The Clown Prince of Crime

There's been a lot going on around here, but I finally got a chance to see "Joker", about which I was kind of apprehensive at first.  Opening night happened, though, and I found myself wishing I was in one of the movie theaters to see the film.

• One of the reasons I was apprehensive is because sometimes Joaquin Phoenix is a little too "extra" for me.  I'm glad that I got over that, though, because his performance was incredible.
• See, clowns ARE creepy!  Clown masks are creepy!  Or is it just clowns / clown masks with green hair?
• Also, the song "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin: I have never wanted to actually smile when I hear that song, it's so melancholy, and, many times, creepy.
• Clowns can also be delusional.  For a moment, I wondered if Sophie was going to become Harley Quinn because of her friendship with Arthur.
• Interesting take on his laugh being an involuntary neurological response, like Tourette's Syndrome.
• Poor little guy, having to see one of his friends brutally kill the other one, then he couldn't reach the lock!  I worried about him. 
• Whoa.  He met Bruce before he became an orphan?  Arthur was an orphan, too?  Fascinating.
• Bruce sliding down the pole at the playground: I see what they did there.
• Alfred!
• I like that in this rendition, Arthur/Joker is not the one that they meet in they meet in the alley that night.
• This is what happens when society doesn't take proper care of our mentally ill neighbors.  I'm surprised there aren't already a bunch of super villains in the world, walking around the streets in scary face paint.  But then we'd need a bunch of superheroes in cowls and capes.  Perhaps we should prepare for that.

This film was really well done.  I might not be able to watch it again because the mood is very dark, but I did like it a lot.  I will be very surprised if Joaquin Phoenix does not get an Oscar nod.