Flickering Myth

Film & TV News, Reviews and Features

Why Joker is More Scorsese Ode Than Comic Book Movie

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Tom Jolliffe takes a look at Joker and its clear love letter to Martin Scorsese… As with any comic book property, any adaptation is met with a degree of buzz. When the character in question happens to be the Clown Prince himself, then that buzz goes through the roof. That in itself has only increased […]

Joker: Selective Uproar and a Questionably Timed Rating Plunge

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Tom Jolliffe looks at the controversy surrounding Joker and an apparent drop in critic’s ratings in the aftermath…  So after a year of furious anticipation and excitement, Joker has finally been released upon the cinematic world. A month or so ago we were looking at what critics were describing as exceptional, a masterpiece, an Oscar […]

The Disturbed Outsider: A Cinematic Pathway Leading to Joker

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In the wake of Joker’s success, Tom Jolliffe looks at similar cinematic examples of the disturbed outsider… With a quarter billion in takings and counting, as well as divisive reviews, media attention up the wazoo, and a status (particularly among the 18-30 viewers) as a cinematic masterpiece, Joker’s depiction of disturbed isolation and disconnect from […]

River Phoenix as Joker? Parallel Universe Castings

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Tom Jolliffe looks at the idea of River Phoenix as the Joker and other parallel universe castings… It’s 2019. It’s an era of perpetual rebooting. For some, we’d barely settled on the idea that Jared Leto was cast as the clown prince, before it was announced that Joaquin Phoenix would don the make up in […]

Will the studios learn their lesson after a year full of box office duds?

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Tom Jolliffe looks at some of the box office bombs in 2019, and whether studios will learn from their mistakes… 2019 has been an interesting year. There have been the expected successes with Marvel (particularly Avengers: Endgame), and unexpectedly gargantuan success with Joker (which was expected to do well, but that well?). Like every year […]

2019 in Review: Revisiting cinema’s biggest releases, news and talking points

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Tom Jolliffe looks back at 2019 in film… Whilst we all come to terms with deleting and retyping 19 as 20 on documents, letters, invoices etc, lets make time to look back at 2019 and further confuse matters. As a year of cinema, 2019 has been interesting and with a usual mix of pop culture […]

Could dumbing down cinema threaten the legacy of timeless classics?

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Tom Jolliffe looks at the current monopolisation of cinemas from Hollywood tentpoles, and whether timeless classics are at risk of being forgotten… The debate has raged throughout the last half year. Martin Scorsese was at the forefront. Cinemas are being overrun with Theme park rides. The cultural, dramatic and thematic impact with some of these are […]

Why Birds of Prey looks like the comic book film to watch in 2020

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Tom Jolliffe looks ahead to Birds of Prey and why it’s the most eye-catching comic book film of 2020 at the moment… 2020 is in its infancy and the blockbuster bombardment is due to start shortly. In a year that will see more Marvel adventures (in the beginnings of a new phase, which opens with […]

A24: Fighting to keep cinema engaging and promoting diversity

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Tom Jolliffe looks at the growing impact of A24 and why they’re the best thing in cinema right now…. The widening grip of Disney expands almost every year. They can seemingly rest a little on their laurels having generally found a formula that works with minimal boundaries pushed, or need for innovative dramatic ideas. Whilst […]

Are we at risk of Batman fatigue?

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Tom Jolliffe on whether an overabundance of the Dark Knight could lead to Batman fatigue… How many Batman’s does it take to change a lightbulb? No I’m not the Riddler, before you ask. So in case you’re behind the times, there is a new Batman film in the works. Production was well underway before being […]