Here are some stills from Sam Raimi’s upcoming Oz: The Great And Powerful, which is supposed to hit theaters next March, and I’ve got to make a prediction here — this is one $200+ million budget behemoth that could very well crash and burn once it hits theaters. Do we really need yet another reimagining of a classic movie? Let alone the Wizard of Oz as reimagined without the Scarecrow, Tin Man, or Cowardly Lion. The Tin Man miniseries from a few years ago already did a great job with updating the story for contemporary times, but this new movie revolves around the likes of James Franco, who plays the titular Oz, a struggling musician who ends up being transported from Kansas to the land of Oz and gets mistaken for the king of Emerald City. On the way, he must defend against two evil witches (Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz), and then he finds an ally in a good wich (Michelle Williams).
The one interesting thing about this movie is that it will feature the Chinatown that appears in the original Wizard of Oz book, but this film still seems like a CGI-laden, over-budgeted mess. If you’re really interested in the topic, USA Today has a new interview with Raimi, who discusses the massive scale of the project that currently boasts 700 artists busily working to wrap up production on time. All for a Disney movie starring James Franco.
Of course, Franco only agreed to star in Oz (much like his begrudging appearance in Planet of the Apes) for the large paycheck, which is a means to fund all of his artsy fartsy projects. Franco is already a college professor who still manages to find time to study at three universities (and not attend class but still get a prof fired for giving him a “D” grade), plus a director of commercials short films, musician, douchebag extraordinaire, and all sorts of other things, but James wants to remind us again how wonderful he is with his latest pretentious HuffPo column, which follows a serialized format in which he writes letters to an imaginary friend about how wonderful he finds himself to be. In this installment, James reminds us that he now teaches SIX classes and has now been nominated for a blogging awards, which is why we must all hate him:
Dear R________________,
I’m on a plane flying from New Orleans to Los Angeles, my weekly trip. I have to say I love this teaching thing. I guess I love the purity of the situation, the smaller, bite-sized egos instead of the huge gorilla egos of the professional world. Of course there are a few in every bunch who don’t understand how hard it is to make it in the professional world, who think they’re better than they are because they are still in the sheltered world of the university, untried in the realm of professional competition. I find more of the latter type among undergrads, but among this younger crowd I also find more students who are open to suggestions. But the flip side of this situation is when one finds a student who is truly talented, one who is doing incredible work at such a young age. I don’t know if I have any of those among my current undergrads; maybe, they’re pretty keen. I think there are some graduate students in the film programs that will go on to have careers (if they are in a MFA program they have already been vetted to an extent). So, in these cases, the super-talented weird ones, I suppose the key is knowing when and how to stand out of their way and how to guide material that has tons of potential but is slightly askew.
Anyway, I am teaching six classes in all different kinds of disciplines, on both coasts. And I have turned all of the classes — whether they are performance classes, directing classes, art classes, or writing classes — into production-oriented, class-wide collaborations. I love when they make stuff because I can frame each class in such a way that the work can go out into the world. The level of work doesn’t matter because it is an honest portrait of the students. The honesty is primary; the portrait quality of the work makes it feel like a kid’s drawing framed by an adult’s concept. It’s also nice to be able to control the material studied and how it’s talked about. I had so many classes, especially creative ones, where I hated what we were doing or the kinds of material my peers were interested in. In my current position I can guide the subject matter, especially in the classes where I bring in the source material to be adapted.
Hmmmm, what else? My first chapbook came out, Strongest of the Litter, but people seem to be more interested in who I’m dating than poetry. Oh yeah, I got nominated for a National Entertainment Journalism award for these HuffPost blogs, but no other outlet is going to run that story, right? Hahaha — why would Gawker or the New York Post want to publicize that an actor/Yale doctoral candidate is nominated for an award for something that they are doing themselves? I’m pretty proud of it, but I can see why they must hate me.
[From HuffPo]
Naturally, Franco takes issue with anyone who doesn’t bow down before his imagined Loki likeness. Oh, but Franco is no Tom Hiddleston, who is quite humble in his own life; instead, Franco must always be praised, and I have to wonder why he requires so much positive reinforcement in his life to a degree where he must constantly remind us all of his doctoral candidacy. Is his life really that empty that he must constantly seek to fill it up with accomplishments that are really only for bragging rights? He must be such a sad person inside, and I’m starting to almost feel sorry for him.
By the way, here’s the trailer for Oz: The Great And Powerful, which Kaiser has posted before in the context of Michelle Williams, but Franco is. so. annoying.
Photos courtesy of USA Today, WENN.com
Wow, I can’t believe he went for the “they’re all jellis h8rs” angle. Very mature, Franco.
As for the trailer, yup “CGI mess” just about covers it. Michelle Williams looks gorgeous in costume.
Is he 12?
I don’t think that a 12 year old boy would be walking around with a book in their hand. He’s sexy and one of the most talented actors in Hollyweird. He was nominated for an Oscar. He has published books, he has Phds and teaches. He has passion and ambition and that bothers people. It’s so refreshing to see photos of him attending school rather than leaving a club in L.A WASTED with bimbos on each arm. I think that he is admirable and other actors should look up to him!
Yes, he is all those things and has done all that but an adult would let it all speak for itself. Someone less childish and arrogant would look at his PhD and think “Please, I know what I’ve achieved. Let them talk.” But a 12-year-old needs to brag about building the best sand castle of them all because he needs to make sure that everyone knows.
So yes, inside that man is a 12-year-old child that needs to tell everyone he’s the best and nobody else understands because they’re aaall jelly. *insert whine here*
Some of the best professors I ever had never mentioned their work or publications. So when you look them up you go “Whoa. Respect.” He should try it.
Something is wrong with me, I squeal every time I read Tom Hiddleston’s name. Oh yea, I can’t hate on Franco. Every time I’m kickboxing, I imagine its his face, now I’m ripped!
Oh, me too! 😀
Tom Hiddleston is just another British actor who believes that the ghost of Shakespeare inhabits him. He’s just as pretentious and entitled like the rest of the anglos and there are far too many for me to name.
you’re not alone…
2sexy4U – RU Kidding..? Have you read Hiddles’ twitter account? I think pretentious is the last thing he could be accused of. Dorky is a bit more accurate, but pretentious? Never! UR a H8R!
This guy is a nutcase. What is he on?
Any university hiring this guy to teach is only muddying its own reputation.
Totally agree. I can’t see how this is good publicity for any university. He sounds like an alarmingly poor teacher- “I control the subject matter because I thought my peers’ interests were boring.” Soooo no one else’s interests are good enough? Doesn’t sound like he’s open to anyone’s creative process but his own. I can’t see how that’s a good thing.
I agree with both of you–he thinks his peers’ ideas were boring, so now he is producing a creative army? Oh, good. Well James, i think you’re so magnificently contrived, pretentious, and more than a touch derivative. You’re as creative as a mound of dirt, and have as many new ideas as one. I would never pay to have him teach me anything, unless i wanted lessons in the art of douche nozzle.
Sit down, Franco! I didn’t even watch freaks and geeks.
*rant over*
It’s so wrong of me, but I’d still totally hit it. Ha.
Oh and that GCI monkey is adorable.
I’ll watch this when it comes onDemand.
Saw the trailer this morning and immediately thought of Johnny Depp crying in his coffee because he’s not in it.
Haha, perfect comment!
(I still want to see it)
I remember reading that both he and Robert Downey Jr passed up on the part of the magician, so I doubt he’s crying.
Luckily he has a vast array of scarves to wipe away the tears 🙂
Oz says, “I don’t want to be a good man; I want to be a great one.” I think that’s what drives Franco, too.
C´mon! He IS right in something. Nobody would talk about the other stuff he does because they are only interested on who he is going out with. That is stupid. Let the man spread his wings and do whatever he wants. Yes, he does sound pretentious but all of us do when we talk about things that interest us. I am interested on philosophy and I love talking about it but I do not do it with everyone because I understand that some people are just not interested on what I have to say so I save them for those that are. The problem with James is that he is a public figure and so he is asked about all these (an he definetely likes talking about that too).
I liked him back in the Freaks and Geeks stage… now not so much.
I have nothing against Franco but I do not have anything for him either. That being said, I really loved Rise of the Planet of the Apes because it was not about Franco, it was about Caesar. I totally forgot for a sec that Franco was in it. That being said, I will see Oz (I have nieces and nephews) and I LOVE Racheal Weisz, no matter what movie she is in.
For all his supposed pretensions he writes like a high school student. I’m very disappointed because I just expected something deeper. Where are the big, highfaluting, flowery words?
As for Oz, it looks great. I’d probably watch it because of Rachel Weisz.
Well we, being the plebeian masses, would not understand all of his beautifully spun, fantastical language. We’re just not on that level. Because he recognizes his linguistic superiority, and is so humble, he preemptively left them out, so as not to confuse us.
Or he thinks he is smarter and more creative than heactually is….
LOL. MerryHappy, you and I are on the same page with Franco here 🙂
We definitely are, NerdMomma. He is so tiring! Haha
Ernest Hemingway didn’t use big words, but William Faulkner did…and too many of them at that. What I’m trying to say is that the simplicity or complexity of the prose is not part and parcel of GOOD writing. It could either way. That said, like many bloggers, Franco’s writing is mediocre.
What a pretentious twat. This guy thinks he’s a god or something. Maybe he’s smart- by hollywood standards but I assure him he won’t make a bleep elsewhere.
I think it will end up being like Alice in Wonderland. Will probably do well at the Box Office…but not well with critics.
Why is Franco wearing a curly Poodle Tail on his head?
Worst rug ever.
I am a PhD candidate in linguistics and I must say: What a self-important prick! I keep forgetting there are people out there who get doctoral training just for the glory of the title. This is so pathetic it makes me sad. And that part about the ‘sheltered’ life in the university or the small bite egos? What on earth is he even talking about? There’s an incredible amount of competition in the university and it IS a professional field. Who is hiring this guy, seriously?
People actually do that? Get a PhD just to claim they have one? Kinda like those Ivy League people? I’m still in highschool but I plan on getting my PhD is psychiatry because its an interest of mine, and something I know I’d enjoy. I can’t imagine all the time and resources that requires, just for bragging rights?
This is a line of work that requires a lot of determination, self-reliance and endurance to be able to handle possible isolation and peer criticism… So in one word, it requires passion. You can come across some pretty arrogant people in this field. Maybe it’s their way of handling peer pressure with a ‘I’m the best, they can’t get to me!’ motto. In Franco’s case, I just think he’s got the money, he covets the reputation of someone ‘above’ HW’s standards and he is probably accepted in the academic field because of his star power. It’s painfully obvious he doesn’t understand much about academic life. He’s just full of it, that’s all.
I didn’t think it was possible for this guy to get more annoying, but he just keeps outdoing himself.
“The level of work doesn’t matter because it is an honest portrait of the students. The honesty is primary; the portrait quality of the work makes it feel like a kid’s drawing framed by an adult’s concept. It’s also nice to be able to control the material studied and how it’s talked about. I had so many classes, especially creative ones, where I hated what we were doing or the kinds of material my peers were interested in. In my current position I can guide the subject matter, especially in the classes where I bring in the source material to be adapted.”
–> Oh. My. God. WHAT is he even talking about? Nothing is up to his standards, never was but now that he, the genius, is finally in charge, he can make sure the quality of the material is outstanding? Even if his students suck? Is that it? Oh my god. He knows his students will most likely read this, right? Way to make them feel like sh*t.
And as someone who’s working on a post-graduate degree in linguistics and is about to finish, let me just say, his style is not great. And I’m not even a native speaker of English. Plus, he seems to forget that many students do in fact know the “real world” because they have jobs. Minimum wage jobs (or, in countries like mine, where such a thing doesn’t exist even less) where excellent work is still expected every day (or night). I’m starting to loathe this guy. He’s not better than everyone else, he just got lucky.
I completely agree. And I know it may make me a horrible person, but it fills me with such a sick sense of satisfaction and glee to read the comments of highly educated individuals basically telling him ‘bitch, please.’
I am an undergrad. I work, or I am at school all day, 6 days a week. I have bills, mounting school associated debt, and make minimum wage. And he is trying to say i have it easy and don’t understand the difficulty of the professional world? I may not have reached the goal at the ends if my career path, but I–ends almost every other student–have a much more stressful and difficult life than him. He is so profoundly irritating to me, and his pontifications are torture to try to read. The amount of time he invokes himself as the standard of excellence… I just can’t with him!
I so vehemently dislike him because I have a high regard for education after coming from a family that doesn’t. But for him, it’s another notch on his belt and more bragging rights.
Exactly. All of us who worked through university (nights and weekends and sometimes from 5 a.m.) for very very little money know better and shouldn’t even bother with this d-bag but the fact that HuffPo gives him a platform? Ugh.
You know what this reminds me of? Chris Brown and his “Haters gonna hate” bs. No, Franco didn’t beat anyone but the argument against everyone who dislikes him is similar. I’m so awesome and successful that you can ONLY be jealous and dislike me for that, never for my personality. Ugh! It’s the argument of a child, not an educated adult.
But frankly, I’ve long come to the conclusion that universities are full of conceited professors who live in their academic bubble and wield their red pen like a sword to rule the unworthy. Please. The only difference is that most of them can’t spew their dung in public. Why does nobody give him a smackdown? An education does not equal character.
Btw, I would love to know who gave him the “Bitch, please” and where. 🙂
I feel like we all have given him a very polite ‘bitch, please’ in our own ways, lol. Sorry for all of the misspellings, i was furiously typing on a tiny little Droid that auto corrected me before going too class.
The red pen reference is prefect, it fits Franco to a ‘t.’ Someone like him should never be given a position of authority, because he has absolutely no self awareness and absolutely no ability to see other points of view–he is too dualistic. It’s black or white, his way or wrong, and we’re all just ‘jelly haters’ that won’t let him be great.
Can you imagine what his classes are like? I’m getting a headache just thinking about it…
you just know this guy thinks himself a god.
If only his massive self-absorption were interesting. Sigh.
Hollywood loves their male idiots so James Franco will be making a lot of money for a long time to come.
On one hand, he is pretentious. On the other he can be out drinking and driving and endangering others with destructive behavior. Sometimes you pick your battles when following celebrities and he is on my low end. I will say this, if I had his resources I would return and further my education.
doesn’t it look like Weisz and Kunis are going to kiss in one of those pics?
why does everybody act like there is just one freaking Oz book? there were like 20 of them, and L Fran Baum didn’t even like the one that was made into the Judy Garland movie all that much and he particularly didn’t care of Dorothy as a character. The stories are much more rich and complex in that world than just Dorothy and toto
I wish he could date Kristen Stewart. Both hipsters, cool dudes. Don’t hate me haters.
He is accomplished, talented and productive. Hell, yeah, he has a lot to be proud about. Why not? I’m not his fan, but I respect him and admire his organizational skills – it’s not easy to travel weekly coast-to-coast, switch between different types of work AND be creative.
Tom H is a decent actor and also has a couple degrees but Franco has achieved more so far – in terms of degrees, movies, and movie awards.