by Vadim Rizov



James Franco took the stage at the Kodak Theater with an iPhone, which he used to tweet his way through the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday night. (Two people taped him additionally.) Jokes about apps were made. Franco had only joined Twitter on February 20, but now he was taking the Oscars to a whole other uncomfortable level of hyper-technological referentiality, documented on every single platform available. The ever self-aware multi-hyphenate actor/writer/performance artist-the most successful self-aggrandizer since Vincent Gallo"s rise-piled on the ironies by being nominated for a role in a film about a man who thinks technology will save him. It doesn"t.

Danny Boyle may well be one of the most overrated big-name directors working today, constantly cutting between anything and everything like a frenetic coke fiend unaware of context. And yet, 127 Hours is easily his most rewarding movie since 2004"s undervalued Millions, which was a genuinely sweet movie about urchins getting in over their head after lucking into a big pile of stolen cash. Part of what made Millions so adorable was the way it gestured toward the larger world by inviting the audience to donate money for water wells in Africa, what the children dream of doing their money. A random event catalyzes awareness of the larger world, which happens again in the spelunking tragedy flick. As far as gory movies go, this is pretty heartwarming.

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