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Back when I was a dewy-faced college girl of 21, I had the rare opportunity of seeing
Allen Ginsberg read his poetry at
UMass Dartmouth (for just $5!!). He was a sick man then (I don't know if he'd been diagnosed with liver cancer yet, but it would have appeared that he was certainly suffering from it), but he still managed to stay on stage for a long time and give an amazing performance. To accompany a few of the pieces, he played some sort of beautifully lacquered, bellows-driven musical instrument (I hesitate to use the generic word 'squeezebox,' but it was definitely neither an accordion nor a concertina). I didn't appreciate this then, but, looking back now, I see how its use emphasized the "breath-length" form he employed in some of his poetry. Genius.
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I bring up this old poetry reading because I just found out yesterday that
Pineapple Express actor
James Franco will play Allen Ginsberg in a
biopic about the 1957 obscenity trial related to the publication of Ginsberg's famous poem
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. I read that and thought . . . "
Hmm."
I know portraying a real-life figure involves much more than looking the part, but I'm still having quite a bit of difficulty envisioning
GQ-pretty Franco as Ginsberg.
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When I think of a present-day actor who might work well as a Ginsberg double, I think of the likes of comedian
David Cross of
Arrested Development. Anyone else with me on this one?
I know, I know. I need to give the kid a chance. After all, why wouldn't Franco be good for the part? He's already made one stoner movie - and what was Ginsberg if not a stoner? . . . Okay, that last remark might be a little too glib. On a more serious note, Franco
is currently enrolled in creative writing courses at
UCLA, so perhaps he's also secretly a poetry buff. If my movie-viewing experience has taught me anything, it is that sometimes actors can pleasantly surprise you. For instance, . . .
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When I initially heard that
Cate Blanchett would be playing
Katharine Hepburn in
The Aviator, I scoffed,"Ha! A casting director somewhere is about to lose his/her job." . . . But,
then, I saw the movie and was blown away by Blanchett's portrayal. She even got Hepburns' very unique voice cadence just right. I was impressed. Of course, this all begs the question - "But does
Franco have the acting chops to pull off a 'Blanchett'?" That, my friends, remains to be seen, . . . but I'm looking forward to finding out. The movie should be out sometime in 2009. Keep an eye out for it.
2 comments:
I've become a fan of Cate Blanchett in recent years. Ez and I are curious about this film, too.
I still haven't seen her portrayal of Bob Dylan. Need to see that.
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