James Franco

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s 1943 novella The Little Prince has long been acclaimed as a masterpiece of children’s literature, and rightfully so. In spite of the book’s ostensible target audience, Saint-Exupéry tackles adult themes such as mortality and fidelity with the same gusto with which he handles more childish whimsy. The remarkable cohesiveness of the two approaches has largely contributed to the novella’s staying power and broad appeal.

All good things must come to an end. It’s a well-worn adage that everyone knows and has to come to terms with at one point or another. It’s funny sometimes that we can detect when something is nearing its conclusion without succinctly knowing the end date yet to be etched in stone. It forces us …

New Projects is a weekly round up of movies and TV shows recently announced and currently in development for the near future.  See, Netflix isn’t just in the business of producing multiple Adam Sandler movies. Their next big original film deal will likely help them compete even more with HBO, as they’re teaming up with …

Back in September we reported on a Stephen King novel, 11/22/63, concerning the Kennedy Assassination, being turned into a Hulu miniseries as produced by J.J. Abrams. The story is about a man named Jake Epping who stumbles on a time travel portal back to several months before John F. Kennedy was killed and his goal …

While the movie made its debut the day before Christmas on a number of platforms including video-on-demand and Google Play, it seems like the king of streaming services will be adding the controversial comedy The Interview to their line-up by the end of the month. Netflix announced on Tuesday that The Interview will be available to members …

Lately, there has been a lot of hype about Russell Brand in the News and particularly in social media. Brand seems to be cloaking himself as a political robin-hood character against capitalism and corruption. According to Deadline, the South By Southwest 2015 film festival will open with the film BRAND: A Second Coming. This feature-length …

Sony has cancelled their plans to release The Interview, issuing this statement via Deadline. In light of the decision by the majority of our exhibitors not to show the film The Interview, we have decided not to move forward with the planned December 25 theatrical release. We respect and understand our partners’ decision and, of course, completely share their paramount interest …

James Franco is a renaissance man if there ever was one, as he points out in his monologue and practically every time he goes on some kind of comedy variety late night program to promote his work. That never really comes out in his SNL appearances, as Franco comes off as just being happy to be there. Sure, we are always safe in the knowledge that at some point Seth Rogen will show up, as is his wont, and he shows up twice in this episode, but nothing of the non-jester side of Franco ever really shows up when he heads down to 30 Rock. You’ll see hints of the strange underbelly of Franco occasionally, like in the “Peter Pan Live” sketch, where Franco does an oddball Christopher Walken impression for the ages, which is really less an impression and more a post-modern performance about how our impressions of celebrities are actually just one singular impression broadened to the point of absurdity. But ultimately, James Franco is just a hard working guy who will break at a line about pooping his pants.

Remember before Keanu Reeves was a badass in The Matrix he was that doofus in a ’80s comedy about time travel that probably isn’t as good as you remember it? You know, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure! It was totally excellent and featured life lessons to live by like “Be Excellent to Each Other” and …

Tom and Anna Wright (James Franco and Kate Hudson) are a financially-struggling American couple giving UK life a try. The money from a robbery-gone-wrong ends up in their basement and they make the ill-fated decision to hold onto it, unaware that the cash will bring two separate criminal gangs and a worn police detective charging into their lives.

Child of God Written by James Franco, Vince Jolivette, and Cormac McCarthy Directed by James Franco USA, 2013 Many artists share their beauty with the world. They know what they want, they follow their hearts, and they proudly display their work for all to see. To call James Franco an artist is fairly appropriate. He …

Palo Alto Written and directed by Gia Coppola USA, 2013 The disaffection of youth is a familiar theme in modern American cinema, and one of its most recognizable creators is Sofia Coppola. It’s hard not to think of her films, from The Virgin Suicides to The Bling Ring, while watching Palo Alto, the debut feature …

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Jeff Pinkner Directed by Marc Webb USA, 2014 The distinct whiff of chaos pervades The Amazing Spider-Man 2 from its first scene, both narratively and visually. Because its director and writers aren’t likely intending on this sequel to a reboot to feel persistently, unavoidably …

Maladies Written and directed by Carter USA, 2012 Somehow, the most inexplicable thing about Maladies is that it’s being released around the United States for release; considering the film’s deliberately experimental and impenetrable quality, this is no easy feat to achieve. But the overriding question upon watching Maladies is as follows: who is this movie …

This is the End Directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg USA, 2013 Seth Rogen, more than most comic leading men of his generation, always seems to end up playing himself, for good or ill. From Knocked Up to Pineapple Express to even The Green Hornet, it’s hard …

While Seth Rogen’s acting profile has noticeably risen over the last few years to firmly plant him in A-list territory, his writing career has also seen an upswing, as he has shared writing duties with frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg on films such as Superbad and Pineapple Express. For their next project, however, the screenwriting team has chosen to …

Chronicling the complicated balance between work and family that prolific real life contract killer Richard Kuklinski carried on for decades, The Iceman paralyzes the audience purely with Michael Shannon’s unrelentingly intense performance.

Spring Breakers Directed by Harmony Korine Written by Harmony Korine USA, 2013 Spring Breakers could be accused of many things, such as being a gleeful mix of moralistic hand-wringing and heedless excess, but it cannot be accused of not trying. This 90-minute mélange of modern juvenilia is a gaudy, fluorescent, drug-fueled trip, as much an …

Editor’s note: This article started as a comparison between Army of Darkness and Oz the Great and Powerful, until a colleague pointed out that Matt Singer beat me to the punch by posting a similar article over at IndieWire. So I decided to expand on my original piece instead. **** Oz the Great and Powerful …

Spring Breakers Directed by Harmony Korine Written by Harmony Korine (screenplay) US, 2012 Spring Breakers, by strict definition, is not a very good film, but that does not mean that is a bad one either. The structure of the story is loose, looping and barely there; the characters lack much substantial development; however, for all …

Oz the Great and Powerful Directed by Sam Raimi Written by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire USA, 2013 Oz the Great and Powerful is a film obsessed with façades. The characters, particularly the lead, rely on being able to control and define what is and isn’t real. Oscar Diggs, a would-be genius magician who accidentally …

Oz the Great and Powerful Written by Mitchell Knapper and David Lindsay-Abaire Directed by Sam Raimi U.S.A., 2013 Here we go again. Another March, another major live action Disney film coming to theatres. More than that, it is another live action adventure which taps into very old, much beloved fantasy literature, directed by a major …

Spring Breakers – Opening Sequence Having been at TIFF this month, attempting to select favorite scenes without going entirely overboard– well, it may not exactly be as drastic as Sophie’s choice, but that is the first label that comes to mind. Spring Breakers is one of many very strong showings from Toronto this year, and …