49% ... Connie Nielsen from "Gladiator"
34% ... Kate Winslet from "Quills"
17% ... Charlize Theron from "The Yards"

Wednesday, August 30 2000
"The Yards" will have its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, as a Special Presentation.

Sunday, August 27 2000
Thanks to Gisela I can present you an new Interview with Joaquin from the spanish magazine "You" issue July 2000: The misterious boy - It is an short interview with some interesting answers:

Would you say that acting is the most important thing in your life?
No at all the ways. Sometimes I tell to myself: "Wait, working is not all in your life, there are a lot of things more interestings in your life"

An example?
Travelling arround the world. I do that since I was a child and I love it. The music is another of my hobbies, and I listen music all the free time I can. Then there is my family, my parents, my sisters and their sons.

How is the relation between you and your sisters?
Fantastic! I grow up rounded of womans, and for this I consider myself more woman than men (laugh). I think that this could be the title of my autobiography: "I think that I'm not a man". Understand women and their problems is part of my education.

Did it affect your relationships?
I don't know; you've to ask that to my exgirlfriends!

Are you with some girl at the moment?
No, only with myself. That starts when you've got a lot of personalities and autoobsession. Talking about this: Have you got boyfriend or you know some girl who would like to stay with me? (laughs)

Come on. I'm sure that you don't have any troubles for getting girls!
I'm not so sure.

Saturday, August 26 2000
Do you wanna send Joaquin birthday wishes, poems, photos or drawings? Ruthie organized a birthday scrapbook for Joaquin's birthday in October (October 28th 2000 - he will become 26) For more details go to this website.

Saturday, August 19 2000
Thanks to Courtney who found some quotes from Joaquin in the new issue of Premiere. They interviewed him about "The Yards" and "Quills" in the section where they preview the fall releases. About "The Yards," the author writes "Phoenix compares the rehearsal process with Wahlberg, Caan, and supporting players Charlize Theron, Faye Dunaway and Ellen Burstyn to `what I imagine a group therapy session would be like.'" About "Quills," Joaquin is quoted as saying "It's about the timeless debate over censorship" and "Amidst the tumult of France during that period, the safe haven is in the madhouse." These are among observations from other actors and the directors of the two movies. No pics, though.

Take a look at the German fanpage Looking for JP!

And finally the official page for "The Yards" is up at www.theyardsmovie.com - although there isn`t anything new except the trailer. Here is the link for the quicktime-file.

Friday, August 11 2000
The release date for "The Yards" is, as I told before, October 20th, 2000 but only for LA and NY, it expands to other cities at later dates. Also "Quills" has a limited release on November 22nd, 2000. The nationwide release date is on December 8th, 2000.

Taken from the Messageboard (thanks to Christine!). In the Interview magazine (which all of you probably already own) there is a section called "Letter from the Editor" by Ingrid Sischy where she mentions Joaquin and tells a cute story about him and the 1991-issue of Interview with River on the cover:

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
You might say that Joaquin Phoenix, this month's cover subject, grew up in the pages of Interview. He has appeared in the magazine at almost all of the critical stages of his life and work. His most recent appearance, with this issue, is in connection with his latest movie, The Yards, in which he along with Mark Wahlberg gives a truly brilliant performance. The film is partly about a couple of friends who believe in the American dream, but who can't seem to rise out of the world they come from. Trying to obtain it ends up destroying them, because they get used as pawns in a network of corruption. Because it has such emotional depth, the film-a lot of which takes place in the subway yards of New York-is a welcome relief from the empty pyrotechnics that have been so rampant in this summer's movies.

Emotional depth is something I have come to associate with Joaquin Phoenix. I'll always remember his first visit to our office in 1995. He showed up all by himself and seemed like a person who had gone through a war and was still scared that there were hidden mines beneath his feet. His older brother, River, had died of an overdose roughly 21 months before, and the media had really gone to town on the whole family. Joaquin seemed frightened--it's the only way to put it--and said right away that he did not want to talk about his brother. But he still came to our office solo, without a handler. And almost five years later he is still his own man--once again he showed up for our cover shoot and interview completely alone; once again no publicists, no manager, no agent. Aside from the fact that today Phoenix is considered a major movie star, there is a big difference between the Joaquin Phoenix then and the one now; today he is someone who radiates the impression of being comfortable in his own skin--something he was clearly far from feeling before. And he can trust journalists, not just directors. You can witness his trust in the way he opens up in the interview, which begins on page 94.

But there is something you can't see in the piece, and it has to do with what happened right before we started our interview. I had asked Joaquin if he had ever seen the 1991 issue of Interview with his brother, River, and Keanu Reeves on our cover, when they had been in Gus Van Sant's film, My Own Private Idaho [1991]. He hadn't, and I said I'd show it to him when we were done. When we did finish I ended up having to answer some urgent phone calls. About a half hour later I ran into an assistant editor who said that Joaquin Phoenix was still here--and that he was waiting for something I'd promised to show him. We had talked for so long and about so many subjects that it had slipped my mind that I had said I'd show him that back issue. We hunted it down as quickly as we could. When I gave it to him though he didn't really look at it. It was as though it was too important to do in front of someone else. Instead he rolled it up--clearly to look at later in private. This little episode really struck me. Five years ago it was obvious that the subject of his brother was too painful to touch. And now it was equally obvious that the healing had begun, that he wanted to see things that reminded him of his brother. I was happy our magazine could be a source of connection between the two of them. That to me is what magazines are for--they can be bridges between people and worlds.

Monday, August 7 2000
Jennifer Lopez Missed Out On Gladiator
Screen siren Jennifer Lopez was turned down for a part in Hollywood mega-movie Gladiator (2000). The stunning Out of Sight (1998) actress was desperate to play the part of the sister of Joaquin Phoenix's character - but director Ridley Scott knocked her back. She says, "I read Gladiator and wanted the part of the sister so bad. I thought it was a really interesting role. Now everyone's saying it's a great movie, and I'm like, 'I knew it. '" And Lopez, who's dating bad boy rapper Puff Daddy, says she knew she'd missed out on the role the minute she met Scott. She adds, "I could tell he didn't see me in the role. I don't know what his vision was but I could tell I wasn't it the minute I went in."

The Official Quills page now offers a Flash-intro.

Read about "Quills" at Salon.com:

... Phoenix is amazing as the abbe. He displays more virile edge as a priest than he gets to do as a Sadean emperor in "Gladiator." He gives Kaufman what Jimmy Stewart gave his directors: a presence at once sensitive, harrowing and manly. ...

Sunday, August 6 2000
The release date for "The Yards" has been pushed back to October 20th.

Friday, August 4 2000
Yahoo News - Showbiz people briefs:
(thanks to Bridge from the Jude Law fansite!)

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Joaquin Phoenix has signed with the Creative Artists Agency, which will co-represent him with Iris Burton, the longtime agent of Phoenix and his family.

Phoenix recently starred in DreamWorks/Universal's "Gladiator.'' His next films include Miramax Films' "The Yards'' starring Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron, and Fox Searchlight's "Quills,'' with Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet and Michael Caine.

Phoenix's credits include "8MM,'' "Clay Pigeons,'' "Return to Paradise,'' "U-Turn'' and "To Die For.''

Big thanks to Seyda who translated and typed an Turkish Newspaper-interview with Joaquin for us ...

Go and check Cara`s new fanpage for Rain and Summer!

Thursday, August 3 2000
Page Six - Sightings:
... KEANU Reeves, bearded, all in black and chain-smoking, at a big table at Da Silvano with Winona Ryder, while Stephen Dorff celebrated his birthday with Joaquin Phoenix and art dealer Tony Shafrazi. ...

Tuesday, August 1 2000
Finally I`ve got the "Interview"-magazine article on my page: Another Phoenix takes a big step into the american psyche - a great interview. He talkes a lot about his family, and about his upcoming movies "The Yards" and "Quills":

... Actually, I first heard about The Yards because of Liv. She had all her scripts from CAA at the apartment, and one day I lifted the cover off of one of about a thousand scripts that she had and it said The Yards. And I turned to her and said, “The titles of your scripts are better than any I’ve been getting.” There was something mysterious and ambiguous about the title, The Yards. And that was it. Then a couple of weeks later, my agent called and said, “I have a script called The Yards.” I said, “Yeah, I know that title.” I read the script then and thought it was amazing. ...

... Quills is based on the play of the same name about the last days of the Marquis de Sade. ... I’ve never read anything like this script. Every bit of dialogue was so rich; I was just drinking it in. I thought, “Oh my god, they’ll never let me in. Kate Winslet and Geoffrey Rush are doing it. I’m not gonna stand a chance. I’ll never be in this movie.” But about three months into Gladiator, I got a call saying that Phil Kaufman, the director of Quills, was going to be in London, and would I go in and read for him? I said absofuckinglutely. ...