Joker

3 Reasons to see this movie:
a. It's different
b. Beautiful cinematography
c. Incredible acting

3 Reasons not to see this movie:
a. It's dark and a lot of disturbing themes
b. It's character-driven and not plot-driven (if you're not into character-driven movies)
c. It's dark (it was honestly hard to come up with reasons not to see it)

Going in: I hope it's refreshing. I expect it will be dark. I went on 10/8 with my son Jonathan. It'll be a dark drama with comic book characters - kine of like Batman Begins but more realistic. 

Popcorn: 9/10. This was an amazing movie in the classic sense of the word. It wasn't a feel-good movie. My son and I talked about it for the entire ride home. It made a lot of good points and gave a lot of things to think about. But it's really dark. If you have a hard time with disturbing themes and tragedies, I would stay away.

Art: 9.7/10. This is one of the best movies I've watched. Acting, story, and cinematography were amazing. It tackles some disturbing themes, but did so in a sophisticated way.

Acting: 6/6. This was worth seeing just for the acting. Joaquin Phoenix was amazing. A lot of commitment to the role. Everyone else was in a supporting role, but everyone committed. Everyone added something to the film.

Music: 4/4. The music was really undersold. I noticed all the things I look for in a movie score, but compared to the other things in the movie, it wasn't as bright - even though in any other movie it would've shined.

Filming: 4/4. This was an unbelievably beautiful movie. Set in the 70s, it was filmed like it was in the 70s. Not quite digital sharp, but some of the most gorgeous shots I've seen in a while. Night shots weren't grainy.

Art Dept: 4/4. Everything was really well put together. Everything was something you'd expect to find in the 70s. There was a lot of detail put into it.

Editing: 3/4. The editing was really good, of the invisible kind. I didn't see anything that really stuck out but nothing that drew bad attention to itself.

Story: 8/8. This was an incredibly upside down story. It didn't follow normal conventions and while you knew what was coming, it was done in a way that you couldn't tear away. In thinking about it, it's really more of a tragedy. That's something not used very much today. Although, from his perspective, it wasn't a tragedy. But from the outside perspective, it was.

Directing: 6/6. Better than expected. This movie was well put together and ran afoul of so many "rules". It was good and well put together.

Production: 4/4. Well put together movie. Everything pulled together and I believe this movie delivered. While it didn't have the big screen feel of an action movie, it sure had a big screen feel of a drama.