When I was a kid, Alicia Silverstone was the It Girl. When Sean was a kid, it was Molly Ringwald. King Cobra probably didn’t set out to make us all feel old, but it did cast both Silverstone and Ringwald as the oblivious mothers of gay porn stars.
Cobra is the chat room name of Stephen (Christian Slater), a guy who happens to troll around for very young men, and likes to entice them into gay porn in between steamy, illegal, against-the-wall sessions. That’s exactly how he meets Sean (Garrett Clayton) (porn name: Brent Corrigan) and Brent immediately rockets to fame. The bad news is, Stephen is also a greedy fuck. He pays Brent very little and buys himself a Maserati, and is still surprised when Brent walks. And worse than walks, he flags Stephen to the police. Things get ugly; Stephen may go to prison, but he’s still stopping Sean from performing as Brent.
Enter James Franco. You knew that was coming, didn’t you? Smelled it from a mile away, probably. Franco plays the has-been half of a porn star duo who work under the name “Viper Boys.” They hope to revive their flagging porn career by incorporating Brent into the mix; there’s only the inconvenient matter of Brent’s name being trademarked by a pedophile.
It turns out pornographers aren’t exactly businessmen on the up and up. King Cobra is alarmingly based on a true story, but be prepared for far more hairless chests than characterization. They’re porn stars, what else do you need to know? It gives Franco ANOTHER chance to do his scary-funny-psychotic thing and yell some pretty incendiary dialogue, but there aren’t many other compelling reasons to watch this movie, unless you’re really, really curious to know what kind of deals porno kings make behind closed doors (hint: it’s messy).
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
Eh… what?
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Okay, that sounds bat crap crazy. Like, it has to be a true story because it’s too weird to make up. And James Franco continues trolling us all.
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Nope, nope and thrice nope!
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I have trouble thinking of Alicia Silverstone as a mom – let alone a mom of someone who isn’t a kid. I think I’ve seen Clueless too many times…
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I know. This is a harsh new reality for all of us.
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This is a tragic story. But it sounds like it’s messed up by the window dressing. So many ways people can be taken advantage of.
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The casting intrigues me
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yikes.. but…. the casting intrigues me as well
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Good lord! Alicia Silverstone is now playing a mother? When did this happen? Yikes. You know Franco is smarmy enough that I would buy him being a porn star. However, he gives off an asexual vibe so I don’t know how convincing he would be in that role. Good review.
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Well, his particular character is not a very good porn star anymore, so maybe that works in his favour?
I don’t know, I didn’t really buy him in the role to be honest.
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I would have a hard time as well.
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This sounds like fun. And Molly Ringwald–Sean and I are of the same generation–already made me feel old when I heard an interview in which she talked about the uncomfortable experience of watching The Breakfast Club with her daughter.
Somehow that true story makes me feel older than something based on a true story in which she plays the mother of a porn star son.
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Haha, it’s true, their aging ages us. Hit pause!
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Did someone buy the rights to my life story? I don’t remember getting any royalties.
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