"Nerve" Review (****)

Dave Franco and Emma Roberts star in "Nerve."

Vee Delmonico (Emma Roberts), your average, quiet yearbook photographer from Staten Island, gets challenged by her adrenaline junkie BFF to play the hot-new thing: NERVE. Watcher or Player, Vee declines until insult is added to injury in front of a crush. Fast forward three minutes and Vee is logging in as a player, ready to accept her first dare and receive her first payment. An easy $100 for kissing a stranger; not bad for a down-on-her-luck girl trying to save money and go to college.

Though the dares start small, the risks take off and Vee finds herself in a whirlwind of life threatening challenges alongside the mysterious, tall, dark, and handsome Ian (Dave Franco). "Nerve" is a movie that questions what it means to live behind your computers, and how far people will go with an anonymous screen name. As Vee’s friends watch her new daredevil lifestyle from the comfort of a house party, the stakes are raised, jealousy ensues, and a hint of voyeurism settles on the audience.

2015 Atlanta Film Festival Kicks Off with "I Am Michael" (****)

James Franco stars as Michael Glatze in "I Am Michael"

"You wanna go to Heaven, right?"

"Yes...."

"If you're a moral person, then you'll choose heterosexuality in order to be with God."

And so opens Justin Kelly's directorial debut, "I Am Michael," the true story of former gay rights activist Michael Glatze's denouncement of homosexuality. In this first scene, Glatze—played by James Franco ("The Interview," "This Is the End," "Oz the Great and Powerful," "127 Hours," "Milk")—speaks to a teen boy who's having trouble reconciling his homosexuality with his spirituality. Glatze's reasoning here shocks anyone who knew him (or his name) just years before.

2015 Atlanta Film Festival Announces Opening & Closing Nights!

James Franco and Zachary Quinto star in "I Am Michael"

The 39th Annual Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) announced their Opening and Closing Night films on Monday. Friday, March 20th, The Plaza Theatre will host a premiere screening of "I Am Michael," which stars James Franco, Zachary Quinto, and Emma Roberts. Sunday, March 29th, ATLFF will close with "Sunshine Superman," a whirlwind documentary about the founding father of BASE jumping.