James Franco, who recently hosted Saturday Night Live and appeared in a story-arc on the long-running daytime drama General Hospital, was on hand at a private screening in NYC for his new film Howl. In Howl, Franco plays the famed beat poet Allen Ginsberg and, from what I’m hearing, gives an Oscar-worthy performance. Buzz about Franco‘s performance in Howl is even spreading amongst the Hollywood crowd because celebs themselves (Michael Stipe, Zachary Quinto, Brooke Shields, Dustin Lance Black, Björk and more) were clamoring to get into this special screening:

James Franco has been many things lately: NYU student, artist, soap opera star. So it’s not entirely surprising that the hunky actor managed to transform himself, with a pair of black-frame glasses and an adopted haute-Jersey accent, into outspoken twentieth-century poet Allen Ginsberg. Franco’s latest film, Howl, draws on actual interviews and smoky back-room readings and partly reenacts Ginsberg’s 1957 obscenity court case to paint a portrait of the Beat-era bard. Last night at the Crosby Street Hotel, a Cinema Society audience got an early look at the new movie and at Franco, who stood in the packed theater throughout the whole thing. Clearly, he’s got a thing for poets on screen: Among his recent projects is a short film based on the work of Anthony Hecht, and, in a few days, one inspired by Frank Bidart’s uncompromising poetry will (like Howl) play at Utah’s Sundance Film Festival. “I think poems work very well as films,” Franco insisted, adding that he’d had Ginsberg’s voice (and Howl, Ginsberg’s best-known work) in his head since he was about 16. “I’ve listened to dozens and dozens of recordings of him, over the years, reading that poem,” he said. “I’d listen to them in my headphones walking around New York.” Franco wasn’t the only one feeling the Beat. Björk and Matthew Barney lingered well into the after-party, and Alicia Silverstone revealed that free verse also plays a regular role in her life: “My husband has me read Charles Bukowski poems to him,” she said. “It amuses him.”

As you may recall, we saw photos of Franco on the NYC set of Howl last March and as far as looks go, Franco wears Ginsberg‘s chunky glasses very well … he looks very much the part. I think we learned in Milk that Franco has the acting chops to deliver an Oscar-worthy performance … I am SO excited for this film. While I am a huge Jack Kerouac fan, I have a huge appreciation for Ginsberg and his work. I’m certain this film will do well at the film festivals which means, hopefully, it’ll be in theaters where we normal people can see it soon.

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Yesterday we learned the very sad news that Canadian folk legend Kate McGarrigle lost her battle with cancer at the age of 63 on Monday night and today we are hearing from her her son, Rufus Wainwright, on his mother’s passing. Rufus posted a short blogpost on his official website to add to the eulogies that have been written about his late mother in an attempt to enlighten the last 3 1/2 years of her life. Here is Rufus‘s message about Kate in full:

When inevitably I read today in the papers that my mother lost her battle with cancer last night, I am filled with an immense desire to add that this battle, though lost, was tremendously fruitful during these last three and a half years of her life. She witnessed her daughter’s marriage, the creation of my first opera, the birth of her first grandchild Arcangelo, and gave the greatest performance of her life to a packed crowd at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Not to mention traveling to some of the world’s most incredible places with both my sister, her husband Brad, my boyfriend Jorn and myself. Yes, it was all too brief, but as I was saying to her sister Anna last night while sitting by her body after the struggle had ceased, there is never enough time and she, my amazing mother with whom everyone fell in love, went out there and bloody did it. I will miss you mother, my sweet and valiant explorer, lebwohl and adio. X

In 2008, Kate established the Kate McGarrigle Fund in association with McGill University Health Centre, the Jewish General Hospital through the MUHC Foundation, the Cedars Cancer Institute, and Cancer Research UK in order to raise money and awareness for the fight against this rare type of cancer. If you would like to make a donation in honour of Kate, please follow this link below and donate online or call the MUHC Foundation directly at +1-514-931-5656.

Kate McGarrigle Fund donation website: http://www.muhcfoundation.com/kate

I cannot imagine the pain of eulogizing one’s own mother (for which I continue to be grateful) but I can appreciate that Rufus felt it was important to explain how rich his mother’s life was before she succumbed to her illness. I have no doubt that Kate McGarrigle knew how much she was loved by her children and relished in their happiness and success. While we cannot know what her last moments on Earth were like, we can hope that she is now at peace and at rest.

[Source, thanks Lauren]

David Beckham, along with a few of his fellow sports compatriots, is modeling a specially designed t-shirt for the organization Sports Relief which seeks to raise money to aid needy folks in the UK and in the rest of the world. This March, Sports Relief is sponsoring a mile run to raise funds for the organization and sales of these new Sports Relief t-shirts will aid to the cause. Here is a promo photo of Becks modeling his Sports Relief t-shirt and some deets about the organization and upcoming mile run:

Her designer dress collections have been extremely well-received by the fashion set. And now Victoria Beckham has turned her talents to a range of charity T-shirts – and she’s even managed to rope in her family to help her out. Victoria, David, Brooklyn, Romeo and even little Cruz have created a series of tops for Sport Relief with the aim of inspiring the nation to rise to the charitable challenge. Hundreds of thousands of people across the UK are expected to run the Sport Relief Mile on the weekend of March 20-21, with all money raised going towards the needy in the UK and the rest of the world. A host of famous faces from the world of sport and entertainment will be taking part in Sport Relief, including The One Show’s Christine Bleakley, who will be water-skiing across the English Channel, and Blue Peter’s Helen Skelton, who will attempt to become the first woman to sail the Amazon river in a kayak. And rugby international Lawrence Dallaglio will cycle from Rome to all the Six Nations stadiums in a bid to raise thousands of pounds for the charity. On Friday, 19 March, the BBC will air a night of entertainment, with highlights including a sketch by comedy actor James Corden as his Gavin and Stacey character, Smithy, as well as special editions of Masterchef and Top Gear. Frank Skinner will be hosting a special edition of A Question of Sport Relief and there will also be a unique Strictly Come Dancing challenge for two twinkle-toed celebrities. Since its launch in 2002, more than 1.25 million people have taken part in Sport Relief, helping to raise over £75 million.

This sounds like a fantastic organization and event. If you are in the UK and would like to register for Sport Relief, you can do so HERE. If you would like to buy some Sport Relief merch, with proceeds going to the organization, you can do so HERE. If you want one of the nifty t-shirts, including the David Beckham t, you can order them HERE. It’s always nice to see Becks in model mode, it’s especially nice to see him modeling something like this for such a worthy cause :)

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John Mayer, musician and 140-character quip aficionado, is featured on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine. In his coverstory interview, Mayer talks about his split with Jennifer Aniston (admitting that he “never really gotten over” the split and that it was “one of the worst times of [his] life”), his difficulty with dating these days and his opinions on the affairs of Tiger Woods … among other things. Mayer tweeted last night, “Just read my Rolling Stone cover article. I’m still not sure if I would want to hang out with me.” which is a sentiment that I think speaks volumes of what we can expect from this Rolling Stone coverstory. Here is his shirtless coverphoto and some excerpts from the article:

John Mayer may be the king of the confessional Twitter, but all his 140-character missives about spectacular bowel movements don’t measure up to the explosion of deeply personal details he reveals to Erik Hedegaard in the new issue of Rolling Stone, on stands tomorrow. The 32-year-old singer-guitarist admits he prefers Continuum to his 2009 disc Battle Studies (”I know that I’m supposed to say that my newest is the best one. Bullshit,” he says), that he hasn’t stopped thinking about his split with ex-girlfriend Jennifer Aniston (”I’ve never really gotten over it. It was one of the worst times of my life”) and that his sex life has become an endless loop of new girls rejecting him in clubs (”Blowing me off is the new sucking me off!”). Mayer’s in the midst of a massive 10-year record deal and enjoys the pleasures of late-night weed-and-video-game sessions, as well as his $20 million vintage watch collection, but what he truly wants, he tells Hedegaard, is to finally find a a female companion. But not just any girlfriend — Mayer is after “the Joshua Tree of vaginas.” “I’ll be happy when I close out this life-partner thing,” he says. “Think of how much mental capacity I’m using to meet the right person so I can stop giving a fuck about it.” Grab the new issue for Mayer’s full advice for Tiger Woods (”I have masturbated myself out of serious problems in my life”) and more on his journey from bedroom guitar player to the most angst-ridden playboy in rock.

No doubt, John Mayer is a talented guitar player … it’s the public persona that turns me off. Even with his ability to display his wit with ease, it just seems so unappealing when he takes his talents into doucheland. The man is incredibly smart, insanely talented and yet … I’m not a huge fan. I can appreciate that he likes to have fun and isn’t all that serious and is really into enjoying his life … I cannot fault him for that. After the jump, check out a few photos from Mayer‘s RS photospread — for those interested, there are more shirtless pics ahead …