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his review was originally published in February. Two Lovers is out on DVD this week.

Rarely has movie love been handled with both the dreamy indulgence and the cynicism that James Grey pulls off in Two Lovers. It’s a pity that the film, which premiered nine months ago at Cannes and is now rolling out on VOD and in theaters via Magnolia, has been pegged in time as the allegedly final film of star Joaquin Phoenix. In this meditation on class passing and infinite adolescence, set mainly in Brighton Beach with a few giddy sojourns to Manhattan, Grey creates a mood pocket, as it were, that’s distinctly out of time. Working off a series of contrasts that’s very true to its New York setting, Two Lovers is implicitly concerned with the way romantic relationships give us an opportunity to slide back and forth across class lines; if that motion temporarily offers the potential for an erasal of personal history, our ultimate stations in life can’t be escaped.

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Yesterday’s Bloggery dealt with a topic that few film blogs were addressing — yet. So, in this post I’m going to focus on something everyone has seen and is talking about today (rather than tomorrow): the Billy Bob Thornton interview on Canadian radio (and Qtv). Hopefully he won’t be too pissed off at me for highlighting comments from FILM blogs responding to something involving his MUSIC career, though I have a feeling he’s not quite as serious as he lets on. Is it just me, or does he seem like he’s about to crack up at certain points when he’s attempting to look annoyed?

This is, of course, just the latest movie star embarrassment, of which we literally have seen a bazillion this year alone (hooray for another excuse for a slideshow). The one that it most resembles is the Joaquin Phoenix Late Show interview, and that only adds to why I thought Billy Bob was feigning his ire. Nobody can be as oblivious and serious as this. He had to know that such behavior hurts the band more than his fame helps them. While I somewhat agree with his initial requests, I believe that in his case he has to sometimes let this “shit” happen and deal with it in a more productive manner.

Here is what the other blogs had to say about the incident:

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The Internet seems eerily quiet today, which is probably due to all the blog writers being miles above wifi signals, flying towards Austin for SXSW. Of course, there are some posts here and there discussing rumors about Jon Favreau directing The Avengers and continued commentary on Watchmen’s box office future and Joaquin Phoenix’s “brawl” in Miami, but there’s not much new news to get excited about.

So, I’ve decided to highlight some recent SXSW-related posts from other blogs in anticipation of the festival. I won’t be there this year, and the Bloggery posts will be taking a week off in order to let SpoutBlog focus on film reviews, interviews and other SXSW goodies, so this is my one chance to be a part of the SXSW fun, albeit from a very cold, very jealous perspective up here in NYC.

I wish everyone down in Austin a good time and, more importantly, a lot of good movies.

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Ratings were up 10% from last year, and polls indicate that viewers of the Oscars last night mostly enjoyed the telecast and would like Hugh Jackman back to host next year. So why am I still harping on the negatives? Well, no matter how many entertaining elements of the ceremony people remind me of, I have to argue that while the awards themselves were great, the television show was not. And unfortunately, I was not inside the Kodak auditorium where I might have better appreciated the things we all at home should have been able to appreciate. And anything I found entertaining from where I sat in my apartment was pretty much thanks to talented presenters and winners, such as Philippe Petit, Tina Fey, Janusz Kaminski, Dustin Lance Black, Kunio Kato and Danny Boyle.

And I’m not the only one who has complaints. Below you’ll find some criticisms from bloggers who either thought the show was completely terrible or thought it was mostly good with only a few minor gripes.

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Joaquin Phoenix’s meltdown/prank on David Letterman Wednesday was certainly eye-opening, but it wasn’t exactly original. There’s a long and storied history of celebrities appearing on Letterman and completely losing their shit. This precedent may lend credibility to the argument that Phoenix’s performance was nothing but an elaborate hoax, perpetrated more for Casey Affleck’s documentary than for the television audience. But this isn’t necessarily always the case. While some of the freak-outs on this list where planned, many of them were genuine meltdowns.

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James Gray’s Two Lovers, loosely based on a Dostoyevsky short story,  offers up the most penetrating examination of male immaturity American cinema has seen since Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love.

Beginning with a suicide attempt by Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix), it  depicts the thirtysomething Brooklynite’s life with his parents. After a nasty break-up, he’s retreated back to the comfort of their home. They push him towards Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), the daughter of a business associate, but he’s more attracted to  neighbor Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow). However, Michelle is prone to self-destructive behavior like passing out in nightclub bathrooms and carrying on an affair with a married man. Gray explores one of his favorite   themes: family life as a seductive trap. Unlike his first three films, Two Lovers is not a genre exercise, but it’s no less dark or moody because none of its characters packs a gun or works for the Mafia.

Spout talked to Gray in New York earlier this week, where he proved to have plenty to say about Dostoyevsky, Brighton Beach and why his films are more popular in France than the U.S.

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By the time Casey Affleck’s documentary (or mockumentary) on Joaquin Phoenix’s retirement from acting and subsequent rap career is finished, will anyone still care about any of it? If today’s frenzy over Phoenix’s appearance last night on Late Show with David Letterman is any indication, I’m guessing that many people will. I seriously thought the story was beyond tired at this point, especially after the very believable accusations that Phoenix’s career change and behavior are nothing but a Borat- or Punk’d- or Andy Kaufman-like prank. From looking at some of the reactions today, though, I guess there are still a lot of people in the media who haven’t heard it’s a hoax (most think he’s on drugs here). But even the more-knowing bloggers were all about Phoenix this morning, whether because they are annoyed with the actor for blowing a great opportunity to promote his new film, Two Lovers, or they’re simply still curious about what’s actually going on. What I want to know is, has anyone else thought about the obvious rise-from-the-ashes connection between the actor’s name and a certain mythological creature? Maybe that’s his whole motivation behind the act.

Anyway, here’s a sampling of what people are saying about the Letterman appearance:
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Rarely has movie love been handled with both the dreamy indulgence and the cynicism that James Grey pulls off in Two Lovers. It’s a pity that the film, which premiered nine months ago at Cannes and is now rolling out on VOD and in theaters via Magnolia, has been pegged in time as the allegedly final film of star Joaquin Phoenix. In this meditation on class passing and infinite adolescence, set mainly in Brighton Beach with a few giddy sojourns to Manhattan, Grey creates a mood pocket, as it were, that’s distinctly out of time. Working off a series of contrasts that’s very true to its New York setting, Two Lovers is implicitly concerned with the way romantic relationships give us an opportunity to slide back and forth across class lines; if that motion temporarily offers the potential for an erasal of personal history, our ultimate stations in life can’t be escaped.

…Read more

Who would you rather hear sing Etta James’ signature tunes, the real deal or Beyonce Knowles? If you prefer the latter, then you’ll want to see Cadillac Records and even buy the film’s soundtrack, both of which feature Beyonce performing a few of James’ songs, including a nearly spot-on copy of “At Last” (listen to it here). Other actors in the film (and on the soundtrack) who do their own singing while portraying legendary music artists include Jeffrey Wright (as Muddy Waters), Mos Def (Chuck Berry) and Columbus Short (Little Walter).

It’s a strange idea to pay tribute to a singer with a biopic or ensemble music historical and then replace that singer’s voice with another, more amateur vocalist. Yet Hollywood does it all the time and, surprisingly, the new performances usually turn out pretty good. Just listen to the following nine actors and actresses who managed to do justice to the artist they were portraying.
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It happened last year for Cate Blanchett. The actress starred in a biopic that critics ripped to shreds, a film that basically bombed at the (American) box office, and yet she managed to score a Best Actress nomination for her reprised performance as the titular monarch of Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Additionally, Blanchett earned another nomination for Best Supporting Actress the same year, for her portrayal of Bob Dylan in I’m Not There. Now Josh Brolin could achieve a similar feat this year, not just by earning separate nominations for playing the titular president of W. and portraying politician-turned-assassin Dan White in Milk, but also by overcoming the difficulty of earning recognition in a lead category for a film that otherwise is not very well regarded. Are Brolin’s hurdles higher than Blanchett’s, though? With all the praise he’s received for W., he’s still far from being considered a sure thing candidate, regardless of his worthiness or the Academy’s history of oftentimes ignoring the critics and the grosses when nominating dependable, standout actors.

And boy, does Brolin stand out. …Read more

• With Halloween dragging the weekend box office down by over thirty percent, High School Musical 3 took the top spot with just $15 million. The Weinstein Company says Zack and Miri Make a Porno came in second with $10.7 million, but rival studios say that projection may be inflated.
• Meanwhile, Europeans really like James Bond.
• MSNBC Films has picked up Witch Hunt. The documentary, which premiered at Toronto and is narrated by Sean Penn, willhave an Oscar qualifying run and then air on TV next year.
• Variety has picked up the “Joaquin Phoenix is quitting movies” story. They’re running an AP item which says the actor, who showed up to Saturday’s Two Lovers premiere at AFI with the phrase “good bye” written on his knuckles, confirmed to reporters that he’s leaving the business to “focus on music,” and promised, “I will emotionally impact you with that, as well.”

I believe this Hollywood Reporter story on the struggles faced by several American Cannes premieres to find a stateside distributor is the first notice that 2929 Entertainment has decided to give James Gray’s Two Lovers to Magnolia to distribute.

The film famously drew mixed reactions in Cannes; I gave it a thumbs up with some reservations, whilst the very idea of waiting in line for it drove Lisa Schwarzbaum to expletives. Lovers has a lower profile than What Just Happened?, another film which 2929 recently decided to let their sister company distribute when buyers didn’t materialize. Both bleak and stylized, the romantic melodrama might even be a tougher sell to audiences than a satire about old men who work in the film industry. We’ll see––Magnolia’s planning a limited release in early 2009.

I don’t entirely buy James Grey’s Two Lovers, and typing this having just walked out of the far superior Un Conte De Noel, I feel strange even praising it. I freely admit that even as certain elements are effectively  thrilling in their depiction of tortured passion, it’s all put to the service of a narrative that is occasionally offensive in its total lack of surprise. But, but, but: after dozing on and off for the film’s first twenty or thirty minutes, I awoke to see Joaquin Phoenix breakdancing his way into the arms of Gwyneth Paltrow, and for whatever reason, from that point on I was sort of into it. About an hour later I became totally sucked in, when that moment of dance floor silliness met its dissonant counterpoint with a second, far more desperate scene of Phoenix dancing his way into Paltrow’s arms.  It’ll be too little too late for some, but in its final third, Two Lovers becomes an extremely strong parable about the madness of romantic love, and maybe even its impossibility.

That scene…it looks like a classic romantic high, until you realize that there’s almost no color on the screen beyond the white-gold wisps of Paltrow’s windblown hair dusting the frame. It hits you that the characters think that what they’re doing is going to save them both when in fact (and maybe this is where the generic story arc becomes a bonus), we know it’s only going to make everything worse. It’s bleak. It’s beautiful.

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