Joaquin Phoenix – Baltimore Magazine

Movie Review: Eddington

Max Weiss — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 21:40:37 +0000

Is it too soon to make a movie about those early, surreal days of the COVID-19 pandemic? Having seen Ari Aster’s ambitious, if muddled Eddington, I can only say: maybe?

Lord knows he gets lots of the details right. The anti-maskers who insist they can’t breathe with a mask on. Those geniuses who wore masks but didn’t cover their noses. The six-feet distance rule that no one could quite measure correctly. The endless Zoom meetings and videoblogs. The long lines at testing centers and those draconian giant Q-tips they would shove up our noses to get samples. The constant flaring of tempers. And, of course, the outbreak of conspiracy theories (it’s biological warfare! It’s the Chinese! It’s the Russians! It’s Bill Gates!) that began to metastasize, auguring the conspiracy rich world that we are living in today. In one scene, I noticed several rolls of toilet paper neatly stacked on the floor of a character’s home. Aster doesn’t call attention to this cultural relic. It’s just there.

And of course, COVID wasn’t the only thing making America sick around that time—George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis and Black Lives Matter protests sprung up across the country. Everything felt het up, precarious, volatile.

Aster captures this time perfectly. What he doesn’t do, as least as far as I could tell, is give us a unifying theory of all this, something insightful and provocative to chew on. Instead, the movie has a, “That was totally nuts, huh?” quality. (On the other hand, perhaps that’s the only reasonable response to 2020.)

The film’s action takes place in the small New Mexico town of Eddington. Joe Cross (Joaquin Phoenix) is the anti-masker sheriff. Ted Garcia (Pedro Pascal) is the “woke” mayor. Well, I should say, ostensibly woke. He may believe in masks and science but he seems perfectly happy to let a giant, energy sucking technology center start building in the center of town.

Aster has called his film a western of sorts, and the fact that these two men hate each other and often have to face off in nearly vacant streets six-feet apart from each other (no weapons in sight—yet) does contribute to that sense. Social distancing at the O.K. Corral.

While we see a bit of Ted’s home life—his wife left him and he’s raising a mildly rebellious teenage son on his own—the film mostly follows Joe’s journey. At the start of COVID, his bonkers mother-in-law, Dawn (Deidre O’Connell), moved in with him and his sad-sack wife, Louise (Emma Stone). Joe loves Louise with all his heart—it’s his most redeeming quality—but she’s drifting away, falling further and further down the conspiracy rabbit holes her mother introduces her to. And he loses her completely when she falls under the spell of a handsome would-be cult leader (Austin Butler) who spreads fevered tales of secret pedophile rings.

Early in the film, Joe decides he’s going to run for mayor and he festoons his sheriff’s truck with flags and anti-lockdown slogans with questionable spelling (“Your being manipulated”) and photos of Ted Garcia that read: “Get this virus out of office.”

At this point, Joe only has two employees left in his sheriff’s office: Guy (Luke Grimes), who is white, and Michael (Micheal Ward), who is Black. Guy insists that before the Black Lives Matter protest came to town, he barely noticed that Michael was Black. But now he can’t help but wonder whose side he’s really on. (So yes, Aster even nails those “Black Lives Matter made me racist” types, too.)

In the spirit of equal opportunity satirizing, I was amused by how Aster makes fun of the self-righteous teens who protest Floyd’s death while sheepishly apologizing for their own whiteness. “We need to shut up and listen to Black people!” yells one white boy to a crowd of BLM protesters. “Which I will do… right after making this speech! Which, uh, I have no right to give because I’m standing on stolen ground!”

That said, I was a bit puzzled by his introduction of Antifa late in the film. Instead of gently mocking the far right’s vision of Antifa as some sort of militant, ubiquitous force, he seems to buy into it. (It’s parody, sure, but hits differently from the other bits of parody that were so spot-on.) Just for the record, I should note that the final third of the film is extremely violent—like, Tarantino violent.

I can’t say I actually enjoyed Eddington—although I don’t think that was what Aster was going for. He wants us to feel uncomfortable (he succeeds) and he wants us to reflect on the craziness that we collectively experienced. I buy into the “tragedy plus time equals comedy” formula. But maybe not enough time has passed. And the fact that things today feel similarly unhinged doesn’t help matters. If you’re stuck in the middle of a cyclone, do you really need a movie that says, “Hey, remember the early days of this cyclone? Those were wild.”

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International Intrigue: My 2020 Oscar Predictions

Max Weiss — Thu, 06 Feb 2020 12:17:00 +0000

Moonlight ruined everything. I know that seems like an odd thing to say about a heartbreaking gem of a film that bucked the odds to best frontrunner La La Land and win the Best Picture Oscar—but that’s the thing. It gave us hope. It made us believe that the Oscars had turned over a new leaf and were actually willing to vote for beautiful, challenging, original works of art that didn’t necessarily center straight white people.

But, in fact, since Moonlight won two years ago, the Academy has chosen two rather accessible, middlebrow films, both which celebrated diversity in a somewhat pat and paternalistic way.

Two years ago was The Shape of Water. I liked the film well enough—and lord knows Guillermo del Toro is an Oscar-caliber director—but found its odd mixture of whimsy and menace slightly off-putting. What’s more, its message of embracing the “other” was simplistic to say the least. Still, that was a masterpiece compared to last year’s Green Book, one of the most baffling Oscar wins in recent years.

The point is, neither of those films was the best of its year—or even the best film nominated (last year gave us Roma and A Star is Born; the year before gave us the embarrassment of riches that was Phantom Menace, Call Me By Your Name, and Dunkirk).

Which brings us to this year. As the Oscar race has come into focus, it seems like two films are duking it out for Best Picture: Parasite and 1917.

Let me make something clear: I917 is a good film. I gave it a good review. I recommend it to friends. I liked it! But it’s no Parasite, a singular masterpiece that is one of the most original, smart, and genre-smashing films I’ve ever seen.

In this scenario, 1917 is the La La Land—the good film that also seems like the safe and predictable choice. Parasite is Moonlight (obviously, an even better comparison would be Roma, another foreign language film that was nominated for Best Picture, but let’s stick with my analogy here).

Were this 2018, the year after Moonlight won, I would’ve confidently chosen Parasite. But the Shape of Water and Green Book have mucked up the works. My head is spinning. I don’t know who to believe!

Anyway, with that confidence-inspiring introduction under my belt, here are my best guesses for this year’s Oscars, including how secure I am with each pick.

Best Picture

Ford v Ferrari

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Parasite

Who will win: 1917

Who should win: Parasite, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, or The Irishman

How confident am I in my prediction? I had to make prediction, and a prediction was made.

Best Director

Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Todd Phillips, Joker
Sam Mendes, 1917
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite

Who will win: Sam Mendes

Who should win: Bong Joon-ho

How confident am I in my prediction? Moderately?

Best Actor

Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes

Who will win: Joaquin Phoenix

Who should win: Leonardo DiCaprio

How confident am I in my prediction: Is there a word greater than “extremely”?

Best Actress

Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Renée Zellweger, Judy

Who will win: Renée Zellweger
Who should win: Saoirse Ronan

How confident am I in my prediction? Does a bear relieve itself in the woods?

Best Supporting Actor

Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood

Who will win: Brad Pitt

Who should win: Joe Pesci

How confident am I in my prediction? Bet the house confident

Best Supporting Actress

Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit
Florence Pugh, Little Women Margot Robbie, Bombshell

Who will win: Laura Dern

Who should win: Scarlett Johannson

How confident am I in my prediction? Tattooing it on my arm confident

Best Adapted Screenplay

Steven Zaillian, The Irishman

Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit
Todd Phillips & Scott Silver, Joker

Greta Gerwig, Little Women

Anthony McCarten, The Two Popes

Who will win: Jojo Rabbit

Who should win: The Irishman

How confident am I in my prediction? Not wildly

Best Original Screenplay

Rian Johnson, Knives Out

Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story

Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns, 1917

Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood

Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won, Parasite

Who will win: Parasite

Who should win: Marriage Story

How confident am I in my prediction? My palms are sweaty.

Best Documentary Feature

American Factory

The Cave

The Edge of Democracy

For Sama

Honeyland

Who will win: American Factory

Who should win: Honeyland

How confident am I in my prediction? I mean, the Obamas produced it.

International Film

Corpus Christi, Poland

Honeyland, North Macedonia

Les Miserables, France

Pain and Glory, Spain

Parasite, South Korea

Who will win: Parasite

Who should win: Parasite

How confident am I in my prediction? Brad Pitt confident

Best Cinematography

Rodrigo Prieto, The Irishman

Lawrence Sher, Joker

Jarin Blaschke, The Lighthouse

Roger Deakins, 1917
Robert Richardson, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood

Who will win: 1917

Who should win: Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood

How confident am I in my prediction? Not Brad Pitt confident, but confident all the same.

Animated Feature

Toy Story 4

Missing Link

I Lost My Body

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Klaus

Who will win: Toy Story 4

Who should win: Toy Story 4
How confident am I in my prediction? I don’t really see—checks notes—Klaus pulling the upset here.

The Oscars air this Sunday, February 9 on ABC. Check back to see how I did

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Movie Review: Joker

Max Weiss — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 16:01:00 +0000

Origin stories are baked into the mix of comic book super heroes—I’ve seen poor little Bruce Wayne watch his parents get shot and Peter Parker get stung by a radioactive spider more times than I can count. Villains can also get origin stories—we’ve seen versions of that in Suicide Squad and X-Men. But Joker is something completely different.

This is an origin story about a notorious DC Comics villain—a ridiculous character who dresses like a clown and giddily revels in violence and mayhem—treated with all the seriousness of a gritty psychological drama. Instead of taking its cues from Tim Burton, or even Christopher Nolan, director Todd Phillips (The Hangover) takes his cues from Taxi Driver, A Clockwork Orange, Fight Club, and, most explicitly, The King of Comedy. I suppose this was inevitable, as comic book movies have gotten more and more self-serious and the Joker character, in particular, has moved from camp (Cesar Romero) to horror (Heath Ledger), but I find the whole enterprise wearying and a little ridiculous.

Does the world really need another movie about a mentally ill loner who snaps? And, in particular, does it need one that comes with all the fanfare of a DC Comics “event” picture, one that will bring young men in to the theater to revel in its loser-turned-powerful-vigilante narrative?

Frankly, I find it difficult to evaluate Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as Joker, who goes by Arthur Fleck for most of the film. There’s a lot going on there. The actor lost a ton of weight for the role and he holds in his stomach to create a grotesque concave effect. (Grotesque is a buzzword for this film.) His hair is long and straggly. His face is lined. And then there’s his mannerisms, a never-ending series of tics and spasms. Arthur has a condition brought on by a brain injury where he sometimes laughs uncontrollably, especially when he’s agitated or nervous. It’s a sick, joyless laugh and Phoenix wields it best when Arthur attempts standup—a lifelong ambition—for the first time. He gets up on stage and begins to chortle and the audience is confused—is this part of the bit?—and then his laughter is mingled with tears of frustration and gasped snippets of dialogue as he tries to spit out a joke.

Later, when Arthur begins to transform into the Joker—taking his violent, cathartic revenge on a society that has trampled all over him—the laugh becomes more intentional and his body language more fluid. While not quite a merry prankster a la A Clockwork Orange’s Alex, he does begin to find some joy in his own villainy. Phoenix, a brilliant actor, is fully committed to this part—and his commitment is what makes the film palatable. But I still wasn’t sure if it was great acting or just a lot of acting.

Before he becomes the Joker, Arthur lives with his sickly mother (Frances Conroy) in a small, cramped apartment in Gotham City. He works as a clown-for-hire and worships the Johnny Carson-style talk show host Murray Franklin (played, in a meta bit of casting, by King of Comedy’s Robert De Niro). His greatest ambition is to get on the show. Suffice it to say, be careful what you wish for.

Joker is made with an undeniable amount of skill. Phillips clearly worships Martin Scorsese (his War Dogs was another film that toed the line between rip-off and homage) and he mimics his idol pretty expertly, right down to the extreme and sometimes sickening violence. But the thing is, we already have Taxi Driver and King of Comedy—and they’re freaking great. The notion of doing a comic book version of those films is nothing more than a gimmick—one that left a sour taste in my mouth.

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Her

Max Weiss — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 13:30:00 +0000

In the not so distant future, a lonely man named Theodore Twombley
(Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with Samantha (the voice of Scarlett
Johansson), an intuitive operating system. Meanwhile, his friendship
with a recently divorced Amy (Amy Adams) flourishes. You think you
know where this story is going—except that you don’t. Because
writer/director Spike Jonze is simply too interesting, too weird (in the
best possible sense) to tell us to embrace humanity over technology.
Instead, he suggests something more radical: That happiness, even
artificial happiness, is not something to be trifled with.

While
Theodore’s ex wife (Rooney Mara) pities Theodore for not being able to
sustain a human relationship, his friends, including coworker Paul
(Chris Pratt) are much more blasé about it. Paul even invites the
disembodied Samantha—who rests on a blanket or sits perched in
Theodore’s pocket—on a double-date picnic. Meanwhile, Amy has also
become close to her OS, although their relationship is strictly
platonic.

The best science fiction gives us a credible vision of the future while slyly commenting on our now. Her—with
its gorgeous, minimalist art direction (by Austin Gorg), retro-future
clothing (Theodore favors orange shirts and high-waisted tweed
trousers), and city streets populated by people who are so plugged into
their interactive devices they barely notice each other—does just that.
(After all, aren’t most of us already in a relationship with
our smartphones?) Jones doesn’t judge, he simply observes, with humor
and humanity. It’s the future, through the eyes of a poet.

Theodore’s
job is to write letters, mostly love letters of both the platonic and
romantic kind, for people who are unable to properly express themselves.
A few times Samantha, who absorbs every word of Theodore’s hard drive
in a microsecond, quotes Theodore back to Theodore, and he doesn’t even
realize it. She’s his perfect woman, the Eve to his Adam—except instead
of his rib she’s created out of his hard drive. (And with that breathy
Scarlett Johansson voice, “phone sex” takes on a whole new meaning.)

Creepy?
Sure. But Theodore is undeniably happy with her. Also, Samantha doesn’t
isolate him: He sees the world through her eager, insatiably curious
eyes—she actually lifts him from his funk, opens him up to life’s
possibilities.

A lot of science fiction deals with the threat of some sort of man vs. machine rebellion. Her deals with a more pressing threat: Can an Operating System break your heart?

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