Over the past couple of weeks we’ve shared your first looks at Amanda Seyfried in Lovelace, the biopic about one of the first porn “superstars”, Linda Lovelace, and her dysfunctional relationship with her husband/manager Chuck Traynor (Peter Sarsgaard), who coerced her into the porn industry where she was used and abused before finally taking control of her life.

Academy Award winning documentarians Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (The Life and Times of Harvey Milk, Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt) direct Lovelace from a script by Merrit Johnson (Temple Grandin, In Treatment) and Andy Bellin (Trust), which was in turn based on Eric Danville's biography, "The Complete Linda Lovelace".   It’s got an insane cast including Sharon Stone, Hank Azaria, Eric Roberts, Wes Bentley, Juno Temple, Chris Noth, Chloe Sevigny, Debi Mazar and  Bobby Cannavale (recently signed for Season 3 of Boardwalk Empire!) with James Franco as Hugh Hefner and Adam Brody as porn legend Harry Reems. Demi Moore has dropped out (I guess they can’t plead “exhaustion” or “scheduling conflicts” this time since her bizarre meltdown has been some much in the news). She’s been replaced by Sarah Jessica Parker as Gloria Steinem. There are pics of SJP on set below and I have to say, I’m not feelin’ it. (Is it makeup or has she had major work done?)

Lovelace is still filming, but is slated for a release sometime this year. We’ll keep you posted. Below are more pics of Seyfried in full 70’s regalia (and her brown eyes) along with Juno Temple and a first glimpse of Franco as Hef.

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New Year, New Movie: We have your first look at  Stephen Elliott’s directorial debut, Cherry with James Franco, Heather Graham, Dev Patel and Ashley Hinshaw (Chronicle)

Official synopsis:

“Eighteen-year-old Angelina works at a launderette and is determined to make something of her life. After earning a bit of cash posing for nude photos she uses the money to escape her white trash background and dysfunctional family and run off to San Francisco with her best pal. After several jobs she gradually drifts into San Francisco’s porn industry where, using the moniker Cherry, her naïve yet sexy aura soon brings her success and the opportunity to explore her own sexuality. This self-confident young woman also has to cope with the many prejudices that exist for someone in her line of work; a lawyer who wants to ‘save’ her turns out to have problems with addiction. Finally, she finds an understanding friend and partner in her director, who has similar problems with her own lover. Before long, Angelina decides to try her hand at directing her own porn film.
In his cinematic debut, director Stephen Elliott’s creates a portrait of a young woman in search of herself and her place in the world that is devoid of false morality and voyeurism and approaches its myth-laden topic of porn with a gaze that is fresh and dispassionate.”

The film was cowritten by Elliott and Loralei Lee, an ex-porn star (as well as graduate of NYU film school). Hinshaw, stars as Angelina, with Franco as a cocaine-addicted lawyer. Heather Graham stars as an adult film star-turned-director. Dev Patel plays Angelina’s best friend and Lili Taylor plays her mother.

Cherry will screen at the Berlinale on February 14 and will hopefully be picked up for distribution. We’ll bring you news as soon as we have it. A trailer can be found at German site critic.de (it's in English). For now, enjoy the pics!

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James Franco and Anne Hathaway hosted the Oscars way-back-when (and we’ve all long forgotten about it, thanks a lot James), but James Franco insists on making us relive the nightmare we can’t scrub from our retinas. If you recall, everyone thought he was stoned and that Anne Hathaway took 12 too many happy pills.

Now James is opening up about why he played it low-key and what really went on to make him the way he was (because it’s always everyone else’s fault don’tcha know). And get this, he says that Steven Spielberg allegedly told the show’s producer Bruce Cohen that it was ‘the best Oscars ever’. Bitch, please. If Steven did say that he was either being sarcastic or lying to Bruce Cohen’s face.

Despite saying talking about it is like assigning blame, and not fun, he goes on to assign blame in his Playboy interview:

“For three or four weeks we shot the promos and the little film that played in the opening. In the last week, when we really started focusing on the script for the live show and did a run-through, I said to the producer, ‘I don’t know why you hired me, because you haven’t given me anything. I just don’t think this stuff’s going to be good.’”

He particularly hated coming out dressed as Marilyn Monroe. Did he hate it more than you or I? Who knows:

“I was so pissed about that I was deliberately going to fall onstage and hopefully my dress would fall off or something — they couldn’t blame that on me; I was in high heels,” Franco says. “The plan had been that I was going to sing as Cher and then Cher was going to come out onstage; that got axed when Cher and the song from Burlesque weren’t nominated. I told them, ‘Look, this is the thing people are going to talk about, the images they will take away from the show.

“I just didn’t want to fight anymore, even when they said, ‘You’ll come out as Marilyn Monroe. It’ll be funny.’ Me in drag is not funny,” Franco continues, but he says, he “just didn’t want to argue anymore. I was going with their program; I wanted to do the material they gave me, not be one of the many cooks doing the writing. There were a lot of cooks who shouldn’t have been cooking but were allowed to. There were some cooks my manager tried to bring in, like Judd Apatow, who wrote some very funny stuff that wasn’t used.”

If Judd Apatow was involved you KNOW it would have been funny. You know, perhaps he has a point. Perhaps there were too many ‘cooks in the kitchen’ and all the wrong ones. However he’s a professional and that’s what he was paid for and he really should have at least tried. He came off not trying and it sounds like he somewhat ‘resigned’ himself to the writing, and in the sense that he lost his mojo (although I don’t know if he has a lot of mojo to begin with). He explains his demeanor:

“As far as having low energy or seeming as though I wasn’t into it or was too cool for it, I thought, ‘Okay Anne is going the enthusiastic route. I’ve been trained as an actor to respond to circumstances, to the people I’m working with, and not force anything.’ So I thought I would be the straight man and she could be the other, and that’s how I was trying to do those lines. I felt kind of trapped in that material. I felt, This is not my boat. I’m just a passenger, but I’m going down and there’s no way out.”

Good think Anne Hathaway didn’t follow his footsteps and actually rose to the challenge. Do you think he’s still passing the buck or do you think it was a bad situation that wasn’t going to get good no matter how he acted?

Just call him Mr. Smartie Hunky Pants.  At least that is what I call him when I…um, never mind.  My future baby daddy oh my James Franco is not messing around!  Sure he looked stoned out of his mind in February during his co-hosting gig at the 83^rd Academy Awards, but when it comes to education, Franco is serious.

The University of Houston, one of the more prominent schools for its creative writing program, has confirmed that they have accepted Mr. Franco into their doctoral program in literature and creative writing.  James Kastely, program director, said that Franco will enroll in September of 2012.  While this may not seem like a big deal, Kastely made it a point to say that only 20 students are chosen for the program every year.  Considering that over 400 applicants apply every year, Franco could make this a Kanye West moment if he so chooses.

However, it appears as if the 127 Hours actor is keeping it on the hush hush.  His publicist has not responded to the news with a confirmation or denial.

Hmm, I wonder if they have selected their top twenty already?

Photo: Nikki Nelson/ WENN

Danity Donnaly is is a Midwestern mama with class, sass and a love for celebrity gossip.  Danity is a formerdisc jockey and is a fierce dancer who enjoys pancakes and diet coke. When she’s not delivering the dish, Danity can be found on Twitter talking smack or shaking her bon bon to any jam by Justin Timberlake.

Check her blog out at CelebrityVIPLounge.

No!  I loved having him on there!  But it’s true.  James Franco has deleted his Twitter account.  Seeing as how he did it on April Fools Day, we thought he might re-appear, but such is not the case.

Rumor had it that certain companies he works with weren’t appreciating his Tweets and that led him to shut it down after only a month and a half.

Mila Kunis & James Franco Confirmed For ‘Wizard Of Oz’ Prequel

Franco fans already had to deal with him bombing the Oscars, now this.  I think he’d better have something positive up his sleeve for his peeps.  Just sayin’….

Photo: Twitter

The deal is done. Mila Kunis and James Franco are set to be in the Wizard of Oz prequel where Mila will play the youngest of the three witches ‘Theodora’ in the new version of the 1939 hit entitled “Oz, the Great and Powerful”.

The Mila Kunis – Justin Timberlake Scandal

Did you watch the original with Judy Garland? Loved that movie! Especially because of the little dog Toto. What can I say? I love me some canines.

Back to the current version. Walt Disney Pictures have confirmed that both are officially on the project and James Franco will play the lead part. Yes, that’s right, the Wizard. Originally Robert Downey Jr. was to play that part but he left the project a few months ago Coming Soon is reporting. No word on why he left.

These are two very busy stars with Mila about to star in Ted with Mark Wahlberg. James Franco is going to have to sleep when he’s dead. This is one very busy guy. He’s teaching a ten-week class at Columbia College, he’s returning to General Hospital, he will be making his directorial debut in ‘As I Lay Dying‘ and now this film. But one thing we can probably bet on: he won’t be hosting the Oscars next year. Burn! Ha!

What do you think? Perfect casting or not so much?

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Photos: Adriana M. Barraza/WENN