It took Ron Howard to direct the Star Wars movie I had hoped Rian Johnson would have delivered after Looper (Film Review: Looper smartens up sci-fi tropes to riveting effect). So far, as someone partial to science-fiction movies and the Star Wars saga, this writer has been able to chronicle an opinion on all of the movies since George Lucas signed over the franchise to producers at Disney. Oftentimes, these reviews have noted disappointments that have overshadowed hopeful expectations. Now, here…

Though it's the best DC film I've seen since Nolan's Batman movies (and I haven't seen many), there is something cringingly disturbing about Joker. There are more than one prettily framed scenes of the aftermath of violence and a sort of satisfaction that invites the audience in reveling in. Quoted in The Hollywood Reporter, Phillips said, "To me, I thought, isn’t it a good thing to put real-world implications on violence? Isn’t it a good thing to take away the…