Oddly enough now, it’s the movie most associated to my time here at Limerick!

As my previous blog post would have accurately demonstrated, I am a major movie buff. I’m not a film critic, per se, but let’s just say that I’ve done my fair bit of shouting at the telly during Oscar/Golden Globe/BAFTA season when they “get it wrong”.

It is no surprise then that I would walk all the way to Odeon Cinemas, Limerick despite the (strong) rain and wind to catch Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. Being a huge fan of Phoenix who starred in movies like Signs, The Village, Gladiator and Her, I knew that even the classic Irish weather wasn’t going to stop me from watching Joker on the big screen.

For those who don’t know, Odeon Cinemas which is at Castletroy Town Centre is just a 15-20-minute walk from campus. There is a short cut, that I learnt from a friend, through a residential colony and it’s a fairly quick route from there.

The price of one adult/student ticket is just €5 which is really affordable, especially if you’re making a day of it. Think about it, Saturday morning workout (which is the walk there), spend €5 for a movie, buy a TV dinner from Supervalu for less than €5, and that’s your Saturday sorted in under €10! Not to forget, you get your evening stroll on the walk back to campus too.

I went for the movie on a Friday afternoon (after class!) and obviously there weren’t many people in the cinema hall, considering that it wasn’t the peak hours. Odeon does not have assigned seating and so if you’re early enough, you can choose the best seats in the house.

Now, I’m a bit reluctant to talk about how the movie was, primarily because, 1. I absolutely loved it and if I write about it, I might go on for pages, 2. most of you might not have watched it yet and I don’t want to overplay/underplay it, 3. I’m still reeling from the brilliance that is Joaquin Phoenix and I don’t think I could ever properly articulate my emotions for the movie.

What I can say though, is that a few decades down the line, I would always remember that I saw Joker 2019 in Limerick. I’d remember the witty ads before the movie and the trailers which were “specially picked for the movie”. I’d recount how my friend and I was speechless for some time after the movie, trying to muster the words to describe how we felt about Phoenix’s sublime performance.

Now if you like watching movies (notice that I’m being very encompassing here, you don’t have to be a DC fan to watch this!) please catch Joker at your nearest cinema, and yes, you guessed it, if you live on campus, it would be the Odeon.

Watch the movie for the performance and for the strong message conveyed in it. Mind you, it might be a little heavy and dark, as the reviews say, but totally worth it. It’s not every day you witness one of the greatest performances of our generation.

Now here’s hoping Joaquin Phoenix finds this blog post.