News

Exclusive: New film from Travis Mathews heading to Benelux.

M-Appeal has closed a deal on Discreet directed by Travis Mathews with Zeno Pictures for the Benelux.

Mathews is this year’s president of the Queer Palm jury in Cannes who directed the 2014 drama Interior. Leather Bar.(pictured)with James Franco (who also starrred) reimagining the cut sex scenes from controversial 1980 gay thriller Cruising.

Discreet centres on an eccentric drifter who, after years in hiding as he struggled to control his demons, plots revenge when he returns home to discovers that his childhood abuser is still alive.

As the armed man prepares to carry out his plan, he must navigate through the perilous land of masculine fragility in modern-day America.

Childhood abuse affects its victims in myriad and often abstract ways. The disparate images and mysterious female voiceover that provide Travis Mathews’ “Discreet” its illusory opening do eventually come together, like the concentric cycles of abuse and pain experienced by its woeful protagonist, Alex (Jonny Mars).

A drifter and filmmaker, Alex travels the country in a dark blue van shooting footage of highways. On a passing visit to his unstable mother, he learns that the man who abused him is living in a small cabin on the outskirts of the rural Texas town where his mother lives. Seeking out the older man, Alex finds a severely incapacitated John (Bab Swaffar), complete with an involuntary twitch in his left arm and a vacant stare.

John is a ghoulish cartoon of a predator; even in his weakened state, his fluffy white beard, ruddy red nose, and lanky frame tower over Alex. Facing...

In the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election, there was a sharp national focus on modern masculinity and how it’s supposedly threatened by rising forces in identity politics. Travis Mathews explores that idea in his new film ‘Discreet,” about an eccentric drifter who returns home after years in hiding to discover that his childhood abuser is still alive. Soon he plots his revenge while he navigates an uncomfortable landscape. Check out an exclusive poster for the film below.

Read More: Berlinale 2017 Will Premiere ‘Logan,’ ‘Trainspotting: T2,’ and Hong Sangsoo’s Latest

“‘Discreet’ began as a moody cautionary tale,” says Mathews, “a nightmare warning to what discretion — in its many forms — might bring. Over [the summer of 2015], then into 2016, crystallizing with the Us presidential election, it became increasingly clear that the monster built from years of fear mongering was no longer under anyone’s control. Unhinged, it would answer to no one,...

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,...

Slowly moving away from the docu world, but keeping with real life subjects, filmmaker Travis Mathews first gained entry into Sundance with the New Frontier played Interior. Leather Bar. back in 2013. Fast-forward a couple of years and he might be headed there again. While Oscillate Wildly has been on the Sffs/Krf fast track and landing several West Coast grants and it was reported that shooting took place during the summer, unless this was shot completely off the radar, we believe we’re a tad too early with this one. If not, then we called it.

Gist: Written by Travis Mathews and Keith Wilson, Ben is a hot-headed young gay man with a mild form of spastic cerebral palsy that expresses itself in his swaying walk and intermittent muscle spasms. He lives a solitary and routine life in a working-class neighborhood of Austin, Texas, with no family and few friends.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive overview of the not so distant future in American indie film, a reliable sampling is usually found in the bi-annual Sffs / Krf Filmmaking Grants finalist (and future winners) lists. Grants will be awarded next month, but this finalists’ list overviews a look into the 2016-17 pool of talent and feature films. Among the trio of items that are in various stages of production and we’re keeping tabs on, we have Ian Olds (docu helmer of Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi) who moved into fiction feature filmmaking with The Fixer. Produced by Caroline von Kuhn (Camden Int. Film Fest Managing Director and docu field expert), this is said to include supporting players in the shape of Melissa Leo and James Franco. And speaking of Franco…, Travis Mathews from Interior. Leather Bar. fame has Oscillate Wildly next in line. Beasts of the Southern Wild...

Feeding our curiosity for what a major transgressive adonis in future literary world might look like in the pre stench of cigarettes and booze era, I’m imagining something akin to Kill Your Darlings in term of look and feel, and a perfect drinking partner to Bent Hamer’s Factotum. Quite frankly it’s got everything you’d want in a Park City indie biopic – hence why I originally circled Bukowski as a possible 2014 Sundance selection. Little did I know that production would be tied up in legal troubles. The good news is, as of last month, whatever woes existed between right holders of “Ham on Rye” and this project have been resolved. Moving forward, we can expect to see a transformative performance from Josh Peck and peak into the man behind the method, and the madness. Shannen Doherty, Alex Kingston, Keegan Allen (see set pic above) and Tim Blake Nelson support the titular player.

Vimeo has scooped up two salacious documentaries to add to its On Demand library. Most notably, James Franco is one of two filmmakers behind Interior. Leather Bar., which imagines a graphic deleted scene from the 1980 Al Pacino movie Cruising. Franco teamed up with co-creator Travis Matthews for Interior. Leather Bar., which is inspired by a gay S&M scene ultimately cut out of Cruising. The trailer makes the film seem provocative, strange, and uncensored, making it exactly the sort of documentary one would expect to take advantage of the few restrictions of online distribution. Interior. Leather Bar. is joined on Vimeo by another sexy title: Bettie Page Reveals All, which stars famous pin-up model Bettie Page. Page, who died in 2008, made her mark through her photo shoots, which often included sexually deviant poses. The documentary looks at her life and career and even features some narration from the woman herself...

As problems go, it’s a pretty First World one to be saddled with. You’re a movie star pocketing obscene paychecks to appear in Hollywood blockbusters. But something is missing. Fame and box office success alone aren’t why you started making movies. You are an actor If only your fans could see just how cool and fearless and devoted to the craft you really are. What to do? Worry not. There’s a well-trod path laid out that will put this plight behind you once and for all: You will make a boldly uncommercial art film. The weirder,...

Whitney Biennial 2014 Whitney Museum of American Art Through May 25, 2014

"I think of the media as a cannibalistic river… that absorbs everything." Gretchen Bender

"The image is dead. The icon is dead. The painting is dead." Patricia Cronin

"I am a deeply superficial person." Andy Warhol

Fade In

Int. Dining Room/Brant House

Table, Bjarne Melgaard “nude African American female” fiberglass figure chairs, “giant stuffed Pink Panther dolls,” enormous ceramic phalluses.

Hypnotic atmosphere.

Adam Driver, Idris Elba, Ellen Barkin, Heath Ledger, Michael Lee Nirenberg, James Franco, Billy Cyborg, Narrator, [Seven Background/Evening Dresses] stoned on their milk-plus, their feet resting on faces, crotches, lips of the sculptured furniture.

Narrator (V.O.):

“Righty right right,” I say. “So what will it be tonight then?”

Camera Pans Slowly Across Darkened Room [Set Dressing: Vintage Gretchen Bender lighted wall sculptures that flash “Korova,” “Moloko Plus,” and “Moloko Vellocet.”]

Move in slowly to Narrator slumped in chair and:

Narrator (V.O):

Well, there we were: my brothers, that is, me and Billy Cyborg,...

New Release

Bethlehem

Not Rated, 1 Hr., 39 Mins.

Director Yuval Adler’s Israeli import is a slow-burn police procedural set in the West Bank, where a Jewish agent (Tsahi Halevy) forms a fatherly bond with the younger brother (Shadi Mar’i) of a Palestinian militant. Family ties and clan loyalty are put to the test as the confused teenager questions whom he can trust. The answer, sadly, is no one. B —Chris Nashawaty

The Face of Love

PG-13, 1 Hr., 32 Mins.

If Hitchcock’s Vertigo were ever turned into a Lifetime movie, you’d end up with something like this far-fetched story...

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,...

Want to follow the career path of James Franco? There’s a class for that. The actor, who has achieved success in film and television in addition to his varied artistic pursuits, has entered into a partnership with Playhouse West. Through his production company, Rabbit Bandini Productions, Franco will now run the bicoastal acting school’s Studio 4. What can students expect from a teacher who’s starred in “Spider-Man” features, been nominated for an Oscar for “127 Hours,” and co-directed “Interior. Leather Bar.,” the reimagined lost 40 minutes from “Cruising”? Franco said he’ll teach his students the techniques he used to succeed. “This is what worked for me, and I did it for eight years,” he told Backstage. The Playhouse, which has campuses in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, declined to discuss the price of the Franco courses, but said, “It’s going to be well below average.” Franco, who plans to...

(l to r) Michael Lannan, Jonathan Groff and Andrew Haigh

(Photo: Getty)

With two episodes having aired in the first season of HBO’s Looking, we’ve heard from the stars of the show – Jonathan Groff, Murray Bartlett and Frankie J. Alvarez – but what about the guys who brought the series to life?

Meet Michael Lannan & Andrew Haigh.

Michael Lannan, credited with creating the show, wrote and directed Lorimer, the short film on which Looking is based. He was also a producer on James Franco’s Interior. Leather Bar.

Andrew Haigh is best known to TheBacklot readers for directing the gay indie film, Weekend. He brings his unique vision to the look of the gay-centric series focused on the lives of a group of gay men living in San Francisco.

We recently sat down with Lannan (who sports an impressive beard, which helps explain why the majority of the guys...

2013 was a big year for James Franco. Not only did he star in a whole bunch of things, from Spring Breakers to Oz the Great and Powerful to This Is the End to ABC’s The Mindy Project, he also hit the film festival circuit with three separate films that he’d directed. Two of them, Interior. Leather Bar. and As I Lay […]...

Besides releasing a novel, getting roasted, starring or appearing in a whole bunch of movies, and a variety of other projects, James Franco also brought three films he directed to festivals. Interior. Leather Bar. and the William Faulkner adaptation of As I Lay Dying have already received pretty minor releases, so we're still waiting on his Cormac McCarthy adaptation Child of God. Though it still doesn't have a release date, we finally have a full trailer for the film. As it is McCarthy, the thing looks super violent. If only this book also had a woman-having-sex-with-a-car scene – that would've fit nicely into Franco's oeuvre.

It seems James Franco is now the hardest-working man in show-business -- if you look back at his 2013, that is.

Franco's multi-tasking started to seem like a Joaquin Phoenix-style put-on a couple years ago; not only was he writing, directing, and starring in various films, but he was also, it seemed, studying for graduate degrees at several universities at once. But then, it became apparent that he really was spreading himself too thin when he practically fell asleep onstage while co-hosting the 2011 Oscars. He took a lot of flak for that, but he hardly seems to have lessened his pace.

Indeed, the Oscar jokes ceased once Franco returned to the good graces of moviegoers with the 2013 smash "Oz the Great and Powerful."

According to IMDb, Franco worked on some 49 film and TV projects in 2013, and while many of those were just guest spots on talk shows, that still means that,...

Child's Pose is an astonishing Romanian gem that deserved more of a cinema outing, unlike James Franco's attempt to put the vice back into Cruising

The ever narrowing window between the theatrical and DVD release dates of smaller-scale arthouse films is a bittersweet blessing. Viewers in multiplex-only regions get to access them before the critical conversation has cooled entirely, though the sadder flip-side is that their life in cinemas is increasingly brief. Viewed on any size of screen, however, Calin Peter Netzer's astonishing Child's Pose (Studiocanal, 15) – released theatrically only last month – is among the year's most essential films.

There's been a recent critical tendency to elevate indiscriminately just about any product of the so-called Romanian new wave to masterwork status, no matter how dour or protracted, which is perhaps why even discerning audiences were hesitant to see this diamond-hard domestic thriller – a deserved Golden Bear winner at the Berlin film festival.

The Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking has announced the five nominees for its fourth annual Cinema Eye Heterodox Award, sponsored by Filmmaker Magazine. The Cinema Eye Heterodox Award honors a narrative film that imaginatively incorporates nonfiction strategies, content and/or modes of production. The five films nominated for the 2014 Heterodox Award are: Andrew Bujalski's "Computer Chess," Randy Moore’s "Escape From Tomorrow," James Franco and Travis Matthews’ "Interior. Leather Bar.," Kleber Mendonça Filho’s "Neighboring Sounds" and Carlos Reygadas’ "Post Tenebras Lux." "The 2014 Cinema Eye Honors Heterodox nominees prove once again that the contested space between narrative and documentary is the ideal cinematic environment to delve deep into our most modern tensions," said Esther Robinson, Chair of the Cinema Eye Honors. "Bringing us to settings as diverse as rural Mexico, dystopian Disneyland, and a forgotten leather bar, these films break convention to move...

In partnership with Filmmaker, Cinema Eye Honors announces the nominees for this year’s Heterodox Award, its fourth annual recognition of a narrative film that successfully and imaginatively weaves documentary strategies, content, and/or modes of production into its fabric. The five nominees are Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess; Randy Moore’s Escape From Tomorrow; James Franco and Travis Mathews’ Interior. Leather Bar.; Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Neighboring Sounds and Carlos Reygadas’ Post Tenebras Lux. These selected films are intended to demonstrate the formal possibilities of non-fiction filmmaking, in addition to probing the ever-tenuous boundary between reality and its embellished analogue. “The 2014 Cinema Eye Honors Heterodox nominees prove once again that […]...

In partnership with Filmmaker, Cinema Eye Honors announces the nominees for this year’s Heterodox Award, its fourth annual recognition of a narrative film that successfully and imaginatively weaves documentary strategies, content, and/or modes of production into its fabric. The five nominees are Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess; Randy Moore’s Escape From Tomorrow; James Franco and Travis Mathews’ Interior. Leather Bar.; Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Neighboring Sounds and Carlos Reygadas’ Post Tenebras Lux. These selected films are intended to demonstrate the formal possibilities of non-fiction filmmaking, in addition to probing the ever-tenuous boundary between reality and its embellished analogue. “The 2014 Cinema Eye Honors...

Not unlike Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s rapport with the festival, Sundance has become a place where James Franco/RabbitBandini Productions gets to both test-drive and showcase his creative output. Last year’s fest saw him showcase both Interior. Leather Bar. and kink, and while we fully expect to see the filmmaker there for Bukowski, with Holy Land as a possible outside shot, there potentially might be room in the New Frontier section for an anthology of films that were ultimately “patched” together by Nyu graduate students. Closer to Tar than the previous pair of mentioned titles, shooting on Black Dog, Red Dog began in early 2012 with a tally of ten, mostly inexperienced filmmakers that for at least nine of them had to win a contest to be part of the “larger” project.

Gist: Featuring Franco, Olivia Wilde, Chloë Sevigny, Logan Marshall-Green, this is based on Stephen Dobyns‘ book of poetry.

Production Co.

Behind the scenes on the Sal set with James Franco and Val Lauren

No one has a career quite like James Franco. There are his big screen star turns in films like Milk, Howl or 127 Hours, but he’s just as likely to pop up on television in everything from The Mindy Project to General Hospital. Then there’s his own writing and directing projects such as Interior. Leather Bar. Franco always manages to compel us and keep us interested in what he’s up to, including his latest project.

He may have directed the film Sal a few years ago but it’s only been his busy schedule that has kept it from reaching theaters (and VOD) until now. The film, written by Stacey Miller, chronicles the final day in the life of Sal Mineo, the twice-Academy Award-nominated actor (for Rebel Without A Cause and Exodus) who came out in the 1960s and,...

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,...

Leave it to James Franco! The prolific actor/director has created a new feature film about the last day in the life of "Rebel Without A Cause" star Sal Mineo from a script by Stacey Miller.

The film is called "Sal" and is set to premiere on-demand on Oct. 22nd with a debut at the Sundance Sunset Cinema in Los Angeles on Nov. 1st. Val Lauren (who also appeared in Franco's "Interior. Leather Bar.") stars in the title role.

Franco stars as Milton Katselas in the movie. Katselas was an American director and producer, as well as a Hollywood acting instructor and coach.

Just in 2013 alone, Franco has made "As I Lay Dying," "Interior. Leather Bar," "Child of God," and "Venice 70: Future Reloaded." On top of that, the actor has also appeared in "Spring Breakers" (fantastic performance, I might add), "Oz The Great and Powerful," "This is the End,...

This year marks the 25th anniversary of NewFest, New York's Lgbt film festival, and the second year the fest has partnered with L.A.'s Outfest and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. NewFest, which kicked off last September 6 and runs through September 11, features 44 films from across the globe, all focused on exploring the modern Lgbt experience. Sundance fave "Concussion" opened the festival with a pre-screening reception and a post-film Q&A with producer Rose Troche and burgeoning director Stacie Passon. The film stars Robin Weigert as a suburban housewife who undergoes a journey of sexual exploration (and perhaps exploitation) after taking a baseball to the head. Multi-hyphenate James Franco is heavily featured in the festival's slate, with New York premieres of two films on which he collaborated: Travis Mathews's "Interior. Leather Bar." and Christina Voros's "Kink." International entries for this year's NewFest include "Free Fall," first-time German director Stephen.

HBO has some high profile gay projects coming up in the next year and now we've learned more about one of them, a series set in San Francisco, "Looking."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, out actor Russell Tovey, best known for playing a werewolf in the BBC series "Being Human," has been cast as "Kevin, an accomplished video game wunderkind who has achieved financial and critical success at a young age."

Little is known about the HBO dramedy except that it is set in San Francisco and concerns the lives of young gay men looking for love in the city. Fittingly, the series has some well known gay players in front of and behind the camera. Aside from the addition of Tovey to the cast, the series will also star Jonathan Groff and was written by Michael Lannan, who recently worked on James Franco's "Interior. Leather Bar." The pilot being directed by Andrew Haigh,...

Child of God marks the third feature film directed by James Franco, and like his other directorial efforts, Interior. Leather Bar. and As I Lay Dying, Franco is really pushing the envelope when it comes to the stories he is trying to tell.

From this very short trailer, we don't get to see much, or really anything, of what Child of God is about. However, it is adapted from a story by Cormac McCarthy, who is also responsible for The Road, No Country For Old Men, and the upcoming film The Counselor. 

Related Pics: Hollywood's Hottest Movie Posters!

If the movie follows the plot of McCarthy's book, this will be an intense ride. The story is about a man named Lester Ballard who, due to a tendency towards violence and a rough life, spirals into a world of crime, degradation and murder.

Franco, 35, has become quite the director, with a wide-range of interests as his films run the...

It's that time of year again -- or what used to be that time of year. NewFest is here (September 6-11). Yes, the celebration of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and what-have-you cinema is back for its 25th anniversary. The main venue will be the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater, considered by some to be the best cinema in Manhattan, one that boasts a truly superior sound system.

(Anyone who ever attended NewFest when it was held at the New School with its second-rate visuals and third-rate resonance will rejoice.)

In the past, this deliciously raucous event has screened a mixed bag of semi-brilliant to much-less-so offerings, many you'll never ever get to see anywhere else on a "big" screen whether you reside in the Big Apple or in Idaho. On the plus side, watching a woefully dreadful movie with a roomful of knowing Glbtq cinephiles is often a hoot.

Strand Releasing has acquired North American, Latin American and Scandinavian rights to James Franco and Travis Matthews’ erotic drama Interior. Leather Bar.

The film premiered at Sundance before screening at the Berlinale and will open either late this year or in early 2014.

Interior. Leather Bar. is inspired by 40 minutes of S&M footage that was rumoured to have been edited out of William Friedkin’s 1980 thriller Cruising, which stars Al Pacino.

Strand’s Marcus Hu and Jon Gerrans negotiated the deal with Jason Ishikawa and Andrew Herwitz of The Film Sales Company.

No strangers in the Lbgt film distribution business, and for the matter, experimental hard-to-classify sorts such as James Franco’s and Travis Mathews’ Interior. Leather Bar., Strand Releasing find a little of both with their latest acquisition. Making for the rare pick-up of a Sundance New Frontier section programmed title, after pit stops in Park City and Berlin Film Festival earlier in the year, Strand will pick up the baton on this meta project and push towards an eventual 2014 release.

Gist: In order to avoid an X rating, 40 minutes of gay S&M footage was rumored to be cut and destroyed from the 1980 film, “Cruising.” Inspired by the mythology of this controversial film, filmmakers James Franco and Travis Mathews collaborate to imagine their own lost footage. Amid the backdrop of a frenzied film set actor Val Lauren reluctantly agrees to take the lead in the film. Val is repeatedly forced...

Months after premiering at the Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals, James Franco and Travis Mathews' racy erotic drama "Interior. Leather Bar." has found a home with Strand Releasing, who acquired U.S. and select foreign rights. The film is inspired by the rumored 40-minutes of gay S&M footage edited out of the orignial cut of the 1980 thriller "Cruising," that starred Al Pacino. "I am so excited and pleased that this unusual film has found the perfect home. We are so proud of this and happy to be working with Strand Releasing" said Franco. Read More: Trailer for James Franco Co-Directed Sundance-Selected 'Porn,' 'Interior. Leather Bar.' (Video) "Strand has a long history of pioneering queer art films that challenge the norms of the day; we really couldn't ask for a better fit for our film," Mathews added. The deal was negotiated with Marcus Hu and Jon Gerrans...

Open Road Films will release its Steve Jobs biopic Jobs on August 16.

Ashton Kutcher stars in the title role as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The film is directed by Joshua Michael Stern (Swing Vote). Originally set for an April 19 release as a gesture towards the anniversary of Apple’s founding, in March Open Road Films pulled the film from that weekend hoping to find a better slot.

The August 16 weekend is already fairly full, with wide releases including Universal’s action sequel Kick-Ass 2, The Weinstein Company’s drama The Butler, and Relativity’s thriller Paranoia, not to mention limited...

Now in its 31st year, Outfest has officially unveiled its selections for the upcoming edition of the festival. After debuting at Sundance back in January, "C.O.G.," based on a David Sedaris story and starring Jonathan Groff, has secured the festival's Opening Night Gala. At the tail end of the festival is "G.B.F.," a teen comedy from "Jawbreaker" director Darren Stein featuring Megan Mullally and Natasha Lyonne that has nabbed the Closing Night Gala spot. Other highlights of the festival, which runs from July 11 to July 21, include James Franco's "Interior. Leather Bar.," a documentary which uses a re-examination the lost 40 minutes of William Friedkin's "Cruising" as a springboard for an exploration of sexuality and creativity, as well as "Pit Sop," about two men who find love amidst the monotony of their blue-collar world, which will serve as the U.S. Dramatic Centerpiece. This year's festival will also spotlight five burgeoning talents,...

I’m super-excited about this year’s Q-Fest….and I’m not even gay!

There are a pair of must-see gay-themed films making their St. Louis debuts; I Am Divine, a documentary about the late crossdresser and John Waters frequent star, and James Franco’s Interior Leather Bar, a high-concept recreation of scenes that were cut from William Friedkin’s notorious 1980 gay serial killer movie Cruising. Divine was one of the biggest, most outrageous, and proudly different gay cultural icons the world has known and the new documentary about the performer I Am Divine plays at Q-fest this Friday night at 7pm. A high (or low) point in Divine’s career was John Waters 1972’s masterpiece Pink Flamingos where he/she competes for the title of “filthiest person alive” by eating fresh dog poop. With antics like that, it’s no surprise that the emerging punk scene adopted his visage on t-shirts.

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.

It may not have a name, but Michael Lannan's still untitled dramedy project has been picked up to series by HBO, reports Deadline. The pilot, about three San Francisco-based friends (played by Frankie J. Alvarez, Murray Bartlett and "Glee" actor Jonathan Groff) exploring the highs and lows of life as part of a new generation of gay men, was executive produced by "Weekend" director Andrew Haigh, Sarah Condon ("Bored to Death") and David Marshall Grant ("Smash"). Lannan wrote the pilot, which was based on his feature script "Lorimer," with Haigh directing. The series, which we'll just go ahead and describe as a gay male answer to "Girls" before we have any evidence that such a comparison might be true, has been given an eight-episode order. Lannan, who produced "Interior. Leather Bar.," will serve as co-executive producer on the series, with is being slated for a 2014 premiere, with production starting...

There's no rest for James Franco, who continues to add on to his busy year with the newly released trailer for his adaptation of William Faulkner's "As I Lay Dying."

Franco wrote, directed and stars in the update on the novel, which had yet to receive a film version prior to the 35-year-old Oscar nominee's efforts. The trailer offers a stylistic blend of Terrence Malick's idyllic nature imagery, furtive camerawork and contemplative narration, along with the Coen Brothers' gritty Southern-gothic tone.

Often considered one of the greatest American novels, Faulker's 1930 book tells the story of Addie Bundren's death and her impoverished family's subsequent quest to bury her in Jefferson, Miss., according to her wishes. Franco portrays Darl Bundren, the second-oldest child, while Tim Blake Nelson plays the patriarch Anse. The film also stars Danny McBride as Vernon Tull, a friend of the family, and Ahna O'Reilly ("The Help,...

James Franco simply does not know how to stop working. So far this year, his film, “Interior. Leather Bar.,” debuted at Sundance; his adaptation of “As I Lay Daying” premieres at Cannes next month; and oh yeah, he starred in “Oz the Great and Powerful” and “Spring Breakers” which both came out this past March. It would be news if he announced that he was going on vacation, but that is not the case here. He has added yet another project to his slate. Deadline has announced that Franco is set to direct and star in “The Garden of Last Days,” an adaptation based on the bestselling novel by Andre Dubus III (“House of Sand and Fog.”) The film, set in present day New York, will tell three interwoven stories: "a stripper out of options who brings her 3-year-old daughter to work; an angry, lonely man who gets thrown out...

Reports from the 2013 Hot Docs Film Festival

Paolo here. Because I tend to overreact to thing I proclaimed that last year's Hot Docs film festival here in Toronto was 'overtly sexual'! As it turns out, last year's crop had more diverse topics: death, culture, loss, legacy. And the same can be said about the documentaries this year but we won't abandon the docs about sex. Here's one now, James Franco's Interior. Leather Bar.

[Nsfw Franco provocations after the jump]...

It's an idea so obvious that it's shocking it hasn't been done before--a gay version of "Sex and The City" set in, of course, San Francisco.

The comedic pilot was penned for HBO by Michael Lannan, who previously served as a producer on James Franco's controversial documentary Interior. Leather Bar. and stars Jonathan Groff, best known for playing Jesse St. James in Glee.

According to Mission Local, the show tells the story of three gay friends--an artist, a restaurateur and a web game developer--navigating the perils and pitfalls of life and love in San Francisco's trendy Mission District.

Out.com reports:

Just like its Girls and Sex and the City predecessors, this untitled project features a group of friends as they try to find footing in a concrete jungle. But these boys are a bit older than their Girls counterparts, so here’s to hoping for less woe-is-me angst and more adult-driven trivialities.

U.S. Indie of the Month: You might have first heard of I Want Your Love (Tla Releasing) after James Franco defended the film against Australian censorship, and now that it’s on DVD, you see what all the hubbub is about. (Franco is such a fan of the film that he hired director Travis Mathews to collaborate with him on this year’s buzzy Sundance hit Interior. Leather Bar.) Mathews takes the premise that John Cameron Mitchell brought to Shortbus — that explicit sex scenes can underscore character and advance narrative in the same way that the best musical numbers can — but accomplishes it, I think, more successfully than Mitchell did. If you can handle a gay movie that’s “mumble-hard-core,” it’s a fascinating and boldly sexual bit of...

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One of the more hotly-anticipated films of the spring will have a bit more time to build anticipation, as Jobs, the biopic that stars Ashton Kutcher as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, has been bumped from its April 19 release date.

Distributor Open Road Films had gravitated toward the April 19 date because it marks the 37th anniversary of the founding of Apple in Jobs’ legendary garage (where part of the film was actually shot). According to a report in The Hollywood Reporter, the movie was bumped in order to create a better marketing window, but no new date has been set.

Jobs...

The 27th London Lgbt Fest offers tons of screenings in the coming days (Pictured above: Underground transgender superstar Divine in John Waters' 1974 sorta class Female Trouble) This year's London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival officially opened with a gala presentation of Jeffrey Schwarz’s I Am Divine this past Thursday. In the coming week, the festival will be showcasing dozens of features and shorts featuring characters of various forms of sexual orientation and gender identity from all over the world. Among tonight's features is John Waters' 1974 camp classic Female Trouble, starring Waters' muse Divine as a youngster who, after running away from home on Christmas Day, getting raped and pregant, and becoming a single mom, is transmogrified from loving schoolgirl to tough criminal. Waters' stock player Edith Massey plays Aunt Ida, who has obviously spent her life hanging out with the wrong straight crowd, remarking at one point in...

They may have found a way to make me watch New Girl. An upcoming episode will have the gang reminiscing about how they lost their virginity, and Jess will flash back to her prom date, a gorgeous, romantic, guitar-playing teen played by Dylan O'Brien. But did he seal the deal?

Colorado has approved a civil unions bill, which the governor has pledged to sign. Colorado has a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, so this is as close as we can get for now, though this ads Colorado to the group of states that President Obama addressed in his Prop 8 brief. And right on cue, Catholic Charities is threatening to cease adoption services in Colorado.

Meanwhile, committees in the Senate and the House in Minnesota have advanced their respective marriage equality bills to the full chambers, where the fight will be tougher.

The U.S. has funded a study under National...

The controversial banning of film I Want Your Love from the 23rd Melbourne Queer Film Festival has prompted Academy Award nominee James Franco and director Travis Mathews to donate their latest project in its place. I Want Your Love was banned from screening at the festival by the Australian Classification Board on the grounds that explicit sex scenes in the film are not supported by narrative context. An application for an exemption was denied. Franco, who co-directed replacement film Interior. Leather Bar. with Mathews, has taken to YouTube to express his disappointment that the film was refused entry. .This just is such a disappointment to me and seems really silly. The reason I approached Travis to make a film (Interior. Leather Bar.) was because of his work in I Want Your Love,. he said in his video, which was directed to the Australian Classification Board. .It.s very short-sighted and very hypocritical.

The controversial banning of film I Want Your Love from the 23rd Melbourne Queer Film Festival has prompted Academy Award nominee James Franco and director Travis Mathews to donate their latest project in its place. I Want Your Love was banned from screening at the festival by the Australian Classification Board on the grounds that explicit sex scenes in the film are not supported by narrative context. An application for an exemption was denied. Franco, who co-directed replacement film Interior. Leather Bar with Mathews, has taken to YouTube to express his disappointment that the film was refused entry. .This just is such a disappointment to me and seems really silly. The reason I approached Travis to make a film (Interior. Leather Bar) was because of his work in I Want Your Love,. he said in his video, which was directed to the Australian Classification Board. .It.s very short-sighted and very hypocritical.

James Franco has expressed interest in starring in a film musical.

The actor has become known for his adventurous career choices, and is currently promoting both Disney's Oz the Great and Powerful and a documentary on gay subculture called Interior. Leather Bar.

Speaking to E! News, Franco was asked where he would next like to take his career.

"I'd love to do a musical," Franco declared.

The actor went on to joke that a film musical would be a far more practical choice than a run on Broadway or the West End.

"[It] probably [needs to be] a movie, so they could augment my voice if needed," he teased.

Franco made headlines earlier this week by suggesting that he is partly responsible for near-constant rumours about his sexuality.

His latest film Oz the Great and Powerful opens in Us and UK cinemas on March 8. Watch a trailer below:

The many faces of James Franco...

James Franco is asking the Australian Classification Board to reconsider its decision to ban "I Want Your Love," a feature film from Franco's "Interior. Leather Bar." co-director, Travis Matthews. "This just is such a disappointment to me and just seems really silly," Franco says in a video uploaded to Matthews' YouTube channel on Monday. Also read: Who Is James Franco? Artist Marina Abramović Wants Her Film to Answer That Matthews' film --'I Want Your Love" --exploring gay male relationships has been banned from screening at festivals in Australia due to scenes containing explicit sex...

James Franco is pretty much everywhere. The guy has both hosted the Oscars and been nominated for an Oscar. He's held art shows, appeared in soap operas, written his own book of poetry, directed and written several indie productions and is about to headline one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, "Oz the Great and Powerful."

No matter how hard you try, you can't avoid the multi-media footprint of James Franco.

But is he actually any good?

Now, we don't mean good as in, you know, his D&D alignment; he seems like a nice enough fellow after all. But as talented as he appears to be, Franco has certainly also racked up his share of detractors and critics over the years. So with that in mind, we thought we'd take a look at Franco's many achievements and apply a highly scientific scoring system to determine once and for all if James Franco is,...