Year: 2014
Director: James Franco
Cast: Scott Haze, Tim Blake Nelson, James Franco
Country of Origin: U.S.
Rating: R
Time: 104 mins

To Hollywood, James Franco is known to be one of the hardest working man in the industry and to the rest of gen-y kids, he is an actor and the king of selfies. Not only is he an actor but a director,  producer, author (Palo Alto), walking performance-art piece, and not to mention a teacher as written in his Wikipedia page. What the rest of America doesn't really know is that Franco has been a prolific and avid filmmaker for the past 9 years with about 24 film credits to his name as a Director! 

And he's at it again folks with Child of God, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name that is about the life of a violent young outcast Lester Ballard (Scott Haze) living in the 1960s Tennessee. Scott Haze is a relative unknown actor at this point with only previously seen in Franco's adaptation of Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and is also starring in an upcoming Franco projects like The Sound and the Fury and a Charles Bukowski biopic. It is safe to say that Franco has found his muse (freaking diamond in the rough!) and it's no question why given Haze's ability to absolutely lose himself in a character as seen in this film. 

Ballard is described by the Sheriff Fate (Tim Blake Nelson) as a "child of God" even though clearly, he is a menace to society and an outcast. The film is not an easy film to watch nor is Ballard a character worth rooting for. But Haze's commitment in portraying the grotesque and barbaric Ballard is remarkable and mesmerizing as he mentally, physically, and emotionally descends into maddening crime and degradation. He speaks in driveling, incoherent gibberish and fiendishly stalks with his maniacal eyes will surely send you in a frenzy of paranoia because most likely, Ballard will jolt you with simply his sinister presence. In one of the beginning scenes, we see a shot of Ballard's excrements streaming out of his butt and wiped by a long stick in full view. This scene only sets the bar of the derangement that ensues the rest of the film that entails murder, masturbation and oh yeah, necrophilia! Wait, did I mention necrophilia?! 

I haven't seen any of Franco's previous works but if I were to just judge his directing and story constructing skills from this film alone, I would say he has potential but it's not clearly displayed in this film. The storyline is rushed and it's shoddy form that utilizes in a superfluous amount of fade-ins and fade-outs creates such unrelentingly lethargic tone that it's near impossible not to get restless with the story. The camera work is intended to be ugly but it's dreadful and junky mold only creates unnecessary uneasiness on top of the repelling content on screen. While I may have not liked the form for personal reasons, it is Haze's rugged and praise-worthy performance that holds Child of God's mushy pieces together. It's a performance not to be missed even if you will probably feel a bit haggard and queasy at the end of the film.

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Gia Coppola's Palo Alto is going to be ranked as one of the best representation of High School life along Amy Heckerling's Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and Sofia Coppola's (her aunt!) The Virgin Suicides (1999)! Adapted from James Franco's book of short stories of the same name, it is the ultimate portrait of these angsty and privileged Californian kids. Palo Alto is honestly a hit or miss with everyone considering how Coppola only decides to scratch the surface of these misunderstood and misbehaved teens. But that is understandable as she tried to sew Franco's stories together to make a somewhat cohesive narrative out of these individual stories and characters. Even though I was swept away by the music by Dev Hynes of Blood Orange, I couldn't help but feel like every scene was just a part of a music video, thus, making Palo Alto like the ultimate hipster anthem video. Regardless, with its beautiful imagery provided by cinematographer Autumn Durald and the actors, I fell in love with Coppola's novice vision. As someone whose blood lines has impacted so heavily in the history of cinema, this baby Coppola has a lot to learn but Palo Alto is definitely a good start!

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If you don't know who Gia Coppola is already, you will very soon. Her last name sound a bit familiar? That's right, she is part of the legendary Coppola clan and is taking the same footsteps of her grandfather Francis Ford Coppola and aunt Sofia Coppola. She started out making short films for one of my favorite brands, Opening Ceremony which starred Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman (Of course, keep it in the family) and went on doing more with Zac Posen and Diane Von Furstenberg.

Palo Alto will be her directorial debut which is an adaptation of James Franco's short story collection of the same name. This high school drama has an interconnected narrative that surrounds the forbidden relationship between soccer player April (Emma Roberts) and her coach Mr B. (James Franco) who is a single father. Obviously, we all know where this will go. I was a bit apprehensive about hearing this because it seems like the ultimate collaboration of indie hipster celebrities and wasn't sure if the materials were going to be even worthy (maybe just my jealousy talkin'). But after watching the trailer, I am swooning with angst and teenage puppy mushy feelings that is very reminiscent of The Virgin Suicides. I am now incredibly intrigued by the film as it not only stars Franco and Roberts but also Val Kilmer (WUUUT?)

It's interesting to see the trailer now after hearing James Franco's slight scandal of trying to hook up with a 17-year old girl. But I can't help but wonder if this is all just a perfectly executed stunt to promote Palo Alto. Or if Franco really is just infatuated with young females as it is a story he wrote in his book. Either or, I could care less about Franco's personal life and I'm sure girls are smart enough to say no when it's necessary or I can hope (EKK!) Palo Alto will be released in limited theaters on May 9.

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James Franco has been trying his hand behind the camera and finally, his latest film Child of God is going to premiere at the Venice Film Festival. This is only a teaser but you can get a sense that either Franco is trying really hard or this could potentially be a little gem in the pile of big dogs (Terry Gilliam's The Zero Theorem, Tsai Ming-liang's Stray Dogs) especially in competition.

Scott Haze leads the film about Lester Ballard, a dissociated and violent man who's life is a disastrous attempt to exist outside the social order. Deprived of parents or a home, he emotionally and physically descends into the life of a cave dweller as he falls deeper into the world of crime and degradation. 

Child of God is an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's book of the same name which McCarthy is adapting to screen which is a nice take from Hollywood's usual route of acquiring a writer who probably butchers the original material.  From the premise alone, I am quite interested, I just hope Franco doesn't mess it up. There is no release date besides the release at Venice. We'll see who picks it up!

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