Tag Archives: joaquin phoenix

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Inherent Vice (2014)

Review Inherent Vice

Dear Mister Anderson,

The first work of yours which I ever saw was the movie Magnolia, your work impressed me and during your career I’ve seen almost all of your movies including Punch Drunk Love, There Will Be Blood and The Master. Also didn’t want to miss your latest film, Inherent Vice. I couldn’t wait to find out what it was about and what to expect from it. See, I never read the book this movie is based on, but as you know how to make movies I had confidence this would be a nice surprise. Continue reading →

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Her (2013)

Review Her

Technology is developing at an exponential rate. The machines which once were considered supercomputers and occupied whole rooms now fit in the palm of your hand. That exponential growth does not seem to stop anytime soon and many futurists already try to look ahead and predict where it will lead us. Ray Kurzweil is one of them, who predicts that there will be a moment where our minds simply will not be able to keep up with artificial intelligence, which will end up changing society. He even thinks there will be a moment where we no longer will need our physical bodies anymore and we can just upload ourselves to a computer, basically granting us eternal life and opening up new experiences. It is a subject I have always been interested in, seeing where technology will take mankind. Her is one vision of a future which to me does not sound that far-fetched. Continue reading →

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The Many Faces of… Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico on October 28, 1974. His parents were part of the religious cult the Children of God, which they left in 1978 and they returned to the U.S. Growing up the kids performed on the streets and in L.A. he was discovered, together with his siblings, after which he started appearing on TV shows (his first in 1982), initially under the name Leaf Phoenix. He has since starred in To Die For, U Turn and Inventing the Abbotts. It was his role in The Gladiator as Roman emperor Commodus which made him famous and he has since appeared in many other movies, including Hotel Rwanda, Sings, The Village, Walk the Line. He surprised everyone when he retired and stated he was focussing on a rap career. It eventually lead to the “documentary” I’m Still Here. He returned to acting in The Master. Continue reading →

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The Master (2012)

Review of the Master

Straight from the opening shot, a lingering view of Joaquin Phoenix’s character Freddie Quell, you have the feeling this film is going to be special. It might be because it was the first movie shot on 65mm film since 1996, but at the start of the film I was blown away by what I was seeing. Beautifully framed shots and a perfect recreation of a time period around the second world war. There is a moment in a photo studio where you’d swear you are seeing archival footage or pictures of that times brought to life through some digital trickery. Those first couple of minutes had me hooked and I was prepared to join Freddie Quell, a struggling alcoholic, on his journey. It’s a shame then that at the end of the 144 minute running time I was lost. Continue reading →

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I’m Still Here (2010)

How much pleasure do you get out of watching a train wreck? That’s the first question I thought of after watching this documentary (not even thinking about the discussions whether or not this is real). My answer to this question? “None whatsoever”. Joaquin Phoenix, a succesful actor (Gladiator, Walk the Line, We Own The Night, The Yards), decides to give up acting and focus on starting his music career by becoming a rapper. This journey is filmed by his brother-in-law Casey Affleck, who followed him everywhere. Continue reading →