Showing posts with label James Franco. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Franco. Show all posts

Friday, March 27, 2015

James Franco Has A Very Uneasy conversation with Letterman about The Interview

By Eric Renner Brown, Mar. 26, 2015, EW.com

Remember last fall’s insanity surrounding the release, then not-release, then okay-but-online-only release of Seth Rogen and James Franco’s North Korea-spoofing The Interview? David Letterman does. Franco stopped by Wednesday’s Late Show, where Letterman had some pointed questions for the actor-stoner-scholar.

The bit began innocuously enough, with Letterman asking Franco how he reacted to the controversy surrounding the film’s release and if he ever thought the debacle would cost him his career. “We never felt like we were irresponsible or doing something wrong,” Franco responded. “We made a comedy. We weren’t going out on a limb saying there’s some messed up things going on over there—I think pretty much the rest of the world agrees.”

Letterman continued to push Franco, citing the famous “shouting fire in a crowded theater” trope that explains the boundaries of free speech. “You had every right to release the film in theaters, had every right, except for the possibility that there might have been something untoward happen,” Letterman explained.


Read the full story:  www.ew.com

Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
James Franco Awkward interview With Letterman



Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook

Friday, December 26, 2014

'The Interview' Review: Much Less Compelling Than The Events It Inspired
Patrick Clark, Dec. 24, 2014, Business Week

The plot unfolds from there, and it’s about as sophomoric as you’d expect. There are women in bikinis, a late-night encounter with a live tiger, and two tabs of Ricin poison concealed on Rogen’s person in the grossest way possible. The would-be assassins are waylaid when Skylark finds in Kim a kindred spirit. After the pair drink margaritas, fire artillery from a tank, and recite Katy Perry lyrics, Skylark decides he can’t follow through with the scheme. Then Skylark walks into a North Korean grocery store constructed to fool western tourists. “The grapefruits are fake!” he cries. From there, it’s just a few minutes to the Kim Jong Fireball.

Read more: www.businessweek.com



Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Obama Berates Studio For Pulling Kim Jong-Un Assassination Movie

By Associated Press, Snejana Fatberov, David Martokso, Dec. 19, 2014, Dailymail.co.uk

President Barack Obama said on Friday that Sony Pictures Entertainment made a crucial mistake in self-censoring when it canceled the Christmas Day release of 'The Interview,' a satirical film that depicted the assassination of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un.

The decision followed a crippling cyber attack on Sony's servers that was launched by the North Korean regime. But critics have branded the film company as cowards for tucking tail and running when it was threatened.

'Sony's a corporation. It has suffered significant damage,' Obama told reporters in an end-of year press conference. 'There were threats against its employees. I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced.'

But then he lowered the boom.

'Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake.'

'I wish they had spoken to me first,' he said.

'I would have told then, "Do not get into a pattern in which you're intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks".'

Read the full story:  
www.dailymail.co.uk

Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook
More Leaked Emails Reveal Sony Executives Thought North Korea Movie Would Flop

Seth Rogen and James Franco
By Reuters, Dec. 18, 2014, Dailymail.co.uk

Forget the politics: Sony Pictures was pretty much begging for someone to kill its 'desperately unfunny' comedy on the fictional assassination of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-Un.

Leaked emails reveal Sony executives were concerned about the action-comedy featuring Seth Rogen and James Franco — even before hackers believed to be 'state sponsored' by North Korea threatened the company and forced it to shut the movie down.

'The unanimous point of view here is that this (is) another misfire from the pairing,' said an e-mail purportedly written by Peter Taylor, of Sony Pictures UK.


Taylor added the movie was 'desperately unfunny and repetitive.'

He added: 'James Franco proves once again that irritation is his strong suit which is a shame because the character could have been appealing and funny out of his hands.'

Taylor and other executives agreed that the first half hour of the film, which features a satirical interview with hip-hop artist Eminem, was amusing but was later overshadowed by 'realistic violence that would be shocking in a horror movie'.

Read the full story:  www.dailymail.co.uk

Follow Larry Elder on Twitter
"Like" Larry Elder on Facebook