A History of The Joker Suicide Squad DC Comics Jared ...

I've made parts of this post before and I just wanted to open a discussion on the Batfamily. They aren't redundant and they all have different roles. I'm talking meta-continuity in this, so it's not following any real strict canon. What are your thoughts?
So I see the core "family" unit being the grandfather Alfred, Bruce and Selina (reformed from crime mostly). I think the sidekicks are all mostly split into two groups: Robins and Batgirls. As such their costumes should be some form of their own unique identities but some hints to their other roles.
Robins: Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, Duke.
Batgirls: Babs, Cass, Helena (Wayne, I'll explain why), Steph, Harper.
The idea with the Robins is that you have a little brotherly family unit. Dick is the acrobat, heart, and leader. He's everything Batman should have been. He's Batman's greatest success, saw the darkness and chose to go away. He's deeply tied into metahumans with this work on the Teen Titans, the Runaways, and being his own here in Bludhaven.
I honestly think he's best having left Teen Titans and Justice League stuff behind to lead a sort of Runaways, reformed villains and trying to make the world a better place. I liked the stuff when he was a cop facing off against Blockbuster and all that. I loved the Runaways addition. I think it makes sense that he'd try hard to coach and mentor Damian. Also, I think the Court of Owls stuff should have happened when Bruce was first taking Dick on as a ward. That's when that war should have taken place. Dick, then, is sort of bred to be a Talon, a perfect Bruce.
Jason died to the Joker, came back from a Lazarus Pit, became Red Hood and is an anti-hero. He is willing to kill, though his work with Batman makes him hold back a bit. I think when Damian comes along, that should push Jason to consider what he is. When Damian comes back from death too, does he want to coach Damian from the dark or take him deeper as his own protege? I think here should be the greatest tension between Dick and Jason. Ultimately, I think Jason should take the outlaws to Earth 3 and kill the Crime Syndicate. It'd be "cathartic." I think Red Lantern Supergirl is the perfect girlfriend for him, and should probably be one of his Outlaws.
Tim is the perfect detective heir to Batman, heir to the Teen Titans, and on a path to be the leader of the Justice League. He's the most likely to be a big hero down the road, but he also wants it the least and has fought Savior, his own dark future. This should scare Tim about the others and encourage him to watch the others, much like Batman with the League, and much like Savior would become. I think Tim's very human, losing his father the way he does, struggling with Steph, and trying to find his place. I think Red Robin is an okay identity. Drake's costume wasn't that great, but could use the name if his costume became a bit more Dragon-esque. I actually think if he sticks with the Bat-fam, he should either lead the Gotham Knights or take over some version of the Club of Heroes/Batman Inc and work internationally taking really deep detective cases. Getting noir with him would be good. I think while Dick willingly turns away from the big leagues, Tim should be drawn toward it.
Damian needs movement. At his core is the struggle between Talia/Ra's (save the world by killing) or Batman (trust some form of the system). I think giving up Robin is a good move for him, but he should take on Jason Blood's role of being Etrigan's host. Spending time in hell, having this version of Batman 666, and literally being the "Demon" his Grandfather Ra's never was is a real strong move for him. I think steering into his ethnic roots is really important. He should struggle with his role, philosophical arguments between Jason and Dick, and form his own heroes with folks like Nobody. A darker sort of Teen Titans (the Demon Knights? It would be so apt...) and push for greater lengths in Asia than Bruce ever would. Ultimately, his fate isn't to be Batman. He would choose a different path and become the leader of the League Of Assassins/Shadows, but not be so murderous. Probably find his own way of being Batman/League of Batman style. Alfred's death is something that would really drive him away from the Batman family. Alfred is the anti-Ra's. He's grandfatherly, loving, and mentoring. Selina would be a "replacement" mom and someone he couldn't really trust.
Duke has a great role. Poor, from the streets, literally becoming the Signal, the symbol of inspiration Batman has become. He should have that view, from the bottom up, that the richer members of the Batfam miss. He led a gang of Robins, he fought on the streets and he's a meta. He's tied to the meta community in a unique way. He should be at constant odds with Luke Fox. He should also have been Jason's running partner on the streets and someone he's constantly trying to save, seeing the humanity in Jason when no one else would. I don't think the Outsiders is a good fit for him. He needs to be on a very visible team, something inspirational, pushing the Batfam to something more public. Even if it's just a version of the Gotham Knights.
Batwing is important. Luke Fox is the anti-Bruce. Never grew up with tragedy, no dark vow. He loves Gotham, people, and feels a sense of altruism due to being raised by good parents. He should chose to be a hero, the only one to do so on this list that isn't compelled by the horrors of Gotham. If he dons the mantle of the Bat, he'd be an awkward hero constantly horrified by what he faces. He should be involved with making Brother Eye, he should be a bit naive. Facing off against magical threats is perfect as it really challenges everything this character understands about the world. Making him Batman would challenge him to grow and understand the pain that many have that he's never experienced. But he's also indicative of Bruce's ability to inspire: Luke has no real reason to be a hero. But he's compelled by how hard Bruce has fought. That's something important.
Special Mentions:
Jean-Paul Valley is at his greatest in space, dealing with the voice of Dumas as possibly Darksied. His character peaked and that should be carried forward. He's the guy taking the Bat mantle into space, pushing the limits and trying to discover reality and understand who and what he is. While Bruce forged himself, others forged Jean. That's really important. He's a product and probably resents that. He has anger and darkness, something Bruce has to constantly confront in order to keep him (and the whole Batfam) from going too far.
Alfred - the Outsider - So King put in a bit about this Nairn Pit or whatever. A super duper Lazarus Pit that can bring anyone back, no matter how long they've been dead. But there's a twist. You must sacrifice someone else to do so. Batdaddy was going to use this on Martha to reunite the Waynes and sacrifice some scrub. Damian should do this with Alfred, killing and crossing a line in the Batman family. Making Alfred feel regret and shame that Damian went so far. Yet, resurrection should make Alfred much younger, back to his youth, maybe before a leg injury. Here, he should stop being a butler, take up the old Outsider mantle from his Earth Two villain days, lead the Outsiders with his daughter Julia Pennyworth, and run black ops missions for Batman. He would have a new lease on life, could mentor youngster heroes, and try to reconnect with his daughter.
Jim Gordon - I liked that he had a stint as Robo-Bat-Cop. I think it's good for his character. I think he should be aged, mortal, and in a lot of danger. But we need to keep in mind that he represents Batman's faith in the system. He is why Bruce doesn't kill. He trusts Gordon will lock them and prosecute them.
Lucius- recent Batman, Dark Knight, etc shows that Lucius can replace Alfred as a tech and operator. In some ways, having a strong morale voice is important in Bruce's world. He's the other grandfather to Bruce, someone who should have known Thomas, and believes in Bruce's mission. I think at his core is someone that draws Bruce eternally toward being Bruce, toward being human.
​
The Batgirls:
Babs- Babs is best as Oracle. Sorry, she had a great run as Batgirl, but accepting that she was injured by Joker shows that this war has costs. I like that in Simone's Batgirl run she recovered. They should keep that, even if it's a bit limited and hard for her to operate in the field some days. Like a chronic injury. She should mentor others, seek to make their mission safer, and have devoted herself as Oracle to guide over the others and coach them. I think her true love is Dick, but Dick is and was so full of life it's hard for him to slow down and understand her pain. She would constantly feel challenged by Starfire and deserves an equal but separate love interest of her own. At least before her and Dick can come back together.
Cassandra- I love her as Batgirl, but the Orphan thing can work. She is actually indicative of the entire Batfamily, Bruce and Selina included. Orphans left behind by a shattered, hard world. I like that she was the most like Bruce in old continuity, the most likely to take over. But she needs to constantly struggle to be human. This is why she's best with Harper and Steph (maybe with Babs mentoring) pushing her to connect and discover life. It's ripe for a story about being human, quirky humor as she doesn't get much about the real world, struggles to communicate, etc. I think she should see herself reflected in Jason's violence and know that there is a point that is too far.
Steph - the Spoiler, her own great detective. She's very, very relatable. A child she has to give up? Trying to date Tim Drake? Feeling out of her league? Problems with her dad? She's a great character and the heart of the Batgirls. I think she's missed opportunities to be integrated into the rest of the DCU and deserves to be explored.
Harper- Bluebird, using electro-equipment, being tough and the chick from the streets. She gives the others a much needed perspective and sort of fills the old Huntress role of the Birds of Prey. Brash, harsh, and doesn't hold back much. Her being engineering-geared is important for the whole bat-verse. She cares about the structure of Gotham, about improving it. She can be a bit of a techy, making Batgirls equipment. Her sexuality is important to include too. Having her consciously model her costume after Nightwing is quite interesting, she's a bit of a tomboy, isn't she?
Helena - so hear me out. Selina and Bruce's daughter. Raised by them, raised to be a superhero, not quite the wild card that Damian is. Who would mentor her? Who would they trust? She's going to one day be Batman of sorts as his best, most likely heir. Being in this Batgirls team, she'd be getting well rounded advice and training. Whether she suits up as Batgirl, Robin, or Huntress, there's a real important purpose. Further, we rarely see a superhero with super parents that aren't dead, do we? I think down the road, she marries Mr. McGuiness and is the mother of Terry and Matt. Simplifying their bloodline (weird clone-son thing, eh, not needed with Damian in continuity) and could even make more sense if she has an estranged relationship with Old Bruce over the death of Old Selina or something and seeing Terry pick up the mantle bothers her. She's the first next gen Batfam member, though, being the product of the entire Batfamily. Probably attending Gotham High, at odds with her from-the-streets Mom and Socialite Dad, trying to find her own place in everything.
Kate Kane - honestly militant Batwoman is awesome. Having her lead the colony and try to do the Bat thing as a bit more official is a great sort of story. Whether it's in Monstertown, space, or whatever, I think she should be placed with misfits, mentor Bette, and straight up challenge the entire Bat-fam mission. A team up between her, Jean, Jason, and Damian makes too much sense as they'd be a bit wilder and harsher. I think Bruce should retire and Kate should step up as the leader of the Batfam for a while. The Batfam should be the Colony... I think the issues with her dad and her sister are real important too. Those are supervillains that are related to Bruce after all. I think her existence should challenge Bruce's whole mission: We can be the system.
Special Mentions:
Tiff or Tam - in old continuity they were heading to suiting up in some way. I think there's still room to explore who and what they could be. It's a pretty full list but they should be in there somewhere. However, I think a strong, closely connected character who refused to don a mask is also important. One entering medicine, one entering politics, challenging what the rest of the "family" is doing and saying "we can do it better. We don't need masks anymore." There's a real question about Batman: Can Gotham be fixed? What would it take? Remember, when he can take the mask off, Gotham is saved. We know crime is never-ending, but at what point does the system exist on its own?
Julia Pennyworth- As Penny Two she was neat, and I think a good potential operator after everyone. However, I think she can be rounded out on the Outsiders, getting to know a revived, younger, Alfred. Honestly, I think Dick's whole Agent 27-Spyral storyline should just be hers. She should be Agent 27, take up that whole narrative and simplify Dick's world a bit. Having her train women in England makes a bit of sense, too. Having the Outsiders go up against spy agencies makes a lot of sense for this whole narrative.
Leslie Thompkins should be recruiting some others into her clinic. We should be seeing someone be a lawyer for it, someone else being a doctor and mentored into it. It doesn't have to be the girls but the Clinic is super important for the future of the Batverse. It's an island in the hell that is Gotham that shows all the good the Wayne Family can actually do: they can actually reach into the darkness.
​
Selina as a reformed Catwoman is the character's fate. She should be Batman's partner in a lot of ways. though, I think what would be best for her is to form a sort of Suicide Squad team of Bat villains. Those on the verge of being heroes, try and help them walk that line.
​
As Batman would either retire or step into JL stuff full time, I'd see the following teams form:
Robins, Batgirls, Gotham Knights, Outsiders, Outlaws, and some sort of Batsuicide Squad/GC Sirens. The Robins and Batgirls would dissolve a bit over time.
Gotham Knights would involve Batwing and Signal fighting directly in Gotham. Maybe with Jean-Paul at times, and others.
Jason and the Outlaws should involve Tarantula and Supergirl and go to Earth-3.
Selina should recruit Harley, Queen Ivy, Clayface, and maybe Killer Croc or Mister Freeze to her team.
There's a lot of room for this but at the heart of all of this, I could think two CW sort of shows could run this, Batgirls and Robins, sharing sets, actors, etc but following the separate teams as they grow, mentor their next gen kids (Damian and Helena) and the challenges of a somewhat absentee Bruce.
​
Thanks for coming to my Bat Talk.

It's become apparent over recent years that Ben Affleck's Batman hasn't worked out perfectly. And while the character is a huge part in the DCEU, it can also be argued that the overreliance of him played a part in the universe's and his own personal disarray. What I'm proposing in this fix is a way Batfleck could have still been in the DCEU, play a big part in it but not drag it down or allowed the part to drag it's actor down either. My version of Batfleck will be a special attraction of sorts to relieve pressure and at least try to ensure more future appearances than it looks like we'll be getting at the moment.
Man of Steel II - 2016

• Batman will not be in this film, but Bruce Wayne will be as an introduction. We keep the opening from The Black Zero event where Bruce is rescuing citizens in Metropolis during the opening. To add some context, Bruce is in town for a big meeting with potential business partner, Alexander Luthor Sr. (Matt Frewer). At his side is his trusted business manager and close friend, Lucius Fox (Dennis Haysbert). Both side characters tragically die as collateral damage, leaving Wayne to look up in the sky in dismay as Superman flies by. This occurrence plants seeds for not only future interactions between The Dark Knight and The Man of Steel but other arcs I'll get into
  
• Wayne's second scene in the film takes place at a LexCorp gala in Metropolis, marking his first time back since the Zod fight. We see Clark at the event doing a story on Lex Luthor Jr., who is pulling the strings behind the film's vengeful main villain Metallo aka Wallace Keefe. Bruce meets Clark face-to-face for the first time with their conversation mirroring their debate over The Batman's vigilante style from Batman v Superman. However, this is cut short when not only Lex interrupts but so does the woman that catches all of theirs attention, Diana Prince. Wayne, suspicious and reluctant to do business with Luthor but only comes out of respect for his late father, weasels his way out of talking to Lex as he leaves the party to go after Diana, who is noticed arriving from the seemingly restricted downstairs area.
  
• We do not see Wayne again until the post-credits scene as he is in The Batcave, analyzing a device Diana was seen putting into her purse at Lex's gala. Bruce decrypts the information on it, pulling up information on metahumans including a picture from WWII featuring Diana in some armor
  

(The Fantabulous Emancipation of One) Harley Quinn - 2016

• Since Batman did not fight Superman and Doomsday did not kill The Man of Steel, there is no reason for Amanda Waller to form the Suicide Squad, so a movie exploring Harley and The Joker's relationship will take it's place in the DCEU slate during 2016
  
• This time, Batman cameos but for a far shorter duration than Bruce did in MoS II. The film takes place during a car chase where Joker and Harley are evading the GCPD and a strange black figure flying above their car here and there. After a series of getting knocked unconscious, revisiting her history with Joker and realizing their toxic relationship, Harley grapples for control of the vehicle before it flies into the river. The black figure tailing the Jokermobile all along is revealed to be The Batman, who saves Harley from drowning but voices extreme displeasure when Joker is nowhere to be found. Harley's attempt to seduce Batman after being resuscitated but The Dark Knight harshly rejects her advances, mentions Quinn being an accessory to a murder very personal to him and takes her into captivity to set up James Gunn's eventual Suicide Squad film.
  

Wonder Woman - 2017

• No official appearance from Bruce or The Bat but the email Diana sends to him at the end remains, showing us that the two indeed know each other

Justice League - 2017

• In this scenario, Batman is not the one who brings the league together (Wonder Woman) nor is he the leader (Superman) but plays a huge part in the inciting incident. One night, Batman answers the call to a robbery at the Gotham Museum of Antiquities, where he comes across familiar rogues Deathstroke, Deadshot and Killer Croc. Barely managing to handle all three, The Dark Knight finds himself overwhelmed when Boomerang and Livewire (Vanessa Hudgens) join the fray. Wonder Woman, contacted by Alfred, arrives to back Bruce up but the villains escape with whatever they were looking for.
  
• Utilizing the expertise in artifacts of Diana, who has also experienced a mysterious robbery from her own Louvre Museum, Batman pieces together a conspiracy involving supervillains to form a mystical weapon connected to Enchantress, a being more powerful than any metahuman. Bruce, wrangled with hesitation about being in a team again, refuses to go any further, forcing Diana to reach out to Superman, Arthur Curry, Barry Allen and Victor Stone, all of whom have a nemesis with the legion of villains. Once Diana convinces them to join her, the foursome fail short again as Diana's one-time colleague Dr. June Moore is revealed to be Enchantress, the final member of The Legion.
  
• Wayne re-enters the picture, bringing his findings that The Legion are being backed by Lex Luthor in a bid to muscle metahumans out of his way of world domination. Supplying the newly christened Aquaman and Flash with more appropriate armored battle wear, Batman tags along despite noticeable friction with Superman over Wayne's distrust of him as an alien and Clark's reckless Black Zero outing. During the final 6-on-6 (Superman/Livewire, Batman/Deadshot, Wonder Woman/Enchantress, Aquaman/Killer Croc, Flash/Boomerang, Cyborg/Deathstroke) battle, The Justice League emerge victorious and apprehend all the villains before confronting Lex.
  
• Cornered, Luthor explains his Legion was just a distraction so The League wouldn't be able to stop his creation of Doomsday via the Kryptonian ship Superman arrived on. Even though the monstrosity is locked onto Superman, the entire JL works together to fight it. Just like in Batman v Superman, Clark sacrifices his life to kill Doomsday while in the process saving Batman from certain doom despite Wayne pondering on whether to use using his own kryptonite weaponry due to Lex being in his ear about it earlier. The League prevents Batman from killing Lex on the spot, so he takes Luthor to jail personally after Diana cools him down as he issues a deadly warning should Luthor break out. The film ends with all of The League attending Superman's funeral until only Bruce and Diana are left. Expressing guilt over misjudging the Kryptonian, Wayne explains this isn't the first time he's lost a teammate (this time name-dropping Dick Grayson aka Robin but not explaining how) and accepts Diana's offer to help lead The Justice League, showing Bruce has undergone a change for the better.
  

In closing, this different road taken prevents any Batman fatigue following Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy as well as treating the character as a special attraction to allow others to shine. Adding to The Batman's legacy, my take on his entry into the DCEU still paints him as a 20-year veteran crime fighter but trims the fat and maintains the mystique. The death of Robin hangs over him but is more prevalent in his cynicism and brutality while keeping Bruce's journey back to the light more focused. In Part II, I'll venture further into my DCEU closer to present day where the pressure on Batfleck remains stable to hopefully prevent overuse while zeroing on where his arc ends. Stay tuned and give me feedback!

Best Picture
1. La La Land
2. Moonlight
3. Arrival
4. Manchester by the Sea
5. Nocturnal Animals
5. Silence
7. The Handmaiden
8. 20th Century Women
8. The Nice Guys
10. Hell or High Water
Best Director

1. Damien Chazelle for La La Land
2. Barry Jenkins for Moonlight
3. Denis Villeneuve for Arrival
4. Martin Scorsese for Silence
5. Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea

Best Lead Actor

1. Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler in Manchester by the Sea
2. Ryan Gosling as Sebastian Wilder in La La Land
3. Denzel Washington as Troy Maxson in Fences
4. Adam Driver as Paterson in Paterson
5. Andrew Garfield as Sebastião Rodrigues in Silence

Best Lead Actress

1. Emma Stone as Mia Dolan in La La Land
2. Amy Adams as Louise Banks in Arrival
3. Natalie Portman as Jacqueline "Jackie" Kennedy in Jackie
4. Hailee Steinfeld as Nadine Franklin in The Edge of Seventeen
5. Isabelle Huppert as Michèle Leblanc in Elle

Best Supporting Actor

1. Mahershala Ali as Juan in Moonlight
2. John Goodman as Howard Stambler in 10 Cloverfield Lane
3. Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Ray Marcus in Nocturnal Animals
4. Lucas Hedges as Patrick Chandler in Manchester by the Sea
5. Jeff Bridges as Marcus Hamilton in Hell or High Water

Best Supporting Actress:

1. Viola Davis as Rose Lee Maxson in Fences
2. Naomie Harris as Paula in Moonlight
3. Michelle Williams as Randi in Manchester by the Sea
4. Greta Gerwig as Abbie Porter in 20th Century Women
5. Janelle Monáe as Mary Jackson in Hidden Figures

Best Original Screenplay

1. Manchester by the Sea
2. La La Land
3. The Nice Guys
4. 20th Century Women
5. Hell or High Water

Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Moonlight
2. Arrival
3. Nocturnal Animals
4. Silence
5. Deadpool
5. Fences
Best Animated Film

1. Zootopia
2. Your Name.
3. Moana
4. Kubo and the Two Strings
5. My Life as a Zucchini

Best Non-English Language Film

1. The Handmaiden
2. Your Name.
3. Train to Busan
4. Elle
5. Toni Erdmann

Best Documentary Film

1. 13th
2. O.J.: Made in America
3. I Am Not Your Negro
4. Tickled
5. The Beatles: Eight Days a Week

Best Original Score

1. La La Land
2. Moonlight
3. Arrival
4. Jackie
5. Moana

Best Original Song
1. "City of Stars" from La La Land
2. "Another Day of Sun" from La La Land
3. "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" from La La Land
3. "How Far I’ll Go" from Moana
5. "Drive It Like You Stole It" from Sing Street
Best Sound

1. Arrival
2. La La Land
3. Hacksaw Ridge
4. Rogue One
5. Silence

Best Production Design
1. La La Land
2. Arrival
3. Hail, Caesar!
3. The Handmaiden
5. Silence
Best Cinematography

1. La La Land
2. Moonlight
3. Arrival
4. Silence
5. The Handmaiden

Best Makeup/Hairstyling

1. Jackie
2. Suicide Squad
3. Star Trek Beyond
4. Deadpool
5. Rogue One

Best Costume Design

1. La La Land
2. The Handmaiden
3. Jackie
4. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
5. Silence

Best Editing

1. La La Land
2. Moonlight
3. Arrival
4. Nocturnal Animals
5. Hacksaw Ridge

Best Visual Effects

1. Arrival
2. Doctor Strange
3. The Jungle Book
4. Kubo and the Two Strings
5. Rogue One

Best Voice Acting/Motion Capture Performance by an Actor

1. Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde in Zootopia
2. Mark Hamill as the Joker in Batman: The Killing Joke
3. Alan Tudyk as K-2SO in Rogue One
4. Dwayne Johnson as Maui in Moana
5. Bill Murray as Baloo in The Jungle Book

Best Voice Acting/Motion Capture Performance by an Actress

1. Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana in Moana
2. Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps in Zootopia
3. Mone Kamishiraishi as Mitsuha Miyamizu in Your Name.
4. Charlize Theron as Monkey/Sariatu in Kubo and the Two Strings
5. Ellen DeGeneres as Dory in Finding Dory

Best Directorial Debut

1. Robert Eggers for The Witch
2. Dan Trachtenberg for 10 Cloverfield Lane
3. Kelly Fremon Craig for The Edge of Seventeen
4. Tim Miller for Deadpool
5. Travis Knight for Kubo and the Two Strings

Best Ensemble Cast

1. Moonlight
2. Manchester by the Sea
3. Hidden Figures
4. Nocturnal Animals
5. 20th Century Women

Best Choreography, Stunts or Dance

1. La La Land
2. Captain America: Civil War
3. Deadpool
4. Hacksaw Ridge
5. Doctor Strange

Best Soundtrack

1. La La Land
2. Moana
3. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
4. Sing Street
5. Trolls

Best Non-English Language Actor

1. Ha Jung-woo as Count Fujiwara in The Handmaiden
2. Gong Yoo as Seok-woo in Train to Busan
3. Peter Simonischek as Winfried Conradi/Toni Erdmann in Toni Erdmann
4. Ryunosuke Kamiki as Taki Tachibana in Your Name.
5. Shahab Hosseini as Emad in The Salesman

Best Non-English Language Actress

1. Isabelle Huppert as Michèle Leblanc in Elle
2. Kim Tae-ri as Maid/Nam Sook-hee in The Handmaiden
3. Kim Min-hee as Lady/Izumi Hideko in The Handmaiden
4. Sandra Hüller as Ines Conradi in Toni Erdmann
5. Taraneh Alidoosti as Rana in The Salesman

Full charts of all the categories
Preferential ballot of this year

Best Picture
1. La La Land
2. Moonlight
3. Arrival
4. Manchester by the Sea
5. Nocturnal Animals
5. Silence
7. The Handmaiden
8. 20th Century Women
8. The Nice Guys
10. Hell or High Water
Best Director

1. Damien Chazelle for La La Land
2. Barry Jenkins for Moonlight
3. Denis Villeneuve for Arrival
4. Martin Scorsese for Silence
5. Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea

Best Lead Actor

1. Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler in Manchester by the Sea
2. Ryan Gosling as Sebastian Wilder in La La Land
3. Denzel Washington as Troy Maxson in Fences
4. Adam Driver as Paterson in Paterson
5. Andrew Garfield as Sebastião Rodrigues in Silence

Best Lead Actress

1. Emma Stone as Mia Dolan in La La Land
2. Amy Adams as Louise Banks in Arrival
3. Natalie Portman as Jacqueline "Jackie" Kennedy in Jackie
4. Hailee Steinfeld as Nadine Franklin in The Edge of Seventeen
5. Isabelle Huppert as Michèle Leblanc in Elle

Best Supporting Actor

1. Mahershala Ali as Juan in Moonlight
2. John Goodman as Howard Stambler in 10 Cloverfield Lane
3. Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Ray Marcus in Nocturnal Animals
4. Lucas Hedges as Patrick Chandler in Manchester by the Sea
5. Jeff Bridges as Marcus Hamilton in Hell or High Water

Best Supporting Actress:

1. Viola Davis as Rose Lee Maxson in Fences
2. Naomie Harris as Paula in Moonlight
3. Michelle Williams as Randi in Manchester by the Sea
4. Greta Gerwig as Abbie Porter in 20th Century Women
5. Janelle Monáe as Mary Jackson in Hidden Figures

Best Original Screenplay

1. Manchester by the Sea
2. La La Land
3. The Nice Guys
4. 20th Century Women
5. Hell or High Water

Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Moonlight
2. Arrival
3. Nocturnal Animals
4. Silence
5. Deadpool
5. Fences
Best Animated Film

1. Zootopia
2. Your Name.
3. Moana
4. Kubo and the Two Strings
5. My Life as a Zucchini

Best Non-English Language Film

1. The Handmaiden
2. Your Name.
3. Train to Busan
4. Elle
5. Toni Erdmann

Best Documentary Film

1. 13th
2. O.J.: Made in America
3. I Am Not Your Negro
4. Tickled
5. The Beatles: Eight Days a Week

Best Original Score

1. La La Land
2. Moonlight
3. Arrival
4. Jackie
5. Moana

Best Original Song
1. "City of Stars" from La La Land
2. "Another Day of Sun" from La La Land
3. "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)" from La La Land
3. "How Far I’ll Go" from Moana
5. "Drive It Like You Stole It" from Sing Street
Best Sound

1. Arrival
2. La La Land
3. Hacksaw Ridge
4. Rogue One
5. Silence

Best Production Design
1. La La Land
2. Arrival
3. Hail, Caesar!
3. The Handmaiden
5. Silence
Best Cinematography

1. La La Land
2. Moonlight
3. Arrival
4. Silence
5. The Handmaiden

Best Makeup/Hairstyling

1. Jackie
2. Suicide Squad
3. Star Trek Beyond
4. Deadpool
5. Rogue One

Best Costume Design

1. La La Land
2. The Handmaiden
3. Jackie
4. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
5. Silence

Best Editing

1. La La Land
2. Moonlight
3. Arrival
4. Nocturnal Animals
5. Hacksaw Ridge

Best Visual Effects

1. Arrival
2. Doctor Strange
3. The Jungle Book
4. Kubo and the Two Strings
5. Rogue One

Best Voice Acting/Motion Capture Performance by an Actor

1. Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde in Zootopia
2. Mark Hamill as the Joker in Batman: The Killing Joke
3. Alan Tudyk as K-2SO in Rogue One
4. Dwayne Johnson as Maui in Moana
5. Bill Murray as Baloo in The Jungle Book

Best Voice Acting/Motion Capture Performance by an Actress

1. Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana in Moana
2. Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps in Zootopia
3. Mone Kamishiraishi as Mitsuha Miyamizu in Your Name.
4. Charlize Theron as Monkey/Sariatu in Kubo and the Two Strings
5. Ellen DeGeneres as Dory in Finding Dory

Best Directorial Debut

1. Robert Eggers for The Witch
2. Dan Trachtenberg for 10 Cloverfield Lane
3. Kelly Fremon Craig for The Edge of Seventeen
4. Tim Miller for Deadpool
5. Travis Knight for Kubo and the Two Strings

Best Ensemble Cast

1. Moonlight
2. Manchester by the Sea
3. Hidden Figures
4. Nocturnal Animals
5. 20th Century Women

Best Choreography, Stunts or Dance

1. La La Land
2. Captain America: Civil War
3. Deadpool
4. Hacksaw Ridge
5. Doctor Strange

Best Soundtrack

1. La La Land
2. Moana
3. Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
4. Sing Street
5. Trolls

Best Non-English Language Actor

1. Ha Jung-woo as Count Fujiwara in The Handmaiden
2. Gong Yoo as Seok-woo in Train to Busan
3. Peter Simonischek as Winfried Conradi/Toni Erdmann in Toni Erdmann
4. Ryunosuke Kamiki as Taki Tachibana in Your Name.
5. Shahab Hosseini as Emad in The Salesman

Best Non-English Language Actress

1. Isabelle Huppert as Michèle Leblanc in Elle
2. Kim Tae-ri as Maid/Nam Sook-hee in The Handmaiden
3. Kim Min-hee as Lady/Izumi Hideko in The Handmaiden
4. Sandra Hüller as Ines Conradi in Toni Erdmann
5. Taraneh Alidoosti as Rana in The Salesman

Full charts of all the categories
Preferential ballot of this year

I know this may sound outlandish, but hear me out.
Actor David Dastmalchian plays Polka Dot Man in the new Suicide Squad movie. Polka Dot Man, for those who are not familiar, can remove the spots on his costume and turn them into whatever the situation required (eg. a deadly weapon, a getaway vehicle) through the use of advanced technology. He was defeated by Batman and temporarily retired from crime.
Years later, Abner Krill (alter ego) returned to crime and the Polka Dot Man when he found himself broke and unemployed.
There is much more to him, but that is all my theory uses.
David Dastmalchian also played Thomas Schiff, a cop, in a cameo in the Dark Knight (2008). Thomas went insane and became one of Joker's thugs, and had an encounter with Harvey Dent, in which it is clear that he was mentally unstable.
After the Joker disappeared, Thomas once again found himself unemployed. He feels sad and meaningless once the Joker disappeared, and wants to continue the terror in Gotham, the only thing that gave him meaning. After taking ownership of all of the Joker's money and assets, he developed a technology that transforms objects into other objects, which in his case, are polka dots.
This leads us to many years later, where the Polka Dot Man has committed his fair share crimes and been caught, ending up in jail. Amanda Waller recruits him for the Suicide Squad, story to be continued.
As you can see, the story of the comic-book Polka Dot Man and the theory are extremely similar. Both are small time crooks who rose up and launched a crime wave based on Polka Dots in Gotham. Both were caught by the police/a hero and ended up in jail. Finally, both reappeared after their jail time working in a supervillain group.
Now, there are some inaccuracies with this theory, such as the names, the fact that in the comics, he ended working for a supervillain before he died, and here he is working for Amanda Waller, and the fact that my theory is based mostly on the same actor playing both roles. Take it with a grain of salt.
TL;DR: David Dastmalchian plays an insane cop working for the Joker in The Dark Knight. He also plays Polka Dot Man in the new Suicide Squad. They are the same person.

This is a theory i've had for a while (well, at least since the third movie was confirmed). First, let me get this out of the way - i dont think Jared Leto is a bad actor. I've only seen him in two movies (Blade runner 2049 and Suicide Squad) and both of the time, his acting was very well done. Sure, as The Joker it was horrible, but that's only because the way Joker was written in that movie was horrible. Im sure he followed the script to the best of his acting abilities. And in Blade Runner 2049, he played Neander Wallace (the main antagonist) excellently.
Now, the theory. Jared Leto's character will be starring in tron 3 - which doesn't necessarily mean he'll be the protagonist, it just means his role will be important. Next, his character's name is allegedly Ares, which is the greek god of war; this is relevant due to the possible "programs coming to the real world" plot that was spoken of (and in both the previous mentioned movies Leto played a villain). Perhaps Ares was some high-ranking general of CLU or some other extremist, who wants to come over into the real world to continue CLU's plan of world domination?
Since almost no information exists as of right now, its all only speculation on my behalf. What do you guys think?

Okay, let me explain.
The Joker is inevitably going to be featured in one of Matt Reeve's Batman movies, and because the films aren't actually in the DCEU, they'll need to recast Jared Leto. They can't exactly use Joaquin Phoenix's Joker, so they'll need a new actor and a new interpretation of the character. Here's my proposal.
The Joker in the Dark Knight is very much a deranged anarchist, a force of nature. He's this primal, almost elemental, terrorist, but just as he is chaotic, he is also methodical and brilliantly intelligent. He has no name, no identity, he's just an agent of chaos and madness.
The Joker in Joker is a depressed loner, an off-beat, sympathetic nutjob who slowly descends into madness and violence as the city unravels. He wants revenge, and payback against the establishment that have thrown him out. He's strange, psychotic, but he isn't as methodical and genius as Heath Ledger's Joker.
The Joker in Suicide Squad, flawed as the interpretation may be, is a third, radically different take on the character. He's flamboyant, theatrical, sadistic. He's an over the top kingpin who can turn on a dime from eccentric, hedonistic lover to violent, perverted killer. He's abusive, explosive, and colorful. He's very much akin to the Jack Nicholson Joker, only with a little more edge.
So where does that leave us for the next Joker. What's a fourth way the character can be interpreted? There are certainly other aspects of the comics that could be pulled on. A horror take on the Joker could be interesting (in some of the recent comics the Joker skins his face and wears it as a mask), perhaps turning him into a serial killer.
A more comedic, whimsical character could be fun. Sort of like a modern George Romero Joker.
Perhaps a true adaptation of the comics JokeMark Hamill Joker. One that combines the aspects that previous cinematic interpretations have used.
However, I have a proposal that takes the character in a wildly new direction. Let's say the Joker is a trust fund kid. A spoiled, narcissistic rich kid who likes parties, fast cars, beautiful women, maybe he even has a pet tiger. He's a hedonistic thrillseeker who only wants to be entertained. He's got all the flamboyance of Jared Leto's Joker, but he's rude, judgmental, and sociopathic. He wants to have fun, and he doesn't care about the consequences, especially if they fall on other people. This Joker doesn't like causing pain, but he isn't averse to it either. He just wants to be entertained by parties, explosions, and demented games.
However, because he has everything, he gets bored. Eventually, crashing Ferraris and throwing wild parties in gated communities gets boring. This would be the central drive of his character: finding new forms entertainment and pleasure after he grows bored of everything/everyone else. I suppose you could say he would be a nihilist/hedonist.
Thematically, this could tie well into a plot that covers entertainment, hedonism, and celebrity worship. Just as the Dark Knight used their Joker to explore chaos, and Joker used their Joker to explore mental health, a new movie could take on these new themes, which are just as topical as those are. What's more 2020 than a Joker that is a celebrity TikTok frat boy?
To sell the interpretation, he'd have to look different too. The insane hedonist playboy wouldn't really work if he looked like Ledger, Phoenix, or even Leto. He'd have to be a younger, more handsome actor that you wouldn't suspect is demented and eccentric. Perhaps an actor that could play against type.
Chris Evans' character from Knives Out is fairly close to this. Dacre Montgomery could also be a good actor, seeing as he'd be the last kind of actor you'd expect to play the Joker. My personal favorite pick would by Billy Magnussen. He totally could sell the douchy trust fund baby, but also portray the violence, nihilism, and eccentricity.
Thoughts?

Another Oscar ceremony happened, and we got our fair share of joy and disappointment. After Parasite surprised the world and took Best Picture, it seems like the game has changed for the awards race, now that non-English speaking films can actually fight and be recognized as well as classics as… Green Book. The Oscar race is still full of pain and glory, and even though the year has barely started, we have a bunch of movies that are fighting for air. And here’s 50 of them. Yes, I had some free time in my hands and this is a cool hobby, so I took the liberty to introduce most of the movies that will have Film Twitter entertained for the following 12 months. I say most, because there are always contenders who come out of nowhere later in the year, so this is the starter set. Here we go.
-Annette: Since Parasite’s road to the Oscars started at Cannes, it seems fair to talk about a movie that is circling a premiere in the world stage that is set in France. After delivering weird, indie classics like Mauvais Sang and Holy Motors (yes, the kind of movies that make you seem like a snob when you recommend them to people), Leos Carax is making his first movie spoken in the English language… and it has a musical screenplay written by the cult rock duo of Sparks. Recently robbed Adam Driver and previous Oscar winner Marion Cotillard sing in this tale of a stand-up comedian and a famous soprano singer who rise and fall in Los Angeles while their daughter is born with a special gift. It seems like a wild bet, but we already know that Carax is a master with musical moments, so this is one of the most intriguing question marks of the year.
-Ammonite: It’s time to talk narratives. On the one hand, we have Kate Winslet, a known name who hasn’t been very successful in the Oscar race since her Oscar win for The Reader over a decade ago (with the exception being her supporting performance in Steve Jobs, where she had a weird accent). On the other, we have Saoirse Ronan, a star on the rise who keeps collecting Oscar nominations, with 4 nods at the age of 25, including her fresh Best Actress loss for Little Women. What happens if we put them together in a drama set in the coasts of England during the 19th century where both of them fall for each other? That’s gonna be a winning formula if writedirector Francis Lee (who tackled queer romance in his acclaimed debut God’s Own Country) nails the Mary Anning story, and Neon (the distribution company founded three years ago that took Parasite to victory) is betting on it.
-Benedetta: We know the Paul Verhoeven story. After isolating himself from Hollywood for over a decade, he took Isabelle Huppert to an Oscar nominated performance with the controversial, sexy, dark and funny thriller Elle. Now, he’s back with another story that perks up the ears, because now he’s covering the life of Benedetta Carlini, a 17th-century lesbian nun who had religious and erotic visions. If you know Paul, you already can tell that this fits into his brand of horniness, and a possible Cannes premiere could tell us if this has something to carry itself to Oscar night.
-Blonde: With a short but impactful directorial credits list that takes us from Chopper, to The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford to Killing Them Softly, Andrew Dominik is back with a film about Marilyn Monroe, a woman who has transcended the ideas of fame and stardom, in ways that are glamorous and nightmarish at the same time. After failing to launch with Naomi Watts or Jessica Chastain,the rising Ana de Armas takes the lead in the retelling of Monroe’s troubled life based on Joyce Carol Oates’ novel, which is said to be covered in the screenplay as somewhat of a horror movie. We don’t know what that means yet, but Netflix is gonna push hard for this one, especially considering how the Academy loves throwing awards to stars playing previous stars, and that also can possibly include co-stars Bobby Cannavale and Adrien Brody.
-Breaking News in Yuba County: While he hasn’t gone back to the heights of his success achieved by the box office and award success of The Help (a movie that did not age well), Tate Taylor is still enjoying himself economically due to recent thrillers like The Girl on the Train and Ma. For his next movie, he’s made a dramedy that once again reunites him with Oscar winner Allison Janney, where she plays a woman who has to keep appearances and a hidden body when she catches her husband cheating on her, and then he dies of a heart attack. With a cast that also includes Mila Kunis, Regina Hall, Awkwafina, Samira Wiley, Wanda Sykes, Jimmi Simpson and Ellen Barkin, this could be a buzzy title later this year.
-C’mon C’mon: You may love or hate whatever Joaquin Phoenix did in Joker, but you can’t deny the benefit of playing the Crown Prince of Crime in an Oscar-winning performance. The blank check that you share with indie directors afterwards. Now that Joaquin’s cultural cachet is on the rise, Mike Mills gets to benefit with this drama that stars Phoenix and Gaby Hoffmann, with him playing an artist left to take care of his precocious young nephew as they forge an unexpected bond over a cross country trip. We only have to wonder if A24 will do better with this movie’s Oscar chances compared to 20th Century Women.
-Cherry: After killing half the universe and bringing them back with the highest grossing movie of all time, where do you go? For Joe and Anthony Russo, the answer is “away from the Marvel Cinematic Universe”. The Russo brothers are trying to distance themselves and prove that they have a voice without Kevin Feige behind them, with a crime drama that’s also different than their days when they directed You, Me and Dupree or episodes of Arrested Development and Community. To help them in the journey, they took Tom Holland (who also needs to distance himself from Spider-Man, lest he ends up stuck to the character in the audience’s eyes) to star in a crime drama based on former Army medic Nico Walker’s memoir about his days after Iraq, where the PTSD and an opioid addiction led him to start robbing banks.
-Da 5 Bloods: After bouncing back from a slump with the critical and commercial success of BlackKklansman, Spike Lee is cashing a Netflix check to tell the tale of four African American veterans who return to Vietnam to search for their fallen leader and some treasure. With a cast that includes Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Isiah Whitlock Jr, Paul Walter Hauser and Chadwick Boseman, this sounds like an interesting combo, although we still should remember the last time that Spike tried his hand at a war movie, with the dull Miracle at St. Anna.
-Dune: If you are on Reddit, you probably know about the new film by movies’ new Messiah, Denis Villeneuve. While the epic sci-fi novel by Frank Herbert is getting a new chance in the multiplexes after that David Lynch movie that was forgotten by many, some are hoping that this will be the beginning of a new franchise (as seen by the release date of December 18, taking the spot of the usual Star Wars opening), and a return to the whole “remember when stuff like Return of the King or Fury Road were nominated for Best Picture?” question. Timothee Chalamet will be riding a lot of hope, and sandworm.
-Everybody’s Talking About Jamie: As you start to see, there are several musicals that are gonna be fighting for attention over the next year, and Annette was the first one. Now, we also have this adaptation of the hit West End production, that centers around a gay British teenager who dreams of becoming a drag queen and get his family and schoolmates to accept his sexuality. With a cast that mixes young unknowns, familiar Brits (Sharon Horgan, Sarah Lancashire and my boy Ralph Ineson) and the previously nominated legend that is Richard E. Grant (who is playing a former drag queen named Loco Chanelle), the creative team of the stage musical will jump to the big screen with the help of Fox Searchlight (sorry, just Searchlight), who has clear Oscar hopes with a release date right in the middle of awards heat, on October 23.
-Hillbilly Elegy: Even though the Parasite victory gave many people hope for a new Academy that stops recognizing stuff like previous winner Green Book… let’s be honest, the Academy will still look for movies like Green Book. This year, many people are turning their eyes towards Ron Howard’ adaptation of J.D. Vance’s memoir about his low income life in a poor rural community in Ohio, filled with drugs, violence and verbal abuse. If this sounds like white trash porn, it doesn’t help to know that Glenn Close, who has become the biggest living Oscar bridesmaid with seven nominations, will play a character called Mamaw. And if that sounds trashy, then you have to know that Amy Adams, who follows Glenn with six nominations, is playing her drug-addicted, careless daughter. I don’t want to call this “Oscar bait”, but it sure is tempting.
-I’m Thinking of Ending Things: After his stopmotion existential dramedy Anomalisa got him a Best Animated Feature nomination at the Oscars but at the same time bombed at the box office, Charlie Kaufman is getting the Netflix check. This time, he’s adapting the dark novel by Iain Reid, about a woman (Jessie Buckley, who is on the rise and took over the role after Brie Larson had to pass) who is taken by her boyfriend (Jesse Plemons) to meet his parents (Toni Collette and David Thewlis), in a trip that takes a turn for the worse. If Kaufman can deliver with this one, it will be a big contender.
-In the Heights: Yes, more musicals! This time, it’s time to talk about Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Tony-winning musical, that was overshadowed because of his other small play about some treasury secretary. Now, his Broadway ensemble tale about life in a neighborhood in Washington Heights is jumping to the movie screen with Jon Chu at the helm, following the success of Crazy Rich Asians. This Latino tale mixes up-and-comers like Anthony Ramos (who comes straight from Hamilton and playing Lady Gaga’s friend in A Star is Born), names like Corey Hawkins and Jimmy Smits (who is pro bits), and Olga Merediz, who starred in the Broadway show as Abuela Claudia and who could be the early frontrunner for Best Supporting Actress, if Chu allows her to shine like she did onstage.
-Jesus Was My Homeboy: When looking at up-and-coming Black actors right now in Hollywood, two of the top names are Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield, who already appeared in the same movie in Get Out, which earned Kaluuya a Best Actor nomination. This time, they share the screen in Shaka King’s retelling of the story of Fred Hampton (Kaluuya), an activist and Black Panther leader… as well as the story of William O’Neal (Stanfield), the FBI agent sent by J. Edgar Hoover to infiltrate the party and arrest him. With the backing of Warner Bros, this will attempt to make an impact with a clash of actors that will have to fight with an August release date, not the ideal time to release an awards movie.
-King Richard: Starting with Suicide Squad, Will Smith has been trying to prove that he’s back and better than ever. Some attempts to get back to the top of the A-list (Aladdin, Bad Boys For Life) have worked, while others (Gemini Man, Spies in Disguise)... have not. But Will is still going, and now he’s going for his next prestige play as he plays Richard Williams, the coach and father of the tennis legends Venus and Serena, who pushed them to their full potential. While it’s weird that the father of the Williams sisters is getting a movie before them, it does sound like a meaty role for Smith, who has experience with Oscar notices with sports biopics because of what he did with Michael Mann in Ali. Let’s hope director Reinaldo Marcus Green can take him there too.
-Last Night in Soho: Every year, one or two directors who have a cool reputation end up in the Dolby Theatre, and 2020 could be the year of Edgar Wright. After delivering his first big box office hit with Baby Driver, the Brit is going back to London to tell a story in the realm of psychological horror, which has been supposedly inspired by classics like Don’t Look Now and Repulsion. With a premise that supposedly involves time travel and a cast that includes Anya-Taylor Joy, Thomasin McKenzie, Matt Smith and Diana Rigg, Wright (who also co-wrote this with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, who was just nominated for Best Original Screenplay for her work in 1917) is making a big swing.
-Let Them All Talk: Every year there’s more new streaming services, and that also means that there’s new players in the Oscar game. To secure subscribers to the new service, HBO Max has secured the rights to the next Steven Soderbergh movie, a comedy that stars Meryl Streep as a celebrated author that takes her friends (Candice Bergen, Dianne Wiest) and her nephew (Lucas Hedges, again) in a journey to find fun and come to terms with the past. The last time that Soderbergh and Streep worked together, the end result was the very disappointing The Laundromat. Let’s hope that this time everything works out.
-Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: Now that Netflix got the deal to adapt August Wilson’s acclaimed plays with Denzel Washington’s production company, the next jump from the stage to the screen is a meaty one. Viola Davis is playing blues singer Ma Rainey in this tale of a heated recording session with her bandmates, her agent and her producer in 1927, with a cast that also includes Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman and Colman Domingo. The Tony nominated play talked about race, art and the intersection of the two, and it’s gonna be explosive to see that unfold on screen, even if director George C. Wolfe’s previous filmography isn’t very encouraging.
-Macbeth: In a shocking development, the Coen brothers are no more. Well, just this time. For the first time in his career, Joel Coen is making a movie without Ethan, and it’s a Shakespeare adaptation. Denzel Washington is playing the man who wants to be king of Scotland, and Frances McDormand is playing his Lady Macbeth. While this just started filming and it will be a race to finish it in time for competition in the awards race, the potential is there, and this project has everybody’s attention.
-Mank: After scoring 24 Oscar nominations and only winning 2 awards last Sunday, Netflix has to wonder what else must they do to get in the club that awards them. They tried with Cuarón, they tried with Scorsese, they tried with Baumbach, they tried with two Popes, and they still feel a barrier. Now, the big gamble for awards by the streamer in 2020 comes to us in the hands of David Fincher, who is basically their friend after the rest of Hollywood denied him (Disney dropped his 20,000 Leagues adaptation, HBO denied the US remake of Utopia, and Paramount drove World War Z 2 away from him). In his first movie since 2014’s Gone Girl, David will go black and white to tackle a script by his late father about the making of the classic of classics, Citizen Kane, with previous Oscar winner Gary Oldman playing the lead role of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. Will the Academy fall for the ultimate “power of da moviesshhh” story?
-Minari: Sundance can be hit or miss with the breakout films that try to make it to the Oscars. However, you can’t deny the waves made by A24 when they premiered Lee Isaac Chung’s new drama there, ending up winning the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the US Dramatic Competition. If Parasite endeared Academy voters to Korean families, Steven Yeun hopes that the same thing happens with this story, where he plays a father in the ‘80s who suddenly decides to move his family to Arkansas to start a farm. Even though the reviews have been great, we must also remember that last year, A24 had in their hands The Farewell, another Sundance hit about an Asian family that ended up with no Oscar nominations. Let’s hope that this time, the Plan B influence (remember, that’s Brad Pitt’s production company, of Moonlight and 12 Years a Slave fame) makes a difference.
-Next Goal Wins: It’s a good time to be Taika Waititi. Why? Taika Waititi can do what he wants. He can direct a Thor movie, he can win an Oscar for writing a comedy set in WW2 about a Third Reich boy who has an Imaginary Hitler friend, or he can pop up in The Mandalorian as a droid. Taika keeps winning, and he wants more. Between his press tour for Jojo Rabbit and his return to the MCU, he quickly shot an adaptation of a great documentary about the disgraced national team of American Samoa, one of the worst football teams known to man, as they try to make the cut for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Everybody loves a good sports comedy, and Searchlight bets that we’ll enjoy this story led by Michael Fassbender as the new (and Dutch-American) coach in town who tries to shape the team for victory.
-News of the World: Seven years after their solid collaboration in Captain Phillips, Paul Greengrass and Tom Hanks reunite for more awards love in what seems to be Universal’s main attraction for the Oscars. This time, Hanks stars in a Western drama based on Paulette Jiles’ novel where he plays a traveling newsreader in the aftermath of the American Civil War who is tasked with reuniting an orphaned girl with her living relatives. With a Christmas release date, Universal is betting big in getting the same nomination boost that 1917 is enjoying right now, and the formula is promising.
-Nightmare Alley: Following his Best Picture and Best Director wins for The Shape of Water, everybody in Hollywood wondered what would Guillermo del Toro do next. Well, as Del Toro often does, a little bit of everything and nothing. Some projects moved (as his produced Pinocchio movie on Netflix, or his Death Stranding likeness cameo), others stalled and die (like his proposed Fantastic Voyage remake). But now he’s rolling on his next project, a new adaptation of the William Lindsay Gresham novel that already was a Tyrone Power film in 1947. This noir tale tells the story of a con man (Bradley Cooper) who teams up with a psychiatrist (Cate Blanchett) to trick people and win money, and how things get out of control. With a cast that also includes Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Rooney Mara and more, this could play well if it hits the right tone.
-Nomadland: There’s breakout years, and then there’s the amazing potential of Chloe Zhao’s 2020. On the one hand, after making Hollywood notice her skill with the gripping story of The Rider, she got the keys to the MCU kingdom to direct the next potential franchise of Kevin Feige, The Eternals. And just in case, she also has in her sleeve this indie drama that she wrote and directed beforehand, with two-time Oscar winner Frances McDormand playing a woman who, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad. If Chloe nails these two films, it could be the one-two punch of the decade.
-One Night in Miami: Regina King is living her best life. Following her Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress in If Beale Street Could Talk and the success that came with her lead role in the Watchmen show on HBO, the actress is jumping to a new challenge: directing movies. For her big screen debut, she’s adapting Kemp Powers’ play that dramatizes a real meeting on February 25, 1964, between Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown.
-Over the Moon: After earning praise and Oscar nominations with I Lost My Body and Klaus, Netflix will keep its bet on animated movies with a film directed by the legendary Glen Keane. Who? A classic Disney animator responsible for the design of characters like Ariel, the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan and more](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jRkx2PNVr8), and who recently won an Oscar for Best Animated Short for Dear Basketball, which he co-directed with the late Kobe Bryant. Now, he brings us a musical adventure centered around a Chinese girl who builds a rocket ship and blasts off to the Moon in hopes of meeting a legendary Moon Goddess.
-Passing: It’s always interesting when an actor jumps behind the camera, and Rebecca Hall’s case is no exception. For her directorial debut, Hall chose to adapt Nella Larsen’s acclaimed novel set in Harlem in the 1920s, about two mixed race childhood friends (Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson) who reunite in adulthood and become obsessed with one another's lives. With a premise that explores tough questions about race and sexuality, it looks like a tricky challenge for a first timer, but it would be more impressive if Hall manages to rise over the challenge.
-Prisoner 760: An interesting part of following the awards circuit is looking at when it's appropriate to talk about touchy subjects in recent history. I’m saying that because this next movie tells the real life tale of Mohamedou Ould Slahi (Tahar Rahim), a man who, despite not being charged or having a set trial, is held in custody at Guantanamo Bay, and turns towards a pair of lawyers (Jodie Foster and Shailene Woodley) to aid him. Based on the famous journal that the man wrote while he was being detained, the movie (that also counts with Benedict Cumberbatch) is directed by Kevin Macdonald who, a long time ago, helped Forest Whitaker win Best Actor for The Last King of Scotland. Could he get back in the race after almost 15 years of movies like State of Play?
-Raya and the Last Dragon: This year, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ bet for the Oscars is a fantasy tale set in a mysterious realm called Kumandra, where a warrior named Raya searches for the last dragon in the world. And that dragon has the voice of Awkwafina. Even though they missed out last Oscars when Frozen II got the cold shoulder by the Academy in Best Animated Feature, this premise looks interesting enough to merit a chance. One more thing: between last year’s Abominable, Over the Moon and this movie, there’s a clear connection of animated movies trying to appeal to Chinese sensibilities (and that sweet box office).
-Rebecca: It’s wild to think that the only time that Alfred Hitchcock made a film that won the Oscar for Best Picture was with 1940’s adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s psychological thriller novel, more muted and conventional than his more known classics. Now, Ben Wheatley and Netflix are giving the Gothic story a new spin, with Lily James playing the newly married young woman who finds herself battling the shadow of her husband's (Armie Hammer) dead first wife, the mysterious Rebecca. The story is a classic, and we have to see how much weird Wheatley stuff is in the mix.
-Red, White and Water: Between 2011 and 2014, Jennifer Lawrence was everywhere and people loved it. She was America’s sweetheart, the Oscar winner, Katniss Everdeen. But then, everything kinda fell. Those X-Men movies got worse and she looked tired of being in them, her anecdotes got less charming and more pandering to some, she took respectable risks that didn’t pay off with Red Sparrow and Mother!, and some people didn’t like that she said that it wasn’t nice to share private photos of her online. Now, she looks to get back to the Oscar race with a small project funded by A24 and directed by Lila Neugebauer in her film debut, about a soldier who comes back to the US after suffering a traumatic brain injury in Afghanistan. Also, Brian Tyree Henry is in this, and it would be amazing if he got nominated for something.
-Respect: You know what’s a surefire way to get Academy voters’ attention? Play a real singer! Rami Malek took a win last year for playing Freddie Mercury, Renee Zellweger just won the gold after portraying Judy Garland, and now Jennifer Hudson wants more Oscar love. Almost 15 years after taking Best Supporting Actress for her role in Dreamgirls, Hudson will try to get more by playing soul legend Aretha Franklin, in a biopic directed by first timer Liesl Tommy that practically screams “give me the gold”. How am I so sure? Well, see the teaser that they released in December (for a movie that opens in October), and tell me. It will work out better for Hudson than Cats, that’s for sure.
-Soul: Unless they really disappoint (I’m looking at you, The Good Dinosaur, Cars 2 and Cars 3), you can’t have the Oscars without inviting Pixar to the party. This year, they have two projects in the hopes of success. While in a few weeks we’ll see what happens with the fantasy family road trip of Onward, the studio’s biggest bet of the year clearly is the next existential animation written and directed by Pete Docter, who brought Oscar gold to his home with Up and Inside Out. The movie, which centers on a teacher (voice of Jamie Foxx) who dreams of becoming a jazz musician and, just as he’s about to get his big break, ends up getting into an accident that separates his soul from his body, had a promising first trailer, and it also promises a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, as well as new songs by Jon Batiste. The only downside so far for the marketing was the fact that the trailer reveal led people to notice a suspicious trend involving black characters when they lead an animated movie.
-Tenet: When Leonardo DiCaprio finally touched his Academy Award, an alarm went off in the mind of a portion of Internet users, who have made their next crusade to give themselves to the cause of getting Christopher Nolan some Oscar love. And his next blank check, an action thriller involving espionage and time travel, could pull off the same intersection of popcorn and prestige that made Inception both a box office hit and a critically acclaimed Oscar nominee. It helps to have a cast of impressive names like John David Washington, Elizabeth Debicki and Robert Pattinson, as well as a crew that includes Ludwig Goransson and Hoyte van Hoytema. In other words, if this becomes a hit, this could go for a huge number of nominations.
-The Devil All the Time: As you may have noticed by now, Netflix is leading the charge in possible Oscar projects. Another buzzy movie that comes from them is the new psychological thriller by Antonio Campos, a filmmaker known for delivering small and intimate but yet intense and terrifying dramas like Simon Killer and Christine. Using the novel by Donald Ray Pollock, Campos will follow non-linearly a cast of characters in Ohio between the end of World War II and the beginning of the Vietnam War, with the help of an interesting cast that includes Tom Holland, Sebastian Stan, Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, Eliza Scanlen, Bill Skarsgard, Jason Clarke and Riley Keough.
-The Eyes of Tammy Faye: After being known as a sketch comedy goofball because of The State, Wet Hot American Summer and Stella, Michael Showalter reinvented himself as a director of small and human dramedies like Hello, My Name is Doris and The Big Sick. For his next project, he’s gonna mix a little bit of both worlds, because he has before him the story of the televangelists Tammy Faye Bakker (Jessica Chastain, who has been really trying to recapture her early ‘10 awards run to no avail) and Jim Bakker (Andrew Garfield, who was previously nominated for Hacksaw Ridge, instead of Silence, because why). With a real life tale that involves Christian theme parks, fraud and conspiracies, this is the kind of loud small movie that Searchlight loves to parade around, especially as an actors showcase (Jojo Rabbit being the most recent example). The first image looks terrifying, by the way.
-The Father: It’s weird to be in the middle of February and say that there’s already a frontrunner for the Best Actor race at the next Oscars. After its premiere in Sundance a couple of weeks ago, every prognosticator pointed in the direction of Anthony Hopkins (recently nominated for Best Supporting Actor in The Two Popes), who delivers a harrowing portrayal of an old man grappling with his age as he develops dementia, causing pain to his beleaguered daughter (recent winner Olivia Colman, who also got praised). With reviews calling it a British answer to Amour (in other words: it’s a hard watch), Florian Zeller’s adaptation of his acclaimed play not only benefits from having Hopkins and Colman together as a selling point, because it was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics, a distributor with experience in getting Academy voters to watch adult movies with heavy themes. If you don’t believe me, watch how they got Julianne Moore a win for Still Alice, as well as recent nominations for Isabelle Huppert for Elle, Glenn Close for The Wife, and Antonio Banderas for Pain and Glory. They know the game, and they are going to hit hard for Hopkins and Colman.
-The French Dispatch: If you saw the trailer, we don’t need to dwell too much on the reasons. On the one hand, we have the style of Wes Anderson, a filmmaker who has become a name in both the critics circle and the casual viewer, with his last two movies (The Grand Budapest Hotel and Isle of Dogs) earning several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture for the one with Gustave H. Then, we have a long cast that goes from the director’s regulars like Bill Murray to new stars like Timothee Chalamet, and also includes people like Benicio del Toro. The only thing that could endanger the Oscar chances for this is that the story, an anthology set around a period comedy with an European riff on The New Yorker, will alienate the average Academy member.
-The Humans: There’s the prestige of a play, and then there’s the prestige of a Tony-winning play. Playwright Stephen Karam now gets to jump to the director’s chair to take his acclaimed 2016 one-act story to the big screen, and A24 is cutting the check. Telling the story of a family that gets together on Thanksgiving to commiserate about life, this adaptation will be led by original performer Jayne Houdyshell (who also won a Tony for her stage performance), who’ll be surrounded by Richard Jenkins, Beanie Feldstein, Amy Schumer, Steven Yeun and June Squibb. If it avoids getting too claustrophobic or stagey for the cinema, it will be a good contender.
-The Last Duel: Always speedy, Ridley Scott is working on his next possible trip to the Oscars. This time, it’s the telling of a true story in 14th-century France, where a knight (Matt Damon) accuses his former friend (Adam Driver) of raping his wife (Jodie Comer), with the verdict being determined by the titular duel. It’s a juicy story, but there was some concern when it seemed that the script was only being written by Damon and Ben Affleck (who’ll also appear in the film). A rape story written by them after the Weinstein revelations… not the best look. But then, it was revealed that they were writing the screenplay with indie figure Nicole Holofcener, who last year was nominated for an Oscar for her script for Can You Ever Forgive Me? Let’s hope that the story is told in a gripping but not exploitative way, and that it doesn’t reduce the role of Comer (who deserves more than some of the movie roles that she’s getting after Killing Eve) to a Hollywood stereotype.
-The Power of the Dog: We have to talk about the queen of the indie world, we have to talk about Jane Campion. More than a decade after her last movie, Bright Star, the Oscar and Palme d’Or winner for The Piano returns with a non-TV project (see Top of the Lake, people) thanks to Netflix, with a period drama centered around a family dispute between a pair of wealthy brothers in Montana, Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George Burbank (Jesse Plemons), after the latter one marries a local widow (Kirsten Dunst). According to the synopsis, “a shocked and angry Phil wages a sadistic, relentless war to destroy her entirely using her effeminate son Peter as a pawn”. Can’t wait to see what that means.
-The Prom: Remember the Ryan Murphy blank check deal with Netflix that I mentioned earlier? Well, another of the projects in the first batch of announcements for the deal is a musical that he’ll direct, adapting the Tony-nominated show about a group of Broadway losers (now played by the one and only Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Andrew Rannells and, uh, James Corden, for some reason) who try to find a viral story to get back in the spotlight, and end up going to a town in Indiana to help a lesbian high school student who has been banned from bringing her girlfriend to the prom. The show has been considered a fun and heartwarming tale of acceptance, so the movie could be an easy pick for an average Academy voter who doesn’t look too hard (and you know that the Golden Globes will nominate the shirt out of this). It’s funny how this comes out the same year than Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, and then it’s not funny realizing that Film Twitter will pit the two movies against each other.
-The Trial of the Chicago 7: After getting a taste of the director’s taste with Molly’s Game, Aaron Sorkin wants more. For his second movie, he’s tackling one of his specialties: a courtroom drama. And this one is a period movie centered around the trial on countercultural activists in the late ‘60s, which immediately attracts a campaign of how “important” this movie is today’s culture. To add the final blow, we have a cast that includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jeremy Strong, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Frank Langella, William Hurt, Michael Keaton and Mark Rylance. If Sorkin can contain himself from going over the top (and with that cast, it would be so easy to surrender to bouts of screaming and winding speeches), this could be one of the top contenders.
-Those Who Wish Me Dead: Having made a good splash in the directorial waters with Wind River, Taylor Sheridan (also known for writing the Sicario movies, the Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water or that Yellowstone show that your uncle raves about on Facebook) returns with yet another modern Western. For this thriller based on the Michael Koryta novel, Angelina Jolie stars as a survival expert in the Montana wilderness who is tasked with protecting a teenager who witnessed a murder, while assassins are pursuing him and a wildfire grows closer.
-Untitled David O. Russell Project: Following the mop epic Joy, that came and went in theaters but still netted a Best Actress nomination for Jennifer Lawrence, the angriest director in Hollywood took a bit of a break (it didn’t help that he tried to do a really expensive show with Amazon starring Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore that fell apart when the Weinstein exposes sank everything). Now, he’s quickly putting together his return to the days of Oscar love that came with stuff like The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, with a new movie that is set to star Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and Michael B. Jordan. Even though we don’t know many details (some people are saying the movie is called Amsterdam) except for the fact the movie hasn’t started shooting yet, David is a quick guy, so he’ll get it ready for the fall festival circuit. If there’s one thing that David O. Russell knows (apart from avoid getting cancelled for abusing people like Lily Tomlin, Amy Adams and his niece), it’s to make loud actor showcases.
-Untitled Nora Fingscheidt Project: When Bird Box became one of the biggest hits on Netflix history, the streamer decided to keep itself in the Sandra Bullock business. Sandy’s next project for Ted Sarandos is a drama where she plays a woman who is released from prison after serving time for a violent crime, and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past. To get redemption, she searches her younger sister she was forced to leave behind. With the direction of Fingscheidt, who comes from an acclaimed directorial debut with Systemsprenger (Germany’s submission to the last Academy Awards), and a cast that also includes Viola Davis, Vincent D’Onofrio and Jon Bernthal, this will also hopefully try its luck later this year.
-Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Project: We don’t know if this movie will be ready for the end of the year (although last time, he managed to sneak Phantom Thread under the buzzer and earn several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture), but PTA is apparently gonna start to shoot it soon, with the backing of Focus Features. After several movies with prestige locations and intricate production design, Film Twitter’s Holy Spirit will go back to the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s, to tell the story of a high school student who is also a successful child actor.
-Stillwater: Tom McCarthy’s recent career is certainly puzzling. After delivering the weird lows of The Cobbler, he bounced back with the Best Picture winner that was Spotlight. And following that, he… helped produce the 13 Reasons Why series. And following that… he made Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made, a Disney+ original movie. Now, he’s back to the award race with a drama starring Matt Damon, who plays a father who rushes from Oklahoma to France to help his daughter (Abigail Breslin), who is in prison after being suspected for a murder she claims she didn’t commit.
-West Side Story: To close things, we have to see one of the possible big contenders of the season, Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the iconic musical that translates Romeo and Juliet to the context of a street gang war in 1950s New York. While the decision to adapt again something that has been a classic both in Broadway and in movie theaters almost 60 years ago is a challenge, the idea of Spielberg doing a musical closer to the stage version with Tony Kushner as the writer is too tempting for the average Academy voter, who is already saving a spot in major categories in case Steven nails it in December. However, there’s two question marks. First, how well will Ansel Elgort and newcomer Rachel Zegler stand out in the roles of Tony and Maria? And second, will In the Heights steal some of the thunder of this movie by being, you know, more modern?

Been caught up with life and finally got around to watching.
The Good:
• Soundtrack - Not much to say here, great song choices and scores across the board.
• El Diablo - About the only character with a seriously compelling backstory. You learn of his past and see why he acts the way he does. He doesn’t look at his powers as a gift but a curse. A curse that took his wife and child from him resulting in a serious and dismissive attitude which are all understandable. His sacrifice at in the 3rd act makes sense as he has nothing left to lose.
• Deadshot - This character is more Will Smith than Deadshot and that’s always a plus in my book, especially because the comic version of Deadshot is a gloomy, emotionless man that cares for no one and wants Waller’s Suicide Squad to give him a way to die. Wouldn’t have went well with the tone of the film.
•Cinematography
The Bad:
• Slip knot - “The man that can climb anything” Lmao. That alone lands him on the bad. Didn’t need to involve him simply to show what the bomb could do.
• Katana - Why is she here. Barely did or said anything and served no purpose to the story.
• Killer Croc - Why is he here. Barely did or said anything and served no purpose to the story. Probably had the worst joke in the DCEU universe that they 9/10 wrote in because the actor was black.
• Enchantress - Quite possibly the least compelling comic book villain I’ve seen in recent memory. One dimensional and boring. You can steal classified documents from a foreign country in a blink of an eye but can’t get your heart back from a non-powered ordinary human? And who on the production team OK’d the belly dancing and arm flailing?
• Incubus - Put into the story for no reason at all. Not even mentioned in Enchantress’ introduction, and only there so be can “heal” Enchantress. As soon as he’s introduced he’s a tank that’s not phased by any weapons humans use. If he’s so powerful why don’t you send him to get your heart instead of having him play bodyguard over your beam in the sky that’s going to “whip the humans out”.
• The story - WHERE IS BATMAN? They name drop him so much but he’s no where to be found when there’s a literal death beam shooting into the sky above a city not far from Gotham. Why was Enchantress even chosen as the antagonist of this film? You portray her as an all-powerful witch with otherworldly powers but you have her lose to a rag tag group of 5/7 ordinary humans! One wears no type of armor or protection and uses a f****** bat. Another uses boomerangs...boomerangs. This shouldn’t be the team you use cannon fodder for. This is not a group of powerful characters. Diablo is about the only heavy hitter on the team (which is evident as he’s the only one that can phase Incubus). And why do they treat Harley like she’s the most dangerous person in the prison? She’s just crazy. That’s all. Deadshot is kept in a regular cell while Harley is given her own sector with electrically charged cell bars. Her whole reputation is based off being Jokers girlfriend. Margot does well enough with what she’s given.
• Joker - Weird, but not in a captivating,or threatening, or even amusing type of way. Might be the worst Joker laugh I’ve ever heard. Leto drags his words and most of the time sounds like he’s out of breath. His character design is truly awful. What was the point of those stencil tattoos (which was so on the nose it was obvious they were trying to tell us “Hey! Look he’s crazy!) In one scene he even had a smile drawn on his face. Why? They never show what joker did to make Harley fall in love. They never show how Harley managed to sneak a machine gun in or how Joker’s henchmen even made it into Arkham. You just escaped the most infamous psych ward in Gotham and the first thing you do is go to a nightclub and be the life of the party. Ok.
Verdict: 4/10. Film would have been better with no supernatural elements. Maybe they should have been recruited for an actual grounded black-ops mission, with Joker still trying to rescue Harley. That would of course mean joker would have to be written better.

(WatchMojo intro plays) Joker is a funny guy. Here is the Top 10 Jokers.
Number 10:‌ Old Joker What people forget about Batman is that he was never a comic book until the '90s. He actually started out as a 1940s action show where the Joker would always tangle people up in his famous Trick Streamers. Robin:‌ "Holy New Year's Eve! He's got me in his famous... Trick Streamers!" Back in the day, people though this Joker was very scary, but they also though this was scary because they were fucking babies back then. (The Joker laughs) Mr. Belmont: "I do believe it's that arch-criminal, the Joker!" The actor for Robin would go on to create a dog food brand with this very unique packaging. He really fit a lot of information onto this dog food
Number 9: Drew Russel Russel was never cast in the role of the Joker, but his viral audition sent shockwaves down the Batman community, becoming one of the franchise's biggest 'What If?'s. Joker: "Wanna know how I got these scars? Well... I'm the Joker, baby!"
Number 8:‌ Jared Little Jared Little spent months preparing for his role in 2016's Suicide Squad. Unfortunately, when it came time to film, he was considered too small to fit on the camera. But, this Joker is still scary to audiences' nightmares today with his signature 'Damaged' tattoo on his forehead. With a tattoo like that, you know this Joker was one messed up guy.
Number 7:‌ Lego Joker I hate Lego Joker. Fuck the people who make this movie. This is the worst Joker.
Number 6: Scooby-Doo Joker "Scooby-Dooby-Doo, fucko!" That's what he said. Scooby-Doo has featured dozens of special guests over the years, like Smash Mouth and John Cena, but perhaps the spookiest ghoul Scoob ever had to face was the Joker himself. Joker: "Now, Pengy-Wengy, watch me lure them into the Room... of Doom!"
Number 5: Dracula Joker In the comic book 'Batman &‌ Dracula' Batman actually kills Dracula, so then Joker takes control of Dracula's armies to fight Batman. Then there's an issue where Batman turns into a tiger. Then there's one where he turns into Zebra Batman. Then he turns into fucking Bat-Baby. Then he has a pet named Mogo, the Bat-Ape. Then he holds an auction to sell off all the stuff from the Batcave. Then he has to call in fucking Superman to fight a skunk, okay?‌ So don't act like this fucking dumbass Dracula shit is stupid, okay
Number 4: Train Joker
Number 3: Luke Skywalker Joker Did you guys know that the guy who does the voice for Joker in the video game is the same guy who does the actor for Luke Skywalker? Talk about being a dumb bad Jedi that doesn't know the rules. (Laughs)
Number 2: Jack Nicholson Version Director Tim Burton is infamous for saying "Batman sucks. My movies are not movies. My movies are real life". When it released in 1989, critics were appalled by the grittiness and dark tone of Batman. Up to this point, superhero movies were considered light-hearted entertainment for the whole family, but Tim Burton just had to ruin everything Look at this stupid part that idiot Tim Burton came up with, where Batman is trying to shoot and kill the Joker. Thankfully, Jack Nicholson actually read the comics, so he pulls out this gigantic gun that reaches all the way up to the airplane and shoots him at point blank range
Number 1: Heath Ledger Heath Ledger is so scary in the Joker movie, that I was so... afraid the whole movie.‌ And, you never learn who he actually is. That's what so scary about him. He might actually be Batman. You don't know. Joker: "Well, you look nervous. Is it the scars? You wanna know how I got 'em? I'm the Joker, baby?"
(Outro music plays)

The following is from a since deleted account from Reddit. Not my words. Whether you think it's Tin-foil hat nonsense, or find some relevance, either way, What do you think??, as this was a year ago, it does not take into the account the releases of Aquaman, and Shazam!. How well did/ or didn't they do in your opinions post previous Arc?.
From previous deleted account: 2018
Sources: WB Insiders/Social Media.
Note: None of these are my words, I only paraphrased what I had found on Twitter.
Before MOS:
Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Millar and other writers are invited to draft different concepts for the Superman reboot. Some are very reminiscent of Donner's Superman while some are elseworld, dark and hyperviolent like Superman living as long as our Sun and dying along with it, Krypton not being doomed, 8 hour Godfather-esque trilogy etc. In favour of MOS, WB ditches all the aforesaid ideas. Aforesaid names hold a grudge since then(they would later speak against MOS publicly).
Nolan after hiring Snyder, learns about the concerns being raised against the film by Geoff and gives strict instructions to Snyder to not let any outsiders even enter the sets(Snyder mentions this in multiple interviews). After MOS releases to mixed reviews, Snyder continues to follow the intended vision and Nolan gets busy with his films.
Batman v Superman
It was going to be a different film than the one we got. Batman was always there, but originally... Corbos, a victim who suffered from the Black Zero Event was going to be the upfront villain, who is later turned into Metallo by Lex (official concept arts of Metallo available online). It had significantly different second and third acts. No Doomsday. All the finance/funding required for the DCEU ($1B) is made successful through the addition of RatPac. It enters into production in late 2014 and something happens.
Influx of leaks coming out from Geoff John's office. Entire script is leaked to Marvel and that's how Civil War was born. (Ever notice the striking similarities between the two films and even be slightly suspicious how "coincidental" it was all? Billionaire vs Boyscout - Strategically won but morally lost, Govt. and Media witch hunting, Villain pulling the strings from behind, Prominence of Mothers, African supporting characters, Bomb blasts pushing heroes etc. Russos even admit in an interview during the release that CW was greenlit only after BVS, little did fans know what happened.)
After learning that the script is out, Batman v Superman gets delayed by a year. Zack Snyder tightens the crew. WB loses a lot of momentum and months are wasted on rewrites. Meanwhile, Marvel scraps its initial idea for CA3 and cribs the DC script to create Civil War. WB and Zack decide to raise the stakes. And that is how Doomsday was born. Corbos is turned into a supporting character - Wallace Keefe. All these changes and rewrites are happening along with the production simultaneously (also reported by a notorious "blogger"). More leaks start coming out from Geoff Johns' office, including the news about Doomsday (remember who leaked this news first? Which "notorious" blogger?). Marvel then announces that CW would release on the same date as BVS (an even lower move after getting their hands on the script). WB changes the release date again for the third time. Gradually, WB/DC gets divided into two factions fighting over control over DCEU. In the meantime, DOJ finishes production. Bloggers do what they were told to do. BVS:DOJ is officially rated R with 3 hour duration. Zack is promised with the Ultimate Cut release and is ordered to cut 30 mins of the film and secure PG 13 rating.
BVS releases to disastrous reviews. Time Warner pressures WB to fire Zack Snyder. Kevin Tsujihara refuses and instead promotes Geoff Johns and Jon Berg to oversee the DCEU. (Later, on the original release date of Batman v Superman, Civil War releases to critical acclaim.)
Suicide Squad
Geoff Johns and Jon Berg order reshoots and force several changes to the film and its tone before the picture is locked (so an Ayer cut never existed). It was intended to be rated R with The Joker serving as the main villain in the third act - much similar to Rocksteady and Jay Oliva's Assault on Arkham (upon Snyder's suggestion), but greatly extended, violent and unadulterated version of the character. It went like this: Squad becoming villains by circumstances, then by duty (Amanda Waller) and later by The Joker.
After the mandate, 90% of The Joker scenes are cut(as said so by Jared himself), his relationship with Harley is changed from an abusive one, hole in the sky plot is added along with a lot of humour, serious tone is mostly eliminated, several scenes are reordered, violence is drastically reduced and the third act is completely changed through reshoots. More leaks begin to come out on the changes(remember who reported it first? Same "notorious" blogger who leaked the news about Doomsday. How did he get it? Already mentioned.)
Suicide Squad releases to disastrous reviews. Somehow it clicks with the targeted audience and brings huge profits for WB.
Wonder Woman
WB had more faith in Suicide Squad than they did in this. Rumours start flying around calling it a disjointed mess. Patty puts out a statement and is mocked. Geoff Johns, who mostly worked with a writer, but never directly with Patty deems the No Man's Land sequence "very dark" and tries his best to cut it. Patty Jenkins and Zack Snyder fight for it tooth and nail and instead compromise with the third act. Reshoots begin and the third act with Ares is significantly changed.
Wonder Woman releases to overwhelming reviews. Geoff Johns, despite his little to negligible significance over the film, begins self-indulgent PR and takes the credit. In exchange of several leaks, he gets a "Fiege like positive outlook for the DCEU" from the bloggers. Patty slips about the No Man's Land getting into trouble during editing and fighting hard to keep it alive quickly changes her stance as it creates negative PR. Kevin Tsujihara after noticing the PR work repeats at a press event that they do not want to be like Marvel and simply tell stories that connect with the audiences as agreed with Snyder during MOS.
The Flash/Flashpoint
As Rick Famuyiwa's vision is aligning too much with the original, he is shitcanned by Geoff. After submitting multiple drafts and refusing to compromise, he is then fired. Kiersey Clemons who was already cast as Iris West goes on to work with Snyder, calls her scenes "great" in an interview, would get fired before the release with her scenes getting deleted and makes a cryptic post expressing her disappointment on social media. Rick would later make a comparison of Black Panther and Justice League at BO on his IG, laughing at the latter's performance and expressing his bitter experience at DC.
The Batman
Ben Affleck with Snyder at helm wanted to make a trilogy (besides the main series), where Part 1 and 2 in the trilogy would take place nearly a decade ago with the final one taking place during The Arrival of Superman. As he was very much aligned with Zack Snyder's vision, his interpretation of Batman was also going to be terrorizing and brutal, but with a lot less causalities besides dealing with the relationship b/w Batman and Robin/Jason Todd in the trilogy.
Geoff, who had already started erasing Snyder's influence on the DCEU, disagrees with Ben and forces him to change the tone (to the one we got in JL). Ben, who had a lot going on in his personal as well as professional life already decides to leave. As planned, Geoff and Toby hire a "hot name" that happened to be Matt Reeves.
Justice League
Snyder is now constantly receiving several notes from Geoff Johns and occasionally from Toby Emmerich. After MOS, BVS and JL, rest of the main series would be heavily influenced by Injustice, Flashpoint, Final Crisis and Kingdom Come with Superman as the backbone of it all(confirmed by Snyder and Jay Oliva) until it wasn't as compromises on Justice League begin slowly with soft ones. For instance, the costume of The Flash is ordered to be more in line with DCTV/CW version of The Flash. Snyder wanted it to be a homemade suit, which would later be upgraded by Wayne Tech. He was building within a building much like he did with Batman's.
Then the hard compromises begin: Resurrection of Superman and Black Suit(image posted by Henry on IG and talked about by DOP) are the first and foremost to largely get impacted as they are deemed "dark". A lot of elements around Batman are drastically altered, later the arcs and then the characters themselves are made to change with the addition of more humour(for obvious reasons). JL1 and JL2 are turned into a standalone with minimal references to Injustice, Flashpoint, Final Crisis (hinted in BVS) and Kingdom Come. Later during the set visit, critics and bloggers are told beforehand to deliberately question Zack Snyder about his vision(some of them even mention about it.)
Filming is finally over in October, 2016. Jason Momoa shares it on IG and the crew receives some gifts from Henry Cavill along with a note thanking them for being alongside the long and hard battle. JL is screened in January, 2017. Geoff and Toby decide to release a different version for the theatrical release. Joss Whedon is hired and starts working on the changes (referred to as a "secret weapon" in an interview). Zack continues to work on the post-production. On March 11, 2017, his daughter commits suicide. A week later, Snyder tries to immerse himself into his work but with even more compromises cited to be made, he decides to leave saying he's had enough.
Extensive reshoots are planned. Ray, Gal and Jason are against the changes. Kevin Tsujihara visits the JL editing room for the first time and calls out Joss Whedon on his "slapstick" introduction and orders to reduce it drastically.
Geoff Johns, Diane Nelson and Jon Berg take several shots at Zack Snyder in their interviews going all the way back to MOS. Geoff even calls the sandbox idea as his own when in fact it was all Snyder's.
Justice League releases to disastrous reviews.
POST-JL
Geoff Johns is demoted and Hamada takes control of DCEU.
Clay Enos, a close associate of Snyder, starts interacting with fans in various ways hinting at what happened BTS; positively reacting to the speculations made by fans against Geoff Johns. A photographer who works with a couple of JL actors calls Geoff Johns "scum of the Earth" and later deletes the tweet. He too positively reacts to the speculations. Outsiders who got to see the Snyder Cut start talking about Hamada in a cryptic way (against Geoff) also confirm that the Snyder cut exists on Instagram (their screenshots are later liked by ZS on Vero).
Joss gets fired. Patty, upset with the way Joss had handled WW in JL, likes an article on Twitter saying, "Snyder likes an article (on Vero) about Joss getting fired as a good thing for DC". Kiersey Clemons is rehired. New directors are onboard with DCEU. Snyder is reached out by Hamada. He confirms a question saying that he will be producing WW2. In late March, with all the changes happening and losing control over the DCEU, GJ expresses his anguish by changing his cover on his FB profile. He now oversees only CW/DCTV and the upcoming DC Universe Streaming Service content.
Release of the Snyder Cut largely depends on the AT&T and TW merger (which is being blocked by POTUS under anti-trust). Better grasp at what would happen might be known more clearly after SDCC and if/when AT&T and TW merger happens.