Popular reviews

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  Review by Da_Bill ★★★★ 4

  This wasn't quite what I expected. I thought it would be a typical biopic of Poet Allen Ginsberg's life.

  Instead it is an interesting exploration of Ginsberg's most famous poem 'Howl'. Essentially we are given four strands of narrative.

  1) Ginsberg (James Franco in a passionate, yet understated performance) giving a reading of the poem in a club.

  2) The court case in which Howl's publisher is accused of publishing obscene material.

  3) An interview with Ginsberg in which he discusses how the poem was formed and his influences.

  4) The poem, visualised through animation.

  Each of these segments are woven together to show the meaning and importance of the poem as art and as social commentary.

  I've never read…

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  Review by Sir William Blake ★★★★ 32

  "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness,
  starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking
  for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly"

  For Letterboxd (foremost my great friends)

  You know the feeling to be naked in the darkness because you're lost and there's no light to give you such guidance? Such feeling of being drowned and swallowed in the life itself, you don't breath. You don't exist at all. That's me right now. Dead inside.

  These words describe very well what is going on with me in the past years, months, days... Having a mind lost, falling into the madness of the deep loneliness, anxiety and darkly depression.…

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  Review by soupgeorg ★★½

  this jack antonoff biopic was really freaky

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  Review by sree ★★ 1

  i only watched this for aaron tveit who was in it for like 10 seconds
  it was worth it

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  Review by Em ★★★

  really couldn't stand franco's voice over in this

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  Review by nina 1

  james franco needs to be stopped. this was only 84 minutes why did it feel like 3 hours

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  Review by Comicbookfan ★★★½

  A film that's not a traditional biography about Allen ginseng but more a biography of his poem howl, him reading it and animation interpreting the poem. James franco plays ginseng subtly amd well in am interview about how he came to write howl and his experiences amd life and loves. The film also shows the obscenity trial trying to get the boom banned. The film was stylish, in the case of the animation it was magical and also showed the importance of creative vision and the moral implications of banning a writers interpretation of literature and their viewpoint. It's a cool little movie.

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  Review by Sam van den Heuvel ★★½

  Imagine writing a poem so gay that it changes literature

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  Review by max ★★★★

  gay james franco writing poetry in a yellow shirt sorrounded by aesthetic walls filled with roses saved my life

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  Review by maneleeo ★★★½

  A film that feels like poetry itself. Fast paced and raw poetry. Poetry that is not concerned with sensibilities, one whose only thought is to express itself. At first, it is a courtroom drama. But, as things progress, it feels like we're dissecting a poem, instead of trying to understand if someone is guilty or not. I was transported to my school years, which are not so far away but seem like a long long memory. As if I was in the classroom and being asked to give my thoughts on a poem or a text. Trying to describe what the poetic subject meant and what are thoughts of the written words.

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  Review by Flawed Films ★★★★½

  90%
  Why does he read the poems with that weird voice 😭 this movie is insane.

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  Review by Wyatt ★★★

  LISTEN I feel just as awkward as the next person for enjoying a movie which stars James Franco as a gay man. I do. But the scene where he takes pictures of Aaron Tveit stretched out before crawling into bed and attacking him with love? That's a definite mood I connect with. Highly.