I like James Franco. He’s a good actor. He does a lot of weird shit. I think he took classes or taught classes with normal people at an Ivy League college well after he was famous. Which could have been a massive ego-stroke of being The Great Man or maybe he is just a regular fella — either way, it’s a cool move in my book.

He made that meta-movie about the weirdo who made The Room and let said weirdo come on stage with him at some awards ceremony, until weirdo tried to take over and had to be shoved aside.

At least, I think all of this stuff happened. Much like James Franco, I don’t really care enough to confirm any of it.

What I do care about is the marks on Megan Fox’s arm in the trailer for Zeroville, Franco’s latest directing effort to be released. I say “to be released” because the film was completed in 2014 and bounced through the bankruptcy of independent distributor Alchemy until it finally got spit out in 2019.

The short summary does nothing for me:

A young actor arrives in Hollywood in 1969 during a transitional time in the Industry.

Neither does the long summary but at least there is a setup:

Vikar is a lost soul journeying through Hollywood 1969, a land of myths, beauty and monsters. The studio system is in decay, and a new generation of brash filmmakers are on the rise. With his shaved head marked by a tattoo from his favorite film, 1951’s A Place in the Sun, Vikar is a bizarre presence even amid the dreamers and players.

He finds work first building sets, then as an apprentice editor obsessed with wielding the power of moving images. As his involvement in the creative process deepens, so does his fascination with a tragic screen goddess named Soledad.

Together they discover just how hard it is to live in the blurred boundary between reality and illusion.

Is this some half-assed Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood… On Weed?

Let’s see:

What Is That #$%^?

Is she on heroin? Are those varicose veins? Is it for the role?

I’ve always felt bad for Megan after what happened when she inadvertently offended certain peoples by referring to a director as acting like “Hitler.” Hollywood rolled up the welcome mat, the sidewalk, the parking lot, the whole fucking thing and left one of the hottest women in the world to play opposite cartoon turtles.

Sad. Many such cases.

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