Howl, starring James Franco as Allen Ginsberg, is off and running, set for a Sundance debut tomorrow. Here’s video of some clips from the film:

So, what do you think? Does Franco do justice to the late, revolutionary dharma-poet? Could anyone?

I frankly thought this looked like an SNL skit. Not a good sign. But I’d love to be wrong.

Exciting news today for one of the most exciting young authors in the Buddhist realm: Saltwater Buddha: A Surfer’s Quest to Find Zen on the Sea, by Jaimal Yogis, is being turned into a film. Watch the trailer on the film’s website, here.

And, just as nice: a percentage of the film’s profits will be donated to organizations that share Jaimal’s desire and passion to care for the earth. Well done, all around!

From the 1987 movie Innerspace:

Who knew? Well, via LotusFlower’s SGI Buddhism blog did!

Here’s the New York Times’s description of Jeff Bridges’ character in new (and pretty good lookin’) film, The Men Who Stared At Goats:

“Bill’s initiative, born in the fields of Vietnam and baptized in the hot tubs of the New Age movement, brings together Buddhism, pantheism, militarism and old-fashioned hooey-ism, the idea being that war can be waged with love, eagle feathers and assorted paranormal techniques — with a few martial arts moves thrown in.”

You just know Bridges plays it well. Lookin’ forward to seeing it. …In the meantime, here’s the rest of the Times review.

The Denver Daily News is reporting on the local premiere of “Mantra,” a new Buddhist horror film:

Mantra tells the story of a group of strangers who go to a remote cabin area in the woods for a meditation retreat. While a generous amount of nudity and gore ensues, the film also explores some heady philosophical concepts like love, desire and suffering.

[Filmmaker David] Wimer was inspired to write Mantra after attending a Buddhist retreat in India. He found that the meditations were “mind-altering, scary and weird,” and became enlightened on the connections between Buddhism — which focuses on desire and suffering — and horror films.

More here.

The always-mighty Konchog Norbu sends on this “interesting-looking trailer for a film called ‘Oh My God’,” noting that it uses “a ton of Tibetan Buddhist imagery.”

EMBED-Oh My God Trailer – Watch more free videos

Thanks as ever, Konchog.

And while we’re talking Tibetan Buddhism on video, I have to give props to my “alma mater” at Wisdom Publications, who are sponsoring PBS’s showings of Vajra Sky Over Tibet, and even have a nifty little “ad” that will run with it:

Well done!

For listings of when Vajra Sky Over Tibet will be playing, visit the Wisdom blog. It’s playing on Boston’s WGBH this Sunday at 5:30. My calendar is marked.

What on Earth does that mean, you might ask?

Don’t worry — Richard Corliss, who wrote that headline for TIME, doesn’t seem to know either.

For months now, this forthcoming film has been getting mentions (and some grief) in the buddhablogosphere: One City called it “sure to be stupid,” and its trailer has been being passed around for its use of a Tibetan monk as the harbinger of doomsday.

Its new poster brings the monk back; he’s becoming an unlikely logo for a blockbuster film.

And here, again, is that trailer.

(Thanks for the heads-up, Danny.)

So: what do you think?

In this Paste review for the film Died Young, Stayed Pretty, check out the designer Art Charney, says:

What a cool, unexpected kick this film was. Director Eileen Yaghoobian has gone into the dark minds of poster artists asking how they come up with the strange, often times obscene, ideas for their posters that do more than just sell an event or concert. One of my favorites is for The Von Zippers with a collage of wanted-poster style black & white photos of the famous and infamous, each with a zipper over his or her mouth. The artist, Art Charney, disdainfully opines on each photo ranging from Oprah to Charles Manson. “The Dalai Lama, there’s another guy that should shut the fuck up. Here’s Mr. Niceguy, Tom Hanks. I wish he’d shut the fuck up, don’t you?” It may be underground art but the film gives a cultural thumbs up to an art form that deserves more space in the foreground.

Um? What? Seriously?

And speaking of HHDL and, “Um, what?” moments, His Holiness gets namechecked in the new Eminem song, “Must Be the Ganja”:

your dreams of getting the pill, you are literally getting the drill
spitting at will, me and Dre have just finished splitting a pill
you’re submitting to skill, sitting still, I’m admitting, I’m beginning to feel
like I don’t think anyone’s real,
faced with a dilemma, I can be Dali Llama and become a bin gramma a step beyond a Jeffrey Dahmer

…Um — and I listen to plenty of rap, really, but — what?

I can’t wait to see this thing. Details over at Shambhala SunSpace.