Canada's response to Trump deportation plan a key focus of revived cabinet committee
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's promise to launch a mass deportation of millions of undocumented people has the Canadian government looking at its own border.
After 2019's "Joker" nabbed $1 billion box office dollars and a Best Actor Oscar for Joaquin Phoenix, a sequel was certain.
What form that sequel would take, however, was less certain.
In the risk averse entertainment landscape that is 2024 Hollywood, one would have expected a continuation of Joker's reign as Gotham City's most unhinged agent of chaos.
Well, no one will accuse director Todd Phillips and stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga of being risk averse.
For better and for worse, "Joker: Folie à Deux" mixes romance and show tunes with law and order in what may be the bleakest jukebox musical ever made.
Question is: Is the risk worth the reward?
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Joaquin Phoenix, foreground centre, and Brendan Gleeson, background centre, in a scene from "Joker: Folie à Deux." (Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
From its animated 1950's Looney Tunes style opening — a recap of the Joker's killing of talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert de Niro) on live television — to its starkly staged musical numbers, it is a study in fantasy, the ordinariness of evil, and obsession that is sure to deeply divide audiences.
Phoenix stars as failed-comedian-turned-murderer Arthur Fleck. Incarcerated at Arkham State Hospital, he awaits trial for his crimes as Joker, when a chance encounter with Harleen "Lee" Quinzel (Lady Gaga) gives him a chance at finding true love as they woo one another with show tunes.
Phillips, working from a script he co-wrote with Scott Silver, wedges big ideas about the commodification of Joker as an entertainment celebrity — underlined by the use of the tune "That's Entertainment" from the 1953 musical "The Band Wagon" — obsession/delusion and betrayal, into a film that blurs the line between reality and fantasy.
It's ambitious, like Bob Fosse's "All That Jazz" filtered through a funhouse mirror, but it's also frustrating. Frustrating in the sheer volume of underwhelming musical numbers that feel jammed into the story, in its laboured courtroom drama and its underuse of Lady Gaga.
The musical numbers are mostly fantasy sequences and vary from full production numbers to intimate renderings of love songs. Each tune acts as a substitute for dialogue or an inner, emotional soundtrack that only the characters can hear. When it works, it's a neat trick, but often the songs feel a bit too on-the-nose, as in Gaga's performance of "(They Long to Be) Close to You," sung during a prison visit as a thick plate of Plexiglas separates them.
The musical numbers are plentiful, performed with a lack of polish — because, the press notes say, neither Arthur nor Harleen are professional singers — that works for the authenticity of the characters, but is less interesting for the audience. It's a device and, if used sparingly, it could have been a nifty one. As it is, however, when Arthur says, "I don't wanna sing anymore," near the end of the film, it seems like the best decision he's made all along.
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Joaquin Phoenix, left, and Lady Gaga in a scene from "Joker: Folie à Deux." (Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
As Arthur/Joker, Phoenix transforms himself physically; his slight, bony frame a testimonial to the years of abuse Arthur suffered at the hands of his mother. However, when he puts on the Joker outfit — the garishly coloured suits, shirts and makeup — his shoulders square up and he becomes a different person. It's an interesting shift and Phoenix embodies it, creating two characters from one source.
Unfortunately, Lady Gaga is given less to do.
The film's broken heart is Lee's attraction to Joker. In the film's first hour, she's a compelling character, a kind of Mansonesque follower whose curiosity with Arthur/Joker as a rebellious folk hero blossoms into the shared delusional disorder of the title (Folie à Deux). It's a shame then, when she fades from view during the bulk of the courtroom scenes, discarded in favour of a focus on Arthur's antics.
"Joker: Folie à Deux" is a comic book movie that breaks free of the shackles of the comic book genre, but in doing so blunts the power and the danger of its title character.
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's promise to launch a mass deportation of millions of undocumented people has the Canadian government looking at its own border.
As questions loom over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leadership, a new Nanos Research poll commissioned for CTV News says a quarter of Canadians say none of the potential candidates appeal to them.
In 1916, Harold Wrong plucked a flower from the fields of Somme, France and tucked it into a letter he mailed home to Toronto. For decades, the type of flower sent remained a mystery.
Though two states have yet to be officially called, the U.S. election map has mostly been settled. How does it compare with the previous two elections?
Average asking rents declined nationally on a year-over-year basis for the first time in more than three years in October, said a report out Thursday.
An elementary school in the Halifax area has backed away from a request that service members not wear uniforms to the school's Remembrance Day ceremony.
While banks and post offices will be closed nationwide on Remembrance Day, shops and businesses could be open depending on where you live in Canada.
The B.C. New Democrats have a majority government of 47 seats after a judicial recount in the riding of Surrey-Guildford gave the party's candidate 22 more votes than the provincial Conservatives.
Health Canada has announced a recall for electric space heaters over potential fire and burn risks, a notice published Thursday reads.
A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.
As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.
A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts – not for themselves, but for those in need.
A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.
Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.
A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.
A Windsor teen’s social media post showing off a distinctive Windsor pizza topping has gone viral, drawing millions of views worldwide and sparking new curiosity about Windsor-style pizza.
Auston Matthews has come face to face with his look-alike. On Thursday, the Maple Leafs star met seven-year-old Grayson Joseph, who went viral for dressing up as an Auston Matthews hockey card.
A Halifax junk remover shares some of his company’s strangest discoveries.