It's a Hoax: Joaquin Pheonix retires from acting and becomes a rapper

Tell me if you disagree, but this has to be a hoax, right? Joaquin Pheonix "retires" from acting.... so that he can become a rapper. And his brother-in-law celeb, Casey Affleck, is directing a documentary about his transition.

Consider the evidence:

#1) He gives a scoop to E! Entertainment of all places that he's retiring from the acting world and pursuing a career in music.


#2) In a follow-up interview, he affirms (in a less-than-sober manner) that he has indeed retired from acting, that there's more to his "artism" than film, and that it's, like, greener pastures.


#3) In a clearly stoned-out-his-gord performance, he hops up and down like a child, points the mic at the audience inviting them to shout the lyrics to a song he's rapping for the first time, and in the end, falls on his ass walking off the stage:



My theory: he and Casey decided to create a documentary hoax, seeing how many sheep would willingly buy into the idea that he's fallen off the wagon and become a rapper. What's even more interesting: how could all of those simps in the club actually believe that they're listening to good music (when he's clearly intentionally trying to be the worst rapper in the world).
Read more...

Film-critics: A dying breed?

Roger Ebert just posted a thought-provoking piece on his blog about the death of serious film criticism (and respectable newspaper journalism in general) and the rise of the Celebrity Cult. One of the more disturbing manifestations of this trend: the AP recently restricted all entertainment writers to 500 words or less, whether it's an interview, film review, think piece, etc. There goes "The Sacrifice" :-)

Of course, it's ironic that the man who reduced film reviews to the orientation of his opposable digits is lamenting the death of thoughtful criticism.

Frankly, I couldn't care less what newspapers do. They're the real dying breed, and these desperate actions are their death throws. Serious film criticism, on the other hand, isn't dying. It's just that its venues have changed with the times. And I also couldn't care less about celebrity culture. In this world, there's room for both. Most people just occasionally dabble in media-driven obsessions. But if you want to spend your life neck-deep in all of the celeb-sewage oozing out of Hollywood, I won't stop you.
Read more...