Joker: Folie À Deux finds Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) institutionalised at Arkham awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that’s always been inside him.

Todd Phillips’ Joker was a monumental cinematic achievement, a modern-day masterpiece of narrative, performance, atmosphere, and score, which earned rave reviews and a dominant box office gross of over $1 billion dollars. It was a film that took the greatest supervillain of all time, The Joker, and reinterpreted his character and psyche in a radically different way, leaving audiences stunned. Now, five years later, Phillips returns to continue the story of Arthur Fleck/Joker (Joaquin Phoenix), a mentally unstable and severely damaged individual whose actions unleashed chaos on the streets of Gotham City, manifesting the presence of sheer anarchy in Joker. Where 2019’s Joker was a dark and nihilistic thriller of the birth of a villain, Joker: Folie à Deux is a spinning, whirling, and bright piece of musical theatre character study. Audiences are pulled deeper into Arthur’s twisted and scarred psyche as Gotham City braces for the trial of the century, and many layers and subtexts are explored in a film that channels ‘Singing in the Rain’ by way of ‘The OJ Simpson Trial’, with the narrative leading to plenty of unexpected moments.

Joker: Folie à Deux is a character study presented as a musical, allowing audiences to delve into the fractured mind of Arthur Fleck (Phoenix). Arthur, now confined to the hell of Arkham Asylum, has become a macabre celebrity as his trial date approaches. Through the use of music, singing, and dance, the chaotic presence of Joker emerges, providing an examination of these two unique characters. Phillips finds a mix of psychological complexity and off-kilter comedy in the narrative, not to mention its lavish musical numbers, which all add to the texture and feel of the story. He also continues to build on his radically different version of Gotham City, 1984, with the environment of Arkham Asylum serving as its own character and bringing out Joker’s twisted personality. Additionally, characters like the ambitious and showboating Harvey Dent, Gotham’s District Attorney, add to the complexity of the movie, shedding light on the deeper layers of Arthur Fleck’s character.

For his performance in Joker, Joaquin Phoenix was granted an Academy Award, and most deservedly so. As the frayed, tormented, mentally disturbed and psychologically violent character, he presented an incredible take on one of pop culture’s most fascinating and unique villains. It was a performance of sympathy and malice, derangement and terror, and we witnessed the actions of a fractured soul that led to the rise of pure chaotic anarchy in a single moment of violence. Now, through the medium of song and dance, audiences are taken deeper into Fleck’s mind in Joker: Folie à Deux, and Phoenix is given room to play as only he can. Within this film, Phoenix taps his inner Fred Astaire, and his all-singing, all-dancing fantasy illusions bring out the presence of the snappy and malicious Joker, his shadow self, and this is contrasted with his waking form of the beaten down and mentally unstable Arthur. Phoenix dwells deeper into these two distinctive personalities, and we get a real character study of each personality, leading us to who the real Arthur Fleck truly is.

Injecting a dose of crazy into Joker: Folie à Deux is the presence of another seminal DC character, Harley Quinzell, portrayed here as Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga), a fellow patient of Arkham Asylum who becomes infatuated with Arthur and who leads him down a path of madness of her own construction. Gaga inhabits Lee with her peroxide blonde hair, crazy cat-eyed stare, and bombastic personality and exudes a sense of compulsive, antisocial and narcissistic traits that gift her with a penchant for arson and a desire to cause as much trouble as possible. She has a penchant for toying with people and has an almost Charles Manson-like grip over Arthur’s emotions as she coaxes further chaos out of Arthur in the form of Joker. Her presence not only amplifies the actions of Joker but also keeps the audience off guard when it comes to the film’s narrative, leading to plenty of surprises.

Joker: Folie à Deux is a significantly different cinematic experience compared to the first Joker film, as it is set up as a musical. Drawing inspiration from the classic musicals of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, Todd Phillips and his team utilise elaborate set dressing and big band settings to delve deeper into the chaotic fantasy world in which Joker exists within Arthur Fleck’s mind. Both Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga deliver compelling singing and dancing performances that evoke a mix of Sonny and Cher meets Bonnie and Clyde, reflecting their co-dependent mania. Cinematographer Lawrence Sher skillfully captures the oppressive world of Arthur with its sickly palettes of greens and yellows, as well as Joker’s vibrant world of red, orange, purple, and teal, creating an immersive cinematic experience for audiences. Additionally, Academy Award winner Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score expands the ambience of the film, infusing it with tension through sinister chords.

Thematically Joker: Folie à Deux delves deeper into the themes introduced in the original Joker, while also explores new ideas surrounding identity and fantasy. It takes the audience further into Arthur Fleck’s troubled mind, highlighting the extent of his fractured psyche. Audiences get to peer into the confrontation of the ego and ID of Arthur and Joker, as this film seeks to answer the the question of: Who is the real Arthur Fleck? Through its exploration of identity and reality, and the inclusion of elaborate fantasy scenes that reveal Arthur’s true self, Joker: Folie à Deux offers a textured and complex character experience that will captivate audiences seeking a deeper understanding of the character.

Joker: Folie à Deux is a film that swings for the fences with its narrative, and it’s a film that genuinely takes audiences by surprise. What we get is a loud and colourful musical experience that reveals the true character of a villain, and it offers an interesting point of view that makes for an unexpected yet intriguing picture.

Image: Warner Brothers Pictures

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Now Phillips and Phoenix are back for the much-anticipated sequel, Joker: Folie À Deux. This time, they’re bringing along multi-talented singer-songwriter and fellow Academy Award winner Lady Gaga for the ride. The result appears to be a highly taught and incredibly creative musical-crime opus that will completely shake up audiences.

Watch the all-new trailer for Joker: Folie À Deux below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

Joker: Folie À Deux finds Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) institutionalised at Arkham Asylum, and awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love (Lady Gaga), but also finds the music that’s always been inside him.

This new trailer for Joker: Folie À Deux is utterly sensational in its production and follows on from the pulse-pounding teaser trailer, and it sets the stage for something completely unexpected. Having caused a large-scale riot and being implicated in multiple murders, Arthur Fleck, better known as Joker, awaits the ‘trial of the century’, and unexpectedly falls in love with a musical therapist of Arkham Asylum, Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga), who is carrying her own sense of derangement, and their crazy love is sure to spell disaster for Gotham City.

The new trailer does not provide any sense of narrative direction or specific plot points. Instead, it focuses on mood and tone and captures the anarchy that swells up around Arthur and Lee as their insane love for each other boils over. Phillips himself brings an incredible level of grandeur to the project, and the prevailing narrative has an almost ‘OJ Simpson trial meets Singing in the Rain‘ quality.

What is clear is that Phoenix, the Academy Award winner, has completely folded back into the skin of Arthur Fleck. With his gaunt frame and the gleam of madness behind the eyes, he’s ready to make a complete show out of his trial and ignite a new fire through Gotham. Audiences will also be given a special treat as Phoenix will engage in both song and dance as his already fragile psyche cracks even further, and this new narrative device will lead to a real surprise for audiences.

Sharing in Arthur Fleck’s madness this time around in Joker: Folie À Deux is Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (Lady Gaga), a music therapist who is drawn to Arthur while he is incarcerated at Arkham Asylum and who stokes his madness and anarchy… and the fire that spreads. Gaga truly revels in the glee and insanity that follows Arthur, and her dark intentions are slowly revealed as the trailer progresses. While Phillips has been coy on the characterisation of Gaga’s Lee, and her purpose in the narrative, he has described her as being an almost ‘Charles Manson-esque figure’ to Arthur… and this can certainly only more chaos awaits in Joker: Folie À Deux.

Joker: Folie À Deux appears to be an utter spectacle. With its bold vision, unique handling of a classic villain’s mythology, and sensational song and dance numbers, it will be incredibly memorable to watch when it arrives in cinemas on October 3.

Image: Warner Brothers Pictures

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Watch the brand new trailer for House of Gucci NOW:

Here’s the official synopsis:

House of Gucci is inspired by the shocking true story of the family empire behind the Italian fashion house of Gucci. Spanning three decades of love, betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately murder, we see what a name means, what it’s worth, and how far a family will go for control.

Noted visual genius Sir Ridley Scott brings his talented eye to the infamous story of Patrizia Reggiani and her involvement with the Gucci family in a sordid tale of wealth, opulence, excess and murder in House of Gucci and this film looks like an absolute whirlwind cinematic experience.

Set to the burning funk of Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This’, Scott focuses his camera in on Academy Award winner Lady Gaga who steps into the role of Patrizia Reggiani, an eccentric and calculating young woman who married into the Gucci empire via her husband Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), and would do whatever was necessary to reach the top! Gaga gives Reggiani a cat-like elegance and cunning, and she completely owns the screen and thoroughly enchants the audience’s attention with her performance.

Driver also provides a key supporting role in the film as Patrizia’s husband, Maurizio Gucci, the heir to the Gucci fortune who finds a lavish new sense of power with his wife by his side. But also comes to see that there can only be one emperor sitting atop the Gucci empire and this brings him into direct contact with Gucci patriarch Aldo Gucci, who is played by Academy Award winner Al Pacino.

Scott has crafted a beautiful, elegant and lavish picture that pulls together the glamour and fashion of the 1970s and 1990s with effortless style. And fashionistas are going to be in awe and in love with the visuals that Scott brings to the screen with this picture.

Get ready to experience this glamourous and infamous story when House of Gucci arrives in cinemas on December 26.

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Watch the brand new trailer for House of Gucci below:

Here’s the official synopsis:

House of Gucci is inspired by the shocking true story of the family empire behind the Italian fashion house of Gucci. Spanning three decades of love, betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately murder, we see what a name means, what it’s worth, and how far a family will go for control.

Based on the best selling book by The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden, the all-new trailer for House fo Gucci presents a beautifully luxurious tale of operatic elegance and brutal betrayal as it chronicles the life and fortunes of Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga) and her whirlwind romance to businessman and heir to the Gucci fashion empire Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) which ultimately led to disaster and death.

Shot with Scott’s masterful eye for detail, the production design and costume design are absolutely beautiful to look upon and present a world of utter glamour and elegance and every fashionista is going to want to watch this amazing film. Telling his story over three decades, Scott draws upon the similar ideas that were present in his 2017 film All The Money in the World, and House of Gucci has themes of rampant excess and complicated human relationships at its centre, and with the focused performances from Gaga and Driver, I’m certain that audiences are going to be in for plenty of surprises with this new film.

As my favourite filmmaker of all time, I’m very intrigued to see what comes next with Scott’s House of Gucci and was in awe of this first look footage. Set to Blondie’s ‘Heart of Glass’, the trailer paints a picture of opulence at its most excessive and Academy Award Winner Lady Gaga completely owns the screen with her performance as Reggiani.

Brace yourself for a monumental tale of family, fashion, power, betrayal and murder with a superb cast and some very impressive visuals when House of Gucci arrives IN CINEMAS on November 25.

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Musician Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) helps a young singer named Alley (Lady Gaga) find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

From the moment that the screen flickers to light, A Star Is Born explodes with a thunderous rock rift and you’re pulled into a dynamic rock drama that never lets up for a moment. As a director Bradley Cooper has full control over his film and his passion as a creative artist shines through. With his directorial debut its clear that he wants his audience to be invested in his film and to experience something incredible….and he absolutely delivers here.

Cooper draws you into the ‘play fast, live faster’ world of blockbuster recording artists and he truly takes you behind the music. As an audience member you’re constantly engaged and his smart narrative takes you in a whole range of directions that you won’t see coming, and when the credits do begin to roll you’ll feel your heart beating at an extraordinary pace. Movies don’t get more alive than this.

Along with directing the film Cooper also takes on the role of hard-charging rockstar Jackson Maine who is slowly and almost deliberating beginning to fall into the shadows through progressive hearing loss and some serious substance abuse problems. If I were to use a word to describe Jackson then its definitely authentic. He feels like a real person, with real problems, who is experiencing life at a million miles an hour and who having touched the sun is approaching burnout at an incredibly alarming rate. It’s Cooper’s most intense and honest performance to date and knowing Cooper’s own history, which itself was tinged by deep depression and drug abuse in his early years, you understand that he wants to capture the heartache of that lifestyle when it just becomes too much.

As Jackson Cooper channels a character who is equal parts Neil Young and Kurt Cobain and he really opens up when it comes to the performances. Rocking a vintage Gibson Les Paul guitar, Cooper attacks the neck and slams out his rough blues-inspired grunge that echoes the cords of the 1970s and radiates cool. It’s a rift that gets inside your skin and you feel the electricity that flows through his whole being. Cooper clearly wanted to capture the rockstar spirit up on screen with Jackson and he definitely succeeds.

While Cooper might be directing A Star Is Born the film belongs to Lady Gaga who gives one of the most thought-provoking and beautiful performances that I’ve ever witnessed as a young woman who is struggling to find her voice.

As Alley, a young would-be singer songwriter who has so far not achieved her dreams and is living a life that has destroyed her creative soul you find a character who inspires incredible sympathy. It’s only after a chance encounter with Jackson that her life begins to spin upwards and her journey to the top is like a rocket and its one hell of an exciting journey.

Lady Gaga’s performance is simply extraordinary and she really wipes away any presence of her own self in the role and instead presents the character of Alley completely. While watching the film you don’t see Gaga you see Alley and for any actress that’s an incredibly hard thing to perform. Not so with Lady Gaga here and when she does finally unleash her voice you find yourself completely and totally mesmerized with what unfolds on screen. And along with her voice and performance you completely buy into the love that Alley and Jackson share together and their tumultuous rockstar love affair will rarely spin you around.

Everything comes together with A Star Is Born and watching it you feel that Cooper has been readying himself for this film his entire life and all of the work he’s done before has been in preparation for this cinematic event. The details truly matter in A Star Is Born and everyone involved in the project works to deliver something extraordinary. I have to praise the cinematography of Matthew Libatique who captures the film with a beautiful eye that radiates the unique glam pallet of Alley’s pop star world and the rustic tones of Jackson’s cowboy life.

Every detail in this film is designed to push the narrative further and the film’s incredible score plays a crucial part in this. Singing live both Cooper and Lady Gaga craft some incredible tunes that will become instant classics. With the music you get a vast range from Cooper’s blues tinged rock tracks such as ‘Black Eyes’ and ‘Alibi’ to Lady Gaga’s soul inspired tracks such as ‘Always Remember Us This Way’ and the heartfelt ‘I’ll Never Love Again’. But it’s the film’s signature duet track ‘Shallow’ which will really command your attention and which will leave you completely enchanted.

A Star Is Born is a simply incredible piece of cinema come to life and from beginning to end it will enchant you completely. It’s story is timeless and it is heart-wrenchingly beautiful in its presentation. Experience this masterpiece now and be transformed.

Image: Roadshow Films

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Based upon the classic 1937 film, which itself has been remade two times, both in 1954 with Judy Garland and James Mason and in 1976 with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, Coopers take on the classic story finds him as rough-around-the-edges country singer Jackson Maine who is beginning to falter thanks to serious substance abuse and burnout issues, but who finds love and the possibility of redemption with the talented, but shy singer-songwriter Ally (Lady Gaga).

Cooper appears to have thrown himself into the film and again challenges himself with a tough character and heart-pounding story of dream chasing and what it means to truly find your soulmate. Lady Gaga also steps up to the plate as Ally, a young woman who has lost her place in the world, but who with Jackson at her side just might have the chance of doing something extraordinary.

The production values look incredible on A Star Is Born and as an audience member you can expect some seriously amazing vocals from both Cooper and Gaga who really meld well together and who both shine up on screen.

A Star is Born is definitely for the dreamers out there and your heart is sure to flutter a little bit when this cinematic experience arrives on screen on October 4.

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