I am definitely developing a Joaquin Phoenix 'thing'.

Saw Quills last night. Once again, poor Joaquin was playing second fiddle to an Australian. Once again, I thought his performance was stunning. Understated, brilliantly executed, and... well...

Abso-flogging-lutely gorgeous.

I didn't get that so much with his Commodus performance in Gladiator, but he was really very attractive as the Abbe in Quills. Nicer character, perhaps. (And I will not enter again into arguments regarding his performance in Gladiator. Suffice it to say that most of the population seems to think he was awful, while I think he was superb. Oh well.) The Abbe was a great character infused with a lot of energy. Such a kind, gentle, compassionate man, with such a coiled and intense capacity for violence. Intense. That's a very good word for it.

There was an instant, in one scene, that will, I think - I hope - stay with me forever. When he opens the door to Kate Winslet... A moment of startled wonder, of shock through his entire system. I want to capture it somehow, but it's so ephemeral.

Meanwhile, he's only six years older than me. I think that's very interesting, don't you?