“Citizen Penn” opens in Hollywood in 2019, with Jamie Foxx, in high spirits, introducing Sean Penn at a benefit gala for Haiti. It doesn’t take long for the spirits to come crashing down to earth, as Penn, founder and spokesman of the J/P Relief Organization, hits the audience with a Debbie Downer buzzkill. The Russians, he says, are testing hypersonic nuclear weapons; populist demagogues are turning the world economy into a game; and climatologists, warns Penn, give us 11 years before “global catastrophic failure.” He adds, “Lies, greed, rage, sexism, and racism threaten to induce further violence in our own streets.” But then, just as you’re getting ready to see people streaming toward the exits, something funny happens. Penn says that it’s the cardinal rule of fund-raising not to bum out the crowd. He then spreads his hands and grins, acknowledging that’s what he just did.
That...
That...
- 5/9/2021
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Tony Sokol Oct 8, 2019
With the arrival of Joker, we examine one of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro's most underrated movies, The King of Comedy.
Joker pays homage to the classics. Tributes are often a polite word for artistic theft and at least one trailer has the heroic villain stealing a timeless line from the British comedian Bob Monkhouse. “Everyone laughed when I said I was going to be a comedian, but nobody’s laughing now.” Such is the dichotomy of dark comedy, some of the best laughter gets caught in the throat. It looks like Joker might have stolen more than a joke though from Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy. He may have made off with the conclusion, which was up for grabs anyway.
Todd Phillips’ upcoming Batman-adjacent origin movie provides a twisted alternative universe to Scorsese's celebrity nightmare classic. The new film features Robert De...
With the arrival of Joker, we examine one of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro's most underrated movies, The King of Comedy.
Joker pays homage to the classics. Tributes are often a polite word for artistic theft and at least one trailer has the heroic villain stealing a timeless line from the British comedian Bob Monkhouse. “Everyone laughed when I said I was going to be a comedian, but nobody’s laughing now.” Such is the dichotomy of dark comedy, some of the best laughter gets caught in the throat. It looks like Joker might have stolen more than a joke though from Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy. He may have made off with the conclusion, which was up for grabs anyway.
Todd Phillips’ upcoming Batman-adjacent origin movie provides a twisted alternative universe to Scorsese's celebrity nightmare classic. The new film features Robert De...
- 9/30/2019
- Den of Geek
If you’d bet on Todd Phillips ever winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, you’d have made lots of money. If you’d bet on Todd Phillips winning the Golden Lion for Joker, you’d now be Bruce Wayne.
And Arthur Fleck – soon to be the Joker – wouldn’t like that very much. Joaquin Phoenix plays the wannabe stand-up comic in this origin story of the most iconic villain in the superhero world. Predictably Fleck serves as the heart and soul, which attempts to be a thorough study of how someone can grow (or sink) to become Gotham City’s greatest cosplaying criminal menace.
This psychopath origin story structure is one of the numerous ways Joker tries to invoke the films of Martin Scorsese, who was initially attached to the project as a producer. But only in style is it at all a resemblance of the work of Scorsese.
And Arthur Fleck – soon to be the Joker – wouldn’t like that very much. Joaquin Phoenix plays the wannabe stand-up comic in this origin story of the most iconic villain in the superhero world. Predictably Fleck serves as the heart and soul, which attempts to be a thorough study of how someone can grow (or sink) to become Gotham City’s greatest cosplaying criminal menace.
This psychopath origin story structure is one of the numerous ways Joker tries to invoke the films of Martin Scorsese, who was initially attached to the project as a producer. But only in style is it at all a resemblance of the work of Scorsese.
- 9/11/2019
- by Adam Solomons
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
“Is it just me or is getting crazier out there?” It’s a legitimate question that Arthur Fleck, a troubled clown-for-hire, asks the social worker assigned to his case. Garbage spills out on to the avenues and alleyways of the urban wasteland he lives in. The news is filled with stories about plagues of “super rats” and filth and crime and horribleness. You can’t even twirl a going-out-of-business sign in a fright wig without getting jumped by young punks and having the snot beaten out of you. One day,...
- 9/10/2019
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Robert De Niro joked with Stephen Colbert during his sit-down on The Late Show a week ago, noting that when it came to his Tribeca Talk with Martin Scorsese, he’d ask a question, leave for coffee, and return minutes later to ask the next question.
That was hardly the case here today, as the two went back and forth onstage for more than 90 minutes at the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, covering a majority of ground; from their collaborations together, such as Mean Streets, The King of Comedy and Casino, to those pics in which the Raging Bull Oscar winner did not star, i.e. Silence and The Wolf of Wall Street.
However, for those fans looking to hear more about their ninth team-up together, The Irishman, or see a clip from that upcoming Netflix movie, the duo didn’t dive into any great details.
That was hardly the case here today, as the two went back and forth onstage for more than 90 minutes at the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, covering a majority of ground; from their collaborations together, such as Mean Streets, The King of Comedy and Casino, to those pics in which the Raging Bull Oscar winner did not star, i.e. Silence and The Wolf of Wall Street.
However, for those fans looking to hear more about their ninth team-up together, The Irishman, or see a clip from that upcoming Netflix movie, the duo didn’t dive into any great details.
- 4/28/2019
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s hard to know what’s real in this film since Rupert Pupkin is kind of a madman with a penchant for being funny. When he attempts to break into the comedy business he’s rebuffed more than once, which eventually leads him to up and kidnap the man that’s been blocking him for so long. His only demand after the kidnapping is to be featured on the man’s comedy show, which is granted. After that however the kidnapped individual escapes and Pupkin is sent to prison. Upon his release his fame is instantaneous as he becomes known as the man that
10 Things You Didn’t Know about “The King of Comedy”...
10 Things You Didn’t Know about “The King of Comedy”...
- 3/6/2018
- by Wake
- TVovermind.com
Part of the Jerry Lewis tribute A Mubi JerrythonI. Jerry Langford walks. Broadway and 51st, East 53rd, West 57th. He cuts a figure at one with his surroundings, in tune with the come-and-go ambiance—the ephemerality—of the city. He is of the people, a pedestrian among countless others. Or not. ‘Jerry Langford, right?’ The woman stops him, a magazine in her hand—as if it might, at any moment, become a weapon. ‘Oh Maurice,’ she tells the payphone into which she’s speaking, ‘please hold on.’ She asks Jerry to sign the magazine, showering him in praise, talking her way into talking more. ‘Oh Jerry,’ the woman continues, an improvised ambition swelling in her. ‘Please say something to my nephew Maurice on the phone. He’s in the hospital.’ That’s it: guilt the philanthrocapital out of them. ‘I’m sorry,’ Jerry replies, ‘I’m late.’ No sooner has...
- 1/1/2018
- MUBI
Criterion Reflections is David Blakeslee’s ongoing project to watch all of the films included in the Criterion Collection in chronological order of their original release. Each episode features panel conversations and 1:1 interviews offering insights on movies that premiered in a particular season of a year in the past, which were destined to eventually bear the Criterion imprint. In this episode, David is joined by Jon Laubinger, Jordan Essoe and William Remmers to discuss four titles from the Summer of 1969: Haskell Wexler’s Medium Cool, Alberto Isaac’s The Olympics in Mexico, Federico Fellini’s Fellini Satyricon, and Agnes Varda’s Lions Love (…and Lies).
Episode Time Markers Introduction: 0:00:00 – 0:06:31 Medium Cool: 0:06:32 – 0:53:26 The Olympics in Mexico: 0:53:27 – 1:28:29 Fellini Satyricon: 1:28:30 – 2:20:24 Lions Love (and Lies…): 2:20:25 – 3:19:15 Medium Cool (8/27/69)
Guest: Jon Laubinger
Criterion...
Episode Time Markers Introduction: 0:00:00 – 0:06:31 Medium Cool: 0:06:32 – 0:53:26 The Olympics in Mexico: 0:53:27 – 1:28:29 Fellini Satyricon: 1:28:30 – 2:20:24 Lions Love (and Lies…): 2:20:25 – 3:19:15 Medium Cool (8/27/69)
Guest: Jon Laubinger
Criterion...
- 11/9/2017
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
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