This week, we saw the first photo evidence of Daniel Radcliffe’s turn as American poet Allen Ginsberg in John Krokidas’s Kill Your Darlings, the newest drama about the Beat Generation. Though the film raises many questions for us, like “Do we need another film about Allen Ginsberg right now?” and “Why is a British kid playing a quintessential American icon?” and “But would Jesse Eisenberg really have been any better?,” we’re still pretty fascinated by any portrayal of Ginsberg on screen, however flawed it might be.

In an interview with the BBC, Radcliffe defended his casting, joking, “Well, James Franco is way too good-looking to play Allen Ginsberg.” True, but Radcliffe doesn’t look any more like the poet than Franco does. We don’t understand why nobody has ever cast Jeff Goldblum. It seems like a no-brainer. Ginsberg has been portrayed on film and television more than ten times since 1987, but there’s always room for improvement. We’ve taken a look at a few of his more prominent portrayals and laid down the brief, purely superficial judgement — let us know if you agree in the comments. … Read More