KING COBRA

Christian Slater

KING COBRA (2016). Written and directed by Justin Kelly.

Sean (Garrett Clayton) reinvents himself as Cobra films' gay porn star "Brent Corrigan" and becomes a name in the industry. His live-in boss is Stephen (Christian Slater), who seems to have feelings for Sean that go beyond their professional relationship. When Sean falls for a younger guy, he starts wondering if he's getting enough of the profits, and decides to go out on his own. Unfortunately, Stephen has trademarked the "Brent Corrigan" name and Sean finds doors closing in his face now that he can't use that popular identity. When Sean comes up against this problem with two producer-lovers, Joe (James Franco) and Harlow (Keegan Allen), they tell him that they will "take care" of the problem. Unfortunately, they do just that ... Based on a true story, King Cobra is the second of two ill-advised gay-themed films James Franco made in 2017 (the other being the biopic I am Michael). King Cobra moves fast and is somewhat entertaining, but the characters are almost all one-dimensional and unpleasant, most of the actors make the characters more "faggy" than they need to be, and the whole project seems thrown together to take advantage of the exploitative value of the material. The performances are okay, but one doubts this will be mentioned in anybody's resume. Franco co-produced the film, no surprise there. Molly Ringwald plays Slater's sister and Alicia Silverstone is Sean's mother. The real "Sean" -- Sean Paul Lockhart -- has disavowed this movie. He has also appeared in the non-porn film Judas Kiss.

Verdict: More entertaining than Stranger By the Lake at any rate. **1/2.

CRUISING / INTERIOR: LEATHER BAR

Al boogies in  the gay bar 

CRUISING (1980). Director: William Friedkin.

INTERIOR: LEATHER BAR (2013). Director: James Franco; Travis Mathews.

Steve Burns (Al Pacino) is assigned to go undercover in the gay leather milieu to see if he can get leads on whoever is murdering the patrons of these bars. Burns feels uncomfortable in his assignment, but his superior (Paul Sorvino) talks him into continuing. Burns seems to have caught the killer when another murder occurs .... Modern-day viewers may wonder what the fuss was about when they look at this through 21st century eyes. But in 1980, decades before LBGT sections on Hulu and Netflix, there weren't that many films about the gay lifestyle, and it was enraging that the best that two major filmmakers (Pacino of The Godfather and Friedkin of The Exorcist)  could come up with was this mediocre slasher film that exploited the gay community, presenting one-dimensional characters to be slaughtered. Most of the film's opponents (which included this critic and activist) didn't object to the movie exploring the gay s & m scene (which was always more about role-playing than anything else) but to its complete failure in any way to positively illuminate that scene aside from sexual activity. While Cruising is well-produced, with a lot of atmosphere due to James Contner's cinematography, and Pacino's performance is okay, it is a much less effective* "slasher" film than, say, the original Friday the 13th,which came out the same year. (Friday the 13th was also much more influential, and while also excoriated by critics, made a lot more money than Cruising.)

Seen today, how is the movie? Well, it's still mediocre, not only due to its exploitation of gay men but to its penny dreadful script. Its use of multiple maniacs (which is apparent once you try to figure out who the killer is) only makes the pic much more confusing than it needs to be. Then there's that ridiculous early sequence where we see two men clad half in leather and half in drag -- like that ever happens (except maybe on Halloween)! At one point Burns expresses sympathy for a gay suspect beaten by police (in an utterly ludicrous sequence that was supposedly based on fact), which makes the implied ending more ridiculous. (This suggests that Burns murdered his friendly gay neighbor as the character did in the crappy source novel)  There's no point in trying to figure out who the different murderers are because it's clear that -- while Friedkin today tries to make it sound like he had some master plan all along -- the movie is simply badly structured and edited, a sloppy hack job in every sense of the word. Friedkin and company could have made a much more positive (and coherent and fascinating) film while remaining true to its thriller/slasher origins. 

One of the cast members of Interior: Leather Bar

And now we come to Interior: Leather Bar, a silly documentary made by actor James Franco and Travis Mathews. The idea was to recreate the supposedly lost forty minutes cut from Cruising that presented more raw footage from the backroom gay bar scenes. The reality is that only a few minutes have been recreated; most of the film is about actor Val Lauren's discomfort in being associated with the project. In some sequences he looks like he'd rather be anywhere else than in this movie. There's at least one gay sex scene, and James Franco admirably talks about why it's unfair that such scenes are often suppressed in major theatrical movies, which is not the case with straight sex scenes. The whole idea of this movie seems to be to get a group of both gay and straight actors in a room and have them interacting in a homoerotic manner, but I get the impression this is more about the filmmakers' fantasies than anything else. One can imagine this is one way the recognizable Franco can be in a gay bar without actually being in a gay bar!

[*Friday's shock/murder scenes are better handled, the film has more suspense, as much atmosphere, and its characters are no less dimensional than Cruising's. In addition, the movie's victims aren't members of a persecuted and marginalized community, unless you think camp counselors are a minority group.]

Verdict: Cruising: **1/2.
              Interior: Leather Bar *1/2.

TRUE STORY

Jonah Hill and James Franco

TRUE STORY (2015). Director: Rupert Goold.

Disgraced New York Times reporter Michael Finkel (Jonah Hill) is fired after making up details in a story, but he gets a second chance when he learns that accused family-killer Christian Longo (James Franco) has been assuming his identity. Could there be a book in this? Of course there is, so Finkel not only gets a $250,000 book contract, but sells the rights to Hollywood -- hence this film. Who says life isn't fair? Finkel meets repeatedly with Longo in prison before, during, and after his trial, where the film suggests his conscience may be bothering him by withholding evidence (letters written by Longo, for instance) -- although one doubts it. True Story is well-acted by Hill, although Franco oozes charm and little else. Felicity Jones has a great scene as Finkel's wife Jill, telling off the repellent Longo in no uncertain terms, and Gretchen Mol scores in her brief scene as Finkel's co-worker, Karen. Ultimately, however, this doesn't amount to much. The film tries too hard to justify Finkel's actions and never delves deep enough into much of anything. The victims, as usual, are given short shrift.

Verdict: Holds the attention, but rather pointless. **1/2.

THE LETTER (2012)

Josh Hamilton and Winona Ryder deserve better

THE LETTER (2012). Writer/director: Jay Anania.

Here's how not to make a movie. According to IMDB.com, Jay Anania "heads the directing program at the graduate film school at New York University" and actor James Franco was one of his students. Which is probably how Franco, a talented actor, wound up in this mess along with a bunch of other talented actors, including Winona Ryder [who's gotten even prettier with the years]. She plays Martine [who is apparently directing her own play, it is never quite made clear] and who invites strange Tyrone (Franco) to join the cast. The other actors in the play-within-the-movie are Martine's boyfriend Raymond (Josh Hamilton), Anita (Marin Ireland), and Julie (Katherine Waterston -- and yes she's the daughter of Sam Waterston). Tyrone is a little obnoxious, and the others are confused by Martine's obvious lack of directing skills and her abrupt changes to the play. The only interesting development has to do with a woman who interviews Martine, who is later told by police officers that she was hit by a car and is in a coma; yet she calls Martine the next day and apparently nothing happened. Huh? Martine is unraveling, seeming to have a nervous breakdown, and there's a last minute explanation for her actions. Even if you hadn't been misled into believing The Letter was a suspense film or thriller by the promotion, you would still be disappointed by this basically plot-less and pointless exercise in minimalism. One shudders to think what kind of dreadful movies the students at NYU will be churning out with Anania as their teacher! The Letter is deliberately paced, to say the least, and tedious to the extreme, with no pay-off of any kind. Anania wastes five good actors who should have been given a real storyline to emote for. How on earth did this ever get released?

Verdict: This would probably be a complete bore even if you watched the whole thing on fast forward. It gets * strictly for the acting and for a depressing but somewhat evocative score. Watch William Wyler's The Letter if you want to see a real movie!

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

Chimp Caesar with James Franco

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2011). Director: Rupert Wyatt.

San Francisco is treated to an angry invasion of intelligent apes when an Alzheimer's experiment backfires, This is basically a prequel to Planet of the Apes [either version], although the novel that film was based on actually took place on another planet. Rise has excellent special effects and is quite visually striking at times. Caesar the chimp is well-acted by Andy Serkis [with help, presumably, from CGI), and John Lithgow, James Franco and the lovely Freida Pinto all give good performances. Good musical score by Patrick Doyle and a strangely moving conclusion.  Not a movie that will necessarily stick in your mind but entertaining enough.


Verdict: Apes run wild. ***.

SPIDER-MAN 2

SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004). Director: Sam Raimi.

The sequel to Spider-Man is superior to the first film, being made of equal parts action and sentiment, and with – believe it or not -- a subtext of personal responsibility vs. freedom of choice. When Peter Parker realizes that his dual role as Spider-Man is playing havoc with his life (especially his love life) he gets rid of the uniform and vows never to play hero again. [This happened more than once in the comic books, usually at a time of great angst and disappointment, if not worse, for our hero.] His powers, especially his ability to create webs to swing around on [in the comics he uses a device to create webs; it is not an organic power], cuts out on him at inopportune moments due to his mixed emotions over being Spider-Man. Spider-Man recognizes that sometimes “you have to give up your dream” to do the right thing and sets out to fully regain his spider-like abilities. The climax is a thrilling all-out battle between Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus (an excellent Alfred Molina) that features an eye-popping, harrowing conflict on a runaway elevated subway train. The film even manages to be moving at times (the music doesn't hurt), although to many viewers it may only seem on a sappy, Hallmark greeting card level. The screenplay has its dopey and outrageously contrived moments. Determined not to be a hero, Peter walks by an alley where several toughs are beating up one man, and, while troubled, keeps on walking. Surely it's possible for him to come to someone's rescue without dressing up in an ostentatious outfit! Later, he confesses to his Aunt May that he didn't bother to stop the criminal who later murdered her husband. Surely his aunt, who is unaware of his Spider-Man powers, would have told him that if he'd tried to stop the man he would only have been shot just like his uncle was. Still, this is not quite as maddeningly juvenile or idiotic as many other super-hero films. In fact, it's quite entertaining, although certainly not for everyone. The FX are generally excellent and exciting, although there are times when Spider-Man just seems to be an unreal cartoon figure hurtling through the sky. Tobey Maguire (Peter/Spider-Man), Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson), and James Franco (Norm Osborne Jr.) are all quite good, as is the rest of the supporting cast.

Verdict: Web-swingin' fun. ***1/2.