It’s called The Thing, and James Franco’s Got It
For its fourth installation, the new art-object d’art publication The Thingrecruited renaissance wonder-boy James Franco to create the limited-edition quarterly’s content and design.
Franco had a thing for the late, unsung, troubled young actor Brad Renfro, who was incredible in “Apt Pupil,” the terrifying film about a teenager who discovers that his neighbor is a notorious Nazi war criminal. Renfro’s character becomes obsessed with the prison camps’ torture details after blackmailing the in-hiding codger (played menacingly by Sir Ian McKellen). And the dominoes fall for both. Renfro, who we happened to know quite well-and wish we could have helped–was also amazing in “Bully,” the true-crime tale of some loser Florida mall rats who decide to kill their bullying friend in the Ft. Lauderdale-area swamplands.
Among his materials, Franco, paying homage to Renfro used a table mirror holding a wallet-sized photo of the actor. The mirror’s scrawled with lipstick, reading “BRAD FOREVER.” The actor has good taste, but may be a little obsessed himself. He tattooed Renfro’s name on his arm (a poster of it included in The Thing, Issue #14).
The book costs $75, but it’s a pretty neat keepsake. For more info, visit: thethingquarterly.com/quarterly.html.
