The Oscars are coming up soon. One movie from last year was nominated for 11 Academy Awards including best picture. That movie is Joker. I didn’t want to see it because really, how many Batman movies can there be? This one is different. Sure it takes place in Gotham City, and the Waynes are in it and you end up seeing Bruce’s parents shot to death right infront of him… oh wait, was that a spoiler? If it was go watch literally every Batman movie/TV show/comic book/etc. ever written.

Now, back to the Joker. This is a very dark movie. In fact here’s a line that was written down in his journal right near the beginning (the word “cents” is from the quote I didn’t screw that up.):

I sure hope my death makes more cents than my life.

But the therapist doesn’t do anything except up his meds. There’s the story about how Arthur loves his mother and still lives with her. He has fantasies of grandure just like you’d expect. It’s the same DC Universe and stories that you know and love.

So why then is it worth a Best Picture nomination? Well, I can’t really say without spoiling the movie, but you know how Fight Club was a great movie and Sixth Sense was a great movie, well so is this one. The twist at the end really ties the whole thing together in a way that had me thinking about it for several hours after watching the movie.

The acting is spot on, as you’d come to expect from Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro and Frances Conroy. The writing is impeccable as I’ve come to expect from Todd Phillips (Road Trip, Old School, Due Date, The Hangover Parts 2 and 3) and doesn’t force feed you the same regurgitated DC superhero crap over again. It’s layered into the story in such a way that you hardly notice it’s there. Until it slaps you in the face and says, “Hey! I am a Gotham storyline.”

What more is there to say? I’ll probably watch it again, I’m sad that I didn’t get to see this in the theater. Finally, a sequel is coming.