By David Massey
In 2013, James Franco sets the gold standard for
self-indulgent Auteur and on a scale that rivals even Andy Warhol. ‘Interior.
Leather Bar.’ (Co-Directed with Travis Mathews) is just one of many Franco-projects
that I’ve found myself viewing this past year (see also: ‘Child of God’, ‘This
is the End’, ‘Oz The Great and Powerful’, ‘Lovelace’, ‘Maladies’, ‘Tar’,
‘Spring Breakers’, ‘The Iceman’ - and those are just the ones I managed to
catch at various festivals). Looking forward to 2014, the man has an entire
lifetime of projects (for some actor/directors) in varying stages of
production. My take on his absolutely madding and eclectic trajectory; Franco
has found a new type of celebrity excess and, be it a creative excess or not, I
can’t really purport its value to anyone except Franco himself. The films vary
from insightful to entertaining, slow & introspective to over-the-top and
self-aware. There is not a solid through-line to this career but there is no
denying that Franco has an unquenchable thirst for experience and you gotta
love him just a bit for sharing it with us.
RAWR(for more)
