james franco

  • Rise of Planet of the Apes Is a Low-Key Miracle

    Rise of Planet of the Apes Is a Low-Key Miracle

    Rise of the Planet of the Apes achieves the unthinkable. It’s a prequel film to an iconic classic that approaches the material in a fresh, interesting way, stands on its own, and doesn’t tarnish the legacy or integrity of its predecessors. On paper, it shouldn’t work. Throughout movie history, it usually doesn’t. But in 2011,…


  • Spider-Man 2 Is a Perfect Sequel

    Spider-Man 2 Is a Perfect Sequel

    So many the cost of forgetting what really made their predecessor work in the first place. Sam Raimi’s sophomore Spider-Man movie aimed much higher and bigger than his first movie ever could, in part because of just how keenly it understood Marvel’s mightiest hero.