Dave Franco's Five Favorite Films

It’s probably my all-time favorite. Partially for nostalgic reasons, but mainly because I love movies about kids, when the kid actors know what they’re doing. I like the innocence of it, and the simplicity. I guess in a cheesy way, it takes me back to my childhood and messing around with friends too. It has a perfect balance of humor, heart, and intense moments as well.RT: When I watched it, it made me kind of wish that my friends and I would have found a dead body.

I don’t know if I would go that far [laughs].

RT: Out of the four kids, who was your favorite?

The obvious answer is River Phoenix, but Corey Feldman is so great in it. He is so tortured — the character is so layered and he masks it so well by deflecting everything and making fun of everyone. I’m going Feldman.

Paul Thomas Anderson made a movie about the porn industry that feels smart and unique and appeals to all audiences, whether it be the toughest film critics or people who just want to go to the movies to be entertained. There’s so many great scenes in the movie, like Alfred Molina and the fire poppers. I just love this whole movie.RT: How old were you when you saw it? I was almost too young when I saw it, and you were young too.

When I first saw it, I was more concentrated on Heather Graham being nude than the story itself. But it’s one of those movies where its appeal grows on you the more you see it.

Now that I say it out loud, I’m drawn to movies that revolve around sex but done in a very classy way, I guess [laughs].RT: They’re about more than just that.

I re-watched this movie recently and it’s perfect. I’m not a very forgiving critic these days — I hate myself for it — but if I’m watching a movie that’s really great that has one scene that stands out to me as not working, it almost ruins the whole thing for me. I’m not proud of that, but this movie is one where every single moment — every single scene, or look between the actors, every line of dialogue — is just perfect.

RT: How does Y Tu Mamá hold up in regards to Gravity for you?

It shows what a genius he is, that the same guy can make this small contained road trip movie about these two friends falling for the same girl, and then make a huge scale film like Gravity. He’s one of my favorite directors. I love what he and Iñárritu and Almodóvar and Del Toro do; they’re all bringing something original to the table, which is what I appreciate more than anything these days. Even if something doesn’t fully work, as long as you’re attempting to try something original, I appreciate that.

RT: You said the word road trip. That’s like Unfinished Business, right? Is there as much hot sex in your movie as there is in Y Tu Mamá?

I wouldn’t call it hot sex. It’s definitely veering more towards awkward sex. There are strange sexual situations throughout this movie, and I think it’s stuff that you’ve never seen before on screen to bring some originality.

I love horror movies, I love thrillers. The majority of — and this is a blanket statement — horror movies don’t all necessarily have a good story or good acting or look particularly visually appealing. When a thriller or horror movie can excel at all of those elements, there’s nothing that entertains me more. Psycho is the ultimate horror movie — Anthony Perkins is a genius.RT: I just realized that your Unfinished Business co-star Vince Vaughn is in the remake.

That’s right. I didn’t think of that, good connection.

Being John Malkovich mashes different genres and spins everything on its head. Spike Jonze tends to do that — he’s got his own unique take on the world and I love it. He’s probably the number one director that I would love to work with. Charlie Kaufman is one of my favorite writers too. John Cusack is so good in that movie — just so sad but yet so funny — and Cameron Diaz killed it in that role too. That’s my favorite of hers. The fact that Malkovich even agreed to do the movie is such a fun element within itself. It works on many levels.RT: I don’t know anything about the writing of this or if Malkovich was on board from the beginning, but how gutsy was it to base a whole screenplay on one actor?

Absolutely. I read that when one of the producers received the script, the first thing he said was, “Can we change it to ‘Being Tom Cruise’?” I just died.