Joaquin Phoenix Gossip

The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, and somehow, in a year with a wealth of solid options that could provide a controversy-free Oscar month, the Academy still managed to irk and irritate. Lainey and Duana will have more on specific snubs and #OscarsSoMale on the next episode of Show Your Work, but for now let's talk about Joker and its ELEVEN nominations. Full Story

My biggest interview last night was Eddie Murphy. I don’t think we really believed we would get him going into it. This is Eddie Murphy, he’s not the most accessible of celebrities and he’s never the celebrity who gives every outlet on the press line a few minutes. That said, Eddie is campaigning for Dolemite Is My Name and if you haven’t seen this on Netflix… Let’s sidebar quickly about Dolemite because it’s GREAT. Full Story

It’s official, Joker is a hit, setting a new October opening weekend record with a $96 million opening weekend. This is more than Justice League ($93.8 million). Joker is a hit, Justice League is a flop, and the difference lies mostly in their budgets and a little bit in their ratings. R-rated movies are never expected to perform as well as more audience-friendly PG-13 movies, though we have seen a number of R-rated blockbusters recently (the Deadpool and It franchises). Full Story

That title in and of itself is newsworthy considering who we’re talking about: Joaquin Phoenix, one of the most press-averse actors in the business, willingly participating in an interview with Vanity Fair that covers his work life, his love life, his family life, including mentions of his late brother, River. Full Story

If ever there was a movie that does not live up to its hype, it is Todd Phillips’ much debated Joker. A stripped down, deconstructed comic book movie, Joker is supposedly the most inflammatory, dangerous, provocative film of the year—of the era!—a movie that is maybe causing a moral panic and fanning the flames of the culture war. Full Story

Joaquin Phoenix is currently one of the frontrunners for Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Joker. We have seen him seemingly becoming more comfortable promoting the film and, perhaps, his campaign Full Story

Bradley Cooper was not on the list of expected attendees at last night’s TIFF premiere of Joker, which just won the Golden Lion in Venice and is now an Oscar contender in several categories, including Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix. There are many layers to this Bradley Cooper relationship with Joker. Full Story

Following the Joker world premiere at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend, Joaquin Phoenix is now officially a contender for Best Actor Oscar. Up to this point, which is early, but not as early as you think considering the Oscars are at the beginning of February in 2020 which shortens the season, experts had Antonio Banderas as a frontrunner for his performance in Pain and Glory. Full Story

The Venice Film Festival kicks off next week, and with it comes the world premiere of Joker, followed by a North American premiere at TIFF. Ahead of both of those things, we have a new trailer to absorb. The first trailer was promising Full Story

Two years ago we learned that cinema’s best misanthropic boy, Todd Phillips, was developing a Joker origins movie no one asked for. Then Joaquin Phoenix was named as the star Full Story