George Clooney will be saluted tonight by the American Film Institute at their annual fundraiser. The proceedings will be shown on TNT on June 21st. Julia Roberts, whose last movie with Clooney– “Money Monster”– was a disaster, will give Clooney the award. If Roberts is anything like she’s been at similar ceremonies, there will be a lot of bleeping during her speech. She drops the F word about as much as Adele.

Clooney, it is hoped, will be a big draw. The AFI needs it. According to their Form 990 for 2016, their revenue less expenses came to MINUS $262,124. Total assets were off by $2 million, from $47 mil in 2015 to $45 mil. Net assets or fund balances were down from 2015 by about $1.5 million.

On the bright side, the AFI upped their grants to individuals in 2016 to $225,000 from just $18,000 the year before. But the not for profit, so important to film students and historians, is top heavy with $16 million in salaries in 2016. (Their CEO made $567,000.) They spend just a tad more– $17 million– on education and training, exhibitions, and national programs. Independent contractors were paid around $2 million in 2016.

The AFI has two big annual events– tonight’s dinner and an annual luncheon during Golden Globe weekend, held at the Four Seasons for the 10 best movies and TV shows of the year. In 2016, they reported a net loss of $601,080. The net realized losses on investments is listed as MINUS $1.39 million.

So the Clooney event tonight is key. We’re rooting for them. Maybe Clooney and his Casamigas Tequila partners will underwrite some scholarships. Every year, AFI produces a new class of talented filmmakers whose names usually come up in awards seasons not too long after graduation.

It’s been pretty clear for a long time to fans that the DC Comics Universe in the movies, at least, is a freakin’ mess.

With the exception of “Wonder Woman,” none of the recent movies have made anyone happy. “Suicide Squad,” “Justice League,” “Batman vs. Superman” — oy vey. They don’t hold a candle to the Marvel movies, and I say this as a childhood fan of DC.

One bright spot of “Suicide Squad” was Jared Leto as The Joker. This was a big deal since Heath Ledger had been so indelible as The Joker in “The Dark Knight Returns” and won an Oscar. But he’s gone.

But instead of giving Leto a standalone movie, or one with Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, DC and Warner Bros. announced a different Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix, directed by Todd Phillips. So that would mean Phoenix in that film, Leto (maybe) in another “Suicide Squad” movie. The Joker’s wild!

Now, suddenly, a Leto Joker movie is back (reported by Variety). But so is the Phoenix film. Leto is bright and colorful, Phoenix is dark and wicked. Clearly, no one at DC and WB can decide what the Joker is. This would be as if Marvel had Ryan Reynolds in one set of Deadpool movies, and Daniel Day Lewis (as if) in another.

But Marvel knows what they are, with a clear editorial focus.

DC, on the other hand, doesn’t. That’s why they ousted DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson this week. She was also head of Warner Consumer Products. Nelson was with Warner Bros. for 20 years. But she is gone, completely, after all this confusion. (And that includes the Ben Affleck-Batman situation.)

So now what? Maybe DC/WB can find someone with a passion and clear understanding of the DC Universe. So far that’s been limited to Patty Jenks with “Wonder Woman.”

And two Jokers? It didn’t work for “The Two Jakes.” (Inside joke.) It won’t work here.

It’s hard to believe, but Matthew Cullen’s very awful “London Fields” is coming to a near theatre all of us this August.

This is the film based on Martin Amis’s bestselling novel. Amber Heard stars as Nicola Six. Amber’s ex husband, Johnny Depp, is featured but not credited on the film poster. They met began their affair just before the movie started, and married when it was finished. The short marriage was as dreadful, evidently, as the film.

Shot in 2013, “London Fields” was supposed to screen at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival, but was pulled when lawsuits broke out over just how bad it was. Still, some critics saw it. They’re still being attended to (just kidding).

Director Cullen sued the producers, who’d taken the film away from him and re-cut it to try and make sense of the whole thing. (Cullen was asked to re-submit new versions but never did, according to reports.) According to a 2015 review in The Guardian, nothing worked in the producers’ resuscitation.

Theo James, Cara deLevigne, Jim Sturgess and Billy Bob Thornton co-star. Martin Cullen makes an inauspicious feature film directorial debut after transitioning from music videos. He’s very nice. I met him at the Spirit Awards this year. He lent me his wrist band so I could go use the Porta-Potty.

It seems like Marc Urman’s Paladin Films has the honor of distribution.

 Here’s the trailer, which is considered Not Suitable for Viewing at Work or in a Public Place: