I stand by my previous statement that I think Joaquin Phoenix is pulling an Andy Kaufman on us and going intentionally over the crazy hill down to crazy valley. As the show continues, I can’t help but realize that we’ve been talking about this guy with clockwork regularity. It’s like as soon as we forget him, he dishes out another antic.

In October, he announced he was retiring from film to a bewildered reporter who got the first test-spurt of bearded-Joaquin’s “I-don’t-give-a-f*ck” attitude. For two months, we debated if he was serious or not until he popped up in a night club with Casey Affleck following him and videotaping his “career”. Almost exactly a month later, in January this year, we saw the man fall on stage and mumble something that might have been “rap.” And just in case the world-at-large didn’t realize this charade was going on, he gave his now infamous appearance on Letterman.

That was, interestingly, a little over a month ago, and now we have Phoenix getting into a fight with a fan while in a Miami nightclub?

Take it from someone who has seen celebrity meltdowns: this one can still go either way. The guy hasn’t done anything outside of the Andy Kaufman realm, pissing people off with just how much he refuses to give a shit. When Phoenix gets arrested or gets busted for drugs, I’m ready to talk about if this is a burnout for art’s sake or a real burnout.

Until then, though, Joaquin Phoenix is giving us his own brand of entertainment. When was the last time this much digital ink was spilt on the guy? When his brother died?

What? Too soon?

Video of the confrontation after the cut…