I used to like James Franco when he was fresh, and not so jaded that he could be self-indulgent to the point of gazing vacantly into the distance as he hosted the Oscars. At least Anne Hathaway appeared passionate and grateful in her ditziness, and she has a much greater body of work than Franco does. But since he's taken up writing, could this explain his sudden arrogance? Is he going the way of Ethan Hawke? Who can say. But it is always unnerving when people you admire falter before the finish line.
Movies, in any case, are back in the limelight after a few desultory years. With True Grit, The Fighter and King's Speech, I am one happy camper.
My mind is on Leo DiCaprio, though - my hero. There is nothing about him I don't like. The fact that he dates supermodels (a bit tongue-in-cheek I've always thought) and doesn't marry; that he shuns award ceremonies but when he does arrive he handles himself with grace; that he, reportedly, fools about on set until the word Action! is spoken and then it's like a curtain has fallen and he is instantly the character he's playing...there is no movie he's ever been in that was not utterly watchable. People admire and respect him and yet he retains his mystique, and year after year there is one amazing movie after another. How does he do it? Maybe we should ask Franco to research the boy wonder and tell us – and learn a thing or two while he's at it.
Of course the reason he doesn't go to award shows is because they often have no integrity. Imagine not giving DiCaprio the Oscar for Aviator? Or not acknowledging him in Catch Me if You Can or Basketball Diaries or Shutter Island or Inception. (And ignoring directors like Scorsese and women directors like Streisand for Decades.)
The Academy for Motion Pictures gang is made up of people whom you have to pucker up to, and if you don't, well, there will be no golden boy for golden boys.
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