127 Hours

The teaser has arrived for Danny Boyle's latest, 127 Hours, the true story of man (played by James Franco) who was trapped by a boulder on canyon trip in Utah in 2003.  The man, Aron Ralston, survived by sawing his arm off with a dull knife blade.  The only recent film that seems to spin up instantly is Cast Away, another lone ranger film of survival.  The teaser is anything is not bold and vibrant, highlighting past Boyle films, including the Fox Searchlight years (2003-present), his current hot streak of 28 Days Later (2003), Millions (2005), Sunshine (2007) and Slumdog Millionaire (2008).  I've always counted myself as a fan of Boyle's work (my favorite being Trainspotting), and while the Slumdog machine was not nearly my favorite Oscar victory, I do eagerly look forward to this one, especially since Franco is nothing if not an interesting actor at the moment. 

In the last two years, Franco I believe has truly earned that early Freaks and Geeks and James Dean promise, with the notable range-y against type turns in Pineapple Express and Milk, segueing into the surreal with a role in General Hospital, as Julia Robert's yogi younger boyfriend in Eat Pray Love, continuing later this year with a turn as Allen Ginsberg in Howl, and this.  He will likely have the oddest box-set DVD collection ever at this rate-- I'm game.  127 Hours will premiere at the fall film festivals later next month (like Slumdog did two years ago), and open November 5th.