Retired Joaquin - Page 2

Whether it is real or a prank, Joaquin seems to be commiting career suicide with it.

The movie they're filming about this is going to be great.

He is on Letterman tonight. They say it is a Crispin Glover trainwreck.

Yea it's up there with all the Letterman greats- Glover, Madonna, Harvey Pekar.

Good n' Ackward.

Here he comes...

He looks like Vincent Gallo. BRITISH ACCENT WHAT THE FUCK!?!?

This is an act! It is for a mockumentry

Anybody watching this?

Boy he is really into the character.

"We own Farrah Fawcett an apology!" Gold

Letterman has been on fire as of late with getting great guests. He got the flight crew from Miracle on the Hudson, Bill Hick's mom, and now Joaquin Phoenix

The fun part will be if it turns out not to be a prank and he dies. That would make a hell of a documentary.

I like how the audience just laughed at him and didn't seem to care that it was apparently upsetting Joaquin. They knew Dave was on their side. If the guy isn't joking he has certainly become a joke. The comment about Paul's "malicious laughter" was off-putting to the point where I wasn't sure if he was joking anymore.

Anyone notice at the end he stood up and shook Letterman's hand and took off his sunglasses? I could almost hear him saying, "thanks for playing along with the gag."

upsetting?? i didn't really get that.

I think he was tryin to emulate the 'spaced out' druggie type. Not quite sure whats going on but just tryin to play it out.

Loved it when he put the gum on Daves desk (and took it off just before the commercials ran)

maybe Phoenix is into awkward British Office style humor? And even this awkwardness is something he finds hilarious especially for a mokumentary?

He seemed to get kind of peeved with the laughter and asked Letterman "what kind of gas" he was pumping in, cause obviously nothing he was doing could be considered funny. The part with the gum he was acting pretty pissed. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's an Andy Kaufman-esque joke...clearly he was acting upset as a way to say "this ISN'T a joke, stop laughing." That said, I'm not 100% convinced Letterman was in on it. Regardless, Dave was on his game.

When the clip came up, I started wondering how the studio/filmmakers feel about him pulling this stunt when he's supposed to be promoting their movie. Seems like he could get into some hot legal water there (if the film does poorly they might be able to blame him for not fulfilling his obligations and such and such, not that I know much about this type of stuff).

To Answer your question,

I had no desire to see Two Lovers...

UNTIL TONIGHT.

I am seeing that fucking movie.

After seeing that clip it's pretty damn obvious this is some Andy Kaufman shit Joaquin is doing. If not, it's an epic meltdown. Win/Win.

I have to agree, especially since Casey Affleck is doing that documentary about Phoenix's transition into music. If he really was having a meltdown, I'd find it hard to believe that a close friend would be willing to make a film about it.

Ah, to hell with Joaquin. I'm steamed that Sports Illustrated cover model Bar Refaeli wouldn't answer any questions about dating Leo. Come on sister, give up the goods.

Fantastic. If it's a work, good on him, if not, some one should get the phoenix family plot ready for a new resident.

If it is a huge put on, it is rapidly reaching the point that a whole lot of people ..some high up in the industry..are going to very pissed when the reveal comes. Time for Phoenix to call it quits. He might get a hell of a documentary, but at the cost of heavy damage to his legit acting career.

Over one February Dump of a movie?

"Well Joaquin, I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight."

Awesome.

Is it true he held up both fists to the cameras (and audience) with,
' Me!' 'Help' written on the knuckles in marker?

I didn't see that on the broadcast last night. Was it after the cameras went off the air?

Classic. I love Letterman.

Nah, for making fools of them by pulling off his crazy stunt.
Of course Phoenix might end up making a fool of himself as well as talk show hosts.

Damn, Joaquin was a glutton for punishment. I HOPE it was all set up.

This would be epic marketing for his doc or maybe something we don't know about.

The problem with the doc is that people will have already seen the really good stuff.
And,frankly, ridiculing the media and it shallowness is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Just a heads up for those who missed it or want to relive the glory - The Letterman show is being rerun tonight.

I gotta hand it to the man, he knows how to tell a story.

I think Baldwin knows it a stunt,and is trying to tell Joaquin the routine has now gotten old.

Haha, what? He's sending Joaquin secret messages?

I think the whole thing is pretty clear to be a set up. No one doubted Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Robert Downey Jr, Lindsay Lohan etc. when they went into meltdown mode. The fact that there is such doubt and whispers of it being a hoax can't be ignored and signal that it's a gag. It'll be fun to watch publicists explain away odd behavior for their clients as a "Joaquin Phoenix styled social experiment" in the future after this is all said and done.

Looking at the sudden pursuit of a rap career, Casey Affleck filming it, the quick turn to hobo clothing, etc. they are other giveaways. It's going to be at least a very interesting documentary. Hard to say it's gotten old, since we don't even have an idea of the finished product. I think we'll find out the treatment Mel Gibson underwent (who then, similarly came back with a crazy beard) is partially the inspiration for this social experiment. Good on Phoenix for attempting something like this. Career suicide? Hardly. If it's a hit then everyone lines up to kiss his ass, if it flops then he'll go through a dog-be-beat, dog-be-given-treat revival.

The latest incident. Luckily Casey was there to capture it. What a coincidence:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co....cle5894441.ece

The 34-year-old, who recently announced he had given up acting to become a hip-hop artist, stopped rapping after a man in the audience of the Miami Beach club disturbed him.

"We have a b**** in the audience," Phoenix announced.

“"I've got a million f***** dollars in my f***** bank account. What have you got?" he taunted before jumping from the Miami Beach stage and heading for the man.

The point made by Alec is you can give us more laughs without that much set up.

That this is a routine is now obvious.
What I have problems with..aside from the fact the routine is now old (when you are faking something and people catch on then it is time to stop) ...is whether or not the guy in the audience was a shill or not. If not, then Joaquin might be in danger of carrying this routine into the danger zone. If you get arrested for assault, the judge is not going to care if it was part of a stunt or not.

Exactly. Joaquin is making the mistake most rooky comics make:Not knowing when a routine becomes old. In comedy , timing is everything.

Gotcha.

The latest "incident" does further drive the point home that it's a hoax.

Joaquin is going to look more like a idiot the longer this goes on. I think just about everybody with a ounce of brains thinks this is a hoax, and the longer Joaquin insists on acting like people are still buying it the dumber he will look.
The idea might be brilliant on paper, but the execution has been pretty weak.
He tipped his hand that it was a fake far too early. Andy Kaufmenn or Sasha Cohen would have handled it a lot better.

The director of Two Lovers weighs in:

FWIW, Gray has directed Phoenix in three films since 2000 - The Yards, We Own The Night, and Two Lovers.

Too bad for Gray, Two Lovers was fucking awful.

Grey is right on. This whole stunt is not nearly as brilliant as Affleck or Phoenix think it is. They probably think they are doing a brilliant satire on the media's obssesion with celebs, but all they are doing is making total fools of themselves.

Andy Kauffman could pull this kind of thing off; Sasha Cohen can. Phoenix and Affleck cannot. Time to call it quits, guys, and limit the damage.

There's the flipside of what you're saying though. If it becomes obvious that it's a put on, and nobody is buying it any longer, but he keeps insisting on doing it then it will come back around and start being funny again. Pushing a joke to when it stops being funny and continuing to push it until it starts making people laugh again is another Kaufman thing.

Yeah, but Joaquin is not Kauffman. It takes comic skill to do that, and I convinced that Phoenix does not have that skill.

I agree, but then again I also never would have guessed he'd have the stones to try what he's doing for this long. I think I'm giving him a little more credit than other people because even if it was too heavy handed too early, it was gutsy to attempt.

Agreed, but you have to judge the final results, not the intentions.

Seems to me that Joaquin probably did want to retire (he's quit before) and Affleck somehow managed to convince him to go out with this stunt. It may be career suicide, but that may be what Phoenix really wants.

It's not retirement unless you become an apprentice shoemaker in Italy.