Kevin Spacey Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Kevin Spacey never really went away, so I hesitate to say that he's making a comeback, so let's just say "Hey, it's nice to see Kevin Spacey out and about in the trades again." Then we can talk about Spacey's Father of Invention, and talk about the eclectic foursome he's lured in as costars. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Craig Robinson, Johnny Knoxville, Heather Graham, and Camilla Belle have all signed onto Spacey's independently produced, Trent Cooper-directed film.

The story centers on Robert Axle (Spacey), an inventor who has forgotten his humble roots after making billions, and become an egomanical jerk. In a Lex Luthor twist, one of his inventions has gone awry, maimed hundreds, and landed him in prison serving an eight-year sentence. Freed from his sentence, he goes about rebuilding his personal and professional life, but finds remaking his name and fortune easier than repairing his fractured family.
Rounding out the Axle family is Belle, who plays his daughter, employed as a social worker and reluctant to reconnect with her father. Graham plays her lesbian roommate (is there ever any other kind) who sleeps with Spacey, undoubtedly making the situation that much more prickly. Knoxville plays a store manager who gives the ex-con a job. Somewhere in the mix there's an ex-Mrs. Axle as Robinson plays her new husband, who now lives in the billionaire's house, eats his food, and drives his car, but is nice enough to help him get back on his feet.

There's a whiff of Arrested Development to the plotline, and Robinson makes just about everything funny, so let's all watch out for this one. Production begins this week in New Orleans, so it'll be here before you know it.

Duncan Jones cut his teeth on the sets of Labyrinth and The Hunger, but for his directorial debut, he opted for something that didn't star his dad (I'll let you guys and girls mull over the common thread).

Rather, Moon is a showcase for star Sam Rockwell, who gives what is surely one of the year's more uniquely layered performances. As the film opens today in NY and LA before rolling out in the weeks to come, Jones spoke with Cinematical about shooting sci-fi on a small budget, releasing an indie in a season of blockbusters, and cracking his skull out of pure giddiness for a movie.

Which one, you ask? We'll tell you after the jump...

(We're reposting our Moon review from the Sundance Film Festival in advance of the film's theatrical release this weekend)

By: James Rocchi

"You haul 16 tons, and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store. ..."

-- "Sixteen Tons," Merle Travis

Know thyself. -- Solon of Athens

Moon, the directorial debut of Duncan Jones, opens with a bright, breezy bit of corporate propaganda explaining how, in the film's near-future, clean energy is provided by fusion fueled by hydrogen wrenched from lunar mineral deposits on the dark side of the Moon. Sam Rockwell is Sam Bell, who runs a fuel-harvesting station, aided only by the base's A.I., GERTY (given voice by Kevin Spacey). Sam is nearing the end of his three-year contract, and it's been a lonely stint; he's got only two weeks left, but he's on the thin edge. The communications satellite is down, so Sam can't talk to Earth -- his bosses, his wife -- directly; for all of the high-tech trappings and whiz-bang science of his work, Sam's a hard rock miner. And that's always been dangerous work.

Moon evokes many things -- the nature of the human experience, the nature of employee-management relations, how the odds are fairly good that the future will be exactly like today, but more so. With all of its far-flung inventions, impeccable visual design and Clint Mansell's eerie score, Moon boils down to a single man having a long conversation in isolation, telling himself a few lies and opening his own eyes to a few truths; Rockwell, playing the only person for tens of thousands of miles, has no one else to act against, and much of his plight has to be conveyed through special effects that gave him little or nothing to work with on-set.

Click image below to view full poster

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Shrink, which premiered at this past Sundance Film Festival to some pretty great buzz. Starring Kevin Spacey, Saffron Burrows, Keke Palmer, Mark Webber, Dallas Roberts and Robin Williams, Shrink follows "a psychiatrist (Spacey) whose boutique L.A. office, A-list clientele and best-selling pop psychology books form a thin layer of respectability over his ruined personal life, insurmountable grief, serious pot problem and a host of other crises," so says James Rocchi, who covered the film for Cinematical during Sundance and interviewed its star, Mr. Kevin Spacey.

Reminiscent of his character from American Beauty, Spacey (as the celebrity shrink-turned-pothead) delivers a performance here that's not to be missed, and the supporting cast takes what could've been another film about annoying egotistical Hollywood types from Los Angeles and turns it into one that's funny, serious, sweet, sincere and a little bit sideways. Definitely worth the watch. Check out the full synopsis after the jump and click below to view the full poster. Shrink hits theaters on July 24.

Usually when I write about my surprise over a piece of news, it's in exasperation. You know -- writing about the umpteenth adaptation, remake, or reimagining. But could the movie industry finally be getting the hint? We've got Papa Hemingway on the way a few times (not to mention that yet-to-be-released Garden of Eden), Coriolanus, and now ...

Variety reports that Hugh Hudson is directing Bob Ellis' adaptation of George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (simply titled Catalonia), with Colin Firth and Kevin Spacey starring. Yes folks -- Orwell did write more than 1984 and Animal Farm. In fact, the books inspired by his own life are some of his best work. This account focuses on his move to Catalonia (Barcelona) with his wife in the late 1930s to fight Stalinism*, where he joined the Anarchist brigade and fought in the Spanish Civil War -- which almost killed him. But rather than focus squarely on Orwell, the film will spotlight his friendship with Georges Kopp, the commander of the brigade.

I imagine that Firth will play Orwell (due to the Englishness), while Spacey takes on the Belgian Kopp. But it will take a while to learn much more -- production isn't scheduled to begin until the first half of 2010.

Now we just need more Henry Miller. A Devil in Paradise, anyone?

*Correction made thanks to Mattl

Having not attended Sundance, last month's SXSW Film Festival was my first chance to catch up with Duncan Jones' acclaimed sci-fi drama, Moon, and I'm happy to say that my expectations were well-met, with Sam Rockwell giving what is bound to be one of the more uniquely layered performances of the year.* (You can read James Rocchi's review here.)

Well, it looks like the guys over at IGN got their hands on the trailer, which we've embedded after the jump and which carefully embraces the intrigue of the film's central conceit. Jones himself told us that the development in question isn't exactly a spoiler in his mind, but don't worry, we're not about to give it up here. All in all, it's a smart sell, and one accurately representative of the movie. AICN, meanwhile, happens to have one snazzy poster on display. Mere coincidence? We may never know...

Co-starring Kevin Spacey (sort of), Moon gets a NY/LA opening on June 12th before rolling out to other markets, where it'll should prove a welcome respite to the comparatively mindless summer fare.

*Trust me, I'm not just saying that.

It was last night's Meryl Streep chit-chat that got me to thinking; Hell, 15 nominations is impressive enough, and she's even won the dang Oscar twice! For Kramer vs. Kramer and Sophie's Choice. But while in the lovely land of Hollywood that's a track record to be amazingly proud of, the simple truth is that, in the land of baseball, Meryl Streep would be batting a lusty .133. I've seen American League pitchers who can bat .133!

And that silly thought led to the next logically silly one: If Meryl Streep is batting .133, who ELSE is batting poorly? And conversely ... who's leading the league? Now, I've got to limit eligibility to those who've been nominated at least three times, because otherwise we'd have Anna Paquin as Mickey Mantle. And I'm limiting this project to actors only, because that way one can squeeze another post or two out of this lame concept if people actually like it.

1.000* -- Hilary Swank (2 for 2); Kevin Spacey (2 for 2)
.500 -- Daniel Day-Lewis (2 for 4)
.400 -- Sean Penn (2 for 5); Tom Hanks (2 for 5); Denzel Washington (2 for 5);
.333 -- Maggie Smith (2 for 6); Tommy Lee Jones (1 for 3); Helen Mirren (1 for 3); Philip Seymour Hoffman (1 for 3); Marisa Tomei (1 for 3); Alan Arkin (1 for 3); Renee Zellweger (1 for 3); Kathy Bates (1 for 3); Geoffrey Rush (1 for 3); Julia Roberts (1 for 3); Russell Crowe (1 for 3)
.285 -- Michael Caine (2 for 7)
.250 -- Jack Nicholson (3 for 12); Julie Christie (1 for 4); Cate Blanchett (1 for 4); William Hurt (1 for 4); Frances McDormand (1 for 4); Morgan Freeman (1 for 4); Ben Kingsley (1 for 4); Diane Keaton (1 for 4); Holly Hunter (1 for 4); Jon Voight (1 for 4);

More after the jump

Sundancers enjoyed unseasonably warm weather (41 degrees in the afternoon) as the festival headed toward its concluding weekend.

Deals. After picking up the Nazi zombie flick Dead Snow, IFC Films added another comedy to its roster, acquiring Armando Iannucci's In the Loop just hours before its premiere, according to Mike Jones at Variety. The film stars Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi, James Gandolfini, and Steve Coogan. A 2009 theatrical release is planned, per indieWIRE. But where's the bidding wars for docs? A. J. Schnack of All these wonderful things writes: "For the first time in anyone's recent memory, the first half of the fest had come and gone without a major doc sale."

Reviews/Interviews. Would-be comedy Paper Heart is "partially built around Charlyne Yi's persona," says Eric D. Snider, "and I find her persona boring." Oh, dear. The "typically hilarious" Michael Cera also appears. James Rocchi was busy, interviewing the great Kevin Spacey about Shrink and talking with actor / director / writer John Krasinski about Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. James also reviewed Ondi Timoner's documentary We Live in Public, which he called "incisive, exciting and thought-provoking."

Prison drama Bronson, from Pusher trilogy director Nicolas Wining Refn, has created a fair amount of buzz, and Scott Weinberg knows why, describing it as "raw, blistering, harsh and compelling." Scott also took a bemused gander at Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad, with Robin Williams essaying the titular role of a father dealing with life after his teenage son "dies while masturbating." Yes, folks, it's a comedy! To end on a musical note, Erik Davis caught The Carter, a doc about rapper Lil' Wayne, "a passionate, talented man who's slowly losing himself." You can check out all our coverage at the fabulous Sundance hub at Moviefone.

Blog Talk. After the jump: Woody Allen's soul, Bobcat's schedule, and Paris Hilton.

In Shrink, screening in the Premiere section at the Sundance Film Festival, Kevin Spacey plays a psychiatrist whose boutique L.A. office, A-list clientele and best-selling pop psychology books form a thin layer of respectability over his ruined personal life, insurmountable grief, serious pot problem and a host of other crises. Spacey developed the film with his Trigger Street production company, with Jonas Pate directing Thomas Moffet's script, and Spacey part of an ensemble cast that includes Robin Williams, Saffron Burrows, Mark Webber, Dallas Roberts and Keke Palmer. I asked Spacey if doing so many scenes revolving on just two people talking is an actor's dream, or an actor's nightmare: "As compared to? Explosions, and cars flying through the air? I think it's an actor's dream, and I also think it's an audience's dream; there's noting quite like being able to go to to a play or the cinema and watch people exchange as human beings, I think."

Spacey spoke with Cinematical about smoking fake weed, how Sundance has changed the movies, how Hollywood eats its young, his voice-over role as the supercomputer GERTY opposite Sam Rockwell in the Sundance selection Moon, and much more.

You can listen to the interview here at Cinematical by clicking below:



You can also download the interview in full right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.

"You haul 16 tons, and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
St. Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store. ..."

-- "Sixteen Tons," Merle Travis

Know thyself. -- Solon of Athens

Moon, the directorial debut of Duncan Jones, opens with a bright, breezy bit of corporate propaganda explaining how, in the film's near-future, clean energy is provided by fusion fueled by hydrogen wrenched from lunar mineral deposits on the dark side of the Moon. Sam Rockwell is Sam Bell, who runs a fuel-harvesting station, aided only by the base's A.I., GERTY (given voice by Kevin Spacey). Sam is nearing the end of his three-year contract, and it's been a lonely stint; he's got only two weeks left, but he's on the thin edge. The communications satellite is down, so Sam can't talk to Earth -- his bosses, his wife -- directly; for all of the high-tech trappings and whiz-bang science of his work, Sam's a hard rock miner. And that's always been dangerous work.

Moon evokes many things -- the nature of the human experience, the nature of employee-management relations, how the odds are fairly good that the future will be exactly like today, but more so. With all of its far-flung inventions, impeccable visual design and Clint Mansell's eerie score, Moon boils down to a single man having a long conversation in isolation, telling himself a few lies and opening his own eyes to a few truths; Rockwell, playing the only person for tens of thousands of miles, has no one else to act against, and much of his plight has to be conveyed through special effects that gave him little or nothing to work with on-set.