Perhaps the best detail I’ve heard about Spring Breakers –the new semi-accessible teeny crime movie from Harmony Korine– is that James Franco’s character Alien has, amongst all his guns, money, designer hats, and other hoodrat accoutrement, a flat screen that runs Scarface on loop. That’s probably all you need to know about this character before you see this clip below, in which he impresses the girls he’s recently taken under his wing.
Franco’s transformation is surely the most ostentatious in the film, but he’s joined by a number of young actresses walking on the wild side- Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine specifically. Obviously Hudgens has had her scrapes with ole “hacked cell phone” and I can’t imagine a woman actually married to Korine hasn’t seen some dark shit at some point, but Gomez remains a Disney star markedly free of controversy, so this is a big moment of stepping out for her.
You can see another clip above, which has been around a while and illustrates the floaty close-up, teenaged stream of consciousness aspects of the film which I understand are balanced out by the Skrillex-scored parties and crime raging. The film’s been met with mixed reviews but was quickly snapped up by Megan Ellison’s company, which has thus far demonstrated impeccable taste. The film is still drawing festival crowds (and Gomez fans) at Venice, so we have to wait to hear about a release date.
Till then, enjoy this press conference from Venice as the cast and their director discuss the film. Follow the film on Twitter here.