Allen Ginsberg

HOWL Blu-ray Review

by Harrison Pierce    Posted: January 24th, 2011 at 10:43 am

James Franco, 2010’s most oddly ubiquitous entertainer, played two real life figures onscreen last year: poet Allen Ginsberg and survivalist Aron Ralston. While Ginsberg is presumably still the better known name, far more moviegoers checked out 127 Hours than Howl, the little seen biography about the Beat founding father from acclaimed documentary filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. Although Howl marks the duo’s narrative film debut, they break from traditional biopic form by utilizing a unique mix of documentary-style interviews, Hollywood-style courtroom dramatics and animated sequences to depict the inspiration behind, creation of and aftermath of Ginsberg’s most famous poem, “Howl.” While pretty boy Franco is a somewhat odd choice to play the less-than-beautiful, but never less-than-charismatic Ginsberg, the actor adeptly portrays the poet’s repressed romantic yearnings, heartbreak over friend’s and family’s treatment by mid-century mental health professionals and, most importantly, his electrifying ability to manipulate the English language. The film itself, however, is a mixed bag: poetic where it should be prosaic; diffuse where it should be focused.  My review after the jump:

4 Movie Clips from HOWL – Premieres at Sundance and Stars James Franco, Jon Hamm, and David Strathairn

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: January 19th, 2010 at 5:46 pm

Every Sundance, there are always a few movies everyone is talking about before the Festival.  You know…the ones with buzz. One of the movies at this year’s Fest that people are talking about is Howl.  The reason…it’s filled with an all star cast consisting of James Franco, Jon Hamm, David Strathairn, Treat Williams, Bob Balaban, Alessandro Nivola, Mary Louise Parker and Jeff Daniels.  Also, you’ve got Franco playing a young Allen Ginsberg and as the synopsis says, “it’s a legal drama, a character study and an animated trip into the magic and madness of the modern world.”

With Sundance set to begin later this week, we’ve landed the first footage from Howl and it’s four clips from the film.  If you’d like a sneak peak at one of the big films from this year’s Fest…take a look.  Also, the film plays this Thursday night in Park City, so reviews will be everywhere on Friday.

Copyright ©2005 - 2012. All Rights Reserved. California web design