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stuartwglover
Reviews
Joker (2019)
Great and awful
Joker was perhaps the most confounding movie I've ever seen. On the one hand it is engrossing, full of nuance, very well made with fantastic performances. On the other hand it undercuts its own brilliance with moments of utter stupidity that remind me of the stupid "we'll explain everything for the dumb audience not capable of understanding" ending to Vanilla Sky. There are no redeeming characters, it paints a ridiculous dystopian fever dream and really has no point.
In the end this best I can offer is . . . I don't know why this movie needed to be made. It reminds me, not coincidentally, of Her. A depressing, meaningless 2 hours that only connects to the most lonely, depressed and helpless people on the planet. Nothing redeeming and no value to be derived . . . Just feeding the angst of damaged people.
The Newsroom (2012)
Not enough political balance
Typically well written from Sorkin but the constant left-leaning devices hurt the credibility of the storylines. Season 1 is filled with moments when conservative perspectives would not only have made the story more interesting but also could have actually made some of the liberal points more cogent. The mock debate is a good example of where Sorkin chose to take the cowards way out. If he had chosen to use the Democratic candidates (or not portrayed the Republicans as so one-sided) it could have appealed to a larger audience.
The performances are excellent with the exception of the occasional over-the-top yelling and screaming. Daniels, Patel, Munn, Sadoski and, of course, Sam Waterston stand out. I found Mortimer and Pill fairly obnoxious and a bit unbalanced.