The buzz from smartass central is that Kevin Spacey, 45, will fall on his Oscar-winning butt as Bobby Darin, the brash, finger-snapping "Mack the Knife" singer whose heart condition killed him in 1973 at age thirty-seven. Spacey can now step up for the last laugh. A plot device that has Darin looking back on his life as a Bronx street kid, of records, nightclubs and films, and husband to troubled teen idol Sandra Dee (a sweetly affecting Kate Bosworth), allows Spacey to do the the role without a digital makeover.s director, Spacey can't stop the movie from groaning under the weight of biopic clichs. But the actor forges a bond with his subject that rights all wrongs. Doing his own singing (an uncanny imitation), Spacey is a marvel. He turns acting into riveting reincarnation and redoubles our appreciation of Darin, an underrated performer who used music to cheat death. Beyond the Sea, a tribute to both their talents, is one from the heart.

“Time to Pretend”

Listening to MGMT’s breakthrough song, one might interpret it as being about the excesses of rock stardom, but it’s actually about the duo’s pet praying mantis. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone they got the idea from the insect's jerky movements. The mantis died, but the two bandmates kept the egg sack and allowed the hundreds of eggs to hatch. “We tried to name them all, but they died after a day,” said Goldwasser, with VanWyngarden chiming in, “But the praying mantis dance inspired us.”