontman of Pink Floyd filmed during his epic world tour that spanned eighteen months in 2017 and '18 in which he creates stunning visuals to accompany his back catalogue of songs and music with his more recent album release. We then wrap up the week with a change of pace completely, and one for the littlies in this animated feature starring all your favourite puppy dogs at the race track in a bid to become the fastest pup of all time behind the wheel.
Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the four latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release and as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.
'JOKER' (Rated MA15+) - and here finally is the eagerly awaited, much hyped, highly anticipated and already acclaimed American psychological thriller based on the DC Comics character starring Joaquin Phoenix as Batman's arch nemesis, the Joker. Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Todd Phillips whose previous film making credits take in the likes of
'The Hangover', 'The Hangover Part II', 'The Hangover Part III', 'War Dogs', 'Due Date', 'School for Scoundrels', 'Road Trip' and
'Starsky & Hutch'. The film acts as an origin story for the Joker and is not intended to form any part of the DCEU, rather a launchpad for DC Black - a series of DC standalone movies. The film Premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival at the end of August where it won the Golden Lion, the festival's highest prize, is released in the US this week too, costs US$55M to make and has received positive Reviews from Critics, with particular praise for Phoenix's performance.
Set in 1981, failed comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) encounters violent thugs while aimlessly wandering the streets of Gotham City dressed as a clown by day, and attempting to make it big by night as a stand-up comic - but invariably the joke is nearly always on him. Caught in a spiralling existence between apathy and cruelty and disregarded by society, Fleck makes one bad decision that brings about a chain reaction of escalating events that sets in motion his slow dissent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker. Also starring Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Bill Camp and Shea Whigham.
'BIRDS OF PASSAGE' (Rated MA15+) - (in Spanish:
'PAJAROS DE VERANO') is a 2018 epic crime film Directed by Ciro Guerra and Cristina Gallego. It was selected to open the 50th edition of the Directors' Fortnight section at the May 2018 Cannes Film Festival and was selected as the Colombian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, making the December shortlist but not the final cut. Here, the origins of the Colombian drug trade, as seen through eyes of an indigenous Wayuu family become involved in the booming business of selling marijuana to American youth in the late 1960's and '70's. When greed, passion and honour collide, a fratricidal war breaks out and puts their lives, culture and ancestral traditions at risk. The film is divided into five chapters : Wild Grass, The Graves, Prosperity, The War and Limbo. So far
'Birds of Passage' has taken US$1.4M at the Box Office and has received largely widespread critical acclaim. Starring Carmina Martinez, Natalia Reyes, Jose Acosta and Jhon Narvaez.
'ROGER WATERS : US + THEM' (M) - The 'Us + Them Tour' was a concert tour by Roger Waters, formerly of Pink Floyd. The tour visited the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and countries in Europe and Latin America, showcasing songs from Waters' career with Pink Floyd and from his most recent album as a solo artist,
'Is This the Life We Really Want?' It opened on 26th May 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri, and came to an end on 9th December 2018 in Monterrey, Mexico. Filmed in Amsterdam on the European leg of the tour which saw Waters perform to over two million people worldwide, the film features songs from his legendary Pink Floyd albums (
'The Dark Side of the Moon', 'The Wall', 'Animals', 'Wish You Were Here') and from his latest aforementioned album. Waters collaborates once more with Sean Evans, visionary Director of the highly acclaimed 2014 concert film,
'Roger Waters The Wall', to deliver this creatively pioneering film that inspires with its state-of- the-art visual production, breath-taking sound, powerful music and messages of human rights, liberty and love.
'PAW PATROL : READY, RACE, RESCUE' (Rated G) - Directed by Charles E. Bastien this film is definitely intended for the much younger generation, and with a running time of just under forty-five minutes it's sure to keep the littlies and their parents amused for just the right amount of time, and is based on the hit kids TV series now in its sixth season. And so the big day of the 'Adventure Bay 500' endurance race has arrived! The pups have built an awesome race track and are ready to be the pit crew for their race hero, The Whoosh! But when the legendary racer is unable to drive in the Championship Race, he calls on his biggest fan-pup, Marshall, to take the wheel and race in his place! Marshall has to overcome his lack of confidence and his dastardly competition behind the wheel, in the shape of The Cheetah, to fulfil his dream of becoming the fastest race-pup in history!
With four new release movies this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the week ahead, at your local Odeon.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
'JOKER' which I saw earlier this week is here finally and is the eagerly awaited, much hyped, highly anticipated and largely acclaimed MA15+ rated American psychological thriller based on the DC Comics character starring Joaquin Phoenix as Batman's arch nemesis, the Joker. Directed, Co-Produced and Co-Written by Todd Phillips whose previous film making credits take in the likes of 'The Hangover', 'The Hangover Part II', 'The Hangover Part III', 'War Dogs', 'Due Date', 'School for Scoundrels', 'Road Trip' and 'Starsky & Hutch'. The film acts as an origin story for the Joker and is not intended to form any part of the DCEU, rather a launchpad for DC Black - a series of DC standalone movies. The film Premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival at the end of August where it won the Golden Lion, the festival's highest prize, was released in the US last week too, cost US$55M to make and has received positive Reviews from Critics, with particular praise for Phoenix's performance. The film has scored the biggest October opening, finishing the weekend with a global total of US$234M, and a total worldwide Box Office take so far standing at US$282M. It also set career records for Phoenix, Phillips, and De Niro, and was the fourth-largest debut for an R-rated film of all-time.
Set in 1981, party clown and aspiring stand up comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) lives with his mother Penny (Frances Conroy) in a run down apartment in Gotham City. The city is itself becoming increasingly run down too with rising unemployment, a breakdown in basic infrastructure services, budget cutbacks in essential services, and escalating crime. After a gang of youths attack Arthur in an alleyway leaving him battered and bruised, one of his co-workers Randall (Glenn Fleshler) gifts him a gun with six bullets to fend off any future would be thugs and attackers. When returning home later that night, Arthur comes across Sophie Dumond (Zazie Beetz), a single mother in the elevator and befriends her. It's not long before they start dating, and Arthur subsequently invites her to one of his stand-up comedy shows.
Arthur's takes Sophie to his comedy show and it goes off very poorly, with him laughing uncontrollably right from the off, and then he has difficulty in landing his jokes. Popular talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) mocks Arthur live on-air by showing clips from his recent failed stand-up routine on his show, viewed by Arthur on his TV at home in his apartment.
Later, Arthur intercepts a letter written by Penny to Thomas, whom she used to work for years previously, and refers to him with fond memories. In the letter, she claims that Arthur is Thomas's illegitimate son, and he then berates his mother for hiding the truth from him for all these years. Arthur pays a visit to Wayne Manor, and talks to Thomas' young son, Bruce (Dante Pereira-Olson), through the gates of the estate but flees after a scuffle with family butler Alfred Pennyworth (Douglas Hodge). Following a visit from two Gotham City Police Department detectives - Garrity and Burke (Bill Camp and Shea Whigham respectively) investigating Arthur's involvement in the train murders, Penny suffers a stroke and is admitted to hospital.
At a black-tie public event showcasing a classic Charlie Chaplin film, Arthur confronts Thomas about what he now knows about him being his real 'Dad'. Thomas tells him that Penny is delusional and was assigned to a mental asylum and that he was in fact adopted. Thomas by now was informed of Arthur's visit to his property the day before, orders him to stay away and promptly thumps him to the ground with a hefty punch to the face. In denial, Arthur visits Arkham State Hospital and steals Penny's case file which the orderly had to dig out of the archives because it was over thirty years ago. The file states that Penny adopted Arthur as a baby and repeatedly allowed her abusive boyfriend to harm them both. Penny alleged that Thomas used his influence to invent the adoption and commit her to the asylum to hide their affair for fear of public shame and the impact upon his family name and business. Distraught, Arthur goes to the hospital and kills Penny by suffocating her with a pillow.
The next day the phone rings in Arthur's apartment, and answering it he is invited to appear on Murray's talk show due to the unforeseen popularity of his failed stand-up comedy routine clips. As he prepares himself for his live interview, he is visited by his former co-workers Randall and midget Gary (Leigh Gill). Arthur murders Randall with a pair of scissors, while Gary cowers in the corner completely shocked by what he has just witnessed. Arthur chooses to leave Gary unharmed for treating him well in the past, and allows him to leave the apartment. Having dyed his hair dark green, painted on his white clown face and dressed in his best red suite with orange waistcoat, while on the way to the studio, Arthur is pursued by Garrity and Burke onto a train filled with clown protesters all travelling to a rally in the city. Burke accidentally shoots a protester while giving chase on a crowded train carriage and incites a riot which then spills out onto the platform, allowing Arthur to escape in the ensuing chaos.
Arthur arrives at the television studio where the Murray Franklin Show is broadcast from. Before the show goes live, Arthur asks that Murray introduce him as 'Joker', a nod to Murray's previous derisory comments about his routine. When the curtain goes up, Arthur walks out to a warm reception and is welcomed to the stage by Murray. 
Within minutes Murray asks Joker to tell a joke from his new material, and he responds with a tasteless one that irks the audience. He then goes on to admit that he killed the three businessmen on the train much to the horror of Murray and his audience, and begins a rant about how society has abandoned the many disenfranchised citizens, and how Murray mocked him. Arthur pulls out a gun and shoots Murray in the head at point blank range killing him instantly live on television, he then unloads another round into Murray's now lifeless chest.
Arthur is promptly arrested as riots break out across Gotham City. One rioter wearing the trademark clown mask confronts the Wayne family in a dark and lonely alley and murders Thomas and his wife Martha, sparing the young Bruce. Rioters in an ambulance crash into the Police car carrying Arthur and free him, placing his unconscious body on the bonnet of the vehicle. He comes around soon afterwards, rises to his feet still on the bonnet and dances to the cheers of the gathered crowd. He tastes that he is bleeding from his mouth, and he uses his own blood to paint a smile on his face. In the closing scene assumed to be in Arkham Asylum, Arthur laughs to himself telling his psychiatrist that she would not understand his joke. Arthur is then seen exiting the interview room leaving behind a trail of blood red footprints on the white tiled floor, before being chased down by an orderly.
'Joker' has certainly divided the Critics and polarised the audiences, and it's easy to see why. On the one hand Phoenix, who appears in just about every frame of the film, inhibits his Arthur Fleck character with a nuanced and mesmerising performance of a wannabe stand-up comedian and professional clown who is emotionally and mentally unhinged to the point where he descends into homicidal madness, ultimately becoming the Joker. Phillips has also crafted a believable and relatable story grounded in the real world whose message resonates as much today as it would have done when the film is set - societal breakdown, riots in the streets, mass indiscriminate killings and the general ignorance of society towards those in less fortunate positions than ourselves. And, when the violence comes it does so graphically and clinically and without any remorse, and yet we are drawn to sympathise with the Clown Prince of Crime, because society has turned its back on him, created a monster and he is the victim of an uncaring, corrupt and violent world. On the other hand, at times it's a hard watch for the way its portrays mental illness, drags a little in places, and feels somewhat derivative of classic Scorsese offerings 'Taxi Driver' and 'The King of Comedy' both of which get nods in this outing. As an origin story, it gets to the very roots of the bleak maniacal world of an emerging monster that will be debated long after the end credits have rolled, providing a notable back story that gives way to Jack Nicholson's and Heath Ledger's portrayal of this clown faced antagonist.
