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Friday, November 20, 2009

40

Flicked Off: 'Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans'

YES HIMOf the three important movies opening today, our coverage of one of them will be handled elsewhere, by Mr. Joe MacLeod of the Baltimore City Paper:

Do you like Nicolas Cage? He ate a bug once, for real, in a movie. Do you think Nicolas Cage is a fucking weirdo sellout who maybe used to be an actor who could have done something with his career other than make movies such as Con Air or that piece of shit Ghost Rider? Do you ever find yourself wondering about Nicolas Cage's physical appearance or the provenance of the hair on his head? Remember Nicolas Cage in that remake of Kiss of Death with that red-headed tool who's on one of the C.S.I. shows now? Wasn't Nicolas Cage pretty good in Adaptation and Matchstick Men? Do you think of Nicolas Cage as a has-been? Have you ever found yourself annoyed because there's no "h" in Nicolas Cage's first name?

40 Comments / Post A Comment

TerseNursePornstein

Pretty Editor
Why do you tease us so
With a picture of Dan Kois?

(enjoyed his comments)

TerseNursePornstein

Um, but this is great!

Baboleen
Baboleen (#1,430)

I could see him playing Larry King someday.

HiredGoons
HiredGoons (#603)

Larry King will be at his funeral.

Baboleen
Baboleen (#1,430)

As long as Joy Beyhar will cover for him.

HeyThatsMyBike

So the movie is bad?

katiebakes
katiebakes (#32)

#vargascooperbait

brianvan
brianvan (#149)

Check back here Monday, when her 20,000 word response will be available. Don't forget your Adderall. It'll make Moe Tkacik look like a copywriter.

dietcock
dietcock (#1,496)

They beheaded John the Baptist, but that didn't make his words any less TRUE. REPENT for your sins against Cage-kind. REPENT!

Natasha Vargas-Cooper

ALKDLKSAFLSALHFFJ

Listen, I'm not here to tell you about Jesus. You already know about Jesus, either he lives in your heart or he doesn't.

hydeordie
hydeordie (#2,208)

There is a special ring of hades that Dante was even too afraid to write about for non-believers.

Tuna Surprise
Tuna Surprise (#573)

Werner Herzog kinda ends up following Nicolas Cage around like you would trail a wounded animal to see where it will lie down to die.

Oddly enough, that sentence makes me want to see the movie even more.

the Loud Coast
the Loud Coast (#1,362)

This is how Herzog does his best documentary work, it should probably work out.

whoneedslight
whoneedslight (#758)

Team Abel.

JaguarPaw
JaguarPaw (#312)

Nic Cage is the worst successful actor of our time. He is our John Wayne. He ruins everything he's in. Except possible Gone in 60 Seconds, which he tried, but could not make worse. I ask that Mary HK back me up on all of this.

kitten_witawip

I concur. Except I have a soft spot for "North to Alaska."

Natasha Vargas-Cooper

He enlightens everything he's in. All those actions movies wouldn't be worth a damn if it wasn't Cage stumbling his way through in his mysterious savant way that he does.

JaguarPaw
JaguarPaw (#312)

No, no this is all wrong. His droll monotone is no excuse for acting, and 'savant' implies a redeeming quality to his ham-faced, atrocious sigh-parades. Your description, NVC, could apply to Keanu, but only because the joke is clearly out in the open with that cyborg. With Cage, we're expected to swallow his fakery as if it were serious sentiment. (See: Leaving Las Vegas, Con Air, 8MM, Snake Eyes, the Rock, etc. etc.)

hydeordie
hydeordie (#2,208)

It's opposite day right? Because by worse you OBVIOUSLY mean better. He is a golden beacon of purity and quirky gestures in every movie he is in.

TheHonJudgeSmails

I'll wait for it to come out on The Home Box.

kitten_witawip

I will wait for it to come on free tv when I have insomnia at 3 am and then turn it off and re-read a book that is lying around somewhere.

mathnet
mathnet (#27)

One of my favorite Wrong expressions too!

Magister
Magister (#1,444)

Nic Cage used to alternate between good movies and blockbusters, but somewhere along the way, he started skipping some of the small. Perhaps it was when the bills started getting in the way.

RMv
RMv (#1,838)

i think i love mr. joe macleod.

Natasha Vargas-Cooper

To reduce Cage to a label of a 'bad actor' is wrong.
He is not a bad actor.
He is an actor, all the time. He's an actor before he's a human and that's what make his performances so marvelous/unsettling.

Sometimes he doesn't even know he's acting, he's just spinning, mouthing the lines while a movie happens around him. Other times his quirks and interpretation give the movie an emotional resonance than no one else could.

He can be dazzling under the right circumstances:

Moonstruck, Raising Arizona, Adaptation, Leaving Las Vegas, The Rock, Face Off.

And in mediocre bad movies he is still a pleasure to watch because of his odd phrasing, character tics, and mysterious face.

Johnny Depp has somehow earned the world's praises for doing this same bit without a hair piece but has nowhere the grit and depth of Cage.
Cage is a raw actor with theatrical flourishes and desire to make money. He is without realism and without pretension. He is a fine actor.

katiebakes
katiebakes (#32)

Fuck you, why isn't Con Air on the list and why did we spend two-ish days watching Lifetime Original Movies that he did not appear in?

Natasha Vargas-Cooper

THIS WAS AN ERROR.

Lifetime Version
Con Air: Mother May I Fly?

JaguarPaw
JaguarPaw (#312)

Natasha, your wordage is too precious to devote to such drivel of a man! Please, make it stop! Say this is all a smarmy inside joke. I beg you, do not defend this facial and auditory paralysis of a human!

Natasha Vargas-Cooper

From a wise man:

'And, like Brando, Cage genuinely doesn’t seem to care: he just does his thing, plies his craft and seems to have fun doing it. But when he connects with material that’s worthy of his insanely huge talents â€" most recently in Spike Jonze’s “Adaptation” â€" one is reminded of how colossally good he is and it suddenly puts his “slumming” movies into perspective.'

http://dietcock.tumblr.com/post/182274710/natashavc-dogsareadorable-holy-shit-this

LondonLee
LondonLee (#922)

Am I the only one who thought he was genius in 'Peggy Sue Got Married'?

Natasha Vargas-Cooper

YOU ARE NOT, SIR. You are totally correct!

hydeordie
hydeordie (#2,208)

I am pretty sure it's a scientific fact. You are a scientist.

hydeordie
hydeordie (#2,208)

There is nothing that Cage can do that won't put a smile on my face, ever. Did you see Bangkok Dangerous? Of course you didn't, I am the only person who saw that movie, but you know what? I enjoyed it. National Treasure series? Faves. His idiosyncrasies and pacing make for some of the more entertaining performances I will ever consistently see. Are some of his choices questionable? Probably, but who am I to judge that? He enjoys himself and I enjoy him. It works out.

EVERYONE WHO SAID ANYTHING BAD ABOUT HIM NEEDS TO GO REWATCH FACE/OFF AND THE ROCK RIGHT NOW.

KarenUhOh
KarenUhOh (#19)

Some actors crew scenery. Nic Cage poops it.

KarenUhOh
KarenUhOh (#19)

You meant "chew," but next time use your fingers to type instead of your butthole.

berthamason
berthamason (#740)

"an actor who has done bad things and wants to cleanse themselves in art and flat cinematography" -- that is beautiful and true. I love this movie, people should see it.

dietcock
dietcock (#1,496)

From the moment he burst upon the screen, with his self-assured strut and uttered, in his distinctive twang and intonation, the immortal words "I KNOW who your friends are, JULIE" in the '80s classic "Valley Girl," Nicolas Cage was on his way to acting greatness. Choire, as an '80s Valley Boy, knows this and merely is in denial. Frank Capra once wrote: "there are no rules in filmmaking, only sins; and the cardinal sin is to be dull" (a rule, alas, he neglected to follow himself, but a genius dictum, nevertheless). Nicolas Cage is many things, but he is never dull. Can we say the same about Hanks, Spacey, Hoffman (both Hoffmans) and the other acclaimed so-called acting luminaries of our age? No, we cannot. Like Icarus, Cage flies perilously close to the sun. Sometimes his wings get a tad crispy, but no one else travels at such stupendous heights. KNOW.

hydeordie
hydeordie (#2,208)

TRU' NUFF!

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