Call me crazy, but James Franco's new Samsung Galaxy Camera commercial is far more entertaining than any of the spots for Sam Raimi's Oz the Great and Powerful trailers, in which he also stars. In fact, I'm digging the actor's nineteenth side-job as product pitch-man far more than his main gig as Hollywood's kookiest marquee star. I have no idea if Franco is really a shutterbug, or much of a partier, but he glides through the rave with the mellow, happy-to-help naturalism of a documentary subject. It's as if the Samsung folks got hold of footage of him using their fancy new camera at an actual party and tacked on some narration and titles to make it a commercial (in much the same way Stan Lee wrote comics back in the 60s).
And, no, I'm not just saying that because this is a Samsung-sponsored advertorial: I got a genuine kick out of the spot. It helps that the Galaxy Camera looks really cool. From automatic cloud backup of every picture, to the "Best Face" function (which allows the shooter to edit group photos on the fly, eliminating last-minute blinks and other nuisances), to an instant-email-sharing feature called "Me Too", and a bunch of other neat tricks, the device brings many advances in smart phone technology to the point-and-shoot camera market.
I haven't used the Galaxy Camera, but I'll give the ad-makers credit for making me reeeally want to play with one. Somewhere in America, there's a Venn diagram that illustrates the intersection of social media, the "check it out" cheer of new-toy enthusiasm, and the modern penchant for documenting absolutely everything. I imagine the dot at the center of those circles is a photograph of James Franco.
But don't take my word for it. Check out the video below and see for yourself!
Post sponsored by Samsung.