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I'm Still Here

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I'm Still Here (2010)

September. 10,2010
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6.2
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R
| Drama Comedy Music
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I'm Still Here is a portrayal of a tumultuous year in the life of actor Joaquin Phoenix. With remarkable access, the film 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.

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Reviews

Limerculer
2010/09/10

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

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Erica Derrick
2010/09/11

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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Juana
2010/09/12

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

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Marva
2010/09/13

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

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darkfabric
2010/09/14

My goal was to avoid this movie. I even imagined spending my entire 15 minutes of fame advertising this fact. It was the only way I could possibly maximize Joaquin Phoenix's chances of hearing about my protest. Much too lazy and impatient to wait for my spotlight, however, I finally gave in and watched it last night.The movie features actors, playing roles. A joke is implied. I didn't end up getting it. This made me feel the joke was on me. I didn't like that feeling, which is not to say I can't laugh at myself. But in order for me to join in my own deprecation, I need to understand the gag. This realization didn't sit well with me. Afterward, a few things occur in the movie that may or may not be scripted. Then credits mentioning a host of important friends roll, signifying the end.It's a vehicle, about which only one thing need be said: see summary.

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cultfilmfreaksdotcom
2010/09/15

Hey, look – it's Zach Galifianakis doing a Charlie Sheen imitation, breaking down in front of the entire world, and for what exactly? Okay so it's really a bearded overweight Joaquin Phoenix who, a few years after an Oscar nominated performance as Johnny Cash in WALK THE LINE, decided to take a permanent break from show business – and he wasn't going out quietly.Anybody remember that little kid (then named Leaf) with the robot in SPACECAMP or the troubled pre-teen who collected porno mags in Ron Howard's PARENTHOOD? That's the younger brother of the late River Phoenix, who first got this viewer's attention playing one of two white trash murderers in TO DIE FOR along with Casey Affleck, Ben's brother and Joaquin's brother-in-law and, most importantly, the director/co-writer of I'M STILL HERE, a documentary, or rather, "mockumentary" about Joaquin's attempted plunge into the rap music industry.The most involving scenes has the troubled star desperately trying to impress hip hop mogul Sean Puffy Combs to produce a work-in-progress rap album, initially consisting of a few songs that Phoenix performs to unhappy audiences in random live venues. And why not – his lyrics weren't that awful but he couldn't carry a spoken-note, and without a script what's an actor to do before an unruly crowd? Scenes where the frantic primadonna snorts coke and chews out his personal assistants are both mean-spirited and contrived. Then during moments of rogue contemplation, he really doesn't have anything deep or meaningful to say about either music or acting.If Phoenix is attempting humor so dry it's completely unnoticeable, he overreached: while the film seems edgy and real it's not that funny or interesting. More archive footage on the Phoenix family upbringing (as quickly shown in the prologue) or clips of his early roles could have made the project relevant to ardent cinema buffs and/or fans of JP as a hard-working cult actor who progressed into the mainstream. The highlight is an appearance on David Letterman promoting his supposed last film TWO LOVERS. Finally some laughs occur thanks to Letterman's ability to make the most awkward situation humorous. As the bearded and bewildered actor chews gum and has nothing to say, Letterman jabs him with one-liners, comparing his unkempt shaggy look to that of the "Uni- Bomber." This segment feels like a devastating first date, full of edgy/uncomfortable silences, but Letterman handles the train wreck with ease.Despite the flaws, I'M STILL HERE is not an entirely futile venture… As Phoenix descends into the scraggly abyss he seems most comfortable in, you'll want to see how low he can go, and better yet, if any more celebrities (besides Letterman, Ben Stiller and Edward James Olmos) will try figuring out his bizarre behavior and decision to quit the one thing he's good at: pretending to be someone else...

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gavin6942
2010/09/16

Normally I start a review with the plot. Let me share what another writer used as their description of the plot. The Los Angeles Times reported that the film featured "more male frontal nudity than you'd find in some gay porn films and a stomach-turning sequence in which someone feuding with Phoenix defecates on the actor while he's asleep". Also, we have Phoenix "snorting cocaine, ordering call girls, having oral sex with a publicist, treating his assistants abusively and rapping badly." That about sums it up.I really hope Sean "Diddy" Combs was not in on this, because his reaction to Phoenix's music is hilarious. He is so appalled by the lack of talent. I love seeing him take his business so seriously, so if he is just acting, that is unfortunate. Of course, that could also mean he is a good actor... hmmm...Letterman was allegedly not in on the joke... and wow, is that an uncomfortable interview. I am not sure what was more awkward... Phoenix's silence or Letterman's jabs.Phoenix does a good job pretending to be an arrogant jerk. Perhaps too good... I almost have to wonder.

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Argemaluco
2010/09/17

I don't know whether anyone took Joaquin Phoenix seriously some years ago, when he announced his retirement from acting in order to become a rap (or hip hop, or whatever) singer. Independently from his null musical talent, the simple fact that he was simultaneously making a documentary about his transition manifested a transparent desire to create controversy, and maybe satirize the "celebrity culture", made popular many years ago by Abbie Hoffman (1936-1989), Andy Kaufman (1949-1984) and other "culture jammers". However, in that pre-Internet era, it was easier to cheat the media with irreverent "performances" which denounced the superficiality from culture and the dominion of the marketing over the consumers' mind...but in this time of Twitter, "blogosphere" and continuous informatics immersion, it's more difficult to keep the illusion of seriousness, specially considering that Phoenix's "metamorphosis" was so extreme and unexpected. That's why I wasn't interested in watching the mentioned "documentary", titled I'm Still Here, but anyway...I found it on a TV channel and I had some free time, so I decided to leave my prejudices aside and watch it. Unfortunately, the experience ended up being intolerable.The worst thing of all is that Phoenix and director Casey Affleck probably had the intention of making an intelligent satire about the cult to the celebrity, the actors who pretend to become singers overnight, the celebrities who psychologically crumble in front of the paparazzi cameras, and the people who delight themselves watching their idols falling. Unfortunately, I'm Still Here lacks of a comprehensible structure, or a specific focus. This film is basically composed by the home videos of an idiot with a lot of money, a lot of fame, and many "yes men" (and "yes women") who accept his stupid whims simply because he's famous. This is exactly the reason why I don't watch any reality shows, and I think the formula doesn't improve at all simply because the protagonist is an acclaimed actor. And well, let's not even talk about the quality of the making; I'm Still Here couldn't have looked cheaper and more improvised.And the least I say about Phoenix's songs, the better; they are genuinely horrible. So, in conclusion, I'm Still Here is an atrocious film, and instead of watching this piece of junk, I recommend you any of the excellent films in which Phoenix has been involved, such as Signs, Gladiator or U-Turn.

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