“Serpico” (1973) Sidney Lumet’s 1973 crime drama “Serpico” stars Al Pacino as New York Police Department officer Frank Serpico, whose undercover mission to expose corruption within the NYPD made him a whistleblower with a target on his back. Pacino was Oscar nominated for the role, while Lumet’s grounded realism was championed for giving the film a lived-in, visceral tone. The latter of which is a top priority for Phillips in “Joker.” The director said part of his pitch for “Joker” was telling Warner Bros. that he was making a 1970s character study like “Serpico,” but dressed up as a 2019 comic book movie.

I always pine for what I’ve looked at as sort of the Golden Age of Movies in the Seventies — you know, here comes Serpico and Dog Day, The French Connection and Mean Streets, just on and on and on! That kind of early Seventies gritty, urban film. Even a movie like Death Wish, which is way more commercial than the movies I just mentioned, you look at something like that and think, that was what Hollywood was putting out then? Everybody saw those movies and thought, 'I'm not going anywhere near New York City, no way!' I saw them and thought, 'Oh man, I have to get to New York City!' You know what I mean?

Watching SERPICO and reacquainting myself w the glory of the NYPD.

What is your favorite movie dog? Oh, I think as a kid, Al Pacino's dog in Serpico.