June 18, 2009 | Celeb Watch

James Franco isn't gay, but ...

James Franco says he's straight.  Sure, he appeared on the cover of OUT Magazine, but that was only because he was promoting his gay film  'Milk.' And true, he's planning to play gay again when he takes on the role of homosexual poet Allan Ginsberg, but two gay roles do not a queer actor make. And okay, he just wrote and directed his first student film, which happens to be about a young gay man fantasizing about a group of hot basketball players ... hmmmm, things don't look so straight to us!

Franco is currently studying for an MFA in both filmmaking and creative writing. His debut student film is 'The Feast Of Stephen,' an adaptation of the poem of the same name by queer poet Anthony Hecht.

The film follows titular character Stephen, a teenager watching a pick-up basketball game that quickly, in his mind, takes a powerfully erotic turn.

According to MovieLine: "The only score Stephen is keeping is the number of shirtless hunks dribbling, sweating and writhing on the court. One mop-topped stud in particular has all the moves, nudging Stephen’s daydream into the more erotic realm of naked boys playing hoops -- in slow-motion, natch, and suddenly transported to a wooded glen where society’s referees won’t blow a whistle on their hard fouls."

It then gets a little artsy-fartsy (as student flicks will do). The scene turns somewhat violent "with chests, thighs and asses pressed tight in various permutations, infusing the violence with the poem’s more visceral sense of ecstasy." In the end Stephen is covered in poo (um, ewwwww!) but smiling.

Interesting subject matter for a straight man.