cult film freak: joaquin phoenix

Showing posts with label joaquin phoenix. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 9/28/2017 / No comments / adventure , eighties , joaquin phoenix , kelly preston , larry b. scott , lea thompson , tate donovan , teen , tom skerritt

BLASTING OFF THE GLOSSY TEEN ORBIT OF SPACECAMP

adventure, eighties, joaquin phoenix, kelly preston, larry b. scott, lea thompson, tate donovan, teen, tom skerritt

BLASTING OFF THE GLOSSY TEEN ORBIT OF SPACECAMP

Phoenix, Preston, and the rest... here at SpaceCamp YEAR: 1986 In the midst of the bright neon 1980's, two of the most popular theat...

PENN STUCK IN STONE'S DESERT NOIR U-TURN

billy bob thorton, claire danes, jennifer lopez, joaquin phoenix, jon voight, julie hagerty, neo noir, nick nolte, nineties, oliver stone, sean penn

PENN STUCK IN STONE'S DESERT NOIR U-TURN

Sean Penn phones in Oliver Stone's mindtrip neo noir excursion within a small town purgatory Year Released: 1997 "If I were a b...

WOODY ALLEN DIRECTS JOAQUIN PHOENIX IN IRRATIONAL MAN

2015, emma watson, joaquin phoenix, neo noir, perfect murder, woody allen

WOODY ALLEN DIRECTS JOAQUIN PHOENIX IN IRRATIONAL MAN

2015 rating: ** Taking THE out of IRRATIONAL MAN is perhaps Woody Allen's way of saying all men are this way. If so, he's create...

Written by James M. Tate / 1/09/2015 / No comments / 2014 , gumshoe , joaquin phoenix , josh brolin , neo noir , paul thomas anderson , reese witherspoon

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON DIRECTS INHERENT VICE

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: *</td></tr>
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Judging by appearances alone, INHERENT VICE has already been compared to THE BIG LEBOWSKI since our scruffy hippie hero is… well… a scruffy hippie hero, like Jeff Bridges as The Dude. But the real similarity is both channel Film Noir where reluctant underdogs become entangled in an eclectic web of deceit, beautiful women, red herrings and more last names than a phone book…<br />
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And while LEBOWSKI centered on the product of the 1960’s lost in the 1990's, INHERENT VICE takes us to that actual magical place: a colorful era where idealistic L.A. druggies proudly contrast from the straight-laced necktie jerks, who, in this particular case, are all more crooked than Richard Nixon himself (numerously mentioned along with The Manson Family, Paranoia, Blacklisting and a napsack of other counter-culture clichés).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joaquin Phoenix</td></tr>
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The problem with VICE isn’t the abundance of characters spouting endless monologs within dull interior locations, but our main man, Joaquin Phoenix, whose Larry "Doc" Sportello doesn’t seem established enough to be taken seriously as an investigator of any sort, or a doctor or… Whatever the hell he's supposed to be just isn't clear.  <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Josh Brolin</td></tr>
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Phoenix sleepwalks through the role without humor, pathos or legitimate world-weary dynamic while his given-task weaves in so many twists and turns, there’s no palpable destination. Being misled through a foggy treadmill maze is the staple of any gumshoe flick, but a light at the end of the tunnel, or a few sparks along the way, keeps the viewer intrigued, enlightened, and awake. Meanwhile, epic art house director Paul Thomas Anderson seems even more absent than his otherwise talented MASTER star. <br />
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The best character is Josh Brolin’s square-jawed flattop bully cop Bigfoot, who represents everything hippies thoroughly detest: Ironically enough, he has one thing the entire movie lacks, which can be summed up in three words: An… Actual… Pulse.

2014, gumshoe, joaquin phoenix, josh brolin, neo noir, paul thomas anderson, reese witherspoon

PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON DIRECTS INHERENT VICE

2015 rating: * Judging by appearances alone, INHERENT VICE has already been compared to THE BIG LEBOWSKI since our scruffy hippie hero...

Written by James M. Tate / 5/29/2014 / No comments / drama , indie , jeremy renner , joaquin phoenix , marion cotillard , period piece

MARION COTILLARD & JOAQUIN PHOENIX IN THE IMMIGRANT

drama, indie, jeremy renner, joaquin phoenix, marion cotillard, period piece

MARION COTILLARD & JOAQUIN PHOENIX IN THE IMMIGRANT

year: 2014 The term “out of the frying pan, into the fire” has never been more befitting than in THE IMMIGRANT, where Marion Cotillard...

Written by James M. Tate / 2/02/2014 / 1 Comment / 2012 , drama , joaquin phoenix , paul thomas anderson , philip seymour hoffman

JOAQUIN PHOENIX & PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN IN THE MASTER

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnskGfz0aoQ7oM5h50HgIij7MuCdYoJPcw26PGzb2hyphenhyphen-t7U6s265Pgf3MjDvHZrRAis1GOcZSotomGLHUYXkqBjUkHUOqbfdDhJcO_degRqhj2ylaAg8Ar0tH5iDhlt4g7Suh_7ylNK5S/s1600/37188921_520218058407375_901784278499590144_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="874" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnskGfz0aoQ7oM5h50HgIij7MuCdYoJPcw26PGzb2hyphenhyphen-t7U6s265Pgf3MjDvHZrRAis1GOcZSotomGLHUYXkqBjUkHUOqbfdDhJcO_degRqhj2ylaAg8Ar0tH5iDhlt4g7Suh_7ylNK5S/s320/37188921_520218058407375_901784278499590144_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>An unseen Master and Joaquin Phoenix YEAR: 2010</u></td></tr>
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By the time Joaquin Phoenix’s Freddie Quell, a troubled, boisterous, alcoholic Second World War veteran, discovers that “He’s making it up as he goes” about The Master, a writer/guru named Lancaster Dodd played wonderfully by Philip Seymour Hoffman, you’ll wish he didn't realize it so soon – because Dodd can be hypnotizing and his cure seems legit...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Philip Seymour Hoffman died 2014</u></td></tr>
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But that’s only because Quill is so screwed up to begin with, so 
as we spend the first quarter struggling through his violently 
meandering post-war life, when Freddie begins to come around we finally get to know the character we’ve been burdened with thus far...<br />
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Gaining flashbacks of a young small town girl Freddie loves, Dodd asks him pointed questions – which need to be answered without hesitation or the blink of an eye (very much like what goes on within an actor's workshop)... This is a pivotal, moving scene bringing two polar opposites together. So what if Dodd’s practice, loosely (or not so loosely) based on Scientology, is really an empty road…<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBwzB6psMyAsvQvKQL20oBhNzfBbbVAW13QYF9YuwPWJVcYzVAQph539F1bNlClPzlOIwx9F3y10AgUIJy7ahodfPZaWKZDpVlHAhkfAknTqYCW5mgQ1rf-dZjdgYd8MTk6H9aaH910Jgc/s1600/Picture%252B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBwzB6psMyAsvQvKQL20oBhNzfBbbVAW13QYF9YuwPWJVcYzVAQph539F1bNlClPzlOIwx9F3y10AgUIJy7ahodfPZaWKZDpVlHAhkfAknTqYCW5mgQ1rf-dZjdgYd8MTk6H9aaH910Jgc/s320/Picture%252B1.png" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Master Score: ****1/2</u></td></tr>
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If it can turn a human mess like Quell into more than a mysterious stranger, so be it. He still holds onto his independent strength, only now he has something, or rather someone, to fight for, and it's true that writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, no stranger to big dynamic and overlong productions, takes advantage of the fact he’s created a cult leader who speaks more than he means and doesn't always make sense, giving the script free reign to meander without a structured plot or purpose. <br />
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Even though Hoffman's mesmerizing, mysterious, and earthy turn as the title-bearing focal point, never showing any obvious signs of being a con artist or an enlightened leader, is what the picture's named after, THE MASTER is really about The Follower...<br />
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And as the audience witnesses the turnaround of a truly lost soul, they’ll either follow or lose faith. But there’s no denying the dynamic performances of the two lead actors. If anything else, it’s one helluva bizarre, and truly unique and original, buddy bromance.<br />
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2012, drama, joaquin phoenix, paul thomas anderson, philip seymour hoffman

JOAQUIN PHOENIX & PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN IN THE MASTER

An unseen Master and Joaquin Phoenix YEAR: 2010 By the time Joaquin Phoenix’s Freddie Quell, a troubled, boisterous, alcoholic Second Wo...

Written by James M. Tate / 12/27/2013 / 1 Comment / 2013 , amy adams , joaquin phoenix , quirky , spike jonze

HER BY SPIKE JONZE WITH JOAQUIN PHOENIX

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY4i7iwMEwptRw0i9iyqmmDxhSM5va4Z4kHOzTCoyaylzL3h5WuFk9G-oPrElUse-KaZJ45Wb6uEfrKL62vL6qsqS_Di7MwWbwdIVp4jkqgAIt363x4NCLudFUyHlHXXmjJKcV5svbgNw/s1600/her.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY4i7iwMEwptRw0i9iyqmmDxhSM5va4Z4kHOzTCoyaylzL3h5WuFk9G-oPrElUse-KaZJ45Wb6uEfrKL62vL6qsqS_Di7MwWbwdIVp4jkqgAIt363x4NCLudFUyHlHXXmjJKcV5svbgNw/s200/her.jpg" width="171" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 rating: **</td></tr>
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Back when THE TWILIGHT ZONE episode TO AGNES WITH LOVE showed antisocial, lust-burdened geek Wally Cox falling hard for his female-voiced computer, it probably seemed pretty bizarre since office-sized computers weren’t exactly a commodity...<br />
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Skip to the early eighties with the obscure movie ELECTRIC DREAMS: since PC's had barely taken off, it was downright extraordinary that a talking computer would behave in a humanly if diabolical fashion...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DTTW2ubX91SYAVvO4rmZNluaKWy8R_QRdw74qq1PhEu9shsKq3qAv3NtBJIdzpOcKkJnnKdi6YcTicNNOeHJ21_UwyiMWJ9uCGCvO4IA35KEjEg0opFBxOEYLBNf1BqzS5YJ-vo2GgE/s1600/electric+dreams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DTTW2ubX91SYAVvO4rmZNluaKWy8R_QRdw74qq1PhEu9shsKq3qAv3NtBJIdzpOcKkJnnKdi6YcTicNNOeHJ21_UwyiMWJ9uCGCvO4IA35KEjEg0opFBxOEYLBNf1BqzS5YJ-vo2GgE/s200/electric+dreams.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Electric Dreams</td></tr>
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But the last twenty years with Internet chat rooms, social networks, dating websites and the navigating Siri herself, having a physically benign relationship via machine isn’t entirely farfetched. And in the near-future world, brought to life by writer/director Spike Jonze, it’s an all too normal occurrence.<br />
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Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore, a lonely writer working at a job perfectly suited for quirky arthouse fare: writing actual letters for other people by speaking into a computer. But things happen after Theodore gets home. Brooding through a divorce, he downloads a brand new operating system, OS1, which includes the girl of his dreams, Samantha, a computer taking care of just about every task, voiced by a soothingly silky-toned Scarlett Johansson.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YVyeMv2mm34JLRhyphenhyphenuG0xju9JPrjeu7Cw-On1KkY6vdLNK5DZpMi2R4_GYcXnmjQbyl8K56nL-OqZ8GfEzpKOHENvUWr4kLDqA7oXJKB9zPPolaIdGPf42ei703eTrpcs8E4yDtUv5eI/s1600/hal900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YVyeMv2mm34JLRhyphenhyphenuG0xju9JPrjeu7Cw-On1KkY6vdLNK5DZpMi2R4_GYcXnmjQbyl8K56nL-OqZ8GfEzpKOHENvUWr4kLDqA7oXJKB9zPPolaIdGPf42ei703eTrpcs8E4yDtUv5eI/s200/hal900.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hal 9000 from 2001</td></tr>
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<span id="goog_1222744115"></span><span id="goog_1222744116"></span><span id="goog_1222744118"></span><span id="goog_1222744119"></span>The setup is intriguing. Theodore and Samantha get to know each other as he ventures outside and, with a camera in his phone and hearing her voice from an earpiece, she can view the real world: from outdoor malls to beaches to the wilderness, Samantha experiences life while not only saying the right things things but singing and composing music to fit each location and mood. <br />
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An intriguing premise is hindered by the relationship seeming way too normal – to Theodore and just about everyone else. Since he admits outright to having a personal relationship with an OS, there’s no mystery or guilt involved with such a unique concept. Not only that but Phoenix, no stranger to intense/bizarre characters, isn’t given a chance to shine in his usual askew light. And the sappy, downright embarrassing scenes where Theodore and Samantha confess their mutual adoration is like overhearing a smitten couple whispering sweet nothings, making the audience a third wheel… that ultimately goes flat. <br />
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Perhaps if, like 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, Samantha got real dirty we’d have a relationship worth the experience. FATAL ATTRACTION goes viral would beat this searing hipster flick with more naval-gazing theme than plotline. Although there is one particular "baby alien" on Theodore's virtual realty game console that, like the sassy, foul-mouthed teddy bear TED, would have made a much more unpredictable, entertaining sidekick.

2013, amy adams, joaquin phoenix, quirky, spike jonze

HER BY SPIKE JONZE WITH JOAQUIN PHOENIX

year: 2013 rating: ** Back when THE TWILIGHT ZONE episode TO AGNES WITH LOVE showed antisocial, lust-burdened geek Wally Cox falling har...

Written by James M. Tate / 4/03/2013 / No comments / casey affleck , david letterman , documentary , joaquin phoenix , tens

JOAQUIN PHOENIX IN I'M STILL HERE

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu6s_I13UR-7DhnmBFR4v_byIGdGS7fXcwP4FtCr_jgOYI_5eCJR6BriLURZ-yXl7CWWmw3-hbyXM3fky-gJJXDZQcNQuiJFy89msucR8Qi84G7HSj0JIUr9ZNkIiFavsjE-eoytzBwOs/s1600/IMSTILLHERE.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu6s_I13UR-7DhnmBFR4v_byIGdGS7fXcwP4FtCr_jgOYI_5eCJR6BriLURZ-yXl7CWWmw3-hbyXM3fky-gJJXDZQcNQuiJFy89msucR8Qi84G7HSj0JIUr9ZNkIiFavsjE-eoytzBwOs/s16000/IMSTILLHERE.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2010 cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Casey Affleck, David Letterman, Ben Stiller rating: **1/2</td></tr>
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Hey, look – it’s Zach Galifianakis doing a Charlie Sheen imitation, breaking down in front of the entire world, and for what exactly? Okay so it’s really a bearded overweight Joaquin Phoenix who, a few years after an Oscar nominated performance as Johnny Cash in WALK THE LINE, decided to take a permanent break from show business – and he wasn’t going out quietly.<br />
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Anybody remember that little kid (then named Leaf) with the robot in SPACECAMP or the troubled pre-teen who collected porno mags in Ron Howard’s PARENTHOOD? That’s the younger brother of the late River Phoenix, who first got this viewer's attention playing one of two white trash murderers in TO DIE FOR along with Casey Affleck, Ben's brother and Joaquin’s brother-in-law and, most importantly, the director/co-writer of I’M STILL HERE, a documentary, or rather, "mockumentary" about Joaquin's attempted plunge into the rap music industry.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAyZDXWy1S9C75shsxS0Obh65JheNI-vsUgfDYpVCXwUlXP7bJyndMCPTsxhAgDG0i_wp3VYC07qNmmT_NqvwGWin1TCzJCwd5oXfOnIRqla-oISH2LEUL3r7yiSJTiN7spbaa7hB6A0/s1600/IMSTILLHERE2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyAyZDXWy1S9C75shsxS0Obh65JheNI-vsUgfDYpVCXwUlXP7bJyndMCPTsxhAgDG0i_wp3VYC07qNmmT_NqvwGWin1TCzJCwd5oXfOnIRqla-oISH2LEUL3r7yiSJTiN7spbaa7hB6A0/s16000/IMSTILLHERE2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joaquin Phoenix attempts to impress Sean Puffy Combs</td></tr>
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The most involving scenes has the troubled star desperately trying to impress hip hop mogul Sean Puffy Combs to produce a work-in-progress rap album, initially consisting of a few songs that Phoenix performs to unhappy audiences in random live venues. And why not – his lyrics weren’t that awful but he couldn’t carry a spoken-note, and without a script what’s an actor to do before an unruly crowd? <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He returns in the masterpiece THE MASTER soon after...</td></tr>
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Scenes where the frantic primadonna snorts coke and chews out his personal assistants are both mean-spirited and contrived. Then during moments of rogue contemplation, he really doesn’t have anything deep or meaningful to say about either music or acting.<br />
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If Phoenix is attempting humor so dry it's completely unnoticeable, he overreached: while the film seems edgy and real it's not that funny or interesting. More archive footage on the Phoenix family upbringing (as quickly shown in the prologue) or clips of his early roles could have made the project relevant to ardent cinema buffs and/or fans of JP as a hard-working cult actor who progressed into the mainstream.  <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joaquin Phoenix on The Late Show with David Letterman</td></tr>
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The highlight is an appearance on David Letterman promoting his supposed last film TWO LOVERS. Finally some laughs occur thanks to Letterman’s ability to make the most awkward situation humorous. As the bearded and bewildered actor chews gum and has nothing to say, Letterman jabs him with one-liners, comparing his unkempt shaggy look to that of the “Uni-Bomber.” This segment feels like a devastating first date, full of edgy/uncomfortable silences, but Letterman handles the train wreck with ease.<br />
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Despite the flaws, I'M STILL HERE is not an entirely futile venture… As Phoenix descends into the scraggly abyss he seems most comfortable in, you’ll want to see how low he can go, and better yet, if any more celebrities (besides Letterman, Ben Stiller and Edward James Olmos) will try figuring out his bizarre behavior and decision to quit the one thing he’s good at: pretending to be someone else...<br />
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casey affleck, david letterman, documentary, joaquin phoenix, tens