KevinSpacey Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Scenes We Love: L.A. Confidential (Again!)
Filed under: Action », Classics », Noir », Mystery & Suspense », Scenes We Love »
It's the most wonderful time of the year! The time of year when I watch L.A. Confidential a dozen times because "It's Christmassy!", complain that it didn't win Best Picture, and fall in love with Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce all over again. It's not as if I don't watch this at any other time of the year, but this film is like my holiday heroin. It's the perfect antidote to the holly and the ivy. Yeah, I posted a scene from it earlier this year, but as its been taken down by YouTube, I figured I'd post another in honor of the upcoming holidays. There's not a lot of scenes available (my favorite Rollo Tomasi moment still eludes me), but luckily one of the reader favorites was up for grabs. So, today's Scene We Love is indeed a scene we all love: "She is Lana Turner."
It's also good timing, as this week we finally get to see a glimpse of Pearce in The Road. It's another one of those maddening cameos he likes to tease us with (no spoiler intended, it's just a fact), and I constantly wish he'd take bigger and more high profile roles. A Bedtime Stories is all well and good, and I have great hopes for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, but I long for him to land another role like Lt. Ed Exley.
Go below the jump for the scene
Review: The Men Who Stare at Goats
Filed under: New Releases », Theatrical Reviews », George Clooney »
We're told at the beginning of The Men Who Stare at Goats that "more of this is true than you would believe." But the story of the U.S. Army's attempts to harness psychic powers to create super-soldiers is so bizarre it almost HAS to be true, in accordance with the "how could anyone make this up?" principle. In fact, I believe more of this admittedly fictionalized story than I do of The Fourth Kind, which claims to be 100 percent true. Surely there's a lesson in there.
Based on Jon Ronson's nonfiction book, The Men Who Stare at Goats stars Ewan McGregor as Bob Wilton, a journalist covering the Iraq War in 2003. Bob meets a man named Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), a private contractor with an unusual past: He claims to have worked for the government as a psychic spy. Bob once met a man, back home in Michigan (played by Stephen Root), who made the same claims, and who named Lyn Cassady as one of his colleagues.
You can see why the military would be interested in psychic spying. Surveillance is a lot less dangerous when you can do it entirely with your mind, rather than having to actually sneak up and eavesdrop on people. And if we could harness things like telekinesis, well, forget about it! We'd beat the Russkies for sure!
The Worst Movie Biopics and Five That Are Pretty Darn Good
Filed under: Casting », Fandom », Home Entertainment », Trailers and Clips »
Watch enough movies and you learn pretty fast that they aren't about reality, they're about entertaining us. Which sometimes makes the world of the biopic a little tricky, because not only do you have to work in the truth, but you still have to keep those butts in the seats -- and the results are not always good. Over at Moviefone they've compiled some of the worst movie biopics, and no one was safe -- with films earning a spot for mixing up their facts, ridiculous casting, or just downright lazy filmmaking.
So who made the list? Well, you've got your usual suspects like Oliver Stone's Alexander, a film that has so much wrong with it I don't know where to put the blame (oh, that's right, on everyone). Other films that made the cut for the less than flattering title of 'Real Life Catastrophes' were Kevin Spacey's Bobby Darin flick, Beyond The Sea, Luc Besson's The Messenger, and Alan Parker's Evita. But don't think the classics made it out unscathed either, because both Captain Eddie and The Babe Ruth Story also earned a mention.
As a genre, I love biopics -- especially the bad ones. I've watched everything from made-for-TV movies on The Beach Boys to high art flicks like I'm Not There. So no matter what kind of biopic it might be, I will usually give it a chance. Over the years, I've seen movies that bend the truth and those that just mess it up entirely, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them. Besides, if you're looking for unadulterated facts, you should probably head to the library and not the multiplex.
After the jump: five of my favorite movie biopics...
Exclusive 'The Men Who Stare at Goats' Character Posters
Filed under: Comedy », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Posters »
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Click below to view the full versions of all posters
Cinematical has just received these four exclusive character posters for The Men Who Stare at Goats, which hits theaters this Friday, November 6th. And yes, we freely admit that it sorta freaks us out to see four dudes eerily staring down goats in the above (and below) posters, partly because we never ever thought we'd be premiering posters that feature George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey all staring at goats, but also because, well, Spacey looks like he wants to make out with the animal.
Based on the book by Jon Ronson and directed by Grant Heslov, The Men Who Stare At Goats follows a reporter (Ewan McGregor) who stumbles across a fantastical story about a secret unit in the US military that employs paranormal powers in their missions. Reviewing the film from Fantastic Fest, Cinematical's William Goss called it "unpredictable" and "amusing", and after you scope out the four character posters below, feel free to check out the trailer after the jump.
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Watch This: Kevin Spacey's Uncanny Knack for Impersonations
Filed under: Fandom »
Kevin Spacey is a talented actor, there's no denying that, but who knew that the man of a million characters was also a man of a million impersonations? Oh, you did? Well, you must have already seen Spacey's appearance on James Lipton's "Inside the Actor's Studio" from back in July of 2000. Or maybe you saw him in his great "Saturday Night Live" skit in which he does Christopher Walken auditioning for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars.Okay, so maybe it's no big secret that the man who blindsided moviegoers in The Usual Suspects has a special talent for camouflaging himself in the skin of his acting peers, but it's new to me, and that means it's bound to be new to someone else. Below is a clip from Spacey's aforementioned trip to the "Actor's Studio" in which he goes along with a silly game of Lipton's. What follows are six of the most charming minutes you're bound to see all day, I promise.
Tons of people can do a Walken voice, but I've seen few impersonators who can not only tackle the audio side of things, but who can nail the mannerisms of their targets to boot. Yet along comes Spacey to absolutely kill it when it comes to capturing the characteristic nervous twitches of Jimmy Stewart, the shaky indignation of Katharine Hepburn, and the riled, restless behavior of Al Pacino. Those aren't the only thespians he channels on the spot, but to give away all of them would be to ruin the surprises that show off the playful side of Kevin Spacey, a side most might know he has judging purely from his dramatic roles.
Enjoy the video after the jump.
Villains We Love: John Doe in 'Se7en'
Filed under: Drama », Mystery & Suspense », Fandom », Brad Pitt », Trailers and Clips »
I'll always remember David Fincher's Se7en for a few different reasons (I even had to write an essay once about the opening credits) but the number one reason this film sticks in my brain is John Doe. Now usually when it comes to on-screen villains, you tend to remember the big personalities. In the words of Buffy, "strait up, black hat, tied to the train tracks, soon my electro-ray will destroy Metropolis," types. But as scary as the big bad wolf can be, sometimes the evil you never see coming is the one that becomes the stuff of nightmares.
In Fincher's thriller about a serial killer with a penchant for Dante and the wrath of god, we don't even get to see the bad guy until about half way through the movie. But when Doe (played to perfection by Kevin Spacey) calmly walks into the police station to hand himself over, you know that this is not your run of the mill psycho. Recently I took a look at some movie villains that manage to win you over with a little charm and charisma, and Doe definitely isn't one of those guys. He's the kind of guy you would cross the street to avoid, but only if you got to know him -- and that's what makes him scary, he is completely average. Instead of letting the audience get used to the idea of him, we only see his handiwork (as gruesome as it may be), and just like Mills (Brad Pitt) and Somerset (Morgan Freeman), we are just witnesses to the aftermath.
After the jump; Why Doe still scares the crap out of me, and his horrible plan is made complete...
Fantastic Fest Review: The Men Who Stare at Goats
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Fantastic Fest », George Clooney », War »
War, as they say, is hell. So what's to be said of peace, of employing any and all means necessary to avert violence instead of propagating it? If The Men Who Stare at Goats is to believed, the forces of peace are crazy and covert and even at war with themselves, and if fellow Fantastic Fest attendees are to believed, it's at best a loose adaptation of journalist Jon Ronson's truly remarkable true-life tale.
After all, Ronson from Wales is now Bob Wilton from Ann Arbor (as played by Scotland's own Ewan McGregor), a journalist newly keen on covering the Iraq invasion after a cheating missus robs him of a purpose and a place to call his own. While waiting in Kuwait for a story, any story, he bumps into Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), who is not the contractor he says to be, but rather a man on a mission, and sensing a story, any story, Wilton decides to tag along...
Shelf Life: American Beauty
Filed under: Fandom », Home Entertainment », Shelf Life »
After Cinematical's new "Movies I Will Never See" series elicited a strong variety of reactions – both positive and negative - from readers, it occurred to us that there's a huge, untapped reservoir of existing films that we have actually seen, and it would probably be at least as interesting, if not more so, to go back and see how well they held up in the years since their release. These may be acclaimed classics that audiences simply haven't revisited on a regular basis, or condemned failures that might deserve a second look; but setting a statute of limitations of five years or more old (meaning before '04), we're going back to see how good are the bad movies, and how bad are the good ones - in other words testing their shelf life.
After last week's look at Titanic, it seemed somewhat appropriate to revisit other noteworthy Oscar winners. But while there were certainly a wealth of questionably worthy titles celebrated in the Academy's history, one in particular seemed especially ripe for consideration: American Beauty, Sam Mendes' directorial debut. Perhaps it's because so many movies followed its lead in deconstructing suburbia, or perhaps it's just because it's been ten years, but Mendes' film doesn't seem as relevant, important, or even as good as it once was – which is why we recently popped it in the DVD player for another look.
Kevin Spacey Attracts a Varied Foursome For 'Father of Invention'
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Gay & Lesbian », Independent », Casting », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand »
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.
Interview: 'Moon' Director Duncan Jones
Filed under: Drama », Independent », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Mystery & Suspense », Sony Classics », Interviews », Summer Movies »
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...
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
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