Oh, boy.  Joaquin Phoenix. What a brilliant character piece you’ve been working on for the past 2 years. I’ve got to applaud you. Most of the country thinks you’ve completely lost your mind to drugs, narcissism, whatever…but I’m on to you. I think.

Just as a reminder to those who have no idea. Academy Award nominee (and brother to River) Joaquin Phoenix announced in October 2008 that he would quit acting and focus on a rap career. As you can expect, that was met with many o’ chuckles. He then did this brilliant bizzarro act on David Letterman…which is a must see:

Tomorrow is the limited release of the captured footage of his journey to rap superstardom. Joaquin’s brother-in-law is the director — Casey Affleck.  Whether this is a sham or performance art, I’m not sure it really matters. We’ll see him cry. We’ll see him ponder. We’ll see him fight. We’ll see him hug P-Diddy.

Official Synopsis:

I’m Still Here is a portrayal of a tumultuous year in the life of actor Joaquin Phoenix. With remarkable access, the documentary follows the Oscar-nominee as he announces his retirement from a successful film career in the fall of 2008 and sets off to reinvent himself as a hip hop musician. The film is a portrait of an artist at a crossroads and explores notions of courage and creative reinvention, as well as the ramifications of a life spent in the public eye.

I’m not sure why I care about this film. But I’m wildly intrigued. It’s tough to justify running out to the movie theater this weekend to see it — but the temptation is there.  The teaser trailer here is a great glimpse into the artistic approach they are taking into this sham fly on the wall view of Phoenix. Is Joaquin really that much of a celebrity for anyone to truly care? If this is a complete sham (which I’m assuming it is), don’t you find it amazing that he’s stayed within this “character” for 2 years? And most importantly, don’t you want to know whether he’s having a girl or boy (:43 sec. mark)?

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