10/10 - Masterpiece

Where Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight was a terrorist pushing Batman and Gotham to its limits on how far they'd go for security, Phoenix in Joker is more about what happens when that society abandons its most vulnerable. Those of you expecting comic book action won't find it here and I'm glad for it, although we get many Easter eggs and tie ins to the source material. What we get is a study in what can happen should we have "one bad day" or weeks in this case. Arthur Fleck's decent into madness is masterfully portrayed by Phoenix and honestly I was rooting for him and laughing along with til the end. If Phoenix doesn't get nominated for an academy award then the Oscars are further shown to be a complete travesty awarding those with the right political opinion and not great film performances. This is my fav movie of the year, best joker performance and I feel sorry for whoever wears the clown makeup next as they have a helluva performance to top. Amazing film!