Stream It Or Skip It? [Video]

One of 2024’s biggest movie-biz headlines is the massive failure of Joker: Folie a Deux (now streaming on VOD services like Amazon Prime Video). The facts: It’s a movie with a $200 million production budget and an estimated break-even point of between $375 and $450 million, and it barely whimpered to $200 million in ticket sales worldwide. Critics and fans united in their uncertain regard for it – both groups posted dismal 32% approval ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. And it therefore failed, mightily, to meet the basest of expectations set by its 2019 predecessor Joker, which grossed $1 billion and scored 11 Oscar noms, including a Best Actor win for lead Joaquin Phoenix. The sequel brings back Phoenix and director Todd Phillips, adding in Lady Gaga for some megawatt star power – but it’s a jukebox musical full of old show tunes, which seems to be a big fat no-no in comic-book-movie realms. For my nickel, Jokerlanded in the damn-Joaquin’s-really-going-for-it …