If you don’t know about the SHAC 7 or the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, you probably should. It set harrowing precedents about free speech, protest, governmental response to activism, and the rights of corporations as they exceed those of actual people. All of which has continued to fester and manifest in terrifying ways. All of that is on full display in The Animal People, a new documentary executive produced by Joaquin Phoenix. The film just held its world premiere, hits VOD soon after years of work, and there’s a new trailer. Take a look below.
One element fans often cite about what makes the Joker such a compelling character is that, for the most part, he lacks an origin story. Sure, there have been a few attempts to craft a history, but by and large, he lacks context and motivation and formative experiences. What we see is what we get, just his actions, often without obvious logic or reason. That’s going to change somewhat in Todd Phillips’ upcoming Joker, which stars a very committed Joaquin Phoenix in a standalone tale of the Clown Prince of Crime’s beginnings. Set to debut on the fall festival circuit soon, check out the final trailer below.
The old adage goes, there’s a fine line between comedy and tragedy, that the difference is a matter of perspective. And from what we see in the first trailer for Todd Phillips’ Joaquin Phoenix-starring Joker, that appears to be the underlying conceit for the origin story of the Clown Prince of Crime. The first trailer dropped this morning, and this certainly doesn’t feel like your typical comic book movie. Watch it below.
Jonathan Ames’ novella, You Were Never ReallyHere is a gritty, stripped down portrait of a man wounded in nearly
every way imaginable. At a hair over 90 pages, it’s spare and efficient. It
evokes feel and tone and mood and emotion, hinting at a brutal history for its
protagonist, simply named Joe, rather than offering overt explanation and
detailed backstory. It’s sparse, but leaves a distinct lingering impression.
And in the hands of director Lynne Ramsey (We Need to Talk about
Kevin), it makes for a similarly tight, impactful film. Bleak and
grim, it’s also a human, tender story about baptism, rebirth, and being
repurposed.
Though it debuted as a work-in-progress last year at Cannes,
Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here is one of my most anticipated movies of 2018. The unfinished version caused a ruckus at the
festival, and I can’t wait to watch Joaquin Phoenix thrash sex traffickers with
a hammer. Oh yeah, as the release creeps ever closer, there’s a vicious new
trailer to watch.
Lynne Ramsay (Ratcatcher, We
Need to Talk About Kevin) hadn’t even finished her latest film,
You Were Never Really Here, before bringing it to Cannes
earlier this year. But it still managed to win Joaquin Phoenix a Best Actor
award and tie for Best Screenplay with Yorgos Lanthimos’ Killing of a Sacred Deer. At this point, it doesn’t appear that it’s going to hit
any of the fall film festivals, but as the international release date creeps
up, there’s an incredible new trailer.
