For every year that is packed with awards season fodder and memorable movies that will go down in history, there is an equal number of films we wish we could erase from our memories.
The Worst of 2014 includes both people who should know better and repeat offenders, artists with a vision and hucksters out for a quick buck.
Here’s hoping the responsible parties resolve to do better in 2015.
Also Read: TheWrap’s Film Critics Pick 10 Best Movies of 2014
Below, TheWrap‘s Reviews Editor Alonso Duralde, and reviewers Inkoo Kang and James Rocchi present their worst films of the year.
The Worst of 2014 includes both people who should know better and repeat offenders, artists with a vision and hucksters out for a quick buck.
Here’s hoping the responsible parties resolve to do better in 2015.
Also Read: TheWrap’s Film Critics Pick 10 Best Movies of 2014
Below, TheWrap‘s Reviews Editor Alonso Duralde, and reviewers Inkoo Kang and James Rocchi present their worst films of the year.
- 12/24/2014
- by Alonso Duralde, Inkoo Kang and James Rocchi
- The Wrap
Out this weekend in New York City, Kink seeks to tell the behind-the-scenes story of Kink.com, a successful fetish website that trades in pornography where people let themselves go by being tied up. If the little hairs are starting to stand up, just wait until you get a load of a trailer filled with super sexy talking heads speaking with dry maturity about orgasmic necessities and liking what they do. Also, there’s going to be a lot of moaning. They really, really like what they do. The film comes from director Christina Voros, who has done a large amount of camera and cinematography work in only a little under a decade. She’s now a go-to Dp for James Franco’s projects (As I Lay Dying, Child of God, Maladies), and he’s also a producer on her sexploratory project here. Check out the trailer for yourself, and make sure your office door is closed...
- 8/22/2014
- by Scott Beggs
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
It was Caesar's soothsayer who warned, "Beware the scum of March" – ok, maybe not in those exact words, but centuries later, the Ides isn't half as horrifying as the ten miserable movies Peter Travers tosses into this month's scum bucket. And please do "Boo" along at home, Travers requests. "They kind of give me strength."
Check Out Peter Travers' Top 10 Movies of 2013
First off is God's Not Dead, a new Christian indie film about students that buck against their professor who's teaching in his philosophy class that God no longer exists.
Check Out Peter Travers' Top 10 Movies of 2013
First off is God's Not Dead, a new Christian indie film about students that buck against their professor who's teaching in his philosophy class that God no longer exists.
- 4/3/2014
- Rollingstone.com
Maladies
Written and directed by Carter
USA, 2012
Somehow, the most inexplicable thing about Maladies is that it’s being released around the United States for release; considering the film’s deliberately experimental and impenetrable quality, this is no easy feat to achieve. But the overriding question upon watching Maladies is as follows: who is this movie for? Its star, James Franco, has become as well-known for his avant-garde work in cinema and modern art as well as he’s known for being a James Dean lookalike in the cult TV show Freaks and Geeks or for his work in Apatow-era mainstream comedies like Pineapple Express. So Maladies may be something he just wanted to do for kicks, but it’s hard to imagine this film raising any level of interest from all but the most dedicated of completists.
In Maladies, Franco stars as James, an actor of some renown and...
Written and directed by Carter
USA, 2012
Somehow, the most inexplicable thing about Maladies is that it’s being released around the United States for release; considering the film’s deliberately experimental and impenetrable quality, this is no easy feat to achieve. But the overriding question upon watching Maladies is as follows: who is this movie for? Its star, James Franco, has become as well-known for his avant-garde work in cinema and modern art as well as he’s known for being a James Dean lookalike in the cult TV show Freaks and Geeks or for his work in Apatow-era mainstream comedies like Pineapple Express. So Maladies may be something he just wanted to do for kicks, but it’s hard to imagine this film raising any level of interest from all but the most dedicated of completists.
In Maladies, Franco stars as James, an actor of some renown and...
- 3/28/2014
- by Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
Our resident VOD expert tells you what's new to rent and own this week on the various streaming services such as cable Movies On Demand, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, and, of course, Netflix. Cable Movies On Demand: Same-day-as-disc releases, older titles and pretheatrical exclusives for rent, priced from $3-$10, in 24- or 48-hour periods The Book Thief (WWII-set drama; Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson; rated PG-13) The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese-directed dramedy based on real-life Wall Street player; Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey; rated R) Chinese Zodiac (action; Jackie Chan; rated PG-13) Maladies (drama; James Franco, Catherine Keener; available in theaters and on Mod; unrated) The Past (drama; Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim; rated...
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- 3/26/2014
- by Robert B. DeSalvo
- Movies.com
How does he do it? That's the question we've posed to actress Fallon Goodson, whose work opposite James in the movie Maladies is being called a breakout performance. We spoke to Fallon about making the film, which is out in limited release and on demand now, and developing a great working relationship with one of Hollywood's busiest actors. On Allie: Benson top, Richard Chai skirt...
- 3/25/2014
- by Allie Merriam
- Popsugar.com
Crazy, Stupid, Art: Carter’s Directorial Debut Less than the Sum of its Parts
Multimedia artist Carter makes his directorial debut with Maladies, an intriguing sounding project that stars James Franco, who collaborated with Carter back in 2008 on an experimental project called Erased James Franco, which, over the course of an hour, sees the actor re-enact scenes from his own filmography as well as a reinterpretation of Julianne Moore’s performance from the Todd Haynes film, Safe (1995). If you think that sounds lofty and ambiguous, then the meta-context attempted in their latest effort feels nearly mainstream in comparison (though, to be clear, sometimes reinterpretation is a euphemism for remake). Borrowing details from the similar events in Franco’s own life as it slips unexplainably between eras and anachronisms, a certain mystique fools us into thinking there’s something of actual substance going on under the vague veneer of mental illness...
Multimedia artist Carter makes his directorial debut with Maladies, an intriguing sounding project that stars James Franco, who collaborated with Carter back in 2008 on an experimental project called Erased James Franco, which, over the course of an hour, sees the actor re-enact scenes from his own filmography as well as a reinterpretation of Julianne Moore’s performance from the Todd Haynes film, Safe (1995). If you think that sounds lofty and ambiguous, then the meta-context attempted in their latest effort feels nearly mainstream in comparison (though, to be clear, sometimes reinterpretation is a euphemism for remake). Borrowing details from the similar events in Franco’s own life as it slips unexplainably between eras and anachronisms, a certain mystique fools us into thinking there’s something of actual substance going on under the vague veneer of mental illness...
- 3/21/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Perhaps Natasha Leggero said it best on Comedy Central’s Roast, when attempting to explain James Franco’s choice in artistic endeavors…
First I was wondering why James Franco would do this roast, and then I saw Spring Breakers and I was like, “Oh! He’ll do anything!”
Being fully aware I was choosing to watch a film starring James Franco, I was entirely unprepared for what I was getting into, which is a conundrum commonly associated with watching anything starring James Franco.
Maladies is written and directed by multimedia artist Carter. This is Carter’s first feature-length film. Combining the quirkiness of Spike Jonze — but more mellow — and complex philosophical musings like those of Charlie Kaufman — but less dizzying — Maladies manages first to catch me off guard, then just as my interest slowly begins to dwindle I am captured in a random moment of realization that I am enjoying the film.
First I was wondering why James Franco would do this roast, and then I saw Spring Breakers and I was like, “Oh! He’ll do anything!”
Being fully aware I was choosing to watch a film starring James Franco, I was entirely unprepared for what I was getting into, which is a conundrum commonly associated with watching anything starring James Franco.
Maladies is written and directed by multimedia artist Carter. This is Carter’s first feature-length film. Combining the quirkiness of Spike Jonze — but more mellow — and complex philosophical musings like those of Charlie Kaufman — but less dizzying — Maladies manages first to catch me off guard, then just as my interest slowly begins to dwindle I am captured in a random moment of realization that I am enjoying the film.
- 3/19/2014
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Teenage
Not Rated, 1 Hr., 18 Mins.
Director Matt Wolf uses startling archival footage to capture the rise of pre-Elvis youth culture as the defining surge of the 20th century. He draws links between the flappers, the idle kids of the Depression, and even Hitler Youth to show us how teenagers first found a niche between alienation and ecstasy. B+ —Owen Gleiberman
New Release
Blood Ties
R, 2 HRs., 8 Mins.
A 1974-set New York crime tHRiller that evokes the brilliantly ramshackle, down-and-dirty spirit of Sidney Lumet. Clive Owen is mesmerizing as a hard case who has just gotten out of prison (the violence...
Not Rated, 1 Hr., 18 Mins.
Director Matt Wolf uses startling archival footage to capture the rise of pre-Elvis youth culture as the defining surge of the 20th century. He draws links between the flappers, the idle kids of the Depression, and even Hitler Youth to show us how teenagers first found a niche between alienation and ecstasy. B+ —Owen Gleiberman
New Release
Blood Ties
R, 2 HRs., 8 Mins.
A 1974-set New York crime tHRiller that evokes the brilliantly ramshackle, down-and-dirty spirit of Sidney Lumet. Clive Owen is mesmerizing as a hard case who has just gotten out of prison (the violence...
- 3/19/2014
- by EW staff
- EW - Inside Movies
After convincing pomo stuntman James Franco into a guest turn on General Hospital and a career retrospective of sorts in Erased James Franco, an art film in which the Oscar nominee recreates performances from his filmography, multimedia artist Carter could perhaps make another feature about how he talked Franco and Catherine Keener into starring in a wilting frippery like his new mental-illness drama Maladies.
Franco plays a character named James who's a distant simulacrum of the performer himself — a former soap-opera actor who suffers from the same psychological sickness that afflicts so many other movie characters: He flinches when he's touched, listens to the dial tone when distressed, and hallucinates a voice that narrates what he does and how he...
Franco plays a character named James who's a distant simulacrum of the performer himself — a former soap-opera actor who suffers from the same psychological sickness that afflicts so many other movie characters: He flinches when he's touched, listens to the dial tone when distressed, and hallucinates a voice that narrates what he does and how he...
- 3/19/2014
- Village Voice
James Franco is exploring his creative side in the upcoming film ‘Maladies,’ which is set to be released in select theaters and On Demand this month. The drama will begin its theatrical release in Los Angeles on March 21, with its iTunes and VOD release to follow on March 25. ‘Maladies’ was written and directed by the internationally acclaimed multimedia artist, Carter. Besides Franco, the film also stars Fallon Goodson, who the actor became impressed with while they were shooting the drama. Following the ‘Maladies’ shoot, he cast her in his directorial efforts, ‘Child of God’ and ‘Black Dog, Red Dog.’ ‘Maladies’ also features Catherine Keener, David Strathairn and Alan [ Read More ]
The post James Franco Searching For Creative Side in Maladies Film Release appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post James Franco Searching For Creative Side in Maladies Film Release appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 3/9/2014
- by Karen Benardello
- ShockYa
It always fun to see James Franco get a little whacky in his movies, and this latest film Maladies looks very strange and very entertaining. I enjoy off-beat films like this, though. The movie was directed by Carter (yes, it's just Carter,) and it also stars Catherine Keener, David Strathairn, Alan Cumming, and Fallon Goodson.
Maladies charts the struggles of an unstable former soap opera star in 1960’s New York as he tries to restart his floundering creative career. Hoping to find clarity and new purpose as a writer, he holes up with his eccentric sister at the seaside home of their best friend. But as he disappears further into his own mind, reality begins to slip through his grasp. A daring new film from internationally acclaimed multimedia artist Carter, Maladies is a heartfelt but defiantly unconventional exploration of the creative mind.
The movie opens in select theaters starting on March 21st,...
Maladies charts the struggles of an unstable former soap opera star in 1960’s New York as he tries to restart his floundering creative career. Hoping to find clarity and new purpose as a writer, he holes up with his eccentric sister at the seaside home of their best friend. But as he disappears further into his own mind, reality begins to slip through his grasp. A daring new film from internationally acclaimed multimedia artist Carter, Maladies is a heartfelt but defiantly unconventional exploration of the creative mind.
The movie opens in select theaters starting on March 21st,...
- 2/6/2014
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
"This is the story of an actor, who is no longer acting." Not too long ago, we featured the full trailer for James Franco's adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's Child of God. Now Franco is back in front of the camera with another low profile release in Maladies. In the film, Franco appropriate plays an actor named James, an unstable former soap opera star in 1960’s New York as he tries to restart his floundering creative career. There's a seemingly omnipotent narrator that the lead character can apparently hear, and this feels a little odd. Catherine Keener and David Strathairn also star in the film that looks like another weird flick. Here's the very first trailer for Carter's Maladies, direct from Tribeca Films: Maladies is written and directed by multimedia artist Carter and charts the struggles of an unstable former soap opera star (James Franco) in 1960’s New...
- 2/5/2014
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
“You don’t need any help thinking abstractly, James.” Multi-hyphenate James Franco and his apparent quest to do everything has long bled over into the sense that the actor-turned-whatever is doing actual performance art in his own life – particularly when it comes to stuff like his soap opera stint on General Hospital and his weirdly compelling turn in Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers. Franco may be ostensibly interested in reaching out beyond the norm, but he paradoxically seems to do that sort of thing while also still being so very James Franco. Franco’s latest project (and, when it comes to Franco, this stuff is always a “project” with a capital P) is a film called Maladies, an almost suffocatingly arty affair in which Franco appears to be playing a version of himself. In the film, Franco stars as a failed actor named James who abandons Hollywood for small town life, the...
- 2/5/2014
- by Kate Erbland
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Before the Trailer, We Thought: A story about a successful actor who is forced to retire at a young age because of a mental illness seems like a sort of joke for someone like James Franco, who at his young age has done more than most do in a lifetime. Still, the fact that this the film is directed by mysterious multimedia artist Carter and stars a wonderful cast including Catherine Keener and David Strathairrn has us interested. For more indie film trailers check out Indiewire's trailer page, sponsored by Sony Picture Classics. And Now? Despite the somewhat campy premise, we're always interested in what James Franco will do next. "Maladies," the trailer, narrated by a voice in James' (played by James Franco) head, makes the film out to be a comedy, which just seems all the more palpable with Franco as its lead. Look out for Franco's on screen sister Fallon Goodson,...
- 2/5/2014
- by Eric Eidelstein
- Indiewire
In the upcoming "Maladies," James Franco plays a former soap opera actor named James who gets lost within his own mind. And while we're not suggesting Franco is mentally unstable, the other details do lend something of a meta quality to the latest Thing That Franco Did, which seems about right for the multi-hyphenate who likes to play with the perception of his persona. And so, here's the trailer, which at first, seems like it's mostly "The James Franco Story: The Period Version" before it reveals itself to be something a little more. The film follows James, who lives with his mentally detached sister Patricia (Fallon Goodson) and his cross-dressing best friend Catherine (Catherine Keener) in the same house. The three struggle to co-exist on the fringes of society, while James becomes obsessed with finishing his life's work—a grand memoir. So, yes, it's meta but does it all hang together?...
- 2/5/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
James Franco is at it again! In his latest art film effort, Maladies, James Franco portrays a former soap star named James (natch!) who is struggling to become a writer and also with falling over in stores. He's joined by a solid blend of co-stars, including David Strathairn, Catherine Keener, Alan Cumming, and Fallon Goodson, who all help contribute to the oddity that is this trailer, which definitely fits in the long list of "art school" projects Franco tends to...
- 2/5/2014
- by Paul Shirey
- JoBlo.com
Today we have the trailer for the upcoming "Maladies" drama, starring James Franco, Catherine Keener and David Strathairn. It's directed by an artist known as Carter and is set to hit theaters on March 21st, in limited release. Check out the trailer below. "Maladies" stars Franco as James, a talented and successful actor who retires at a young age due to a perceived mental illness. He moves in with his unbalanced sister (Fallon Goodson) and an understanding friend (Keener). James begins to hear voices as he struggles to keep himself together and restart his life. "Carter is my double," Franco said about the director. "Whatever I'm thinking, Carter has thought about it, too. In 'Maladies' the two characters (Franco, Keener) make a pact that if one of them dies the other will finish the dead person's work. I would be honored to make such a pact with Carter,...
- 2/5/2014
- WorstPreviews.com
James Franco's Maladies has released a trailer.
The This is the End star plays a struggling actor called James in multimedia artist Carter's feature film debut.
The movie centres around a family all marked by their own mental illnesses.
They struggle to find a place of happiness in a world that does not understand them.
Catherine Keener, Alan Cumming and Fallon Goodson also feature in the film.
Franco will be seen in the upcoming Good People, Every Thing Will Be Fine and Black Dog, Red Dog.
Maladies will arrive in cinemas in March.
The This is the End star plays a struggling actor called James in multimedia artist Carter's feature film debut.
The movie centres around a family all marked by their own mental illnesses.
They struggle to find a place of happiness in a world that does not understand them.
Catherine Keener, Alan Cumming and Fallon Goodson also feature in the film.
Franco will be seen in the upcoming Good People, Every Thing Will Be Fine and Black Dog, Red Dog.
Maladies will arrive in cinemas in March.
- 2/5/2014
- Digital Spy
The trailer for the upcoming Maladies is online and you can check it out in the player below, courtesy of Yahoo! Movies . Marking directorial debut of the multimedia artist known as Carter, Maladies stars James Franco as James, a talented and successful actor who retires at a young age due to a perceived mental illness. Now living in a small town with his deranged sister and his best friend, maladies begin to intertwine. Also starring Alan Cumming, Catherine Keener and David Strathairn, the indie comedy drama hits theaters in a limited release March 21.
- 2/4/2014
- Comingsoon.net
Opening with Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive the latest edition of the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland (22-27 October 2013) has screened some of the most important American independent films of the year. Being the only festival of its class in Eastern and Central Europe the festival has become the most important venue to connect American filmmakers with European buyers and audiences through programs like U.S. in Progress Wrocław (23-25 October 2013).
This year's program taking place at the New Horizons cinema presented 80 movies out of which 42 are Polish premieres, 3 are European premieres and 1 is a World Premiere. Among them 10 documentaries and 17 feature films competed for cash prizes in the audience-vote competitions.
The first competitive section - Spectrum ($10,000 audience award for the Best Narrative Feature) included films that have been well-received here in the U.S such as A Teacher by Hannah Fidell, Blue Caprice by Alexandre Moors, Afternoon Delight by Jill Soloway, Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton, The Spectacular Now by James Ponsoldt, and Bluebird by Lance Edmands. The second competition - American Docs ($5,000 audience award for Best Documentary Feature) had a selection of films depicting varied current issues in American society including Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia by Nicholas Wrathall, The Armstrong Lie by Alex Gibney, Our Nixon by Penny Lane, Northern Light by Nick Bentgen, Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton by Eric Slade and Stephen Silha and Before You Know It by Pj Raval.
The American Film Festival also ran a retrospective of Shirley Clarke and presented Polish premieres of high-profile films such as As I Lay Dying by James Franco, Quentin Dupieux’s Wrong Cops, Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein’s Lovelace, Much Ado About Nothing by Joss Whedon, Touchy Feely by Lynn Shelton, At Any Price by Ramin Bahrani, and Maladies by Carter. The festival also screened Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Sundance hit Don Jon along several U.S. in Progress participants and festival hits like I Used to be Darker by Matt Porterfier and Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Patrick Carbone. Lastly, a special section titled 'Masterpieces of American Cinema 90 Years of Warner Bros." showed 14 digitally-remastered productions by the studio from The Jazz Singer by Alan Crosland (1927) through A Clockwork Orange ,The Exorcist and Christopher Nolan’s Inception
The festival will close on October 27th with Steven Soderbergh's Emmy Award-winning film Behind the Candelabra.
All competitions titles:
Spectrum
American Milkshake by David Andalman, Mariko Munro, USA 2012, 82'
Blue Highway by Kyle Smith, USA 2013, 70'
Coldwater by Vincent Grashaw, USA 2013, 104'
The Spectacular Now by James Ponsoldt, USA 2013, 95'
Drinking Buddies by Joe Swanberg, USA 2013, 90'
Lily by Matt Creed, USA 2013, 85'
A Teacher by Hannah Fidell, USA 2013, 75'
Blue Caprice by Alexandre Moors, USA 2013, 93'
Pearblossom Hwy by Mike Ott, USA 2012, 78'
Afternoon Delight by Jill Soloway, USA 2013, 105'
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors by Sam Fleischner, USA 2013, 102'
Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton, USA 2013, 96'
The Cold Lands by Tom Gilroy, USA 2013, 100'
In a World... by Lake Bell, USA 2013, 93'
A Song Still Inside by Gregory Collins, USA 2013, 82'
Bluebird by Lance Edmands, USA 2013, 90'
American Docs
Big Easy Express by Emmett Malloy, USA 2012
Off Label by Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher, USA 2012
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia by Nicholas Wrathall, USA, Italy 2013
Fall and Winter by Matt Anderson, USA 2013
The Armstrong Lie by Alex Gibney, USA 2013
Lenny Cooke by Ben Safdie, Joshua Safdie, USA 2012
Our Nixon by Penny Lane, USA 2013
Northern Light by Nick Bentgen, USA 2013
Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton by Eric Slade, Stephen Silha, USA 2013
Before You Know It by Pj Raval, USA 2012
U.S. Progress Projects
This year 6 projects in the final production stages were chosen to take part in the two-day workshop knows as U.S. in Progress Wroclaw (23-25 October, 2013). The event presents the American independent projects to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of these films in Europe.
Selected from over 40 submission the chosen projects are the dramas Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott (produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari), Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott (produced by Jessica Caldwell ) and Some Beasts by Cameron Nelson (produced by Ashley Maynor and Courtney Ware), crime story Wild Canaries by Lawrence Michael Levine (produced by Sophia Takal, Kim Sherman and McCabe Walsh), frontier black comedy Sun Belt Express by Evan Wolf Buxbaum (producers: Noah Lang and Iyabo Boyd) and Summer of Blood – a New York vampire comedy by director-producer Onur Tukel.
The prizes are awarded by a jury of professionals and include post-production services from European partner companies worth almost $60.000 and promotional services from other partners. Us in Progress’ partners are: Platige Image (Warsaw), Di Factory (Warsaw), Alvernia Studios (Krakow), composer Maciej Zielinski of Soundflower Studio (Warsaw), Soundplace (Warsaw), DCinex (Belgium), Vsi (Paris), Europa Distribution, Cicae and Cannes Marche du Film’s Producers Network.
U.S. in Progress Wrocław (formerly Gotham in Progress) was started in 2011 by the New Horizons Association and Black Rabbit Film. Previous films presented at the event included, among others: I Used To Be Darker by Matt Porterfield, American Milkshake by David Andalman (both shown at Sundance Ff in 2013), Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Carbone (Berlinale Generation, Tribeca), Bluebird by Lance Edmands (Tribeca, Karlovy Vary), Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi (Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films, Gotham Awards nominee), Amy Seimetz’s Sun Don’t Shine (SXSW, Edinburgh Iff, Gotham Awards nominee) and Devyn Waitt’s Not Waving But Drowning (Sarasota Ff).
U.S. in Progress Wrocław is supported by the City of Wrocław, American Embassy in Warsaw and Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
For more information on the American Film Festival and the U.S. in Progress projects visit Here...
This year's program taking place at the New Horizons cinema presented 80 movies out of which 42 are Polish premieres, 3 are European premieres and 1 is a World Premiere. Among them 10 documentaries and 17 feature films competed for cash prizes in the audience-vote competitions.
The first competitive section - Spectrum ($10,000 audience award for the Best Narrative Feature) included films that have been well-received here in the U.S such as A Teacher by Hannah Fidell, Blue Caprice by Alexandre Moors, Afternoon Delight by Jill Soloway, Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton, The Spectacular Now by James Ponsoldt, and Bluebird by Lance Edmands. The second competition - American Docs ($5,000 audience award for Best Documentary Feature) had a selection of films depicting varied current issues in American society including Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia by Nicholas Wrathall, The Armstrong Lie by Alex Gibney, Our Nixon by Penny Lane, Northern Light by Nick Bentgen, Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton by Eric Slade and Stephen Silha and Before You Know It by Pj Raval.
The American Film Festival also ran a retrospective of Shirley Clarke and presented Polish premieres of high-profile films such as As I Lay Dying by James Franco, Quentin Dupieux’s Wrong Cops, Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein’s Lovelace, Much Ado About Nothing by Joss Whedon, Touchy Feely by Lynn Shelton, At Any Price by Ramin Bahrani, and Maladies by Carter. The festival also screened Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Sundance hit Don Jon along several U.S. in Progress participants and festival hits like I Used to be Darker by Matt Porterfier and Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Patrick Carbone. Lastly, a special section titled 'Masterpieces of American Cinema 90 Years of Warner Bros." showed 14 digitally-remastered productions by the studio from The Jazz Singer by Alan Crosland (1927) through A Clockwork Orange ,The Exorcist and Christopher Nolan’s Inception
The festival will close on October 27th with Steven Soderbergh's Emmy Award-winning film Behind the Candelabra.
All competitions titles:
Spectrum
American Milkshake by David Andalman, Mariko Munro, USA 2012, 82'
Blue Highway by Kyle Smith, USA 2013, 70'
Coldwater by Vincent Grashaw, USA 2013, 104'
The Spectacular Now by James Ponsoldt, USA 2013, 95'
Drinking Buddies by Joe Swanberg, USA 2013, 90'
Lily by Matt Creed, USA 2013, 85'
A Teacher by Hannah Fidell, USA 2013, 75'
Blue Caprice by Alexandre Moors, USA 2013, 93'
Pearblossom Hwy by Mike Ott, USA 2012, 78'
Afternoon Delight by Jill Soloway, USA 2013, 105'
Stand Clear of the Closing Doors by Sam Fleischner, USA 2013, 102'
Short Term 12 by Destin Cretton, USA 2013, 96'
The Cold Lands by Tom Gilroy, USA 2013, 100'
In a World... by Lake Bell, USA 2013, 93'
A Song Still Inside by Gregory Collins, USA 2013, 82'
Bluebird by Lance Edmands, USA 2013, 90'
American Docs
Big Easy Express by Emmett Malloy, USA 2012
Off Label by Michael Palmieri, Donal Mosher, USA 2012
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia by Nicholas Wrathall, USA, Italy 2013
Fall and Winter by Matt Anderson, USA 2013
The Armstrong Lie by Alex Gibney, USA 2013
Lenny Cooke by Ben Safdie, Joshua Safdie, USA 2012
Our Nixon by Penny Lane, USA 2013
Northern Light by Nick Bentgen, USA 2013
Big Joy: The Adventures of James Broughton by Eric Slade, Stephen Silha, USA 2013
Before You Know It by Pj Raval, USA 2012
U.S. Progress Projects
This year 6 projects in the final production stages were chosen to take part in the two-day workshop knows as U.S. in Progress Wroclaw (23-25 October, 2013). The event presents the American independent projects to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of these films in Europe.
Selected from over 40 submission the chosen projects are the dramas Lake Los Angeles by Mike Ott (produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari), Happy Baby by Stephen Elliott (produced by Jessica Caldwell ) and Some Beasts by Cameron Nelson (produced by Ashley Maynor and Courtney Ware), crime story Wild Canaries by Lawrence Michael Levine (produced by Sophia Takal, Kim Sherman and McCabe Walsh), frontier black comedy Sun Belt Express by Evan Wolf Buxbaum (producers: Noah Lang and Iyabo Boyd) and Summer of Blood – a New York vampire comedy by director-producer Onur Tukel.
The prizes are awarded by a jury of professionals and include post-production services from European partner companies worth almost $60.000 and promotional services from other partners. Us in Progress’ partners are: Platige Image (Warsaw), Di Factory (Warsaw), Alvernia Studios (Krakow), composer Maciej Zielinski of Soundflower Studio (Warsaw), Soundplace (Warsaw), DCinex (Belgium), Vsi (Paris), Europa Distribution, Cicae and Cannes Marche du Film’s Producers Network.
U.S. in Progress Wrocław (formerly Gotham in Progress) was started in 2011 by the New Horizons Association and Black Rabbit Film. Previous films presented at the event included, among others: I Used To Be Darker by Matt Porterfield, American Milkshake by David Andalman (both shown at Sundance Ff in 2013), Hide Your Smiling Faces by Daniel Carbone (Berlinale Generation, Tribeca), Bluebird by Lance Edmands (Tribeca, Karlovy Vary), Jason Cortlund & Julia Halperin’s Now, Forager: a Film About Love and Fungi (Rotterdam, New Directors/New Films, Gotham Awards nominee), Amy Seimetz’s Sun Don’t Shine (SXSW, Edinburgh Iff, Gotham Awards nominee) and Devyn Waitt’s Not Waving But Drowning (Sarasota Ff).
U.S. in Progress Wrocław is supported by the City of Wrocław, American Embassy in Warsaw and Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
For more information on the American Film Festival and the U.S. in Progress projects visit Here...
- 10/26/2013
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
American Film Festival in Wroclaw to close with Steven Soderbergh’s Behind the Candelabra; competition and programme highlights announced.Scroll down for competition titles
The fourth American Film Festival (Aff) in Wrocław, Poland is to feature 80 films comprising 42 Polish premieres; three European premieres and one world premiere.
The event, which is focused on independent Us cinema, will run from Oct 22-27.
It will open with Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive and close with Steven Soderbergh’s Behind the Candelabra, both of which played in competition at Cannes.
Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra recently picked up 11 Emmy awards, including best television movie, best leading actor for Michael Douglas and best director.
Dutch experimental lutenist Jozef van Wissem will conduct a live performance of the soundtrack for Only Lovers Left Alive, which won the Cannes Soundtrack Award, on Oct 23 - the day after its opening night screening.
Competitions
A total of 10 documentaries and 16 narrative feature films will compete...
The fourth American Film Festival (Aff) in Wrocław, Poland is to feature 80 films comprising 42 Polish premieres; three European premieres and one world premiere.
The event, which is focused on independent Us cinema, will run from Oct 22-27.
It will open with Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive and close with Steven Soderbergh’s Behind the Candelabra, both of which played in competition at Cannes.
Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra recently picked up 11 Emmy awards, including best television movie, best leading actor for Michael Douglas and best director.
Dutch experimental lutenist Jozef van Wissem will conduct a live performance of the soundtrack for Only Lovers Left Alive, which won the Cannes Soundtrack Award, on Oct 23 - the day after its opening night screening.
Competitions
A total of 10 documentaries and 16 narrative feature films will compete...
- 10/8/2013
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Original programs like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and The Walking Dead are among AMC Networks’ success stories on its namesake channel — and now the company is beginning to branch out, bringing scripted originals to its Sundance Channel as well. The two-part miniseries Restless, starring Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery, premiered on the Sundance Channel last December; Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake will bow in March.
Next on the list: Rectify, a six-episode series created by Oscar-winning filmmaker Ray McKinnon and produced by Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein — the celebrated team behind Breaking Bad. The story follows Daniel Holden...
Next on the list: Rectify, a six-episode series created by Oscar-winning filmmaker Ray McKinnon and produced by Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein — the celebrated team behind Breaking Bad. The story follows Daniel Holden...
- 3/14/2013
- by Hillary Busis
- EW - Inside TV
Having established himself as a painter, photographer, and sculptor, Carter continues to expand his art repertoire with his newest feature film, Maladies. After working with James Franco on his directorial debut, Erased James Franco, Carter decided to write another film with Franco in mind. Maladies follows the relationship of a former actor who befriends a family of artists. All equally eccentric, their interactions explore the struggle artists often have with creativity. The movie also stars Catherine Keener, David Strathairn, and Fallon Goodson, who also acted as a producer. Maladies premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February and makes its North American debut …...
- 3/12/2013
- by Alexandra Byer
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
From MTV News
James Franco may have just had a massive movie opening with "Oz the Great and Powerful," but the actor knows how to stay true his indie roots.
"Maladies," which stars James Franco, David Strathairn, and Catherine Keener, after premiering a few week back at the Berlin International Film Festival, is screening at SXSW, which is currently underway in Austin, Texas.
In the film, Franco plays James, an actor forced out of the spotlight due to a perceived mental illness, but if this exclusive clip from "Maladies" is any indication of his mental stability, there may be some truth to that.
Check out the clip from "Maladies" above.
James Franco may have just had a massive movie opening with "Oz the Great and Powerful," but the actor knows how to stay true his indie roots.
"Maladies," which stars James Franco, David Strathairn, and Catherine Keener, after premiering a few week back at the Berlin International Film Festival, is screening at SXSW, which is currently underway in Austin, Texas.
In the film, Franco plays James, an actor forced out of the spotlight due to a perceived mental illness, but if this exclusive clip from "Maladies" is any indication of his mental stability, there may be some truth to that.
Check out the clip from "Maladies" above.
- 3/11/2013
- by MTV Movies Team
- MTV Movies Blog
In upcoming film Maladies, screening at SXSW next week after premiering at the Berlin Film Festival late last year, James Franco stars as James, a troubled former soap opera star who moves to a small town under the guise of writing a memoir. He lives with his sister, who is mentally ill (Fallon Goodson) and best friend, Catherine (Catherine Keener) — an artist who is a cross dresser. In the exclusive photo below, we see Catherine at work on a sculpture.
Just before the scene above, James and Catherine are having a heated discussion — James thinks that when one of them dies,...
Just before the scene above, James and Catherine are having a heated discussion — James thinks that when one of them dies,...
- 3/8/2013
- by Laura Hertzfeld
- EW - Inside Movies
While James Franco will be starring in the fantastical "Oz The Great And Powerful" opening this weekend, the busy multi-hyphenate has another movie making its way to audiences as well. "Maladies" finds the actor once again stretching his wings, in a movie that finds him alongside talent like Catherine Keener and David Strathairn. Written and directed by the singularly named Carter, who previously collaborated with Franco on the project "Erased James Franco," their latest effort follows James, a former soap opera star who lives with his mentally detached sister Patricia (Fallon Goodson) and his cross-dressing best friend Catherine (Keener) in the same house. The three struggle to co-exist on the fringes of society, while James becomes obsessed with finishing his life's work -- a grand memoir. In this exclusive clip, James reminds Catherine of the pact they made about what will happen to their artistic pursuits if one of them dies.
- 3/4/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
So let's clear up a few misconceptions about this film -- and of course there are misconceptions, it's a James Franco project. In fact it's the third title to boast his involvement at this Berlin Film Festival (after "Lovelace" and "Maladies"), but here he is pulling double duty as co-director with Travis Matthews, and performer, as himself (kinda). Firstly, "Interior. Leather Bar" is not a recreation/reimagining of the "censored," never-shown 40 minutes from William Friedkin's "Cruising," nor even footage inspired by that missing footage. Instead it's a semi-scripted, hour-long documentary about the production of that reimagined footage, in which much less of the actual recreated footage appears than the stories around its making, the concept behind it and the utterly self-conscious, self-referential approach. Hope you're still with us? Secondly, while Franco is credited throughout with being the guy who came...
- 2/12/2013
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
Berlin -- The talent gathered for The Hollywood Reporter’s Berlin Actors Roundtable is certainly not reluctant to take a walk on the wild side at this year’s Berlinale. Peter Sarsgaard, 41, is a brutal husband and pimp in Lovelace; Fallon Goodson, 27, plays James Franco’s unstable sister in Maladies; Melanie Laurent, 29, and Jack Huston, 30, are doomed lovers in Bille August’s literary adaptation Night Train to Lisbon; and newcomer Mikkel Boe Folsgaard, 28, the Danish Shooting Star in Berlin this year, won the Berlinale’s best actor Silver Bear in 2012 for his first movie role, a mad king in the
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- 2/12/2013
- by Scott Roxborough , Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Is James Franco, here playing an ex-tv actor, a help or a hindrance in a film? Either way, the tone and pace are lacking
Are the wheels falling off the James Franco train? He's turned out to be a rotten poet, an iffy director and an academic of questionable distinction. At least he's got the acting to fall back on, you would think.
Well, with Oz the Great and Powerful and lead roles in films from 127 Hours to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Franco's status as a major league box-office draw would appear secure. But that clearly isn't enough; over the years, Franco has distinguished himself by alternating roles in Hollywood biggies with working on small-scale projects that garnish his reputation as a serious multimedia artist. Maladies without question falls into the latter category: it's written and directed by another multimedia artist, Carter, with whom Franco previously collaborated...
Are the wheels falling off the James Franco train? He's turned out to be a rotten poet, an iffy director and an academic of questionable distinction. At least he's got the acting to fall back on, you would think.
Well, with Oz the Great and Powerful and lead roles in films from 127 Hours to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Franco's status as a major league box-office draw would appear secure. But that clearly isn't enough; over the years, Franco has distinguished himself by alternating roles in Hollywood biggies with working on small-scale projects that garnish his reputation as a serious multimedia artist. Maladies without question falls into the latter category: it's written and directed by another multimedia artist, Carter, with whom Franco previously collaborated...
- 2/11/2013
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Berlin – At Point A, you are one person. At Point B, you are another person. At Point C, you are again transformed into yet another facet, angle, shard, area, zone. That theorem is repeated multiple times by a narrator adopting the patiently didactic tones of a 1960s educational psychiatric film in Maladies. This second collaboration between James Franco and the single-moniker multimedia artist-filmmaker Carter is a mock-serious rumination on fragmented identity, mental disorders and their perhaps indispensable role in the creation of art. The three-point breakdown can be applied equally to the experience of watching
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- 2/11/2013
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Yes, it's James Franco Project #A-9087B-X7, but we'll say this about the prolific actor/writer/director/producer -- his choices are never dull. Indeed, "Maladies" is on our list of 5 Most Anticipated Movies Of The 2013 Berlin Film Festival, and the cast, which also includes Catherine Keener and David Strathairn, is one that we'd be curious to check out in almost anything. And with subject matter such as schizophrenia and sexuality in the mix, the blend could be potent, but we have to be honest: now that the first trailer is here, we're not sure what to think. Set in the 1960s, James Franco (kinda looking a bit like Joaquin Phoenix from "The Master" in that pic above) plays a former actor and schizophrenic who lives with his mentally detached sister Patricia (Fallon Goodson) and his cross-dressing best friend (Keener) in the same house. And as you can guess, their lifestyle,...
- 2/8/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Some of the best films of the 2012/2013 calender year from Richard Linklater, Harmony Korine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Andrew Bujalski, Jeff Nichols, David Gordon Green, Shane Carruth and Joshua Oppenheimer are among the headliner names for the 2013 edition of the South by Southwest Film Festival. With a little over 100 plus film line-up (a whopping 2000+ titles were submitted), almost 70 are world premieres: there is the highly anticipated sophomore film (that has been on our radar since it first went into production) with M. Blash’s (The Wait), Joe Swanberg who makes SXSW his second home will premiere Drinking Buddies, veteran indie filmmaker John Sayles saddles in with Go For Sisters, and rounding out the Narrative Spotlight section we’ve got The Bounceback from Bryan Poyser, Loves Her Gun from Geoff Marslett along with titles we thought might break into Park City, but found an Austin home instead with Jacob Vaughan’s Milo and...
- 2/1/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Austin is set to burn up and tear up the silver screen in March. The South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) announced the full slate of films for the fest Thursday, adding a special Burning Love event and the Dave Grohl documentary Sound City to the lineup, amongst a slew of other films and digital projects from indie filmmakers and major stars alike.
Joining already announced films including The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Spring Breakers, and the Evil Dead remake are over 100 films, from Sundance hits Prince Avalanche and Before Midnight to Maladies with James Franco and Catherine Keener.
“We have an incredibly unique environment,...
Joining already announced films including The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Spring Breakers, and the Evil Dead remake are over 100 films, from Sundance hits Prince Avalanche and Before Midnight to Maladies with James Franco and Catherine Keener.
“We have an incredibly unique environment,...
- 1/31/2013
- by Laura Hertzfeld
- EW - Inside Movies
The South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival has announced the features lineup for this year's festival, running from March 8-16. In addition to the previously announced opening night film "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" and Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers," the festival announced its entire 109-feature lineup, including 69 world premieres. New titles include "The Bounceback," a Narrative Spotlight entry from "Lovers of Hate" director Bryan Poyser, and "Go For Sisters," an Edward James Olmos vehicle directed by indie veteran John Sayles. Other festival highlights include Fede Alvarez's "Evil Dead" remake; "VHS"'s Joe Swanberg's "Drinking Buddies" starring Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, and Jake Johnson; "Maladies" starring James Franco and Catherine Keener; Alex Winter's "Downloaded" a documentary about the rise and fall of Napster; and...
- 1/31/2013
- by Erin Whitney
- Indiewire
The Berlinale continues to add to the lineup for its February 7-17 fest. Tom Hooper's "Les Miserables" will play in the Berlinale Special showcase, as will Jane Campion's "Top of the Lake" miniseries, Giuseppe Tornatore's "The Best Offer," "Michael Winterbottom's "The Look of Love," Yoji Yamada's "Tokyo Family," Ken Loach's doc "The Spirit of '45" and Raoul Peck's "Fatal Assistance," a look at the consequences of charity hype in post-earthquare Haiti. In the Panorama section, two of the 31 films feature James Franco; as a former actor with schizophrenia in Carter's "Maladies" and in "Interior. Leather Bar.", inspired by William Friedkin's 1980 drama "Cruising." Also in the mix are Zaza Rusadze's "A Fold in My Blanket," Nanouk Leopold's "It's All So Quiet," Stacie Passon's "Concussion," Shane...
- 1/15/2013
- by Sophia Savage
- Thompson on Hollywood
Berlin – New films from multi-hyphenate James Franco and rising Bollywood star director Abhishek Kapoor (Rock On!) are among the highlights in the Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival, which announced its finalized lineup Tuesday. Interior, Leather Bar, an experimental film directed by Franco with Travis Mathews, will have its international premiere in Berlin. Franco and Mathews star in the feature, a “reimagining” of the 40 minutes of lost footage from William Friedkin’s 1980 S&M thriller Cruising. Franco also stars in Maladies from director Carter, which will have its world premiere in the Panorama section in Berlin.
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- 1/15/2013
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It’s Wednesday, so apparently that means that every film studio and their mother has decided to unleash some first looks of their hugely anticipated projects, coinciding with the much talked about marketplace at this year’s Cannes Film Festival comes a-calling.
Read more on First Look: Jason Bateman’s Longest Week, James Franco in Maladies and Shia Labeouf is Charlie Countryman...
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Read more on First Look: Jason Bateman’s Longest Week, James Franco in Maladies and Shia Labeouf is Charlie Countryman...
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No related posts.
- 5/17/2012
- by Joshua Brunsting
- GordonandtheWhale
More first looks from the Cannes marketplace this evening, with a pair of star-studded indies looking to find distribution at home and abroad before the Croisette empties out. First up, there's comedy-drama "The Longest Week," from debut feature writer/director Peter Glanz, who was behind AMC's web series "The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur Banks." The film's got an impressive cast, led by "Arrested Development" star Jason Bateman, and also including Billy Crudup and Olivia Wilde. Images, a poster and a synopsis below, and click on to page two for your first look at James Franco starrer "Maladies."
When Conrad’s (Bateman) wealthy parents took a 20 year vacation to Paris, they left him to be raised by their Hotel staff at the age of 11. Now in his early 30’s, Conrad’s troubled life is filled with chasing girls, relaxing, and enjoying all the comforts of a prestigious hotel. However, all that changes when his parents’ divorce,...
When Conrad’s (Bateman) wealthy parents took a 20 year vacation to Paris, they left him to be raised by their Hotel staff at the age of 11. Now in his early 30’s, Conrad’s troubled life is filled with chasing girls, relaxing, and enjoying all the comforts of a prestigious hotel. However, all that changes when his parents’ divorce,...
- 5/16/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Oscar nominee will appear on Nick at Nite's 'Hollywood Heights' this summer.
By Jocelyn Vena
James Franco
Photo: Neilson Barnard/ Getty Images
At this point, few things James Franco does in his career surprise anyone. But his latest gig might be an exception. The Oscar-nominated actor has agreed to appear on the Nick at Nite telenovela "Hollywood Heights."
The gig was announced by the network on Wednesday, but further details about his appearance on the show were not released. The show will kick off in June, according to Vulture, and like any good telenovela, it will air five nights a week. Based on a Mexican soap opera, the show revolves around a shy girl who befriends a rock star (her crush) after winning a songwriting competition and ultimately becomes a pop star herself.
This is the latest of many unusual side hustles the actor has acquired recently. Aside from attending...
By Jocelyn Vena
James Franco
Photo: Neilson Barnard/ Getty Images
At this point, few things James Franco does in his career surprise anyone. But his latest gig might be an exception. The Oscar-nominated actor has agreed to appear on the Nick at Nite telenovela "Hollywood Heights."
The gig was announced by the network on Wednesday, but further details about his appearance on the show were not released. The show will kick off in June, according to Vulture, and like any good telenovela, it will air five nights a week. Based on a Mexican soap opera, the show revolves around a shy girl who befriends a rock star (her crush) after winning a songwriting competition and ultimately becomes a pop star herself.
This is the latest of many unusual side hustles the actor has acquired recently. Aside from attending...
- 3/16/2012
- MTV Movie News
Oscar nominee will appear on Nick at Nite's 'Hollywood Heights' this summer.
By Jocelyn Vena
James Franco
Photo: Neilson Barnard/ Getty Images
At this point, few things James Franco does in his career surprise anyone. But his latest gig might be an exception. The Oscar-nominated actor has agreed to appear on the Nick at Nite telenovela "Hollywood Heights."
The gig was announced by the network on Wednesday, but further details about his appearance on the show were not released. The show will kick off in June, according to Vulture, and like any good telenovela, it will air five nights a week. Based on a Mexican soap opera, the show revolves around a shy girl who befriends a rock star (her crush) after winning a songwriting competition and ultimately becomes a pop star herself.
This is the latest of many unusual side hustles the actor has acquired recently. Aside from attending...
By Jocelyn Vena
James Franco
Photo: Neilson Barnard/ Getty Images
At this point, few things James Franco does in his career surprise anyone. But his latest gig might be an exception. The Oscar-nominated actor has agreed to appear on the Nick at Nite telenovela "Hollywood Heights."
The gig was announced by the network on Wednesday, but further details about his appearance on the show were not released. The show will kick off in June, according to Vulture, and like any good telenovela, it will air five nights a week. Based on a Mexican soap opera, the show revolves around a shy girl who befriends a rock star (her crush) after winning a songwriting competition and ultimately becomes a pop star herself.
This is the latest of many unusual side hustles the actor has acquired recently. Aside from attending...
- 3/16/2012
- MTV Music News
After having Tom Hanks attached to the project for almost a year and a date already set, we’re finally getting more casting on Paul Greengrass‘ Captain Phillips. According to Variety, Catherine Keener has signed onto play Hanks‘ wife in the true-life inspired rescue story.
Hanks is set to play real-life pilot Richard Phillips, who “allowed himself to be taken hostage by Somali pirates in 2009 in order to guarantee the safety of his crew.” Keener will play Andrea Phillips, who remained strong and admirable throughout the entire hostage situation. The Social Network‘s powerhouse team of Scott Rudin, Michael De Luca, Dana Brunetti and Kevin Spacey are producing the project, with Billy Ray (The Hunger Games, Flightplan) writing the script.
Keener has definitely kept busy over the recent years as she’ll be seen next in A Late Quartet with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, as well as Maladies. Keener is an...
Hanks is set to play real-life pilot Richard Phillips, who “allowed himself to be taken hostage by Somali pirates in 2009 in order to guarantee the safety of his crew.” Keener will play Andrea Phillips, who remained strong and admirable throughout the entire hostage situation. The Social Network‘s powerhouse team of Scott Rudin, Michael De Luca, Dana Brunetti and Kevin Spacey are producing the project, with Billy Ray (The Hunger Games, Flightplan) writing the script.
Keener has definitely kept busy over the recent years as she’ll be seen next in A Late Quartet with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, as well as Maladies. Keener is an...
- 2/2/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
#75. Maladies Director/Writer: CarterProducers: Vince Jolivette, Miles Levy, Jeff Most, Jeff Rice, Marni ZelnickDistributor: Rights Available The Gist: A talented and successful actor retires at a young age due to a perceived mental illness. Now living in a small town with his deranged sister and his best friend, we watch as their Maladies intertwine...(more) Cast: James Franco, Catherine Keener, Fallon Goodson and David Strathairn List Worthy Reasons...: Joined by a solid supporting cast in Catherine Keener and David Strathairn, Maladies will forever be known as the film that set Franco off towards a stint on General Hospital in 2010. Despite not knowing much on Carter, we're curious enough to include this in our top 100. Release Date/Status?: Passed on or not submitted to Park City, a 2012 film festival release is a certainty. ...
- 1/5/2012
- IONCINEMA.com
By Roger Friedman
HollywoodNews.com: The 2012 Sundance Film Festival films were announced recently. And while the list of those that made it looks interesting, Sundance may not have the star power of previous seasons. Several movies that were anticipated simply vanished and didn’t make the cut. One that I thought might have a Sundance start, Lawrence Kasdan’s “Darling Companion,” with Diane Keaton and Kevin Kline, is instead opening the Santa Barbara Film Festival on January 26th. Also missing: Penn Badgley as Jeff Buckley in “Greetings from Tim Buckley.” I know the people who made that film thought they were heading to Sundance. Oscar nominated director/writer Terry George has a lovely film with “Whole Lotta Sole.” Somehow, it didn’t make the cut. A natural for Sundance, Walter Salles‘s “On the Road,” was not even mentioned. And the James Franco-(John) Carter art film collaboration, “Maladies.
HollywoodNews.com: The 2012 Sundance Film Festival films were announced recently. And while the list of those that made it looks interesting, Sundance may not have the star power of previous seasons. Several movies that were anticipated simply vanished and didn’t make the cut. One that I thought might have a Sundance start, Lawrence Kasdan’s “Darling Companion,” with Diane Keaton and Kevin Kline, is instead opening the Santa Barbara Film Festival on January 26th. Also missing: Penn Badgley as Jeff Buckley in “Greetings from Tim Buckley.” I know the people who made that film thought they were heading to Sundance. Oscar nominated director/writer Terry George has a lovely film with “Whole Lotta Sole.” Somehow, it didn’t make the cut. A natural for Sundance, Walter Salles‘s “On the Road,” was not even mentioned. And the James Franco-(John) Carter art film collaboration, “Maladies.
- 12/20/2011
- by Roger Friedman
- Hollywoodnews.com
#39. Maladies - Carter Having worked with Franco before on Erased James Franco (short film which sees Franco re-enacts scenes from his filmography and reinterprets Julianne Moore's role in Todd Haynes' Safe) Carter's directorial debut continues with the notion of performance. Maladies will forever be known as the film that set Franco off towards a stint on General Hospital in 2010. With Catherine Keener and David Strathairn we see this as an almost sure bet in the Premieres section. Gist: A talented and successful actor (Franco) retires at a young age due to a perceived mental illness. Now living in a small town with his deranged sister and his best friend, we watch as their Maladies intertwine. Producers: Vince Jolivette, Miles Levy, Jeff Most, Jeff Rice, Marni Zelnick(Ioncinema.com Preview Page // IMDb Link) ...
- 11/10/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Pretty confident that this one won't air on the Disney Channel.
Variety reports that Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, two of the last decade's biggest tween starlets, are in talks to join the cast of the dark Harmony Korine film, "Spring Breakers." They would potentially join the also-negotiating James Franco and Emma Roberts in the flick about four college students who rob a restaurant to pay for their spring break trip, and the scamming drugs and arms dealer with whom they get entangled.
Franco is certainly turning toward dark roles, with turns in the upcoming mental illness-themed dramas, "Maladies" and "The Stare," as well as "Cherry," about a porn star who gets entangled with a drug addicted lawyer.
Hudgens is making her first real dark film in "Gimme Shelter," in which she plays a pregnant teen who turns to the streets in search of survival. Pictures of her with short,...
Variety reports that Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, two of the last decade's biggest tween starlets, are in talks to join the cast of the dark Harmony Korine film, "Spring Breakers." They would potentially join the also-negotiating James Franco and Emma Roberts in the flick about four college students who rob a restaurant to pay for their spring break trip, and the scamming drugs and arms dealer with whom they get entangled.
Franco is certainly turning toward dark roles, with turns in the upcoming mental illness-themed dramas, "Maladies" and "The Stare," as well as "Cherry," about a porn star who gets entangled with a drug addicted lawyer.
Hudgens is making her first real dark film in "Gimme Shelter," in which she plays a pregnant teen who turns to the streets in search of survival. Pictures of her with short,...
- 11/2/2011
- by Jordan Zakarin
- Huffington Post
From anyone but Harmony Korine, known for scripting Kids and directing Gummo, Julien Donkey-Boy, and Trash Humpers, the plot for Spring Breakers would sound like a wild piece of material. For Korine, it almost sounds like a family film. The story follows four late-teen girls who rob a restaurant in order to finance a spring break trip, and end up enlisted to kill the rival of their drug dealer. Now Emma Roberts is in talks to play one of the four girls, and James Franco is attached to play the dealer. Variety [1] describes the plot: [Spring Breakers] follows four college-aged girls who rob a fast food restaurant to afford spring break in Florida, only to get arrested upon their arrival... Alien, a rapping drug and arms dealer, bails them out and entices them to kill his arch-rival, a murderer who is appropriately named Arch. I can see this turning into quite a scary piece of work,...
- 11/2/2011
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
Between his stint as the Wizard of Oz, burgeoning directorial career, foray into porn production, educational pursuits, art projects and writing, something had to give for James Franco.
According to Just Jared, Franco has pulled out of the upcoming film "The Ice Man," in which he was set to star as mentor to Michael Shannon, who would play mob hitman Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski. The film may now completely fall apart.
Of course, he has no problem with on-screen killing; he plays an eccentric serial killer in "General Hospital," a role he's reprising this season, and will play a real life serial killer in "The Night Stalker," due out next year.
The star also recently dropped out of what would have been his Broadway debut, "Sweet Bird of Youth."
Don't worry, though, as there will be plenty of Franco to go around. He's directing an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "Child of God,...
According to Just Jared, Franco has pulled out of the upcoming film "The Ice Man," in which he was set to star as mentor to Michael Shannon, who would play mob hitman Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski. The film may now completely fall apart.
Of course, he has no problem with on-screen killing; he plays an eccentric serial killer in "General Hospital," a role he's reprising this season, and will play a real life serial killer in "The Night Stalker," due out next year.
The star also recently dropped out of what would have been his Broadway debut, "Sweet Bird of Youth."
Don't worry, though, as there will be plenty of Franco to go around. He's directing an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "Child of God,...
- 10/19/2011
- by Jordan Zakarin
- Huffington Post
HollywoodNews.com: Alan Cumming, Garret Dillahunt, and Frances Fisher star in the poignant period drama Any Day Now, written, produced and directed by filmmaker Travis Fine (The Space Between). The film recently completed principal photography in Los Angeles and is currently in post-production. Produced by Kristine Hostetter Fine (The Space Between) and Chip Hourihan (Frozen River), the film is executive produced by Anne O’Shea (The Kids Are Alright) and Maxine Makover (The Space Between.
Set in the 1970s and inspired by a true story, the film chronicles a gay couple who take in a teenage boy with Down Syndrome who has been abandoned by his drug addicted mother. As the teen discovers the strong bonds of family for the first time in his life, disapproving authorities step in to tear the boy from the only stable environment he has ever known. As the gay men fight to adopt this extraordinary special needs child,...
Set in the 1970s and inspired by a true story, the film chronicles a gay couple who take in a teenage boy with Down Syndrome who has been abandoned by his drug addicted mother. As the teen discovers the strong bonds of family for the first time in his life, disapproving authorities step in to tear the boy from the only stable environment he has ever known. As the gay men fight to adopt this extraordinary special needs child,...
- 9/21/2011
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
James Franco's Broadway debut will have to wait. Franco has dropped out of a planned revival of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth. Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman is still on board and so is director David Cromer. Sweet Bird of Youth revolves around an aging, hard-drinking movie actress, Alexandra Del Lago, who leaves town with an aging (35?), small-town escort/drifter, Chance Wayne. Wayne, in love with a corrupt Florida politician's daughter, wants Del Lago back in the movie game so he can have a chance in show biz as well. Elia Kazan directed Paul Newman and Geraldine Page in the original 1959 Broadway production, which earned Page a Tony nomination. Newman and Page reprised their roles in the somewhat watered-down 1962 film version directed by Richard Brooks. Page and Shirley Knight, who played Chance Wayne's love interest, were both nominated for Academy Awards as, respectively, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.
- 8/31/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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