The film Howl

Above: recently I went to see the film Howl. It was on at the Renoir cinema in Brunswick Square which is one of my favourite movie theatres. Despite the brutalist architecture, and the resemblance to an air-raid bunker, I only have happy memories of this cinema (perhaps because they tend to show such good quality films).

Above: I was inspired to go and see the film after reading this article by Emma Brockes in a weekend colour supplement. A profile of the actor James Franco, the article made him sound an interesting personality - a competent actor, a writer, an intellectual studying for a PhD in English literature. He seems to be one of those people who can do everything well.

Above: the film was mixed media including animation, performance and drama. The best parts of the film are the sequences when James Franco (as Allen Ginsberg) is sitting in a study in a bright gold light and just speaking directly to the camera. The whole film could have consisted of these monologues and still be worth watching.

I'm (sort of) interested in the Beat writers mainly because Kerouac's On The Road was a revelation to me when I first read it. I'm not sure the poem Howl is as good as Kerouac's work. I have even visited the Cafe Reggio in New York to try to trace the vestiges of Kerouac's former presence.

The Emma Brockes article described James France as an actor, a student, a writer, a model, an artist, a post-modern performer etc.

It was a list that reminded me of the Flash Febreze Freshness commercial, one of the best ads on TV at the moment: http://www.tellyads.com/show_movie.php?filename=TA12561