Joaquin yo ass!

"A mind is a terrible thing to waste." - various people

I can remember first reading the news that Joaquin Phoenix was planning to retire from acting. I was very disappointed and confused. Then after his infamous appearance on Letterman, where he was overweight, grizzly, obnoxious, and antisocial, I was totally bewildered. Then shockingly more bewildered when I heard he was quitting acting to pursue a career in hip hop. Finally, I was absolutely convinced he'd suffered a mental breakdown when I actually heard him rap. It was almost too crazy. And thankfully it was, because Phoenix didn't quit acting. In fact, he was doing the most challenging act of his life.

Yes readers, Your Modest Guru wasn't the only talented, mysterious, and handsome celebrity to return to the scene recently. Turns out the freaky new Joaquin Phoenix of recent memory was an elaborate acting venture that Phoenix and friend, brother-in-law, and fellow actor Casey Affleck were responsible for. I'm not sure what the purpose was then Phoenix and Affleck were hoping for some kind of virtuoso acting experience undercover in Hollywood, as well as sort of observing society thrown into a state of chaos over one man's apparently shattered stability. Well it worked on me, though I refused to believe it for awhile. But it only proves how great of an actor Joaquin Phoenix really is, because he really sold his performance as himself.

This plot by the two actors bottomed out into a documentary (a feaux documentary as of late) about Phoenix's "self-destruction" titled I'm Still Here. When I first saw promos for the film, I was even more confused about what Phoenix was doing. I mean sure the film would showcase his misery and deterioration, but then again he said he was done with movies. Either way, I didn't see it but I heard it was pretty good, especially at convincing folks that this thing going on with him was real.

Thankfully though, this whole thing was only a new acting method conceived by two actors/actor brothers who, for the most part, successfully executed a pledge, turn, and prestige. I was very glad to see him return to Letterman recently where he was thin, clean cut, and very presentable. Letterman's reaction was also good. Even though throughout this little project I was convinced that a man with so much talent, with incredible performances in movies such as Walk the Line, Gladiator, and We Own the Night, and whose own brother, River Phoenix, a young actor with much promise, had led a self destructive lifestyle (ending with River dead in a gutter) could transform like this. Not to mention, his rap was just embarrassing to watch; imagine his Johnny Cash singing voice juxtaposed with hip hop rhythm and posturing that makes 50 Cent look downplayed. But no, he wasn't totally insane, he just convinced us he was. Now that I think about it, Phoenix and Casey Affleck are really quite genius. I mean, how often does something truly surprising emerge from the Hollywood limelight these days? Joaquin Phoenix's breakdown was more fascinating than Paris Hilton getting a, like, week in lockup for carrying a bag of coke. Nearly all reality TV is fabricated and just bullshit, and very transparent when it is. Phoenix and Affleck were making doing the same thing, but it was not transparent in the slightest. In fact it did what most reality TV fails at: it convinced us it was reality.

Anywho, I look forward to whatever work Phoenix has planned now that his rap career clearly went nowhere. It's good to have him back. And for his performance, I must say: bravo, you sly dog.

This has been a new post from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.