Tuesday, July 20, 2010

We have Contact



The image many people have of John Hurt is of him thrashing around on the dining table of the space ship Nostromo with an alien bursting out of his chest.

Or maybe it's his grotesquely disfigured form in The Elephant Man, as he proclaims to Anthony Hopkins he is not an animal, he's a human being.

Younger moviegoers might know him as Mr. Olivander from the Harry Potter movies - including the next two of them.

But his one performance I think I enjoy most is one most people didn't see. His role as eccentric, reclusive, terminally ill billionaire industrialist S.R. Hadden in the Robert Zemeckis film Contact.

With a keen interest in space and extra-terrestrials, his character is compelling, creepy and brilliant all at the same time (not unlike a few creative directors I know).

I quote the line at the end of this scene all the time. Scares the hell out of my kids.

4 comments:

Janice MacLeod said...

I bet you say "want to take a ride" all creepy like when your kids get in the car.

And he's not quite as creepy as Jodi Foster. When I watch her, I can't help but wonder where her upper lip went.

Unknown said...

I don't have to say anything that clever to my six-year-old to creep him out. Just show up. Your blog is hilarious by the way.

Jeff said...

Thanks Kathy.

Vicki said...

Might scare your wife too.