Joker (2019 film)

Category: Psychological drama with touches of horror.

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Joker is hands-down one of the best movies I've seen in recent years. The pacing, the storytelling, the little bits that are ambiguous and throw you off, the iconic memes. Not to mention (and this is something we already knew) - Joaquin Phoenix is one helluva actor. 

The first thing to note about Joker is that this film stands alone by itself - it doesn't need to be seen alongside any of the other films in the Batman series. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that there are characters named Bruce and Thomas Wayne and that the story is set in Gotham City, you wouldn't know this was connected to the DCEU in any way, shape or form.

And this is one thing that makes it stand apart from any of the other Batman movies - and in particular, The Dark Knight series - there are no superhero sequences, no Batmobiles, no spandex and leather - just a gritty and realistic portrayal of how a society descending into anarchy finds its figurehead.

Morbius (2022 movie)

Category: Superhero/cinematic universe film.

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I kinda got excited when I saw Morbius pop up in the "available now" section of the app for a local television station. Like, there was no way in hell I was ever going to pay to see it, but I simply had to jump on the chance to experience the cultural phenomenon for myself - and after having watched it, my final verdict is that Morbius isn't so much a movie as it is an exercise in patience. 

The basic outline of Morbius is that Dr. Michael Morbius (played by Jared Leto) somehow lives into his adult years whilst being afflicted with a genetic disease that…causes him to walk with a limp? In his early years, he befriends another boy named Lucien (but for some reason gets called Milo, because of course) who somehow has the exact same condition and exact same limp.