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'I'm Still Here: The Lost Year of Joaquin Phoenix' Coming Soon
by Ethan Anderton
July 14, 2010
Source: Deadline
We've already heard Casey Affleck talk rather seriously about his "documentary" following actor Joaquin Phoenix's fall from grace as he pursued a career in rapping and a makeshift aviary on his face. Now it looks like audiences will be able to see the supposed craziness themselves as Deadline reports Magnolia Pictures has acquired I'm Still Here: The Lost Year of Joaquin Phoenix with the intention of giving the film a limited release on September 10th followed by a wide release the following week. While many distributors were simply confused by the film, Magnolia's president Eamonn Bowles is confident it'll draw an audience.
After seeing the film, which apparently borders on Andy Kaufman levels of realistic absurdity, Bowles wasn't interested in whether the footage formed a genuine documentary or simply a gritty mockumentary, but felt people needed to see it. Sounds good to me. Here's what he had to say via the press release:
"No matter what I thought coming in, I came out feeling this was a pretty amazing piece of work, jaw dropping but dimensional. It is going to get a lot of attention, but it is not some cheap stunt where they said, 'Let's do some wild stuff and film it.' It is extreme behavior but really good filmmaking as well. Frankly, some of the behavior is very extreme. But it is in the context of the insanity of being in Joaquin's life for that period of time. It is a unique piece of work that is going to surprise people in different ways."
Of course anyone who saw Phoenix's public appearances (especially on "Late Night with David Letterman") will be interested to see this period in his life whether the nonsense within is fabricated or not. The trick will be getting people interested without grossing them out early on with the crazy content of the film. We heard a little while back that the Casey Affleck-directed film features Phoenix "snorting cocaine, ordering call girls, having oral sex with a publicist, treating his assistants abusively and rapping badly." But the very worst part to endure will be "more male frontal nudity than you'd find in some gay porn films and a stomach-turning sequence in which someone feuding with Phoenix defecates on the actor while he's asleep." Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing how outlandish this film truly is. Will you check this out in theaters or not?
14 Comments
1
Wow...I think this might be crazy enough to actually work. I wonder if this means that following the release Phoenix will go back to being normal and start making movies again.
peloquin on Jul 14, 2010
2
/fail
moviefan111 on Jul 14, 2010
3
pretty sure Pheonix "retiring from acting" was just a little scheme so they can pull something like this off.
lego on Jul 14, 2010
5
I'm in, maybe it will be so crazy that its amazingly awesome.
Xerxex on Jul 14, 2010
6
I don't care what anyone says, that Letterman interview was the funniest thing I ever saw. Of course it was scripted, even a burnt out drunk lunatic would have walked out if it were a serious interview. I can't wait for this documentary to come out, should be great!..lol
Adam on Jul 14, 2010
7
lol this is pathetic. if it all were serious, no one would be fucking filming it. use your brains. so it just so happened casey affleck or whoever had a camera onhand to see a publicist blowing Phoenix and some dude shitting all over Phoenix? oh, and both don't mind being put on-screen or online? this is such an epic farce, and I'm sure Phoenix must've been cursing when people guessed very early on he was faking.
bo on Jul 14, 2010
8
I think that was the point bo, most people could not grasp it, some of us did.
Xerxex on Jul 14, 2010
9
Can this be more uninteresting?
loser on Jul 15, 2010
10
narcissism: the lost two hours you wont ever get back
jonny b on Jul 15, 2010
11
I didn't think I could care any less about this than I already have, but after reading that quote I am even less interested. I hope NO ONE sees this and it fails indefinitely.
Dan W on Jul 15, 2010
12
I was Joaquin Phoenix for Halloween. Bring this on.
Out on Jul 15, 2010
13
I, for one, am truly excited, the whole frontal male nudity turns me off a little, but that Letterman interview really intrigued me enough to see this no matter what.
Trademark on Jul 15, 2010
14
I'm excited because they are doing something new. The closest thing I can think of is Borat, but Cohen wasn't putting his reputation and fame on the line, just his characters. This kind of experiement seems more theatrical/performance art/moviemaking mash that feels fresh and could be very good.
dwin on Jul 15, 2010
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