Danny McBride

James Franco's As I Lay Dying earned a standing ovation following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, but while it shows promise for Franco's burgeoning directorial career, its stumbles highlight his newness to helming films.

William Faulkner's classic novel As I Lay Dying is a famously dense story about the destitute Bundren clan and their calamitous journey to lay their matriarch, Addie, to rest in Jefferson, MS. The trip unleashes a dismal chain of events that leaves them all somehow changed or scarred — sometimes physically.

It seems fitting that Franco, an actor-slash-author himself, would combine his love for film and literature in his feature-length directorial debut. And he does an impressive job unraveling the complex narrative, which in the book is told by 15 different characters and jumps vaguely backward and forward in time. Sure, there's no doubt that it's ambitious for a first-time filmmaker to take on one of the most acclaimed novels in American history, but at least Franco's devotion to, and admiration of, the source material is clear. He does well capturing its Southern Gothic sensibility, shooting in the mostly drab colors of the Great Depression and drawing appropriately beaten-down performances from his actors.

For the rest of my review, just read more.

Based on William Faulkner's novel of the same name, As I Lay Dying features James Franco as both director and star of the film — thick Southern accent and all. Set in Mississippi during the Depression, the story follows a family that hopes to honor the wishes of the deceased matriarch, only to face a series of dark complications. The film also stars Tim Blake Nelson, Logan Marshall-Green, and Danny McBride in an unusually dramatic role (it's quite the contrast to the other movie that McBride and Franco are co-starring in this Summer, This Is the End).

Franco also cowrote the script with Matt Rager, and the film adaptation looks to be as dark and as complicated as the book. If the preview is any indication, then As I Lay Dying isn't for the faint of heart. Even in the short trailer, we see death, violence, murder, and rape. The movie premieres at this year's Cannes Film Festival, but you can catch a glimpse now with the trailer below.

We've already gotten a tease of This Is the End, better known as the apocalyptic comedy starring just about every famous funny person, but the new red-band trailer provides a lot more footage, stars, and laughs. We've got Mindy Kaling setting her sights on Michael Cera, Rihanna getting hit on by Michael Cera, and Michael Cera getting impaled during said apocalypse. OK, maybe Michael Cera is the star of this particular trailer.

But wait! There's also Emma Watson hilariously wielding an axe, and a pretty entertaining fight between the film's real stars (Jonah Hill, James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson) about who gets to eat a Milky Way bar. It's all very silly, but I'm now officially excited for this movie, which opens on June 14. The trailer is NSFW, but check it out after the read more

I guess if the world is ending, spending it with James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, Jonah Hill, and Craig Robinson wouldn't be so bad. That's who's starring in the apocalyptic comedy This Is the End, with the aforementioned funny friends playing versions of themselves and dealing with the sudden end of the world — and making pretty meta jokes about it, in McBride's case. In the red-band trailer, we get a taste of what the end of days looks like with these guys, which includes pee cocktails, wacky disasters, and cameos from other stars like Emma Watson, Jason Segel, Paul Rudd, and Michael Cera.

Given that This Is the End started off as a short film that starred Rogen and Baruchel (Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse), I'm curious to see how the idea was fleshed out into a full-length comedy. But either way, I'm already sold on this movie for its lineup of actors who've made me laugh together in so many movies before. Let's just hope the world doesn't actually end this week before we get to see This Is the End, which comes out June 14. Watch the trailer after the jump.

Your Highness may have a marijuana reference right there in the title, but it's not exactly Cheech and Chong in tights. It is, however, an amusing spoof from director David Gordon Green, who reproduces the comedic tone of his last movie, Pineapple Express. He also reunites with a couple of its cast members; James Franco stars as Fabious, a virtuous prince in line for the throne, and Danny McBride plays his brother Thadeous, who's far less concerned with courageous quests and much more into drinking, smoking, and women.

Fabious returns from a quest with a bride, Belladonna (Zooey Deschanel), but their ceremony is crashed by evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux, disguising his handsome face). Leezar kidnaps Belladonna, intending to take her virginity as part of a dastardly plot. Naturally, Fabious wastes no time in embarking on a new quest to get his bride back, and underachieving Thadeous has to step up so he can accompany his brother. This adventure and the characters they meet along the way (including Natalie Portman) set the scene for a raunchy takeoff of the medieval genre. To find out why I found myself chuckling at Your Highness, just read more

James Franco plays the swashbuckling and sexy Prince Fabius in the upcoming Your Highness. When his lady love is kidnapped by an evil wizard, he and his ne'er-do-well brother, played by his former Pineapple Express costar Danny McBride, set out on a quest to rescue her. Hijinks, sword fights, and stoner humor ensue. James was on hand for the movie's recent press day in Beverly Hills, where he talked about gearing up for the movie's fight scenes, the secret to a solid bromance, and why he's still pursuing his college career despite his success as an actor. Here are some highlights:

• On the attention his college career has gotten: "Well, it's hard. It's out of my hands, really. I really went to school for myself, and sometimes I forget that it's not actually a public act. I'm there to learn and better myself and that part of my life is not a performance, but in some ways, it kind of has become material for public discussion, to the point where The New York Times is like, interviewing my teachers. But I don't mind. I'm proud of everything I'm doing. I guess it's just that part of my life is a performance, and I perform as a job, and then part of it's kind of not. But what can you do? I can't control it."
• On why people think he's so busy: "Well, there's also this phenomenon where people do like to announce movies that they think I'm doing that I'm not. Somebody just doesn't have time to do all the movies that people claim that I'm going to do. Or, I have acquired the rights to a lot of books that I love, and I think it helps the writers to sell their books if they announce my attachment. But it doesn't mean I'm going to make the movies in the next year or two or three."

• On brushing up his sword skills for Your Highness: "Danny was the writer, so he conveniently wrote his character as someone who was very bad with swords so he didn't have to train at all. I trained a bit, but I had done literally nine months of training, seven days a week, for Tristan and Isolde, because I was a young actor that didn't know that was insane. And I didn't get to use much of it in that film, so I got to use it in this movie."

For the rest of James's interview, just read more