The Broken Tower (2012)

If you've been curious about James Franco's career as a grad student, you now have the chance to see his 2011 New York University master's thesis. (What's next, the release of his English term papers?) The Broken Tower is an art biopic about the turbulent 1920s American poet Hart Crane, starring Franco. And — surprise — it's a pensive and heartfelt movie, assuming that you let yourself get caught up in its moody-minimalist, more-visual-than-verbal style. Crane, a Beat poet before his time, emerges as the missing link between T.S. Eliot and Allen Ginsberg. (Also on VOD) B-