There was a time in my life when I was reading a lot of beat poetry, the writings of Jack Kerouac, Burroughs, and Allen Ginsberg. I never understood why there wasn't more film projects centered around these authors, there for awhile there was an ON THE THE ROAD project with Jim Carrey and Leonardo DiCaprio, and of course there have been a few films based on some these wacked-out authors books. In March the film HOWL is going to roll in front of cameras with James Franco (Spiderman, Milk, The Pineapple Express)playing Ginsberg. The film focuses on when the poem "Howl" was banned for obscenity and the First Amendment rights argument that followed, you can read the full article here

David Cronenberg did a film version of Burroughs Naked Lunch in 1991

And here are some clips from the documentary, "The Source" a film chronicling the Beat generation..sad to say I haven't seen this film it looks very informative