Coen brother stock actor John Turturro told the AV Club that not only would he love to make a big screen spin-off for his Big Lebowski bowler Jesus Quintana, but he has already written up some notes. “Joel and Ethan don’t really want to do it, but if I can get them to approve my outline, which I think they liked there’s a very good chance of making it.” Until then, you’re just going to have to settle for those DirecTV commercials for your Lebowski reunion fix. [ AV Club ]
On top of being one of the worst-reviewed filmmakers of all time, German director Uwe Boll is many things: the possessor of a doctorate in literature, an author, an avid boxer (who has literally knocked out his critics ), a recipient of the rare Razzie “Worst Career” award, an outspoken adversary of Michael Bay, a non-chewer of Stride gum (the company supported a petition for him to retire in 2008), an unwavering believer in his own “art” form. And judging from the five minutes Movieline spent with him during Tuesday’s press event for BloodRayne: Third Reich — the straight-to-DVD third film in his BloodRayne franchise — Boll is also a current-events buff with an affinity for George Clooney movies and small, fluffy dogs.
Normally, Movieline wouldn’t report on a music video by a novelty act called Kalup and Franco, but I regret to inform you that the “Franco” in this case is the Oscar-nominated, Oscar-ruining James Franco. In the first video from their new EP Turn It Up , Franco and his faithful drag-act friend Kalup Linzy use an innovative green-screen technique that reminds me of such revolutionary cinema as Prince’s “Raspberry Beret.” Now, Kalup is the true “star” of this clip, but the ethereal shots of Franco in the background may bewitch your mouth-breathing adolescent self.
Gentleman-thug enforcer Martin Donovan has been sent to bring loner James Franco to his boss, slick gangster Josh Lucas, in NYU professor Jay Anania ‘s indie drama Shadows & Lies . But Franco’s eating a sandwich, and you don’t want to bother Franco when he’s eating a sandwich. “Are you muscling me?” asks Franco’s William Vincent. “You’d know if I was,” replies Donovan. Watch Movieline’s exclusive clip after the jump.
Academy Awards opener features Leonardo DiCaprio, Alec Baldwin in ‘Inception’-themed tribute to year’s best. By Gil Kaufman Anne Hathaway and James Franco host the 2011 Academy Awards Photo: Getty Images It’s become a time-honored Oscar opening bit: inserting the show’s host into the year’s Best Picture nominees. Only this time, it was hosts, plural, and for only the second time since 1986, they were not stand-up comedians whose forte is getting easy laughs. After more than a month of speculation about how James Franco and Anne Hathaway would open Sunday night’s 83rd annual Academy Awards ceremony, the tension was broken with a quick-cut montage of iconic images from this year’s 10 Best Picture nominees, followed by Franco, 32, and Hathaway, 28, being digitally inserted into one of the year’s most mind-twisting nominees, “Inception.” Check out photos of the 2011 Academy Awards show . Star Leonardo DiCaprio attempted to explain how the whole dream-hopping worked to the couple, with Hathaway saying, “So, we’re going to go into Alec Baldwin’s dreams and get some hosting tips,” as an incredulous Franco huffed, “You’re buying this. … I’m not going anywhere until you can prove you can take us into people’s dreams.” As the streets of Paris exploded around them, Franco still wouldn’t buy in, using his best tough-guy stance and pressing DiCaprio, “Gimme some proof … one shred of proof, Leo … we’re waitin’.” The pair then ended up on a plane with DiCaprio and Baldwin, with the “30 Rock” star and 2010 Oscar co-host slugging down a juice box of Ambien to calm his nerves, but passing out before giving Hathaway the secret to hosting the show. They were next transported to a courtroom, where Hathaway took issue with Franco’s use of a driedel as his talisman to check whether he was in a dream (if you haven’t seen “Inception,” then you were just slightly more confused than those of us who had). They ended up in a yelling match with “The Social Network” star Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, telling the socially awkward billionaire that his brusque dismissal of their request for help had just cost him a few Facebook friends. “And tell the Winklevosses to stop giving me the stink eye,” Franco added. The “Inception” elevator took them to the sweaty gym in “The Fighter,” where Hathaway donned her best round the way Boston girl accent to chat up Mark Wahlberg’s Micky Ward about who is a bigger junkbag. After knocking Franco out, she hopped on a horse to face off against “True Grit” star Jeff Bridges, with Franco snuggling up behind her in a bearskin coat and Hathaway sporting not one but two eye patches. The search continued in “The King’s Speech,” where they worked period costumes. But those were nothing compared to the ones they squeezed into for the “Black Swan” bit, where Franco was shoehorned into a skintight white leotard and his co-host a Thanksgiving turkey-inspired getup. “The dance of the brown duck,” Hathaway intoned as she spun wildly, shedding feathers and quacking her way through a routine that horrified star Natalie Portman. They finally found Baldwin again, who played some mind games with them before they jumped into the DeLorean time machine from “Back to the Future” and jetted into the present, winding up on the stage in their awards-show finest. Franco, holding a cell phone to record his moment in the sun, wore a classic tuxedo, while Hathaway emerged in an elegant white floor-length gown with beaded accents. “Oh my gosh, you’re all real,” she marveled. “This is actually happening!” Lowering the collective age of presenters by 55 years from last year, first-time hosts Franco and Hathaway — the latter the youngest host in history and one of the only women to ever have the honor — quickly dispensed with any questions about why they were tapped for the gig. “Anne, I must say you look so beautiful and so hip,” said Franco in his signature smiling deadpan manner. “Thank you, James,” she replied. “You look very appealing to a younger demographic as well.” Both had promised they would not follow in the footsteps of comedian Ricky Gervais, who did a bombing run at the Golden Globes, strafing most of Hollywood with his acerbic wit. Instead they ended up making fun of themselves. Franco said it was an exciting night for both hosts since they were both nominated, but Hathaway quickly reminded him that unlike his Best Actor nod for “127 Hours,” she was not noticed for her work in the romantic dramedy “Love and Other Drugs.” “You know, it used to be you get naked, you get nominated,” she complained. “Not anymore, not anymore.” She then explained to Franco what an honor it is to be nominated and how if he won, everyone would refer to him as “Academy Award winner James Franco.” He had to think about that. “What do you mean everyone?” he said, confused after asking if the little golden man came with a cash prize as well. “Like even my mom? That would be weird if my mom called me ‘Academy Award winner James Franco.’ I’ve known her a long time.” Hathaway’s mom reminded her from the audience to stand up straight because, you know, three-time Oscar winner Steven Spielberg is in the house, while Franco’s grandma was jacked to see “Marky Mark” Wahlberg in the crowd. Both came off as relaxed and natural as they joked about the profusion of lesbians in this year’s nominated films and quickly segued into the night’s first award presentation by Tom Hanks for Best Art Direction. Stick with MTV News on Oscar night and beyond for red-carpet fashion coverage, analysis of the winners, plus interviews, photos and more from your favorite Hollywood stars! Related Photos The 2011 Academy Awards
‘We have to make out in the video — a lot,’ Roberts tells MTV News on the set. By Matt Elias Dave Franco and Emma Roberts in the Cults’ “Go Outside” supervideo Photo: MTV On Tuesday, a supervideo for Cults’ “Go Outside” starring Dave Franco and Emma Roberts debuted on MTV.com. In the video, Franco plays a character obsessed with 1960s Jean-Luc Goddard films. His obsession comes to life when French sex symbol Brigitte Bardot (played by Roberts) steps out of his favorite Goddard flick, “Contempt,” and into his living room. The two embark on a nightlong romantic escapade throughout Los Angeles, and providing the soundtrack is the dreamy “Go Outside” by New York duo Cults. The supervideo is actually the second effort in a partnership between MTV and Mean magazine. The first video brought Anna Kendrick and director David Ayer together for LCD Soundsystem’s “Pow Pow.” MTV News caught up with Franco and Roberts on the set, where they talked about what it meant to film the video. “I love Brigitte Bardot,” Roberts said. “I’ve always been drawn to her style, and I just think there’s something so timeless about her that she’s still such an icon today. And I just thought it’d be fun to get to kind of do a little mini-film to music, and I love the concept and I was excited Davie was a part of it and it’s just been really fun.” Of course channeling the iconic bombshell meant going blond for Roberts, which she loved: “I feel like a Barbie doll. I think it’s cool.” And a major part of the Bardot persona meant another thing. “We have to make out in the video — a lot,” Roberts added. While the treatment meant that the two would be getting very intimate, luckily for Franco, he wasn’t going in blind. “We knew each other a little bit before the video,” Franco said. “Which is great for this kind of project, where you can kind of jump into it and just have fun with it, rather than trying to get comfortable with each other and literally within 10 minutes of meeting each other, your tongues are in each other’s mouths.” From the looks of the video, they got to know each other a lot better by the end. What did you think of the supervideo? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists Cults
‘We have to make out in the video — a lot,’ Roberts tells MTV News on the set. By Matt Elias Dave Franco and Emma Roberts in the Cults’ “Go Outside” supervideo Photo: MTV On Tuesday, a supervideo for Cults’ “Go Outside” starring Dave Franco and Emma Roberts debuted on MTV.com. In the video, Franco plays a character obsessed with 1960s Jean-Luc Goddard films. His obsession comes to life when French sex symbol Brigitte Bardot (played by Roberts) steps out of his favorite Goddard flick, “Contempt,” and into his living room. The two embark on a nightlong romantic escapade throughout Los Angeles, and providing the soundtrack is the dreamy “Go Outside” by New York duo Cults. The supervideo is actually the second effort in a partnership between MTV and Mean magazine. The first video brought Anna Kendrick and director David Ayer together for LCD Soundsystem’s “Pow Pow.” MTV News caught up with Franco and Roberts on the set, where they talked about what it meant to film the video. “I love Brigitte Bardot,” Roberts said. “I’ve always been drawn to her style, and I just think there’s something so timeless about her that she’s still such an icon today. And I just thought it’d be fun to get to kind of do a little mini-film to music, and I love the concept and I was excited Davie was a part of it and it’s just been really fun.” Of course channeling the iconic bombshell meant going blond for Roberts, which she loved: “I feel like a Barbie doll. I think it’s cool.” And a major part of the Bardot persona meant another thing. “We have to make out in the video — a lot,” Roberts added. While the treatment meant that the two would be getting very intimate, luckily for Franco, he wasn’t going in blind. “We knew each other a little bit before the video,” Franco said. “Which is great for this kind of project, where you can kind of jump into it and just have fun with it, rather than trying to get comfortable with each other and literally within 10 minutes of meeting each other, your tongues are in each other’s mouths.” From the looks of the video, they got to know each other a lot better by the end. What did you think of the supervideo? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists Cults
Filed under: James Franco James Franco donned a blonde wig and took to the mic during a party at Sundance for his short film, “Three’s Company: The Drama.” He’s always such a drag. Read more
James Franco — perhaps history’s greatest multipurpose agent since baking soda — has agreed to star and to direct in a biopic of serial killer Richard Ramirez , also known as the Night Stalker (and, no, not the one that investigated monsters ). Ramirez terrorized Los Angeles in the mid-80’s, before being arrested and convicted of 13 counts of murder, 5 attempted murders and 11 sexual assaults. So, Oscars , Faulker and Cormac McCarthy , his line of fictional underwear , Sal Mineo , and a novel of addiction. He either is incredibly organized and incredibly tired, or has the best cocaine. [ Vulture ]
As one of MTV News’ 11 for ’11, up-and-comer also plans to shop around a Web series about college life. By Kara Warner Dave Franco Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images If you are not already familiar with the name Dave Franco, chances are you will be soon. You might recognize the enterprising 25-year-old from his work on “Greek,” “Privileged” and “Scrubs.” He’s also appeared in several videos on FunnyOrDie.com, including a series called “Acting With James Franco” (James Franco is Dave’s brother). But these are all things from the past. Looking ahead to what’s in store for Franco in 2011, we’ll see him on screens big and small, in front of and behind the camera. When MTV News caught up with the up-and-comer recently, one of our 11 for ’11, we chatted about “Fright Night,” a TV series he’d like to get off the ground and whether we’ll see him at the Oscars in a skit alongside his big bro . MTV : We’ve talked about “Fright Night” before, and even though you’re sworn to secrecy about plot details, have you seen any of the film yet? Dave Franco : I have not seen anything, but I’ve only heard good things so far. I may have mentioned this before, but despite being a vampire movie, it’s very grounded and realistic. If I had to compare it to another vampire movie, I would say “Let the Right One In,” where everything is treated with realism but the only difference is that “Fright Night” happens to be hilarious too, mainly due to really funny actors like David Tennant and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Colin Farrell is hilarious also. MTV : You’ve also mentioned that you’ve been working on your own material. What can you tell us about that? Franco : This past semester, I was working more behind the camera, and I directed, produced and wrote this Web series about college life. The basic idea stems from a conversation I had with my friend about how there are really only a handful of projects at most, whether it be film or TV, that really capture what college is like. For the most part, it’s all sensationalized and over-the-top. We decided we wanted to give a very HBO-type look at what really happens in college. We figured, ‘It’s crazy enough as it is; let’s just show what’s really going on.’ So we followed a handful of kids at USC throughout the semester, and the whole tone is a little strange, because it’s part documentary, part reality, part scripted. It’s kind of a weird mesh of everything, but it came out really cool. I hope people respond well to it. I’m happy, because we were able to capture what we set out for. … I went to USC, and watching this footage, I can attest that this is really what it’s like. This is what happens on a typical night. MTV : Sounds intriguing. Where do you want it to end up? Franco : We still need to figure that out. It’s all edited and everything is ready to go. We just have to figure out how we want to present it and where. We’ve always wanted to get this on TV, ideally an HBO, Showtime or FX. We’re almost using this Web series as a pitching tool that will hopefully generate some interest, and then we can go from there. MTV : What else are you working on? Franco : We’re filming a couple of Funny or Die videos later this month. There’s also a feature film that I’m writing for my brother and I to star in, where we play versions of ourselves named Davie and James. Without giving away too much, it all takes place around Thanksgiving and Christmas break around our hometown of Palo Alto [California]. Our real family will be in it, my real friends from home will be in it, and the vibe of it is going to be an extended version of our Funny or Die videos. It’s going to be difficult for me, because it’s now a 90-minute version of him giving me sh– and making fun of me. MTV : Don’t let him do that! Franco : [ Laughs. ] I’ll give it back, trust me, but it takes its toll. It wears on you. MTV : Any chance we’ll see you in something for the Oscars, since you have a pretty good connection to the host? Franco : There’s been talks of us doing a digital short for that. We’ll see, though. Potentially another installment in the “Acting With James Franco.” We’ll see. Check out MTV News’ 11 for ’11 — actors, musicians and TV stars who are about to have a huge year — all week long. For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV News’ 11 for ’11
