My two roommates (known around these parts as Menno and Pickles) and I had the bright idea to make the month of March one long Nic Cage film festival. 31 Days of Cage. The idea is exactly what it sounds like - at least one Nic Cage movie a day for 31 days. I’ll be posting short updates here daily with a couple points on the movie of the day, the ratings (out of ten) from each of us, and an overall grade for Cage’s performance.
day one
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
None of us had ever seen this one, and we figured we should start with the Oscar-winning role. The movie is not bad, but it’s not something I would re-watch unless I was feeling spectacularly lonely. Elisabeth Shue is hot and decent in her role, but not great ATMO. Cage is better than I thought he’d be. Pulls off being a drunk well.
Best moment(s): “I’m a prickly pear!” and almost all the other Cage dialog when he’s in the up/happy phase; Shue’s breasts and ass; Danny Huston and French Stewart sightings.
Menno’s rating: 7.0
Pickles’ rating: 6.0
Haircut’s rating: 6.7
Overall Cage grade: A-
day two
Con Air (1997)
I can not fucking believe that Michael Bay did not direct this movie. Serious WTF moment when the credits rolled. Silly, over the top action flick that is pretty quotable. Cage is likeable as the nice-guy-with-a-bad-side hero, but his accent is atrocious. Malkovich, Buscemi, and Colm Meaney steal the show. Extremely re-watchable.
Best moment(s): All of Chappelle’s scenes; Malvovich’s one-liner to the hispanic dude at the air-field; Ving Rhames horse-whipping dudes as they pull a plane out of the sand; “Put the bunny back in the box.”
Menno’s rating: 6.4
Pickles’ rating: 6.9
Haircut’s rating: 6.4
Overall Cage grade: B-
day three
Vampire’s Kiss (1988)
A tale about a descent into madness coated in the slick, dazzling veneer of the nineteen-eighties. I got a heavy American Psycho feel from this one (there was much post-screening discussion of what AP would have been like with Cage as Bateman). This is my favourite so far, as it has Cage overacting in the most brilliant way. Every time he’s on screen (nearly every scene) something amazing happens, be it an excellent line, an over-the-top and eccentric delivery of a line, or one of many weird little idiosyncratic movements (best crazy guy walk I’ve seen in a while). The other actors range from fine to awkward and poor, but that doesn’t matter because this one is all about the Cage. The movie is split between black comedy and psychological thriller (more so black comedy). I was expecting a tired and lame vampire movie, but ended up getting a Dantean journey into insanity (uh… kind of). I will probably watch this movie a dozen times or more in my life. True hidden gem (at least for this child of ‘86).
Best moment(s): Literally any time Cage speaks or moves.
Menno’s rating: 7.5
Pickles’ rating: 7.0
Haircut’s rating: 7.2
Overall Cage grade: A+ (unanimous decision)
That’s all for now. The rest of these posts will be shorter, one-day-at-a-time affairs.
