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A extensive look at all those movies James Franco directed.

James Franco has done a lot of things, we’ve heard. Following a successful turn on Judd Apatow’s Freaks and Geeks and a well-received starring spot on a TNT biopic on James Dean, he turned immediately to a litany of pursuits: from playwriting and English degrees to painting and directing no less than ten feature-lengths. The latter project interested me. Were they any good? In Franco’s Rolling Stone profile last year, Jonah Weiner ran around a thesaurus of words like “dizzying,” “indefatigable“ and, wait for it, “multihyphenate” to describe his subject but none of those words mean very much. Paul Klee painted over a thousand paintings in the penultimate last year of his life. So could I. So what?

“What did we do to deserve James Franco?,” asked Rex Reed in a slightly different era. Back then, even the The Guardian agreed with Jared Kushner...

King Cobra director Justin Kelly talks about his film based on Brent Corrigan’s career and how far Franco, who plays a porn producer, was willing to go on screen

“I like to think that I’m gay in my art and straight in my life,” James Franco said to himself in an article for FourTwoNine magazine he wrote titled, The Straight James Franco Talks to the Gay James Franco. “Although, I’m also gay in my life up to the point of intercourse, and then you could say I’m straight.”

Franco toying with the public’s perception of his sexuality is nothing new. He’s made his fascination with gay culture known not just in interviews (in April, he told New York Magazine that he considers himself “a little gay” – even if he doesn’t sleep with other men), but also in his work. His directorial debut, The Broken Tower,...

The co-production market element of the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax has announced the producers in an inaugural project exchange with Mexico’s Los Cabos International Film Festival and Brazil’s RioContentMarket.

As part of a two-year spotlight on Latin America, one Mexican producer with a feature in development and one Brazilian producer with a television project in development have been invited to participate at Strategic Partners 2014, set to run in Nova Scotia from September 11-14.

A Canadian feature in development will then be selected from this year’s Strategic Partners to participate at Los Cabos International Film Festival, which runs in Mexico from November 11-14.

Similarly, a Canadian television project in development looking for Brazilian co-production partners will be chosen to attend RioContentMarket in February 2015.

The programme is sponsored by the Canadian Media Production Association.

April Shannon, a producer and co-founder of the Mexican production company Agrupación Caramelo Cinematografica, has been selected...

James Franco, it seems, spent the majority of his Tisch career translating the lives and work of tormented American poets. There was C.K. Williams with the Tar omnibus, Hart Crane with The Broken Tower and Frank Bidart with the just released Herbert White. Franco and Michael Shannon played lovers in the largely misguided Broken Tower, and here, Shannon, fulfilling his menacing hulk of a persona, prefers dead girls. Franco discusses his adaptation of the Bidart poem with Matt Rager, his co-writer on As I Lay Dying and The Sound In The Fury (Faulkner, being yet another poet of sorts), over at Vice. For those who are largely uninterested in the musings […]...

James Franco, it seems, spent the majority of his Tisch career translating the lives and work of tormented American poets. There was C.K. Williams with the Tar omnibus, Hart Crane with The Broken Tower and Frank Bidart with the just released Herbert White. Franco and Michael Shannon played lovers in the largely misguided Broken Tower, and here, Shannon, fulfilling his menacing hulk of a persona, prefers dead girls. Franco discusses his adaptation of the Bidart poem with Matt Rager, his co-writer on As I Lay Dying and The Sound In The Fury (Faulkner, being yet another poet of sorts), over at Vice. For those who are largely uninterested in the musings […]...

Given the eclectic nature of James Franco's projects, it was only a matter of time before someone thought to host a festival in Franco's honor, and it looks like the man himself plans to attend. New York's IFC Center will host FrancoFest, a retrospective celebrating the work of James Franco, from March 5-13, with Franco appearing at several screenings. The festival will showcase several of Franco's most notable performances ("127 Hours," "Howl," "Spring Breakers"), as well as a number of his efforts as a director ("As I Lay Dying," "The Broken Tower," "Sal").  Perhaps the most notable inclusion is Franco's Berlin and Sundance hit "Interior. Leather Bar.," which re-imagines the destroyed explicit scenes cut from William Friedkin's controversial thriller "Cruising." Friedkin's film will appear in concurrence with Franco's.  Also scheduled to appear is Gus Van Sant's "My Own Private Idaho," which influenced the included films "My Own Private River" and "Idaho,...

No Salutation: Franco Resurrects Tragic Mineo to Aimless Effect

Like The Broken Tower, which documents the tragic end of poet Hart Crane, James Franco’s second directorial effort from 2011, Sal, also happens to resurrect an artistic queer figure from the past, this time Oscar-nominated actor Sal Mineo, murdered outside his West Hollywood apartment back in 1976. While the film is finally being granted a theatrical release, Franco has gone on to debut a slew of other directorial efforts, expanding his desire to provoke, titillate and subvert notions of queerness in a broader cultural discourse with items like his co-directed Interior. Leather Bar, and even adapting notable literary works, like Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying and Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God. Considering an equally heavy acting schedule, Franco’s output is quantitatively impressive, but quality thus becomes the lack in his exploration of the last hours of the life of Sal Mineo.

If it were up to Britney Spears, the search for Christian Grey already would be over. As Fifty Shades of Grey producers scramble to find a replacement for Charlie Hunnam, the "Work Bitch" singer has nominated one of her favorite actors to take the star's place. "I love James Franco," the pop princess said during a radio interview with Kiis-fm UK on Wednesday, Oct. 16. "I think he's really cool." Franco is no stranger to tackling tricky roles. The 35-year-old actor earned acclaim for his role in The Broken Tower (which he also wrote, directed and produced), and he's appeared in provocative pictures like Spring Breakers, Milk and Lovelace. One of the hosts said he preferred...

James Franco has self-branded himself as an experimental writer-director with an artistic knack for adapting the great works of the American literary tradition, thanks to his directorial efforts "The Broken Tower," "As I Lay Dying" and "Child of God," all films based on classic novels or works of poetry. Criticized by some for epitomizing a filmmaking style marred by artistic obscurity, and praised by others for inspiring unconventional interpretations and visual techniques, Franco’s latest film, "As I Lay Dying" (based on the novel by William Faulkner), in some ways eludes a typical firefight of opinions for and against it. What is undoubtedly outside the realm of debate on "As I Lay Dying" is that the film truly embraces the meaning of a convention-pushing passion project. The drama remains a curiosity-capturing work that warrants debate not merely in terms of like and dislike, but more importantly of old and new,...

To be certain, James Franco has never been lacking in ambition. From the meta quasi-doc "Francophrenia (Or Don't Kill Me, I Know Where the Baby Is)" to the Hart Crane biopic "The Broken Tower" to the kinky "Interior. Leather Bar." to the primate co-starring "The Ape," Franco has leapt into filmmaking, taking on challenges and narrative most other filmmakers wouldn't dare to attempt. And while there is something to admire in the ambition of the 35 year-old actor/writer/director's latest venture, "As I Lay Dying," it never amounts to much more than a curiosity. Requiring a decent knowledge of the source material (or at least a quick skim of the Wikipedia page) to fully grasp (and full disclosure, I haven't read the book), Franco's film almost plays out as William Faulkner's "Oregon Trail." The basic premise is pretty straightforward: following the death of matriarch Addie, the Bundren family head to Jefferson,...

He's been on our screens since the early '90s and now Michael Shannon is getting suited up as General Zod in Man of Steel, which is released in cinemas today (June 14).

Well known for playing characters with an unstable edge and an evil glare, Shannon will be battling against Henry Cavill's Superman in the highly-anticipated film.

Here are ten things that you may not know about the man behind the villainous Zod.

1. Shannon was born in Kentucky on August 7, 1974. His mother is a lawyer and his father was an accounting professor. He was raised in both Kentucky and Chicago after his parents divorced.

2. He began his career in theatre, where his first acting role was in Winterset at the Illinois Theater Centre. Since then, Shannon has appeared in off-Broadway shows in New York as well as in London's West End, such as Killer Joe and Bug. He also...

Cannes, France — James Franco's filmography is starting to look like a book shelf – and a very respectable one, at that.

The 35-year-old American has already played poets Allen Ginsberg ("Howl") and Hart Crane ("The Broken Tower"). He recently finished directing an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "Child of God" (having first flirted with doing McCarthy's novel "Blood Meridian"), as well as a biopic of the late poet and novelist Charles Bukowski.

But this week at the Cannes Film Festival, he premiered his version of William Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying," a novel of fractured perspectives and enormous cinematic challenges. Having earlier screened at Cannes a short film he made as a student at New York University ("The Clerk's Tale"), coming to the festival in the Un Certain Regard section – for innovating or daring works by young talent – is something of a graduation for Franco.

"I'm accepted here as a director,...

To be certain, James Franco has never been lacking in ambition. From the meta quasi-doc "Francophrenia (Or Don't Kill Me, I Know Where the Baby Is)" to the Hart Crane biopic "The Broken Tower" to the kinky "Interior. Leather Bar." to the primate co-starring "The Ape," Franco has leapt into filmmaking, taking on challenges and narrative most other filmmakers wouldn't dare to attempt. And while there is something to admire in the ambition of the 35 year-old actor/writer/director's latest venture, "As I Lay Dying," it never amounts to much more than a curiosity. Requiring a decent knowledge of the source material (or at least a quick skim of the Wikipedia page) to fully grasp, Franco's film almost plays out as William Faulkner's "Oregon Trail." The basic premise is pretty straightforward: following the death of matriarch Addie, the Bundren family head to Jefferson, Mississippi to lay her to rest.

James Franco must really like Emilia Clarke. Then again, who doesn’t like Emilia Clarke? This enticing new union isn’t some celeb hook up, its the new pairing of a director and a star for the upcoming big screen project, The Garden of Last Days. I’ve got the details.

Yes, Academy Award winning 127 Hours and Spring Breakers star, James Franco is going behind the camera to direct an adaptation of the book by Andre Dubus III, called The Garden of Last Days. He has chosen the HBO Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke to lead his cast, according to the exciting THR exclusive.

This isn’t Franco’s first attempt at direction. A few of his directorial credits include As I Lay Dying, based on the William Faulkner novel and starring Franco, too, and The Broken Tower. He often writes and directs together. The news follows word that...

Filmmaker Christina Voros' latest documentary, "The Director," delves head first into the world of high-end fashion, going behind the scenes of Gucci. Thanks to her friendship with James Franco, Voros gained unprecedented access to the Italian heritage brand, providing insight into the secretive design process and showing audiences an intimate portrait of Gucci's media-shy creative director, Frida Giannini.

We caught up with Voros just after the film's Tribeca Film Festival premiere.

Why did you choose to make a documentary about Gucci?

The project came to me through James [Franco]. He and I had been working together for a number of years and, actually, he had been working with Gucci for the same period of time, looking back. And we had been at an event in Rome with Frida [Giannini]. Gucci and Frida helped restore a print of "La Dolce Vita," and he was at that event. He was coming to Paris...

A defamation case against the actor has failed after legal reps used 'gossip blogs' to locate him and could not serve papers

A professor who claims he was fired from his job at New York University for giving James Franco a "D" has lost a defamation case after a judge ruled his legal representatives failed to successfully serve the actor with legal papers, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

José Angel Santana had filed a civil action in the Manhattan supreme court over comments Franco made, labelling his classes "awful". In an interview with the New York Post he accused his former student of using "the bully pulpit of his celebrity to punish anyone who doesn't do his bidding".

Franco had described Santana as "awful" during interviews to promote his film The Broken Tower in April last year, as part of attempts to explain his lack of attendance at classes. "I...

It's no secret that James Franco is a little out there, as was evident in his recent interview with Details magazine. The outlandish 34-year-old actor was open to addressing lots in his life, including rumors of his sexual orientation, a bizarre oral sex scene in Spring Breakers and his strict rule of sleeping less than five hours a day. Here are the top five most peculiar quips from Franco's chat with the magazine.

1. On the gay rumors: "One of my professors at Yale ...had been a 19th-century literature scholar. But as soon as he brought his queer life into that world, it gave him this energy and a realization: It wasn't about being gay but about being different. And that gave me a feeling of enormous permission."

2. On his oral scene with a pistol in Spring Breakers: "Guess I’m a natural…It was my first time." When reminded that this wasn't his first time, recalling...

A professor who claims he was fired from New York University after giving the actor a bad grade, is now suing his former student over remarks he made about his teaching

A professor who claims he was fired from his job at New York University after giving James Franco a "D" is to sue his former student for defamation.

José Angel Santana, who is already engaged in legal action against his former employer, has now filed a civil action in the Manhattan supreme court over comments Franco made labelling his classes "awful". He says he handed out the low grade because the 127 Hours star attended just two out of his 14 scheduled directing classes.

"Whoever was in Clint Eastwood's chair at the Republican national convention was more present than Mr Franco was in my classes," Santana told the New York Post. "[Franco] uses the bully pulpit of his celebrity to punish...

James Franco has flirted with sexuality throughout in his career -- from posing on the cover of Candy, a transsexual style magazine, to playing gay poet Allen Ginsberg in Howl, and performing a graphic gay sex scene in The Broken Tower -- but for his latest project, James is dabbling in dudes like never before.

Related - James Franco's Least Favorite Role, Ever

Indiewire reports that James has not only teamed with gay art-porn director Travis Mathews for a loose remake of Al Pacino's 1980 gay murder mystery Cruising, but that the two-week shoot has already wrapped, with a first cut already in the can -- and that cut depicts graphic gay sex scenes. 

Video Flashback - James Franco's New York Accent

Mathews tells the site that Franco's original plan was to remake Cruising, but couldn't get the rights, so they decided to focus on 40 explicit minutes that were cut from the original film in order...

James Franco‘s directorial career hasn’t been lacking in production, with the notoriously hyper-creative 34-year-old artist having delivered two features — The Broken Tower and Sal — within the past year. For most of us, though, it’s his high-profile literary adaptations that we’re most eager to hear more about, but it’s been a discouragingly tough road for both of them.

We first got wind of these passion projects back in January 2011, when we announced that big-screen versions of William Faulkner‘s As I Lay Dying and Cormac McCarthy‘s Blood Meridian were both on the somewhat immediate horizon for Franco. (Later that same day, we got direct confirmation from the actor himself.) In only a few short weeks after that, Franco revealed his personal dream cast — Michael Shannon, Paul Dano, Joaquin Phoenix, Richard Jenkins — for the As I Lay Dying adaptation, and also dropped the possibility of a...

For all his prolific work across a number of mediums, James Franco's ability to write and direct is, for the most part, still an unknown quantity. He's done a few shorts, and two documentaries, but his three feature films so far -- the comedy "The Ape," the Sal Mineo biopic "Sal," and Hart Crane tale "The Broken Tower" -- haven't exactly become big hits or critical favorites. However, his latest endeavor might change that. Showbiz411 are reporting that Franco has casted up for his adaptation of William Faulkner's classic "As I Lay Dying," with his "Pineapple Express" and "Your Highness" co-star Danny McBride (in what would be his first dramatic role since "All The Real Girls"?), his ex-girlfriend Ahna O'Reilly, and "Prometheus" co-star Logan Marshall-Green all on board along side former Franco-collaborators Tim Blake Nelson and Jim Parrack, both of whom worked with him on...

Already the out-and-out definition of a entertainment multi-hyphenate, poetry is something that also evidently flows in James Franco's blood, and is a world he loves to delve into for his film projects. Franco has made several shorts based on poems, including works by Anthony Hecht ("The Feast Of Stephen"), Spencer Reece ("The Clerk's Tale") and Frank Bidart ("Herbert White") before playing Hart Crane in "The Broken Tower" and Allen Ginsberg in "Howl." And it doesn't end there either.

Franco has now shepherded a project for Nyu graduate students that'll result in two poetry-centric anthology features: "Tar" based on C.K. William's book of poems of the same name, and "Black Dog, Red Dog," based on a book of poems by Stephen Dobyns. Students -- who had to win a competition for the opportunity -- separately helmed shorts based on individual poems with their entries combined into a cohesive feature-length narrative.

Forbes an awesomely nerdy calculation of Smaug's wealth from The Hobbit. It's from the "fictional fifteen" of the wealthiest characters from movies, books, and tv.

Grantland looks at the end of the full frontal wang era, which peaked with Shame last year and will supposedly die with Magic Mike this summer.

Los Angeles Times Two of the stars of the Tribeca winning Una Noche have defected from Cuba and are seeking asylum in the Us. They're a couple in real life and siblings on the screen.

Movie|Line asks everyone to calm down with their "best picture!" proclamations in April. Oopsie. We just completed all of our predictions. But at least The Film Experience has never been driven to "lock!" proclamations before movies are even finished.

The Wrap Any Day Now, a gay adoption drama starring two fine actors (Garrett Dillahunt & Alan Cumming) won the audience award at Tribeca

My...

Here is last week's caption pic winner. This week's caption pic is at the bottom of the page.

Thanks to everyone for participating! The winner is ...

"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

Thanks to Miz Liz for this week's winning caption!

Weekend Birthdays! (Note: Birthday shoutouts are for out entertainers, allies, or for any celeb that seems to have a following on Ae). Harry Shum Jr. (above) is 30, Jenna Ushkowitz is 26, Russell T. Davies is 49, Ann-Margret is 71, Penelope Cruz is 38, Jessica Alba is 31, Kate Mulgrew is 57, Leslie Jordan is 57, Daniel Day-Lewis is 55, Michelle Pfeifer is 54, Eve Plumb is 54, Carnie Wilson is 44, and the faboo Sheena Easton is 53. What are your fave Sheena songs? Here are mine: 10. "Sugar Walls." 9. "Machinery," 8. "When He Shines," 7. "Modern Girl," 6. "For Your Eyes Only" 5. "Do It For Love," 4. "Telefone," 3. "Almost Over You," 2. "Strut," 1. "You Could Have Been With Me"

For you Mass Effect fans:...

When James Franco first came up with the idea to make a movie about the life of American poet Hart Crane, he had no idea he would wind up writing, directing, producing and starring in it, as he eventually did in "The Broken Tower," which is getting a theatrical release Friday. He thought he'd just want to act. He was fascinated by Crane's legendarily difficult, brilliant poetry, as well as his personal demons, which led him to alcohol and eventually suicide at age 32.

"At that point, I was only an actor; I'd never directed a movie before," Franco told The Huffington Post. "So I thought, 'I sorta look like him and he has such an interesting, dramatic story.' So I'd go around and say, 'I want to play Hart Crane,' hoping that someone would be willing to work with me and do a Crane project. But nobody was interested.

It's a pretty wide open box office race this weekend as we have four new movies in wide release plus a plethora of other options in select theatres as well. The heavy favourite would have to be The Five-Year Engagement starring Jason Segel and Emily Blunt, but we also have a new Jason Statham action flick called Safe, The Raven starring John Cusack, and a new animated flick from Aardman in The Pirates! Band of Misfits. In limited release look for Richard Linklater's Bernie starring Jack Black, the sci-fi cult drama Sound of my Voice and the Scandinavian crime thriller Headhunters. What will you be watching this weekend? The Raven Safe The Five-Year Engagement The Pirates! Band of Misfits Bernie (limited) Sound of my Voice (limited) Headhunters (limited) The Giant Mechanical Man (limited) The Broken Tower (limited) Elles (limited) Warriors of the Rainbow: Seddiq Bale (limited) Mamitas (limited)

For More Daily Movie Goodness,...

Last weekend, "The Hunger Games" dropped out of the top spot at the box office Nationwide Releases "The Five-Year Engagement" What's the story? Um, a five-year engagement, duh! In this charming romantic comedy, Jason Segel and Emily Blunt play an engaged couple attempting to tie the knot. Obviously, this doesn't happen right away, as their plans for marriage continuously get delayed over and over and over again. Box-office prediction: The rom-com "Think Like a Man" was number one at the box office last weekend, so "Engagement" will have to deal with some competition from that. However, Jason Segel has a dedicated following, and the film was produced by Judd Apatow. $17 million

[Showtimes & Tickets] "The Raven" What's the story? In "The Raven," John Cusack plays legendary author Edgar Allan Poe. The film imagines how the last days of Poe's life were spent (they're still a mystery to this day): chasing around a...

Capsule Options is a new weekly column intended to provide reviews of nearly every new indie release. This week's capsules are written by Indiewire's Chief Film Critic, Eric Kohn along with other contributors as noted. Reviews This Week "96 Minutes" "Bernie" "Booker's Place: A Mississippi Story" "The Broken Tower" "The Giant Mechanical Man" "Headhunters" "The Highest Pass' "Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment" "Mamitas" "Restless City" "Safe" "sound of my voice" "Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale" "Whore's Glory" "96 Minutes" Let's get the obvious question out of the way: The title is off by three minutes when it comes to the actual running time. Aimee Lagos' deconstruction of a carjacking takes us through the four characters and why one wound...

While waiting in a holding area for James Franco to discuss "The Broken Tower" (currently available on DVD/VOD and opening at New York's IFC Center on Friday), I can make out everything Franco's saying to another journalist in the next room, despite a closed door and office chatter around me. Franco's not in a shouting match; he's just passionately discussing the subject of his first feature to get a theatrical release, the poet Hart Crane. Passion is a word synonymous with the multi-disciplinary artist. What else can account for his unwavering drive to tackle a myriad of artistic endeavors (among them: acting, directing, writing, hosting, editing, and creating modern art installations), on top of attempting to conquer the world of higher education? In "The Broken Tower" (his thesis project for Nyu's Tisch School of the Arts, where he went on to get an M.F.A. in filmmaking), Franco plays Crane,...

From the premier of his latest film “The Broken Tower,” James Franco didn’t shy from telling reporters why he made “127 Hours” instead of attending his acting class at New York University.

He said the professor was awful.

“I’ve been in eight years of acting class. I didn’t feel like I needed to waste my time with a bad teacher and that I should go and work with Danny Boyle. I felt like that was the right decision.”

Franco shook off the “D” Professor Jose Angel Santana gave him in “Directing the Actor II” and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for “127 Hours.”

Santana hasn’t fared so well. He claims he was fired for giving Franco a low grade, which Franco denies.

“No teacher will ever be fired from Nyu for giving a student a D,” Franco says from a Q+A session for “Broken Tower.

DVD Playhouse—April 2012

By Allen Gardner

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Warner Bros.) An eleven year-old boy (newcomer Thomas Horn, in an incredible debut) discovers a mysterious key amongst the possessions of his late father (Tom Hanks) who perished in 9/11. Determined to find the lock it matches, the boy embarks on a Picaresque odyssey across New York City. Director Stephen Daldry and screenwriter Eric Roth have fashioned a film both grand and intimate, beautifully-adapted from Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, thought by most who read it to be unfilmable. Fine support from Jeffrey Wright, Sandra Bullock, John Goodman, Viola Davis and the great Max von Sydow. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.

Battle Royale: The Complete Collection (Anchor Bay) Adapted from Koushun Takami’s polarizing novel (compared by champions and detractors alike as a 21st century version of A Clockwork Orange) and set in a futuristic Japan,...

Discover the true story of a visionary American artist. I still find it a bit odd to see the title card "From the Writer-Director James Franco", but apparently it's true. Jeff Reichert has debuted an official trailer on Apple for a film titled Broken Tower, written & directed by James Franco, starring James Franco as American poet Hart Crane. It's a B&W docudrama originating from Franco's mind after reading Crane's biography. I think it's one of those expressive poem-voiceover as the story unfolds kind of films, which may not dazzle a lot of you, but perhaps some. Either way, it's Franco writing, directing himself, and producing. Watch the first official trailer for James Franco's The Broken Tower, in high def from Apple: The Broken Tower is an American B&W docudrama directed by actor James Franco, who has directed other shorts previously. The film is about American poet Hart Crane,...

It can never be said that James Franco isn’t an ambitiously tireless individual, both as an actor and aspiring filmmaker, but his latest directorial effort The Broken Tower about poet Hart Crane is a sprawling mess badly in need of editorial restraint, better acting, and a narrative that doesn’t alienate all but the most patient of viewers. Franco both stars as Crane and directs a story according to 12 parts, or “Voyages” (so named for a famous piece of Crane’s work), and in the muddled mass of self-indulgent monologues and bad acting you can see the faint outline of the leaner film Franco should have made. As it stands, The Broken Tower works better as an art film than a biopic; even though it’s painfully clear he had the best intentions in mind.

Read more...

The Broken Tower Review

The Broken Tower was one of my most anticipated films of 2012 for a few reasons. Firstly, I am a big fan of producer, writer, director and star James Franco. On top of that, I am big fan of the subject of this film, the poet Hart Crane. Having loved Crane's work, I had also read Paul Mariani's biography of Crane, The Broken Tower, which this film is based off. So to say my expectation were high for this film is a severe understatement.

Thanks for reading We Got This Covered...

Against some of my own pessimistic expectations, it looks as though Bad Santa 2 is about to become a reality. Eight months after screenwriters were hired (or, at least, brought on to do work) Billy Bob Thornton told ThePlaylist that the long-delayed, oft-quiet sequel is kicking into gear in some truly productive ways. With rewrites currently ongoing at the moment — a result of the team having “a few little things we wanted to take away or add” — a fall shoot and Christmas 2013 release is to be expected. If you want to feel old and decrepit, that would get it out there ten years after the first film’s release. Unreal.

The actor also dished a little more on his next directing project — an Angelina Jolie-inspired drama entitled And Then We Drove — telling the outlet that, for the most part, it’ll be comprised of himself and one other actor...

Among the many academic pursuits, art installations and meta-projects James Franco undertakes at any given moment, it might shock you to know that he also makes movies. You may have forgotten he was in last summer's smash hit "Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes" or that his latest directorial effort "The Broken Tower" hit VOD last month. Well, "Cherry," the latest movie starring the busy thesp, is headed to Berlin and some first images have arrived. We wish we could show them to you a bit bigger, but press photos for this one are disappointingly low-res, so you'll have to do with that for now. Co-starring Heather Graham, Lili Taylor and "Slumdog Millionaire" star Dev Patel, the story takes place within the porn industry, and follows an 18-year-old girl who becomes involved in the business. Franco will play a coke-addled lawyer, with Graham as a porn actress-turned-director (Rollergirl returns?...

We've all done it...

Hart Crane was an American poet best known for The Bridge and one of his last published works, The Broken Tower. His life ended when he committed suicide at the age of 32 by jumping into the Gulf of Mexico from a ship. The poet’s life and career is the basis for James Franco’s project The Broken Tower, a film which he wrote and directed.

It’s a black and white docu-drama that premiered at the La Film Festival last year to mixed reviews and is based on Paul L. Mariani’s biography of the poet. The role of Hart is taken on by Franco himself, and Michael Shannon also stars.

It looks like a film school piece, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be bad of course, but don’t expect this to be hitting more than a select few theaters anytime soon.

London, Jan 15: James Franco will reprise the role of a gay man as he has been cast as photographer and artist Robert Mapplethorpe in a new biopic.

The actor has also played beat poet Allen Ginsberg in 'Howl' and poet Hart Crane in 'The Broken Tower'. He also portrayed politician Harvey Milk's gay lover in Milk.

The celebrated and controversial artist Mapplethorpe died of AIDS in 1989 at the age of 42.

Franco had received much acclaim for the film 127 Hours which was directed by Danny Boyle. (Ani)...

James Franco has been cast as celebrated and controversial photographer and artist Robert Mapplethorpe in a new biopic.

It's not the first time the 127 Hours actor has signed up to play a famous homosexual on the big screen - he played beat poet Allen Ginsberg in Howl and in The Broken Tower he stars as poet Hart Crane. He also portrayed politician Harvey Milk's gay lover in Milk.

Mapplethorpe died of AIDS at the age of 42 in 1989.

[1] Whether you love James Franco or can't stand him, it can't be denied that the man works hard. As if he didn't have enough on his plate already -- what with films including Oz: The Great and Powerful, Lovelace, Spring Breakers, and his directorial effort The Broken Tower all coming up, plus all of his non-movie projects -- he's now added Mapplethorpe, a biopic of the late photographer. The Tribeca-backed picture will be the first narrative feature by documentary director Ondi Timoner (Dig!, We Live in Public). Franco will topline the cast as Robert Mapplethorpe, whose explicit works sparked debate over public funding for the arts in the late 1980s. Between this and Howl, it seems Franco's becoming the go-to guy for historical movies about controversial artists. Timoner, Miles Levy, and Eliza Dushku will produce along with Nate Dushku (Eliza's brother), who was lined up [2] to play Mapplethorpe at one...

It would seem that James Franco really has a thing for playing gay cultural icons. Back in 2010 he portrayed the famous beat poet Allen Ginsberg in Howl; in The Broken Tower he plays Hart Crane, another gay poet who famously killed himself by jumping off of a boat at the age of 32 (you can see the trailer for that one Here) and now he's attached to a project in which he will play notorious photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. THR has learned that Franco will play the titular character in Mapplethorpe, a biopic about the artists life. The project is one of 11 films that is being backed by a grant from the Tribeca All Access program, which gives $15,000 to aspiring filmmakers and connects them with industry professionals. Mapplethorpe, who died of AIDS at the age of 42 in 1989, was extremely controversial during his time, as his photographs would often depict acts of bondage,...

2 Broke Girls creator Michael Patrick King found himself in the hot seat about the stereotypes on the show and the raunchy humor. Depending on who you read, he kind of threw a fit. Then he played the gay card. Michael Patrick King: I'm gay. I'm putting in ‑‑ Beth Behrs: What? Oh, my God. Michael Patrick King: ‑‑ gay stereotypes every week. I don't find it offensive, any of this. I find it ‑‑ I find it comic to take everybody down. That's what we're doing. Question: Does being a part of one traditionally disenfranchised group make it then carte blanche to make fun of other traditionally disenfranchised groups?

James Badge Dale is going from Shame to The Lone Ranger, signing up to play the title character's brother, Dan Reid. It's a step up for Armie Hammer, who had to play his own brother in The Social Network.

Blue Ivy...

James Franco is writing, directing, producing and starring in a "The Broken Tower," a film about poet Hart Crane that co-stars Michael Shannon and brother Dave Franco. And today, we have a teaser trailer for the new movie. Check it out below. Plot: Hart Crane was one of the most important voices in American poetry -- but lived a life with as much turmoil as passion. From his early life to his journeys from New York, Cuba, and Paris, Crane's story and that of the loves that defined him is told with imaginative empathy, and with a no holds barred performance. The film premiered at the La Film Festival in June to mixed reviews. It is now available on VOD and will be released on DVD on March 27th. Trailer: If you cannot see the player, click here.

You have to give James Franco credit for trying a great many different things, from graduate studies to acting to writing and directing short films and transitioning up to features. Franco has plans to adapt a couple of the more challenging authors around, Cormac McCarthy (Blood Meridian) and William Faulkner (As I Lay Dying), in the immediate future. But first there is The Broken Tower, a film about poet Hart Crane that Franco wrote, directed and stars in, with Michael Shannon and Dave Franco also playing roles. The film premiered at the La Film Festival to mixed reviews, and now that the first teaser trailer has arrived, you'll probably be able to guess some of the reasons for the shaky reception. I can see Franco's interest in Crane coming through just via that teaser, but the way it is cut also makes the film look really overwrought. The film is...

Let us briefly flash back to January of 2011, when a pre-Oscar-disaster James Franco — riding the success wave of 127 Hours — was as buzzworthy as, say, Jessica Chastain. It was around this time that news of Franco’s recently completed Hart Crane biopic, The Broken Tower, reignited the is-he-or-isn’t-he-gay chatter that has followed the actor since at least his Milk days. The film, which Franco also wrote and directed, follows the life of Crane, an early 20th century poet who is widely known for his alcoholism and eventual suicide at the age of 32. He was also a tortured homosexual, so 99 percent...

When it comes to releasing films, there's usually a certain order of events that goes something like this: First, put out a trailer and then put out the movie. Leave it to James Franco to once again break the mold, though, because the first trailer for his new film "The Broken Tower" has just arrived -- and the movie is already available On Demand.

Why be normal when you can be James Franco instead?

Not that everyone really has the option of being James Franco -- trust us, we've tried -- but there's one person who does: Dead poet Hart Crane, whose tragic life and untimely death -- he committed suicide at the age of 32 -- is the subject of "The Broken Tower." Fittingly, the trailer is full of moody black-and-white shots of Franco pacing, typing and thinking aloud to himself and since the movie was also written by and directed by Franco,...

Between his acting career, university studies and vast array of other artistic ventures, multi-hyphenate James Franco has made several directorial efforts in recent months, including a film about actor Sal Mineo, an 'SNL' documentary, and the upcoming "Francophrenia" premiering in Rotterdam. He's also got some ambitious feature efforts in the works including an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian" and William Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying." But before he follows through with any of those, Franco has his Hart Crane biopic "The Broken Tower" ready for your eyeballs. Based on the biography by Paul L. Mariani, and co-starring regular collaborator Michael Shannon and brother Dave Franco, among others, the first teaser for the film has now been unveiled, and exhibiting a truly artistic work from Franco that seemingly personifies all of his diverse interests. The film debuted at the L.A. Film Festival to...

It was around this time last year that we could go barely a week without hearing a new story about James Franco. Riding high on Oscar buzz for his performance in Danny Boyle's 127 Hours, Franco began picking up projects left and right, buying the rights to various books and signing on for new acting gigs. One of the most interesting projects on the horizon was his movie The Broken Tower, not just because of the film's content but because it would mark Franco's return behind the camera as a director. Now the first trailer for the film is online, courtesy of Focus Features and you can check it out below. As the trailer is only 30 seconds long, it's hard to grasp exactly what's going on in the movie, but off the bat we learn that Franco has made the stylistic choice of shooting in black-and-white. The film is about...

He’s nothing if not interesting. We can certainly say that. The Broken Tower, James Franco‘s experimental telling of the life of poet Hart Crane (written, directed and starring Mr. Franco), now has a teaser that makes good on all of the promises so many media outlets have been telling us about Franco for the past year: he’s different. And, it would appear, in a good way.

Featuring a series of handheld shots that show Crane (Franco) in front of the Eiffel Tower among other notable monuments, as well as next to the large Michael Shannon. See for yourself below:

Synopsis:

From Focus World and director/star James Franco, a film about visionary poet Hart Crane, who lived a life of beauty, passion, and tragedy. Hart Crane was one of the most important voices in American poetry – but lived a life with as much turmoil as passion. From...

Focus World, Focus Features' online digital distributor, has announced its slate for early 2012. Among the films to be available for on-demand viewing are James Franco's Hart Crane biopic "The Broken Tower," Gaukur Úlfarsson’s political documentary "Gnarr," and Liza Johnson's small-town war drama "Return" starring Linda Cardellini and Michael Shannon. Also, Focus World will release several of its current titles on DVD in the first quarter of 2012, including Alma Har’el’s "Bombay Beach," Jon Foy’s "Resurrect Dead," and Toniko Melo’s "VIPs." Full press release below: New York, December 19th, 2011 – Focus World, the unique digital distribution initiative owned and operated by Focus Features, has closed deals on its slate for the first quarter of 2012. The announcement was made today by Focus President Andrew Karpen. The deals were closed by Avy Eschenasy,...