comment #1

Krazy Eyes says ...

I don't think anyone else was so sure why you had doubts in the first place. Franco should do really well in this role . . . especially if he gets to cry on camera in at least a few scenes.

comment #2

BoshBarnetWonkyDonkey says ...

I wouldn't say the Spider-Man movies contributed to his career slide. If anything, they kept him visible to the mainstream public while all those other movies you mentioned tanked.

comment #3

Josh Massey says ...

David Cross has to be pissed...

That said, Franco's James Dean is still one of my 10 favorite performances ever.

comment #4

raygo says ...

As much as I liked Josh Brolin, I thought Franco was the standout supporting performance in Milk.

comment #5

Monument says ...

David Cross is too old for the role, at least to play young Ginsberg. But I wonder why they chose not to prosthetically enhance his nose, like Penn in Milk.

comment #6

MilkMan says ...

Can't wait for Paul Walker as Philip Roth, Emile Hirsch as Woody Allen, Chris Evans as Saul Bellow, Matt Damon as Fran Lebowitz and Rhys Ifans as Lenny Bruce.

James Franco looks about as Jewish as a Top Cider wrapped in a pink polo shirt. And I beg to differ with people who say that Ginsberg's Jewishness has nothing to do with Ginsberg.

Marlon Brando may have been a lunatic, but what he said to Larry King was true.

I wonder how people would feel if Ben Stiller was cast as Hunter S. Thompson.

comment #7

MickTravisMcGee says ...

It's positively amazing what a pair of horn-rimmed glasses will do when it comes to making someone look like a guy in horn-rimmed glasses!

comment #8

BurmaShave says ...

Franco should have lost about 20 pounds, that would have been a good start. Look at those divergent neck sizes. Still this is probably his first Oscar nomination.

comment #9

JT says ...

David Cross IS Allen Ginsberg.

comment #10

DeafBrownTrashPunk says ...

So awesome, I can't wait to see this.

comment #11

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

In an image obsessed society, there is something insulting about very attractive people playing those who weren't.

It seems a final slap in the face that after your talent got you over that prejudice that exists in the entertainment business against those of average looks, that when it comes time to tell your story you will be played one of the beautiful people, which will also deprive a character actor of a highly visible role.

As to Ginsberg role specifically, they are 25 years late with this because Jeff Goldblum is the dead ringer if there ever was one.

comment #12

shermy says ...

Yeah, Goldblum would've been great.

I always thought Franco would've been a better Anakin Skywalker.

comment #13

DavidF says ...

Firstly, any "bio" of Franco that omits Freak & Geeks is lacking indeed.

I'm quite amused at everyone discussing how Jewish (or not) James Franco looks.

Take note Mlikman and others: He's Jewish.
Sorry if we don't all have the hook noses, beards and Rogen hair...

comment #14

George Prager says ...

Will it be better than STEAL THIS MOVIE? STONEWALL? Give me a fucking break. So they made THE CELLULOID CLOSET. Big fucking deal. They are documentarians. What makes them think they can do anything interesting with this material? This is going to be another boring and static movie that will get a limited release and then disappear into the ether.

comment #15

MilkMan says ...

What's this WE shit, DavidF? I was bar mitzvahed at Stephen S. Wise Temple in 1985. My grandparents have been members of Wilshire Boulevard Temple since 1955. I went to Camp Hess Kramer for two of the most miserable weeks of my life back in 84. I got a nose job in 90. My bonafides are intact.

What, Franco has a Jewish mom? Or is it a Jewish dad? So what. Being Jewish is MORE than looks. It's an attitude, a way of looking at life, and Franco has that in no way, shape or form. Every gene, atom, electron and pore in his body is screaming Goy. He can't pass. Very few Gentiles can. Franco as Ginsberg is about as ridiculous as David Schwimmer as John F. Kennedy. You think that would happen? You think they would cast a putz like Schwimmer as JFK? How about Adam Goldberg as David Foster Wallace in that inevitable bio-pic?

comment #16

corey3rd says ...

I think the UCLA students are ticked because they don't seem to think he was that great of a student while he was on campus. And it doesn't appear that he was the party monster. The guy who spoke to my graduating class was eventually convicted of stealing money from people and a double homicide. Not sure what should be done with is words of wisdom.

Far as the pic of Franco as Allen - he looks like Johnny Depp trying to look like James Franco doing Allen.

Everybody I've ever met that spent time with Allen all have the same ending to their encounters, Allen says, "So...are you going to blow me or what?" If that line doesn't get used in the movie at least a dozen times, I'll be deeply disappointed.

comment #17

MilkMan says ...

Yakov Smirnov was the commencement speaker at my HS graduation. I didn't pay attention to one word he said. I was too busy staring at the legs of the hottest girl in my class. But I think what he said wasn't very inspirational.

comment #18

MilkMan says ...

Sorry, SMIRNOFF.

comment #19

DavidF says ...

"We" is an inclusive pronoun, dude so I was not questioning your own heritage one way or another.

And it's mom who's Jewish, meaning he qualifies 1/2 genetically and wholly religiously.

I'm not disputing that Adam Goldberg, for example, "looks more Jewish" than James Franco. But surely you can agree there is something amusing about discussing whether a Jew looks Jewish enough to play a Jewy-looking Jew....

..and I'm not calling you, Shirley.

Tom Hanks as Sherman McCoy might be a better comparison than Schwimmer as JFK. On the other hand, Dan Hedaya did a pretty good Nixon...

comment #20

D.Z. says ...

corey: They should have those black-market organ dealers from UCLA medical center speak in his place. That'll add some class to the event.

Anyway, Franco looks more like young Ginsburg than that Eisenberg guy looks like any Beatnik, so I'll take it.

comment #21

frankbooth says ...

Anybody ever see Kirk Douglas in The Juggler? Ridiculous! I mean, he has a strong jaw and small nose and a masculine voice. Come ON. As a guy who has read a number of Jewish authors, enjoys pastrami and has seen a great many Woody Allen movies, I'm offended by his casting.

PS

I'm sick of Googling, Corey. Who was the double-killer?

comment #22

Gaydos says ...

We've announced three Beatnik movies in Variety in the last few weeks. I'm stoked. Let the Beat begin.

http://weblogs.variety.com/hal/2009/03/with-james-franco-about-to-star-in-howl-the-story-of-beat-generation-literary-icon-allen-ginsberg-and-his-famous-obscenity-t.html

comment #23

Mike says ...

To MilkMan - you are a self-hating Jew and your attitude is poisonous. It was literally difficutl to read your post. Apparently Jewishness is not determined by religion or ethnicity, but by some kind of mythical "attitude" that all Jews must share. Wasn't that what Hitler said?

Jews are Jewish regardless of whether some idiot somewhere thinks they "look Jewish" or they "seem Jewish" to them. If you're not convinced by any Jew who's not a Woody Allen-esque caricature, too bad. Join the rest of the Nazis, which is what I would consider anyone who has such an attitude (gee, you presented your "bonafies", but what about the most important one, to you - does your look and mannerism sufficiently resemble Woody Allen? Are you neurotic enough?) It's the same nonsense as blacks who say Condoleeza Rice isn't black because she "doesn't seem black enough" or "doesn't act black" or some garbage.

The only thing that's important is the facts. Actors are cast as real-life people because they resemble them somewhat, and/or are good enough actors for the performance. James Franco certainly looks a little like Ginsberg, and he appears to be a decent actor. While I wouldn't see it as relevant usually, he luckily also shares Ginsberg's ethnicity. Franco's mother is 100% Jewish, making Franco Jewish by Jewish law, and any Orthodox or Conservative Rabbi in the world would agree, regardless of whether Franco "seemed" or "looked" Jewish to them (and, not that it matters, but he has always looked plenty Jewish to me; he certainly doesn't look like a WASP). He's also self-identified as Jewish, so that would probably be sufficeint for the Reform Rabbis, but never mind.

David Schwimmer wouldn't be cast as JFK because he doesn't look like him and isn't considered a very good actor. As for Adam Goldberg, his mother isn't even Jewish and he's been reluctant to identify as Jewish because of that. Just because they seem like stereotypical "New York Jews" to you or anyone else, doesn't make them the epitome, prototpe, or textbook example of an actual Jew. All it means is that they resemble the unfortunate 20th century pop culture creation of "New York Jew", which has nothing to do with actual Jewish religion, culture (beyond manufactured pop culture) or ethnicity.

Also, puzzling how you used a guy named Hirsch (Emile Hirsch) in your examples. But I guess he isn't Schwimmer-esque enough for you.

And I really hope that Kirk Douglas comment was a joke. Douglas is 100% Jewish and a practicing Jew. I know that wouldn't really make him Jewish for some people on this board, what with his blue eyes and good looks and muscles and so on. After all, we all know Jews are unathletic, never mind the Jewish over-representation in the Olympics and the fact that a Jew, Mark Spitz, held the record for most Gold medals won in a single event, etc. etc. (well, Spitz didn't have a New York accent and he may not have been neurotic, so maybe he wasn't Jewish after all).