Remember that time James Franco wrote a poem/essay/brain dump about Lana Del Rey that ended up in V magazine? You don't? Here's an excerpt that might jog your memory:
"Lana has become my friend. She is a musician who is a poet and a video artist.
She grew up on the East Coast but she is an artist of the West Coast.
When I watch her stuff, when I listen to her stuff, I am reminded of everything I love about Los Angeles. I am sucked into a long gallery of Los Angeles cult figurines, and cult people, up all night like vampires and bikers.
The only difference between Lana and me is her haunting voice. That carries everything. The voice is the central axle around which the spokes of everything else extend.
My axle, like her voice is for her, is my acting. Out of it, I do everything else.
I don’t like vampires and bikers in my life, but I like them in my art." So, that happened. And for a hot second, it sort of seemed like they were slowing morphing into the crown couple of Tortured Artist Land, which would have been fine and maybe even sort of great. But, this is where things get a little weird: News broke today that Franco has co-written a book about the "Born to Die" artist with bestselling author David Shield. The new paperback tome, entitled Flip-Side: Real and Imaginary Conversations With Lana Del Rey, is 100 pages long and will be released in March 2016. The extent of Lana Del Rey's participation in Flip-Side, however, remains shrouded in mystery. At the end of his V essay on the subject, Franco wrote, "I wanted to interview Lana for a book and she said, 'Just write around me; it's better if it's not my own words. It’s almost better if you don't get me exactly, but try.'" Here is what we want to know: Is the majority of this book fiction? Is it a biography, kinda? Is it mostly fantasy-fueled poetry? And, last but not least: What in goodness name is actually going on between James Franco and Lana Del Rey??
She grew up on the East Coast but she is an artist of the West Coast.
When I watch her stuff, when I listen to her stuff, I am reminded of everything I love about Los Angeles. I am sucked into a long gallery of Los Angeles cult figurines, and cult people, up all night like vampires and bikers.
The only difference between Lana and me is her haunting voice. That carries everything. The voice is the central axle around which the spokes of everything else extend.
My axle, like her voice is for her, is my acting. Out of it, I do everything else.
I don’t like vampires and bikers in my life, but I like them in my art." So, that happened. And for a hot second, it sort of seemed like they were slowing morphing into the crown couple of Tortured Artist Land, which would have been fine and maybe even sort of great. But, this is where things get a little weird: News broke today that Franco has co-written a book about the "Born to Die" artist with bestselling author David Shield. The new paperback tome, entitled Flip-Side: Real and Imaginary Conversations With Lana Del Rey, is 100 pages long and will be released in March 2016. The extent of Lana Del Rey's participation in Flip-Side, however, remains shrouded in mystery. At the end of his V essay on the subject, Franco wrote, "I wanted to interview Lana for a book and she said, 'Just write around me; it's better if it's not my own words. It’s almost better if you don't get me exactly, but try.'" Here is what we want to know: Is the majority of this book fiction? Is it a biography, kinda? Is it mostly fantasy-fueled poetry? And, last but not least: What in goodness name is actually going on between James Franco and Lana Del Rey??