The start of fall means the start of awards season, the time when it seems every other movie on the release schedule is begging for Oscar attention or at least an expensive "For Your Consideration" campaign to get awards voters' attention. Some movies seem likelier prospects than others, but that doesn't mean that the underdogs don't deserve a chance to fight. And when the underdog in question wears cornrows and a grill, he at least stands a pretty damn good chance of getting that attention.
If you remember March's Spring Breakers at all, you probably remember it for the performance from James Franco as Alien, a DJ and low-level crook whose catchphrase "Look at my shit!" became its own mini-phenomenon-- and distributor A24 knows it. In the first For Your Consideration ad above, debuted by The Hollywood Reporter, they're officially asking voters to consider Franco for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and putting the trashy highlights of his performance front and center. If you somehow missed the "Look at my shit" meme last spring, here's a brief bit of it:
If you can't quite see the genius for yourself in that clip, here's how an A24 spokesperson describes the merits of Franco's performance:
"James Franco has created a character so indelible it deserves recognition. We are excited to be able to support it with a campaign and know the impact of Alien will last far past this awards season."
Franco, recently roasted on Comedy Central, may be in just the right pop culture position for this campaign to go somewhere. He's far enough removed from his disastrous Oscar hosting gig so we can all forgive him for it, and the Spring Breakers performance proved that his many, many bizarre career choices can actually pay off. Even if Franco will have a hard time standing up against other Supporting Actor heavyweight hopefuls like Michael Fassbender of 12 Years A Slave or Tom Hanks of Saving Mr. Banks, the campaign could be just the right thing to remind us that the guy really is valuable, if also very, very strange.
And A24 aren't the only people celebrating Franco. Check out this auto tuned version of his famous "look at my shit" speech, and ponder whether or not this is really the kind of thing that wins Oscars these days.
