My Own Private River

movie fucked me up so bad i watched an hour and 41 minutes of unused footage from it. i need at least a week to recover from mopi but i want MORE!!!

i feel like it’s more important to honor someone who’s passed for who they were instead of just honing in on the fact that they’re dead. this doesn’t strictly apply to river, it could be any public figure that passed tragically young (heath ledger, layne staley, jeff buckley, janis joplin, whoever) people often get caught up in saying “oh imagine how great they would be if they were still alive!!” when they were great, their greatness was just cut short. idk if that makes sense but this movie? tribute? really made me think about it.

river phoenix had such a way of drawing the viewer in and almost becoming overpowering during a scene, even if his character is at their worst. that’s something i find very fascinating. now i understand punisher by phoebe bridgers. this cut of mopi makes you see these characters and their actors in a different light. it all feels so raw and natural, mostly cause it is. sometimes i couldn’t tell whether or not they were acting and that was probably intentional

i know this was supposed to be a re-edit done by james franco but i choose to ignore that. this is js a bunch of deleted scenes to me. it was weirdly paced but the original movie means so much to me so my rating is very very biased

also mike saying he quit smoking then taking two drags of a cigarette god he’s so me

movie fucked me up so bad i watched an hour and 41 minutes of unused footage from it. i need at least a week to recover from mopi but i want MORE!!!

i feel like it’s more important to honor someone who’s passed for who they were instead of just honing in on the fact that they’re dead. this doesn’t strictly apply to river, it could be any public figure that passed tragically young (heath ledger, layne staley, jeff buckley, janis joplin, whoever) people often get caught up in saying “oh imagine how great they would be if they were still alive!!” when they were great, their greatness was just cut short. idk if that makes sense but this movie? tribute? really made me think about it.

river phoenix had such a way of drawing the viewer in and almost becoming overpowering during a scene, even if his character is at their worst. that’s something i find very fascinating. now i understand punisher by phoebe bridgers. this cut of mopi makes you see these characters and their actors in a different light. it all feels so raw and natural, mostly cause it is. sometimes i couldn’t tell whether or not they were acting and that was probably intentional

i know this was supposed to be a re-edit done by james franco but i choose to ignore that. this is js a bunch of deleted scenes to me. it was weirdly paced but the original movie means so much to me so my rating is very very biased

also mike saying he quit smoking then taking two drags of a cigarette god he’s so me

ARGHHHHHHHH FAK

ARGHHHHHHHH FAK

“Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow.” 

i’ll never shut up about how much i love and miss him

“Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow.” 

i’ll never shut up about how much i love and miss him

muchisisismo footage de river phoenix haciendo nada

gracias james franco

muchisisismo footage de river phoenix haciendo nada

gracias james franco

This isn’t a movie so much as a meditation. A ghost story made of scraps. My Own Private River is James Franco’s love letter to River Phoenix, a re-edit of My Own Private Idaho using mostly alternate takes and deleted scenes. There’s no plot here, not really. Franco strips away the Shakespearean structure and focuses entirely on Mike Waters; River’s lonely, lovesick hustler drifting through time, memory, and sleep.

It’s River on repeat. River from different angles. River stammering through lines, River breaking, River lost in thought. It’s hypnotic, slow, and often aimless, but it’s also mesmerizing if you’re as haunted by River Phoenix as Franco clearly is.

There’s something sacred about watching these forgotten moments stitched together with tenderness. You feel like you’re eavesdropping on an echo. It doesn’t work as a standalone film, but as a tribute, it’s beautiful. No one burned quite like River, and this lets us sit with that fire a little longer.

This isn’t a movie so much as a meditation. A ghost story made of scraps. My Own Private River is James Franco’s love letter to River Phoenix, a re-edit of My Own Private Idaho using mostly alternate takes and deleted scenes. There’s no plot here, not really. Franco strips away the Shakespearean structure and focuses entirely on Mike Waters; River’s lonely, lovesick hustler drifting through time, memory, and sleep.

It’s River on repeat. River from different angles. River stammering through lines, River breaking, River lost in thought. It’s hypnotic, slow, and often aimless, but it’s also mesmerizing if you’re as haunted by River Phoenix as Franco clearly is.

There’s something sacred about watching these forgotten moments stitched together with tenderness. You feel like you’re eavesdropping on an echo. It doesn’t work as a standalone film, but as a tribute, it’s beautiful. No one burned quite like River, and this lets us sit with that fire a little longer.