"I've got a Million Dollars in the bank..."

"...what you got!?" That is what Joaquin Phoenix said to a fan at his latest show, and a whole lotta deleted expletives as you can hear, before stage diving on the dude and having at it. Now, many folks I know with insider status, tell me that Sir Phoenix is merely playing a part, and that he and his filmmaker cohorts are doing their best to make it all seem as "real" as possible, hence there is no official word as to whether his declaration late last year that he was not going to be working in film anymore, but working in music from now on, was... well, real or not.

If it is real, and we're truly seeing cinema verite, then the cameras following him around 24/7 are witnessing the greatest meltdown of all time, of one super talented human being. The easy word to throw at it, as many have, is "drugs" - but I'm not buying it - and besides, a cat like Joaquin would go way deeper than that. I think our soul brother is actually plumbing the depths of his inner sanctum, to bring us true art... and whether that is one long year (or more) of method acting or not - doesn't make it any less amazing. Or true. Or real. DIG it!