USA Today - 03.10.2019

USA TODAY z THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2019 z SECTION D

Father and son share their scares

Stephen King’s “Tall Grass’ comes to Netflix. 2D

The week’s hottest reads

Top 50 on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list.2D

Puffy sleeves make a comeback

Bigger can be better, and stylish, too. 4D

IN LIFE

EVAN AGOSTINI/INVISION/AP

LIFELINE

Truth Hurts,Lizzo

Don’t Call Me Angel (Charlie’s

Angels), Ariana Grande, Miley

Cyrus & Lana Del Rey

Someone You Loved,Lewis Capaldi

Senorita,Shawn Mendes & Camila

Cabello

1, 2 Many,Luke Combs & Brooks &

Dunn

NIELSEN SOUNDSCAN FOR WEEK ENDING 09/

Top music downloads

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TORONTO – It’s no laughing mat-

ter: Like many people his age, Joa-

quin Phoenixhas come to the conclu-

sion that his comic book collection is

no gold mine.

“I’m disappointed that my comics

aren’t more valuable,” says Phoenix,

44,who still has some pretty choice

issues, including Wolverine’sfirst ap-

pearance. “When you’re a kid, a hun-

dred bucks is like a lot, right? I re-

member reading comics, being so ex-

cited: ‘Oh, man, it’s going to be worth

150 bucks!’ And then you’re an adult

with a mortgage and you realize that

all of your comics, it doesn’t amount

to much.”

The superheroes of his childhood

have become big business in Holly-

wood, though Phoenix is going in a

very different direction with a fabled

comic icon. Director Todd Phillips’

keenly anticipated psychological

thriller “Joker”(in theaters Friday)

imagines that a real-world scenario

gives rise to the legendary Batman

villain. That antagonist comes in the

form of Arthur Fleck (Phoenix), a

troubled Gotham City clown and

stand-up comedian mocked and bul-

lied for his unusual behavior and oth-

MOVIES

Joaquin Phoenix was able to experiment for his Oscar-ready role as the iconic villain in “Joker.”

HARRISON HILL/USA TODAY

To play Joker, Phoenix

navigated ‘shaky ground’

Brian Truitt

USA TODAY

See PHOENIX, Page 4D

NEW YORK – “In the criminal jus-

tice system, sexually based offenses

are considered especially heinous.”

These iconic words begin every epi-

sode of “Law and Order: Special Vic-

tims Unit” (Thursday, 10 p.m.EDT/

PDT), but they carry greater weight

this season as the NBC drama enters

its milestone 21st season, making it

the longest-running drama in TV his-

tory.

As they hug, laugh and share stories

before sitting down to talk about the

show that brought them together, star

and executive producer Mariska

Hargitayand Dick Wolf – who created

the multiseries franchise – are just now

savoring the moment. They’ve made

show business history, but they’ve

barely had the time to think about it.

Hargitay says “it was like the dam

broke” when she stood back last month

to consider the accomplishment, having

played SVU Lt. Olivia Benson for more

than 20 years.

“You have to take stock of these 21

years and the origins of it and how it

happened and (Wolf ’s) vision,” Hargi-

tay tells USA TODAY. “And sometimes,

for me, it feels like his vision is so awe-

inspiring, it’s hard to downloadhow one

person could not think of one show, but

all these shows. And then after 20 years

end, he’s like ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ll do

it again.’”

Wolf says that while he didn’t always

believe the milestone could happen, he

TELEVISION

Mariska Hargitay, Dick Wolf talk ‘SVU’ legacy

Anika Reed

USA TODAY

See SVU, Page 5D

Mariska Hargitay portrays Capt. Olivia

Benson in “Law and Order: Special

Victims Unit.”BARBARA NITKE/NBC

The final day of Paris Fashion
Week was plagued by several
pranksters, including notorious ce-
lebrity harasser Vitalii Sediuk, who
took aim at Justin Timberlake. As
Timberlake arrived at the Louis Vuit-
ton show with wife Jessica Biel on
Tuesday, Sediuk jumped out of the
crowd and tried to tackle the singer
by grabbing hold of his right ankle. A
confused Biel held her husband’s
hand as security freed Timberlake
and dragged Sediuk away.

MARC PIASECKI/WIREIMAGE

HOW WAS YOUR DAY?
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

I’m doing really good. I stopped

drinking, I just wanted to have a

clean bill of health...

Exercise, meditate.

Things that used to be

important are not

important to me now. I

just look at the world

differently.”

• Beyoncé’s father
  Mathew Knowles said
  in an interview with “Good Morning
  America” that aired Wednesday, in
  which spoke about his breast cancer
  diagnosis.

THEY SAID WHAT?
THE STARS’ BEST QUOTES