Following the overwhelming success of my #BanksyisJamesFranco Twitter campaign, which was even (unknowingly) picked up by Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof (BEAT YOU BY A WEEK, LINDELOF!), I thought it was time for another bi-weekly segment of “What Wacky Thing is James Franco Doing Now?”
The wacky thing my fellow Columbia creative writing MFA is doing (we get equal billing in the alumni mag, of course) is exhibiting a 12-hour movie he made using the outtakes from My Own Private Idaho. Which was 107 minutes. GRRR, ART!
“Unfinished” features two films, Endless Idaho and My Own Private River, which are collaborations between Van Sant and Franco. After casting Franco in the award-winning film Milk (2008), Van Sant showed him the dailies and other footage that he had shot many years before for My Own Private Idaho (1991), which starred River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves as street hustlers in Portland, Oregon. Much of this material did not make it into the final cut, and so Franco decided to fashion it into two new films, riffing off the original title.
For Endless Idaho, Franco edited outtakes, deleted scenes, alternate takes, and behind-the-scenes footage from My Own Private Idaho into a 12-hour film. Endless Idaho provides an unprecedented look into the workaday process of making a movie, from location scouting to repeated takes.
My Own Private River consists largely of shots of Phoenix ‘s character, Mike, woven into a compelling portrait. The score is by Michael Stipe [of R.E.M.], who is an art school drop-out. [GagosianGallery via Moviefone]
A 12-hour movie, huh? In between his classwork for his five grad school programs, prep for the Oscars, writing books, and memorizing scripts, I’m sure he watched those 12 hours of footage many, many times to ensure the edits were just right. (*fart noise*) The question remains: how do you turn footage for a 107-minute movie into a 12-hour movie? Answer: 10 STRAIGHT HOURS OF DICKNOSE!
![[avatar]](http://p.uproxxcdn.com/photo/257/thumb)
![[image]](http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/jonah-hill-is-possessed-in-a-new-clip-from-this-is-the-end-filmdrunk-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/trailer-for-as-i-lay-dying-from-james-franco-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/05/James-Franco-dildo-cake-150x150.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2013/04/009STT_Tyler_Perry_0011-150x150.jpg)
Gus Van Sant, Michael Stipe and James Franco? To misquote Spinal Tap “How much more gay can this be? None more gay.”
Franco invited Aron Ralston over to watch the double feature but he said he would rather go mountain climbing.
quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!quack!
That’s kinda like the time Darren Aronofsky took outtakes from Franco’s appearances on General Hospital and Spiderman 3, and fashioned the footage into the prop used by Jennifer Connolly at the end of Requiem.
It’s the end of the world as we know it.
My Own Endless Dicknose in Idaho
My Own Private River ends just outside the Viper Room.
I’m really glad that you continue to point out that you and Franco were classmates, Vince. It’s just so inspiring to me that you were able to go to the same school as someone. Bravo.
Dude, that’s not the half of it. There was also this dude named Bill there, and he owns a shop that makes tea cozies.
The Mighty Feklahr often wondered, would River Phoenix have named his kids something ironic had he lived?
-Cactus Sheboygan?
-Gainfully Employed Detroit?
-Literate Tuscaloosa?
-Hetero Frisco?
-Sober West Lucas Townshipian?
If it’s a heartfelt tribute to River Phoenix you’re after, you can’t go past 1995′s “(He’ll Never Be An) Ol’ Man River”.
Thank you, TISM.
Bullshit. There’s no way you went to school with Bill.
I’m beginning to think that there might be more than one Franco. At some point in the near future, Michael Caine is going to explain what the Prestige is, and two more Francos are going to come out from behind a curtain, bantering amongst themselves in perfect iambic pentameter.