JAMES FRANCO IS MY FRIEND

I am yet to steal my housemates James Franco adorned copy of this month's Man About Town (or was it Arena Homme +, i forget) BUT anyway, I am yet to steal it. I preface this with that to explain that, as of yet, my ears are virgins to his words in print and, after reading, I may change my mind about him. however, in the here and now, I must profess that I think i am in love with star of Pineapple Express, James Franco. 

I downloaded cult teenage sitcom 'Freaks and Geeks' a few months ago. Only one series was made as it got cut half way through filming, this was due to problems with scheduling the show which resulted in poor viewing figures. This is probably why people compare it to 'My So Called Life' so regularly, but i have to say the similarities end there pretty much. F&G doesn't have the same heart wrenching nature MSCL does, and i doubt any other youth drama ever will. It does however have some incredibly well written characters. Kim Kelly, the wild child, was closest to my heart and her screaming matches with Mother and turbulent love life were definitely closest to my own school years. Zeppelin obsessed Nick is easy to love, sardonic Ken easy to hate, and main character Lindsay easy to relate to. The 'geeks' of the show, Lindsay's younger brother and his friends, are hilarious. Giving you a snapshot of life as a thirteen year old boy with too much brain and not enough braun is a lot more up lifting than you may imagine. 

But F&G is all about one person, Franco. His character Daniel Desario is oft mused over by Lindsay, but she never gets the guy. He stays locked in a relationship of breaking and making up with bad girl Kim, and i loved him for it. He doesn't take the easy way out, doesn't clean up his act, never learns a lesson from life. He's a bad boy who wants to be bad, and i don't think there's enough of them around. 

Skip forward a few years, a few acting classes, and we land at Pineapple Express. I've always had a soft spot for drug dealers, and can't help finding dopey boys surrounded by a haze of smoke cute. Add my Franco crush to this and I found his character Saul terrifically appealing. I love Seth Rogen (who also plays Ken in F&G) too, and thought his efforts writing the movie paid off. It was funny, sweet, exciting and also tried to portray dealers in a way not often seen in film.

So, in conclusion, I think James Franco is pretty hot shit right now and anything he touches is turning to gold. I am especially excited about his role as Allen Ginsberg in (currently in production) Howl. It is his second consecutive gay role, of which he claims he doesn't pay much attention. I think people are bored of the whole Will Ferrell thing, and Seth Rogen looks set to be the big thing in comedy next year, with Judd Apatow as his infallible sidekick. I think people are also bored of boring leading males, Toby Maguire, that rippling idiot from James Bond, that creepy twink from HSM. James Franco is the bad girl's eye candy, and I'm backing him for big things in '09.