Now this is the role that Joaquin Phoenix was born to play. Joker is beyond one of the most thrilling, catastrophic, menacing, and haunting thrill-ride of October. Phoenix has all the perfect characteristics and attitude for this role. He has the suspicious facial expressions, the bizarre laughs, and has the momentum to build to the craziness as his villain character starts to evolve. For director Todd Phillips, he has stepped up his game with directing. I am used to seeing him direct comedies, or films that are dark comedies. Joker is a dark comedy. The film gets even darker as the film progresses.

The film starts out with gearing on the back story of Joker. The man’s name (before Joker is a name for him) is Arthur Fleck (Phoenix). He is a depressed, crazy, and mentally ill man that has a life he resents. He is on many medications and has lots of people that refuse to hire him or work with him. He also has many financial problems which start to impact his life. Also, his disorders that happen suddenly (most of the time) start to make him grow to be an even more dangerous person. He develops odd creative ideas, fantasizes about violence, and he views his negative actions to be a positive for himself because in his mindset he defines his judgment as funny (even though they are irreparable consequences). Phoenix delivers the role to the top of his game and it is just inviting but also disturbing.

I always thought Heath Ledger’s role of the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) was one of the best jokers, but now I believe there are two of the best. Phoenix is the second. Only difference though, Ledger’s role geared on the mayhem and destruction without much of his back story (besides some childhood moments in certain conversations). Phoenix’s role gears entirely on his back story but leads up to mayhem. However, this one is much disturbing, and it is hard to define Joker as the protagonist or the antagonist. That is what makes Joker so enticing because viewers wonder if they should root for him or for the people he is impacting, but they also wonder if the prior abuse by other characters make them the antagonists. Joker is a film that leaves viewers to wonder who is to blame for the mental problems that have been built up in this Joker’s mind.

Phoenix is one of those actors that I find that has never done a bad role. He always has done something brilliant and this is another brilliant work of art by him. He is always good at playing someone ill-fated, depressed, or angry but expresses it quietly. I find that for this role, he will be praised for it and he already is. Also, I find that when I saw this movie, that Phoenix always can have either a memorable line or habit in his movies. He has that in The Master (2012), Her (2013), Inherent Vice (2014) and many other films. Phoenix always displays something memorable, yet disturbing, and that is why he is right for The Joker.

Overall, this movie needs to be experienced. May have some disturbing moments, but if you’re a fan of superhero movies, then this needs to be experienced. It needs though, to be experienced in a premium format. One that is like IMAX or 70 MM projection. I saw this in IMAX because I wanted to fee like I was watching The Dark Knight again in IMAX like I did back in 2008, and I remember people applauded right when Ledger came into the movie, because the IMAX experience made them feel he is right there. It did that for me with Joker in IMAX as soon as Phoenix came out as that character. I am giving this movie four stars!

In the category of movies that gear on secrets and political corruption which are based on actual events, Official Secrets is a thriller that is faithful to sticking to its facts and evidence regarding Katharine Gun. Official Secrets is one of those movies that leaves viewers thinking about the consequences of actions involving the government and foreign countries. It is a thought-provoking, daring, psychological rollercoaster ride of deceit, dishonesty, and legal factors that causes viewers to wonder what will have the most consequences for Katharine Gun. Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Ralph Fiennes, Rhys Ifans, and Matt Smith are all the right cast members for this movie, and it is directed by Gavin Hood. He directed Eye in the Sky (2015) which was quite good, but this is better.

The plot of Official Secrets is the true story of Katharine Gun (played by Keira Knightley). Katharine is a British whistleblower and spy who finds information that she believes the world needs to be aware of. She comes across a confidential NSA memo that contains information linked to both the US and UK regarding illegal spying involving members of the UN Security Council. The goal of the memo is to blackmail small, undecided member states into voting for war. Katharine leaks that information out to the public and it falls in the hands of the journalist Martin Bright (played by Matt Smith). Martin comes together with his journalism colleagues to write an article and uncover more confidential information about the leaked memo.

Tension starts to rise as the film uncovers more important secrets. Martin’s colleague, Ed Vuliamy (played by Rhys Ifans), is serious about the story and wants the world to know. The problem is that Katharine is initially anonymous that she leaked the information.  However, she does admit she is at fault once Martin’s article is written about what she leaked. With the new article and Katharine admitting she is the one who leaked the information regarding the political corruption, Official Secrets opens many doors to frustration, revenge, and trust. And, once Katharine admits what she has done she becomes the target instead of the information she has leaked.

During Official Secrets, there are moments where I thought there was going to be safety and progress for Katharine Gun, but my expectations were often wrong. That is because her government job working for a spy department allowed confidentiality to be waved in many circumstances.  She seeks legal advice from a lawyer, but then other members of the government inform her that she is only digging herself in a deeper hole because the legal advice creates a more negative image. Her lawyer, Ben Emmerson (played by Ralph Fiennes), is up for the challenge it takes to help Katharine get out of the issue she has created for herself. That is because in his mind he knows that she meant no harm, she simply wanted the world to be a safe place which is why she leaked the information.

What makes this film the most intriguing is the dialogue which is in-depth centering on the central conflict.  Viewers are curious about who is being more serious with Katharine regarding her legal troubles. As Katharine is frustrated with the media, viewers witness her yelling at her TV, “Just because you’re the Prime Minister, it doesn’t mean you get to make up your own facts.”  Clearly, Katharine knows much more about how politics work in the world and the reasons behind the corruption during this time period. Katharine is the fighter in this movie.

The film’s main character is not the only one who is dealing with issues regarding corruption. The people who work for the newspaper do as well. Martin and Ed start to feel that their sources may not be accurate regarding the leaked information.  Ed has the most negative feelings towards the media which make him argumentative and confrontational in most every conversation. Martin, on the other hand, shows he is stressed and serious, but he is quite mellow. Official Secrets characterization also adds intensity to various scenes throughout the film.

I find Official Secrets to be one of the best films of the year so far. I walked in thinking this movie looked but good had the feelings that it would be predictable. But it is not predictable, it keeps viewers thinking about which conversation is most important for the film’s main conflict and if that conversation is ever going to be revisited. The film has lots of irony and personification where it feels like viewers are reading a book and putting the pieces together. I loved this movie and I hope it is one that people see, especially because it is based on actual events. Three and a half stars.

For films that gear on greed, sex, schemes and trust, Hustlers portrays all of these factors in a serious instead of a raunchy way like other films set in strip clubs.  Hustlers is written in a similar fashion to Adam McKay’s The Big Short (2015). However, McKay is one of the producers and the screenplay writer and director is Lorene Scafaria who is still new to directing big feature films. Hustlers grabs viewers’ attention by looking back at the years when people were struggling with the 2008 market crash. It focuses on the business of stripping during that period and how some strippers found creative ways to make money and lives for themselves based on various schemes. It may be advertised as an enchanting movie with cute actresses, but it is a thrill ride of suspense and top-notch dialogue that is interesting and disturbing.

The film’s two main characters are Destiny and Ramona (who are played by Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez). They are both strippers, however Ramona is already at the top of her game and shows Destiny the ropes to making profits and becoming wealthy through stripping. When Destiny realizes that Ramona receives not only praise, but big money thrown at her consistently on the dance floor, Destiny becomes close friends with Ramona.  She too then starts to slowly make it to Ramona’s level of popularity in the clubs. Destiny and Ramona come together to form a crew of other strippers who appeal to wealthy Wall Street clients.  Those clients have no problem throwing tons of cash at the strippers, putting down their credit cards, and giving Destiny and Ramona what they truly desire because of how wealthy they are. Over time, Destiny and Ramona create a strategic plan to find the right clients and keep track of their credit card numbers.  However, things start to spin out of control when the 2008 market crash hits and the clients fail to show up at the clubs anymore.

The film then turns into a rollercoaster ride that is haunting and compelling. Clients end up in the hospital, there is lots of betrayal, and Destiny is starting to lose her faith in Ramona because there are times when Ramona is avoiding the problems that Destiny is encountering.  Many other challenges begin to arise, because if the authorities realize the tactics that Destiny and Ramona have used on their clients, they could face all kinds of complex legal issues.

The film is like watching The Big Short in terms of how it impacts the stripping business as opposed to the entire economy. I was intrigued by the outcomes with the main characters in the movie. There are moments that I expected and others that I did not expect. The theme of deception was pervasive.  And, the decisions that Destiny makes does not just impact her well-being, but also impacts how she can ensure her daughter is in a safe environment. The question for viewers is who is more to blame? Is it Destiny or Ramona?  Viewers will have to determine that once the movie comes to its climax and conclusion. I will give this one three stars.