Phoenix: Music Is My Legacy

(NEWSER) - Bizarre behavior aside, Joaquin Phoenix does have ambitions for his new career in rhyming, as he revealed in an interview with ABC News. “I want it to be big,” he said of his debut album, which is in the works. “Not big like popular. I want it to really try and be, for me, the culmination of my life thus far.” Don’t worry, clubgoers, “there are dance songs.” But “most of it, I think, is an internal exploration.” More»

Venice as confused as everyone about actor's bizarre filmed journey

(NEWSER) - First critics were stumped, now film festival fans are just as perplexed after seeing Joaquin Phoenix's latest movie and are still wondering: is he punking us or is he in the throes of a serious mental collapse? "There is no hoax," director Casey Affleck told reporters at the Venice Film Festival, where his movie about Phoenix, I'm Still Here, has captivated audiences. Affleck concedes, however: "I understand how a lot of this movie could be confusing in terms of, 'Oh well, it seems like something's real or not.'" The zen-like film follows Phoenix's bizarre, perhaps genuine, transformation from top actor to shambolic hip-hop wannabe after turning his back on Hollywood two years ago. More»

Mockumentary preview's a head-scratcher

(NEWSER) - The enigma that's wrapped in the riddle that is actor Joaquin Phoenix is beginning to unravel ... or maybe not. Film of his apparent months-long nervous breakdown, shot by brother-in-law Casey Affleck, is about to hit theaters, and it's proof that the mysterious personality disorder he displayed was all an enormous practical joke, crows Daily Beast writer Gina Piccalo. A preview of the film I'm Still Here: The Lost World of Joaquin circulating on the Internet is so deadpan that's it's "ridiculous" and further evidence that Joaquin "has been pulling one over on the public," she notes. More»

Prince, Julie Andrews, Francis Ford Coppola deserve another chance

(NEWSER) - Whether they're clearly taking anything just for the money or out-and-out slumming, numerous pop culture icons are mired in a rut of underachievement. The Onion A.V. Club staff fields a question from a Sylvester Stallone loyalist and lists more artists deserving of a second chance:

• Sam Adams can't quit Nicolas Cage: "The near-unremitting river of shit that is his recent output would be disheartening even if it weren’t clear that the main source of his troubles is Cage himself."

Dakota Fanning-Kristen Stewart vehicle divides critics

(NEWSER) - Critics praise the performances in The Runaways, about Joan Jett's seminal '70s band, but whether the flick succeeds is up for debate. Some takes:

• "Say what you will about the Runaways," Peter Travers writes in Rolling Stone , but "they never played it safe. The movie does." He wants more out of the verboten relationship between Dakota Fanning's Cherie Currie and Kristen Stewart's Jett. Still, "Fanning scores a knockout."