3 Reasons Why We Love James Franco (And Why You Should Too)

1. He's funny - From his days on the tremendously underrated television show Freaks and Geeks to the 2008 film Pineapple Express to the upcoming stoner-slacker movie Your Highness (due out this April), Franco has demonstrated his ability to play comedic roles just as well as serious ones. He even managed to be hilarious during his short cameo in Knocked Up, in which he played a disgusted version of himself, cringing at the site of a newly-pregnant Katherine Heigl vomiting into a trash-can.

2. He's hard working - Franco attended UCLA as an undergraduate from 2006-2008, where he graduated with a GPA over 3.5 and took between 20 and 62 credits a quarter (the normal limit is 19)...all while continuing to act. In 2008 he moved to New York to simultaneously study at three different institutions (Columbia University's MFA Writing Program, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts for Filmmaking, and Brooklyn College for fiction writing). Franco will also attend Rhode Island School of Design and is a Ph.D students at Yale. His tastes are incredibly wide-ranging, matched only by his work ethic.

3. He's self aware - Unlike many other actors, Franco seems relatively down to earth. After he canceled giving a commencement speech to UCLA in 2009, Franco released this self-mocking video with Funny or Die. Responding in an Entertainment Weekly interview to speculation about his sexual orientation (due to the fact that he has portrayed three gay characters), Franco smartly responded, "there are also lots of other aspects about these characters that I’m interested in, in addition to their sexuality...or, you know what, maybe I’m just gay". Like him or not as an actor, you must admit that he's got a good sense of humor about his profession and success.

Oscars 2011 Predictions

 Here they are! My Oscar picks for 2011. Below I list "My prediction" (because I don't have enough conviction to declare that a certain film "Will win"), my opinion on what should win, and general comments on the subject. Don't forget to follow @jallyfishfilms on Twitter to read our live updates during tomorrow night's ceremony.

Best Picture
The King's Speech
My main criticism for The Social Network is its anticlimactic ending. It lacks that "good story" element that is The King's Speech's strength. Both brilliant films, but different: The King's Speech is a classic, but The Social Network is a modern classic.


Best Director
David Fincher - The Social Network

Fincher clearly deserves the win over Hooper, but it would be strange for Social Network to win Best Director but not Best Picture. I support Fincher, with Aronofsky for Black Swan as runner-up.

Best Actor
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
Colin Firth makes The King's Speech work. He deserves it. Nuff said.

Best Actress
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
This is one of those "how do you possibly compare?" races. Like Colin Firth's case, though, Natalie Portman is Black Swan.

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale - The Fighter
Geoffrey Rush deserves to be recognized and he was, for the BAFTA. Both amazing actors, both amazing performances, but it's Bale's turn this time.

Best Supporting Actress
Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
Steinfeld's category fraud here is so awkward with her character as the clear lead of the film, but I don't want that to stop her from being recognized for her compelling performance. I don't care if Melissa Leo was robbed of Best Actress in the past - this is now.

Best Original Screenply
David Seidler - The King's Speech
Seidler's touching making-of story for The King's Speech is too picture-perfect to pass up, but there are better screenplays in the category - in fact I would place The King's Speech third behind Inception and The Kids Are All Right, in which case Nolan's complicatedly elegant idea barely triumphs over Cholodenko and Blumberg's witty and charming dialogue.

Best Animation
Toy Story 3
Much of Toy Story 3's success comes from its ability to build on the previous two Toy Stories, which were both good films. How to Train Your Dragon is touching, has a great story with lovable characters, and an amazing soundtrack, but even so, it doesn't measure up to Toy Story 3, which does deserve its Best Picture nomination as well.

Best Adapted Screenply
Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network
Witty, edgy, self-referential, and often annoying, Sorkin's screenplay is a clear and well-deserved win for this category.

Best Art Direction
Inception
This first category of the evening (and my favorite, I might add!) is up in the air. Inception deserves to win, but King's Speech might pull through just because (please, no). It's also worth noting that no Tim Burton film nominated for Art Direction has lost yet.

Best Cinematography
True Grit
Roger Deakins has been nominated nine times and hasn't one once - and I pegged True Grit as the worthy winner of this category before I knew those statistics. I'm not one for westerns, but thanks to its cinematography True Grit is one of the best films I've ever seen.

Best Sound Editing/Mixing
Inception
Two separate categories but same picks and notes for both, so I'm combining them here. It is rare for the Academy to choose the same film for both Mixing and Editing, but I think it could (and should) happen this year. If it loses one of the awards, it would be to True Grit.

Best Original Song
"We Belong Together" (Toy Story 3) - Randy Newman
Toy Story 3 might win just to give that film another award, but I find it weird for a song used in the credits of the film to win when part of the judging is on the song's incorporation into the film. I haven't seen Tangled yet, but "If I Rise" is a great song and fits into the film beautifully.

Best Original Score
The Social Network - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
People are saying that a more "traditional" score is more likely to be chosen here (see Costumes as well), but the Social Network's soundtrack is ingenious and so well-suited to its film. Bring on the techno.

Best Costumes
Alice in Wonderland
Again with the "traditional" bias, but I have to stick up for Alice here: Tim Burton films always lose out in the costuming award, but this is where that statistic should be changed. Colleen Atwood's morphing dress that became uniquely fabulous each time Alice grew or shrank was the highlight of the film for me, and some of the most creative costuming I've seen.

Best Film Editing
The Social Network
The Social Network relies on its awesome screenplay and its awesome editing. Its flashbacks and quick changes keep the film fresh, engaging, and modern.

Best Visual Effects
Inception
I love the Harry Potter films. And they have yet to win an Oscar. But that's because…they haven't deserved to. At least not yet. In the meantime, nothing but Inception deserves the award this year.

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For the following categories I haven't seen enough of the films nominated to judge myself, but will predict anyway based on what I've read about them/previous awards results this season:

Best Foreign Language Film
Incendies - Canada

Best Documentary Feature
Inside Job

Best Documentary Short
Strangers No More

Best Animated Short Film
Day & Night

Best Live Action Short Film
Wish 143

Best Make-up
The Wolfman

So what do you think? Post your predictions in the comments!

REVIEW: Madness of Sanity and Beauty of Darkness: Black Swan Has it All.

Black Swan is brilliantly disturbing. Centered around Nina Sayers, played by Natalie Portman, an intense psychological bond forms between viewer and dancer and dancer and role. The film follows Nina’s journey from casting to performance, and we are exposed to every moment of her journey, private, public, real, and imaginary.

Although the film has been advertised by the face of a “troubled ballerina” - just take one glance at the crazed expression on that poster - I was surprised to find that the “Black Swan” persona is one that Nina struggles to achieve. The Nina we see in the beginning is “mad” only in the way that any blindly driven overachiever is - and to an audience with madness in mind, Nina’s initial state is an interesting reflection on how we might define “madness” in general.

The pure “white” Nina we meet at the start, the one in pale pink and a fluffy white scarf, elegant and obsessed with technical detail, struggles with the concept of “perfection,” a state of performance she aims to reach that, she is told, can only be found by letting loose.

Portman’s performance is utterly convincing. Pure, naive, confused - Nina doesn’t quite get it and we can see from Portman’s slightly furrowed brow and the occasional stifled gasp of horror. Supporting standout performances include Mila Kunis as the exotic and attractive Lily, whom Nina seems to love and hate simultaneously, and Vincent Cassel the slightly invasive yet effective ballet instructor Thomas Leroy.

Nina’s mother Erica Sayers, played by Barbara Hershey is delightfully hate-able, as she should be. Despite the character’s creepy level of involvement in her grown-up daughter’s life, this overbearing mother is the only one who notices that there is something wrong with Nina. Erica treads the thin line between caring and controlling enough that she invokes sympathy rather than pure hatred.

The soundtrack, which includes sequences from “Swan Lake” played backwards with modifications (thank you, IMDb trivia), is not only a creative detail but an effective addition to the film. Despite its brilliance however, it is the silent moments that are most effective, as such minor noises as ballet shoes tapping on the floor create an atmosphere of precise stillness.

The cinematic tone of the film through camera angles and general visual darkness is sleepy and dreamlike, which comes to make more and more sense as the images and events become more fantasy-like and it becomes unclear what is real and what is Nina’s hallucinations.

Overall, the film is about transformation - for Nina, transformation into the “perfect” ballerina. Certain parallels to “Swan Lake” are undeniably obvious. Lily’s bad-ass persona complete with dark tattoo across her back instantly labels her as the epitome of the Black Swan, and her lending Nina a black top at the party clearly represents Nina’s transition towards embodying that persona herself.

Other attempts are symbolism are more confusing, such as the significance of Nina’s random tendency to bleed, which is never specifically explained. Strange transformations such as the webbed toes make sense, but the only symbolic explanation I can think of for the bleeding is that it represents her personal sacrifice for ballet, which seems too nonspecific.

Black Swan is to its audience as “Swan Lake” is to Nina - both capture their subjects and lure them into an uncomfortable, personal, and beautiful understanding of what it takes to push the boundaries make great art.

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