Posts tagged james franco
James Franco Interview For ‘Sal’ – Talks Directing, Hollywood, Sal Mineo, Biopics & More
Sep 8th
The James Franco-directed ‘Sal’ details Sal Mineo’s rise to fame in such films as 1955′s ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ and 1960′s ‘Exodus,’ his conflicted sexuality and friendships with James Dean and Natalie Wood, as well as his 1976 death in West Hollywood after being stabbed by a pizza deliveryman. Franco’s ’Sal’ completed filming earlier this summer following an accelerated nine-day shooting schedule, Val Lauren portrays the late actor. ’Sal’ is adapted from Michael Gregg Michaud’s acclaimed 2010 biography ‘Sal Mineo.’ Check out what James Franco had to say below.
You’ve described ’Sal’ as not a factual biography, but an emotional biography, can you elaborate on that? Also why did you concentrate on this latter part of Sal Mineo’s life?
James Franco: I’ve done biopics before, I played James Dean, the American poet Alan Ginsberg, the story about Aron Ralston, I was apart of a film about Harvey Milk – they kind of covered real peoples lives in different ways. The James Dean thing, I guess that was more of a traditional biopic, Alan Ginsberg, not so conventional but it did cover a certain period of his life and covered keys moments of his life. Aron Ralstan’s kind of covered the big event of his life. I enjoyed the ones more, I guess as a filmmaker, when they took an unusual approach to a persons life story, they had some unique way into that person – I was less interested in giving a history lesson. I think with the technology we have today, it allows you to look up facts about practically anything in two minutes. So I felt like we didn’t need to tell all the beats of Sal’s life. What we could do as a movie was deliver the emotional side of him, that’s maybe something you can’t get from Wikipedia, that’s something you can only get from a performer. We sought a way to give an emotional impression of who Sal was, and to capture his spirit rather than just tell you all the major things of his life.
James Franco Interview For ‘Your Highness’ – Out On DVD & Blu-Ray Today
Aug 8th
Born in California in 1978, James Franco began acting during the late 1990s, appearing on the short-lived television series Freaks and Geeks and starring in several teen films. He achieved international renown with his portrayals of Harry Osborn in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, drug dealer Saul Silver in Pineapple Express and Aron Ralston in 127 Hours. His other well known films include Milk, Tristan & Isolde, Flyboys, Date Night, and this summers Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He has been nominated for three Golden Globe awards, winning one, and received an Academy Award nomination for Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours. In Your Highness, shot by Pineapple Express director David Gordon Green, he stars as Fabious, a noble prince and knight who quests to save his father’s kingdom, and his true love, from a dire sorcerer, accompanied by a band of compatriots, including the brave (Natalie Portman), and the cowardly (Danny McBride). ‘Your Highness’ is released on DVD & Blu-ray 8th August in the UK.
Danny and David wrote the role especially for you?
James Franco: They did, and I like the fact that there is humour for all the characters in the movie, even though each character has to approach it in a different way. Danny’s is obviously a more comedic character. He is the character that you wouldn’t normally see in a movie like this, where he is questioning the world and all the rules and the different aspects of a quest. Normally in a fantasy film all the characters would be onboard and the quest needs to be completed. And so he is a more comic role but everybody else is comedic by being devoted to this world. It is not as if everybody else is a boring stick in the mud and Danny is dancing around. Everybody has their own particular kind of role and the degree to which they devote themselves to this world, being very dedicated despite how ridiculous this world is, that is funny.
Natalie Portman Interview For ‘Your Highness’ – Out On DVD & Blu-Ray Today
Aug 8th
Throughout history, tales of chivalry have burnished the legends of brave, handsome knights who rescue fair damsels, slay dragons and conquer evil. But behind many a hero is a good-for-nothing younger brother trying just to stay out of the way of those dragons, evil and trouble in general. Danny McBride and James Franco team up for an epic comedy adventure set in a fantastical world—Your Highness. As two princes on a daring mission to save their land, they must rescue the heir apparent’s fiancée before their kingdom is destroyed.
Thadeous (McBride) has spent his life watching his perfect older brother Fabious (Franco) embark upon valiant journeys and win the hearts of his people. Tired of being passed over for adventure, adoration and the throne, he’s settled for a life of wizard’s weed, hard booze and easy maidens. But when Fabious’ bride-to-be, Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel), gets kidnapped by the evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux), the king gives his deadbeat son an ultimatum: Man up and help rescue her or get cut off. Half-assedly embarking upon his first quest, Thadeous joins Fabious to trek across the perilous outlands and free the princess. Joined by Isabel (Natalie Portman)—an elusive warrior with a dangerous agenda of her own—the brothers must vanquish horrific creatures and traitorous knights before they can reach Belladonna. If Thadeous can find his inner hero, he can help his brother prevent the destruction of his land. Stay a slacker, and not only does he die a coward, he gets front row seats to the dawn of an all-new Dark Ages. ‘Your Highness’ is out today on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK.
You were friendly with director David Gordon Green beforehand. Were you two looking to work together before ‘Your Highness‘?
Natalie Portman: A few years ago, we were talking about a few different projects and I really admired his films. I was excited by the idea of working with him. He called me and told me that he wanted me to think about doing this character, Isabel, in ‘Your Highness‘. We talked about how we should emphasize her fierceness, which was to serve as a contrast to Danny’s character.
James Franco Interview For ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’
Aug 2nd
‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ combines fantastic storytelling with the next leap in Visual Effects for an emotional and action-packed motion picture experience unlike any other. Man’s arrogance sets off a chain of events that leads to intelligence in apes and a challenge to our place as the dominant species on the planet. Caesar, the first intelligent ape, is betrayed by humans and rises up to lead his species’ spectacular race to freedom and the ultimate showdown with Man. In Caesar, WETA – the Oscar-winning visual effects team behind Avatar – have created a CGI ape that delivers a dramatic performance of unprecedented emotion and intelligence.
Directed by Rupert Wyatt, ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ arrives in cinemas August 5th in the US and August 11th in the UK. The film stars the likes of James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Tom Felton, Tyler Labine, David Oyelowo, Brian Cox and Andy Serkis. Check out what James Franco had to say about the film below.
Can you tell us a little bit about your character and the ethical dilemmas he faces in the film?
James Franco: My character is a man named Will Rodman, he’s a scientist who’s looking for a cure to Alzheimer’s. He’s very set on finding this cure – partly because he has a personal stake in this discovery, because his father has Alzheimer’s. Ethically he does some questionable things. He brings his work home. Because he is emotionally wrapped up in this search for a cure he does a couple things that are a little rash. I guess it goes back to the old rule that a surgeon shouldn’t operate on a family member because you are emotionally wrapped up in the out come. My character Will does get wrapped up emotionally with his Fathers recovery so he does a couple ethically questionable things.
Director Rupert Wyatt Interview For ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’
Jul 28th
An origin story in the true sense of the word, ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ is set in present day San Francisco. The film is a reality-based cautionary tale – a science fiction/science-fact blend where mankind’s hubris leads to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. Oscar(R)-winning visual effects house WETA Digital -employing certain of the groundbreaking technologies developed for ‘Avatar’ – will render, for the first time ever in the film series, photo-realistic apes rather than costumed actors.
Directed by Rupert Wyatt, ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ arrives in cinemas August 5th in the US and August 11th in the UK. The film stars the likes of James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Tom Felton, Tyler Labine, Brian Cox and Andy Serkis. Check out what Wyatt had to say about the film below.
How difficult is it to adapt the prequel to the classics?
Rupert Wyatt: It’s always a challenge. It’s a challenge to make any film, certainly, and it’s a challenge to make a film of this ambition. It’s never, from my point of view as a director coming onto the film, it’s never my intention to be a slave to the franchise as it were. The writers presented us with the script that is very, very respectful and very, very…..in a way subtly kind of acknowledging the mythology. But it’s very much an origin story in the real sense of the word and ironically so, bearing in mind we’re talking about an origin of the species here. So that in itself sets it apart from other films in the franchise, and it’s a real first in that respect. And it’s set in the modern day, doesn’t deal with humanoid apes, it deals with apes that are of our world, and so we sort of set out to tell that first and foremost. The very fact we’re laying the groundwork for ‘The Planet of the Apes’ in a way is just, I guess, the icing on the cake as it were.
Three ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ Clips – Starring James Franco, Freida Pinto & Andy Serkis
Jul 24th
20th Century Fox have liberated these three clips from Rupert Wyatt’s (The Escapist) highly-anticipated sci-fi drama ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes.’ My enthusiasm has been steadily rising for this film, these clips further add to my exitement. ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ arrives in cinemas August 5th in the US and August 11th in the UK. The film stars James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Tom Felton, Tyler Labine, Brian Cox and Andy Serkis. Interviews with the cast coming soon.
An origin story in the true sense of the word, RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES is set in present day San Francisco. The film is a reality-based cautionary tale — a science fiction/science-fact blend where mankind’s hubris leads to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. Oscar(R)-winning visual effects house WETA Digital – employing certain of the groundbreaking technologies developed for “Avatar” – will render, for the first time ever in the film series, photo-realistic apes rather than costumed actors.