If that acting career doesn’t work out, he could headline in Vegas

1 comment October 29th, 2009

Here, via Cinematical, is a clip of Kevin Spacey showing his surprising talent for impressions. He’s well known for nailing a dead-on Christopher Walken, but he also does a pretty solid Jimmy Stewart, a so-so Johnny Carson and a great Marlon Brando. Too bad he didn’t do his William Hurt here — he’s one of the only guys I’ve ever seen imitate Hurt, and he’s dead solid perfect.

 

Spacey’s new movie, THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, opens next week.

New AVATAR trailer

1 comment October 29th, 2009

A lot more detail, a lot more plot specifics and, in general, a much better idea of just what the heck this movie is going to be about. I’m still not sure if it’s going to be good or not — let alone the mind-bending adventure the hype is promising — but we definitely now have more to go on.

Click here to watch it in Hi-Def.

What does Scorsese consider scary?

1 comment October 29th, 2009

This time of year, you have thousands of schmucks on the Web recommending scary movies for Halloween viewing. Most of them you can safely ignore. But when Martin Scorsese — a man whose directing talent is exceeded only by his knowledge of movie history — makes the suggestions, it pays to pay attention.

The Daily Beast has 11 picks from the man himself. Here’s a sample:

5. DEAD OF NIGHT: A British classic: four tales told by four strangers mysteriously gathered in a country house, each one extremely disquieting, climaxing with a montage in which elements from all the stories converge into a crescendo of madness… It’s very playful… and then it gets under your skin.

7. THE SHINING: I never read the Stephen King novel, I have no idea how faithful it is or isn’t, but Kubrick made a majestically terrifying movie, where what you don’t see or comprehend shadows every move the characters make.

9. NIGHT OF THE DEMON: Jacques Tourneur made this picture about ancient curses near the end of his career, but it’s as as potent as his films for Val Lewton. Forget the demon itself—again, it’s what you don’t see that’s so powerful.

I’d quibble with Scorsese’s pick of ISLE OF THE DEAD, which I’d consider producer Val Lewton’s worst movie (CAT PEOPLE and I WALK WITH A ZOMBIE are much, much better), but he gets credit for picking NIGHT OF THE DEMON, a truly unnerving movie that deserves a bigger audience.

Check out the rest of the list here, along with video clips from the movies.