Hello and welcome to episode 22 of Game for a
Movie. This is a special episode as we are still
quarantined indoors, so there's still no new
movies or anything like that. So we decided to
do a little, what is it, cagetacular is what
we're calling it? Cage match, yeah. Cage match,
okay. Cage match. We have seen some Nicolas Cage
movies as well as we've got some news, but first,
I am your host, Mike Butak. I am joined by, let's
go to Mitchell. Hi, it's Andre with Carol. I'm
back. Hey, guys. And we have a special guest
joining the show. Special guest, would you like
to introduce yourself? Nah, not really. Okay,
that's my buddy Jason. I was going to call him
Paycap for the rest of the show. Obviously taking
over for T -Dog. As opposed to T -Dog. a T -Dog.
I've been waiting for this for weeks. Dude, I
don't... I haven't seen a T -Dog in feels like
months. I don't know where T -Dog is. We can
play on... He's hanging out with Dorothy and
Oz. We got out of town. Do you have any other
theories? Anybody else where T -Dog might be?
Let's see. Okay, so he... T -Dog is a very giving
person. And when he heard about... He heard that,
oh, shit, COVID -19 is changing everything. He
decided to study medicine and try to figure this
out. But then the murder hornets happened. And
then he decided to go to Washington State and
fight the murder hornets instead. And what he
has since done is train praying mantises to fight
the murder hornets. And so far, he's been successful.
That's awesome. Yes. It's like me teaching praying
mantises. Yeah, you got it. I have three words
for you. ManBearPig. ManBearPig. ManBearPig.
Guys, that's not real. If murder hornets are
real, I believe anything is real, too. ManBearPig
defeat murder hornets. For breakfast. I don't
know, man. I don't think it's an easy one to
chalk up. Murder hornets defeat Chuck Norris.
Oh, my God. Is it 2006? So, we will jump in.
There was a bit of news this week. There is a
Tiger King miniseries coming out that Mitchell
put us to that kind of let us know this was happening.
It was the first one reported to the Game for
a Movie podcast. Because cast as Joe Exotic is
Nicolas Cage. Depending on how you feel about
that, we've decided to jump in and cast our own
Tiger King shows. And we've each taken about
three to five people, three to five names, and
just kind of come up with who we think they should
play in the Tiger King limited series, given
that we have a full budget, can get any star
we want. So, shall we start with our special
guest, Jason? Sure. Alright, so the top five
characters and their corresponding actors that
should be played in this Tiger King miniseries
that I'm putting together. First off, starting
off strong, Joe Exotic should 100 % be... I can
see him pulling off the hair. That's where I'm
seeing it for sure. Complaining. He just has
to get a little more high -pitched in his whining,
but it is perfect. I have faith that he can pull
off the voice. I think it's a very doable voice.
I just imagine you going into a pitch meeting,
Kenny Powers plus Tigers. Exactly. That's how
Kenny Powers would do it. Okay, but then of course
he needs his adversary in Carole Baskin, which...
No one should be playing Carole Baskin other
than Kate McKinnon. Kate McKinnon as Carole Baskin
is just comedy gold. She will give you that dry
little, like, good morning, cats and kittens.
Jason, what if I were to tell you that's actually
happening? Oh, it's actually happening. Okay,
good. Okay. But not in the Kate one. Not in the
Kate one. It's in the competing series. You're
right. Right, right. So I'm... I did not know
that there was two. What? Yes, there are two
competing series. Wow, jeez. Who's doing the
other one? I actually don't even know who's doing
the Nicolas Cage one. CBS is doing the Nick Cage
one. Yes. CBS. CBS, okay. CBS. CBS with a T.
Oh, T, TBS. No, no, no, CBS. I wonder who's doing
the Kate McKinnon one. HBO? I think that one's
a movie, so probably like a studio. Okay, that's
a movie. Moving on, Jeff Lowe, the world's most
blatant con man in the world. Pretty sure that
one's going to end up being Jonathan Banks, known
as Mike Irvingtrout from Breaking Bad and Better
Call Saul. There you go. I like it. That's a
little broader than it. Wow, but I see it. I
see it. I like it. make you fear for your life
in the same way that Joe Exotic did. And then
for Doc Antle, I mean, literally as I watched
Tiger King, all I could see was Will Ferrell.
So, like, I'm going to have to slot Will Ferrell
into there. Okay. Okay. And then last, in pre
-production, I said this was the perfect casting.
Saf, the tiger handler with one arm, will be
played by Michael Pena because Michael Pena will
be super chill about having only one arm. So
are we just like crossing genders right here?
Or is it just as a man? So really? Yes. What?
Yeah. Oh, did I know that? If you would have
been on time, you would have heard this. Oh,
okay. Well, I was on time, Andre. Hey, man. No,
I seriously moved my schedule back. That's either
here or there. We can blame Andre for that one.
He did push us back. That one's on me. And because
of that, Andre, you guys get to follow now. Sweet.
Hell yeah. Okay. All right. Well, I mean, all
right. This is like more of a collaborative effort
between Joe and myself. So, I mean, honestly,
for Joe Exotic, I mean, as long as you love Nick
Cage, I really got to feel like we got to listen
to the big man himself on this one. David Spade
kind of lines it up for us really well. I got
to agree with Joe himself. Yeah, it kind of makes
sense. And, like, what, is he busy? Like, I just
don't get, like, what is he up to? He's making
copies. Oh, yeah. He's got his own show. He does?
Yeah, like, Lights Out with David Spade or something
like that. That was canceled years ago. No, it's
still going. I'm throwing my challenge flag on
that one. I'll look it up. I'll look it up. Look
it up. Yeah. Next, for Jeff Lau, our take on
it is Woody Harrelson. Harrelson. Harrelson.
I wrote Woody Harrelson. Jason, when did you
say that show got cancelled? March 12th, 2020.
You motherfucker. Years ago. Yeah, that got cancelled
years ago. In quarantine, it does feel like years
ago. Woody Harrelson as Doc Antle. I don't say.
Jeff Lowe. For our Doc Antle, originally we had
Patton Oswalt and then I joked about Paul Dano.
I don't know. Paul Dano is. Paul Dano. Yeah,
yeah, yeah. Put him in the way. It would be wonderful.
I can see him melted to death. Like 30 pounds?
Yes. Why not? There's going to be a lot of heavy
makeup. Paul Dano's a weird guy. I think he'd
be down. He's, you know, a Swiss Army man. Like,
he's clearly in touch with his avant -garde side.
And I've only seen a little... What's it called?
Lights Out with David Spade on April 3rd. Comedy
Central said it would not air new. shows on its
network, although the network has stated it will
attempt to sell the show to a third -party network.
You said years ago. We have two more. For Rick
Kirkham, the dude who decided to give Joe a shot
at actual stardom, Andre suggested... Gotta be
willing to foe. I feel like I could... Yeah,
alright. And then last but not least, starring
as tiger number one, Andy Serkis. Yes. Not just
tiger number one, all the tigers. All the tigers.
And the tiger cubs too, yeah. The cubs, the bears,
the, you know. The tiger that Carol Baskin fed
her husband to. I didn't even say that. Nick
Cage handing a tiger to folks as they come visit
the park and it's just Andy Serkis. Mitchell,
what do you got on your list? Well, I didn't
construct a full list, but I did have Willem
Dafoe as my Joe Exotic. Oh. That's the thing.
About casting anyone in this world, you have
to immediately buy, okay, this person is crazy
enough to exist in this world. And for whatever
reason, his filmography probably explains it
all. Willem Dafoe has that kind of baggage that
will absolutely work in his favor in this case.
If anyone has not seen The Lighthouse and see
exactly how batshit he could be, I highly recommend
it, though it is definitely a unique watch that
isn't for everyone. So, Willem Dafoe, who did
you guys cast him as? In what role? As Rick Kirkman.
He was the producer guy. He was trying to make
Rich off of him. Oh, for real. You know what?
The super deep throat. Yeah. My thing is, I don't
think people gave that guy enough credit for
being crazy. Because everyone, I think the way
the documentary framed him, he's like, oh yeah,
I'm just this outsider who's trying to profit
off this dude's craziness. It's not my fault.
You're living in this world. I don't know. I
feel like he's as much a part of it as everyone
else. Anyway, but Wunderfell needs to be in this
fantasy project that we're playing together.
Jeff Lowe. And it's only because of the dumb
hat and like the do -rag or whatever he's wearing
underneath it. I, when I was watching it, I got
glimpses of Fred Durst. Oh, there you go. Fred
Durst. Fred Durst the entire time. Like that
is his fashion icon. Fred Durst had a movie.
Yes. Oh my God. Yes. Fred Durst has a movie?
Yeah. It was terrible. Yeah, it came out not
that long ago, but yeah, keep going. Okay, my
goodness. And then, because everyone's doing
such a great job of filling out this world, I
don't think we've cast Howard Baskin yet. I love
Howard! Yes, Howard, who is the living husband
of Carole Baskin. It's a very notable thing.
Again, just purely based on looks and not because
I want to employ this man to be in a film. This
is completely done on his looks. It is Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. They got the
same droopy -ass face. He does look like Mitch
McConnell. The thing is that I think Howard very
clearly loves his wife a lot, and I just can't
imagine him loving another human being at all.
I just, yeah, I can't see that. Wait, he can't
show that emotion? Yeah, right. He doesn't have
the range. Yes, exactly. But he does look like
him. That's crazy. Wow, I didn't even think of
that. I just had a thought. Why is no one casting
Tommy Wiseau as Doc Antle? He has the long hair.
Just throw him in. This is people we want to
see in a movie. You're right. No one knows. That's
the beautiful part. And one more note on my casting
list, going back to Joe Exotic. So to get my
wheels turning on, okay, who would I cast as
Joe Exotic? I threw his mugshot into one of those
websites that tells you what celebrity you look
like. Oh, there you go. Can you guys guess which
very famous and very good actor that Joe Exotic
allegedly looks like according to this video?
No, not Leo. It is a beautiful young man, not
Brad, ooh, my heart would melt. It is one Ryan
Gosling. Oh my God. Joe would be so honored.
And I'm sure Joe is just like, oh, they nailed
it. That is exactly who he wants portraying him
in the film. Oh my God. Mike, to finish this
off, who do you have in your fantasy Tiger King
cast? So I have to turn off my video because
I'm using all of my services to have this call
and record us. So you guys can't see me anymore.
But Carol Baskin I have as Lisa Kudrow. Yes.
It's just one of those ones that I feel like
fits. Plus, I mean, Smelly Cat could make a reappearance
somehow, someway, easily. Jeff Lowe. Only because
of season one of Fargo, I have Billy Bob Thornton.
Okay. Billy Bob Thornton. Wow. You know what?
That's a guy I have not thought about in a while.
Yeah. I can totally see that. I was looking up
people that could pull off white facial hair,
and for some reason, Billy Bob Thornton was in
there. I don't know. I think Billy Bob Thornton
belongs in that movie somewhere. Mike, did you
Google that phrase? Yes. Guys who could pull
off... white facial hair badass actors with white
facial hair I'll allow it that was the that was
the exact look because I wanted somebody like
intimidating but like the the idea Billy Bob
Thornton wasn't like physically intimidating
he just came more so with the like the he's softly
spoken going to murder everybody yeah yeah uh
soft I actually I jumped on board with this.
At first I was kind of like, no, but now I'm
kind of like, okay. Ken Jeong. I don't... Okay.
All right. Ken Jeong is who? Dr. Ken. As Saf.
As Saf. Oh, shit. Yeah. Okay. It's a weird one,
but I kind of like it. I don't know. It's strange.
Somebody pointed out that John Finlay looks like
Shia LaBeouf, and I couldn't unsee it. And especially
when like he cleaned up too. So he got like clean
for the eighth episode that came out with the
interviews and stuff. And he just, he looks a
lot better and he could pull off Shia LaBeouf
pre meth mouth. Did he have, did his hair grow
back? Yes. And he had like long hair too. Like
it wasn't just like a little bit. Uh, and then.
Finally, the guy's name is James Gerritsen. He's
famous for the jet ski. And I say that is Mark
Davis, owner of the Raiders, 100%. It looks like
I need to show you a picture. I know you did.
You showed me when we watched something. The
Nick Cage movie? Yeah. Yeah. It's the spitting
image. It is the spitting image. We have no idea
how his acting chops are, but you just got to
bring him in. Whatever. He's probably terrible,
but so was James Garrison, so it doesn't matter.
So yeah, that's my list. We will probably do
something about our list on our Instagram. Follow
us, Game for a Movie. So now we jump into our
Cage match. All of us saw at least three Nick
Cage movies. And the idea was, the question was,
is Nick Cage a good actor or a bad actor? Because
he falls on that line in between where he does
something good, where he wins an Oscar, and he
does something terrible like he's in Humanity
Bureau. God damn it. Why would you bring up that
cursed film? Because. That was the first bad
movie I watched for this podcast. It's all coming
full circle. That's what I wanted to do. Yep.
Yep. So, yeah. Let's start. Who wants to start?
How about that? I'm just going to. good or bad
yeah well we so we can start right so so jill
and i we just watched uh magic men have either
is have any of you guys seen that scene or heard
of that movie at all i've heard of it i have
not no okay all right so uh it's uh it's like
an early 2000s film it stars nick cage and sam
rockwell and they're both con artists um so nick
cage has an extreme uh like obsessive compulsive
disorder super particular about everything, and
just Sam Rockwell is kind of like his right -hand
man, and they're just really good at conning
people out of their money through just all sorts
of Ponzi schemes and stuff. And then Nick Cage
basically finds out that he has an estranged
daughter, and through that kind of turns over
his whole entire very particular orderly life
while trying to con people out of it. It's kind
of, I don't know what genre to call it. Black
comedy. I would say, what did you think about
it? I actually really, really liked it, so I
had no idea what this was going into it. As Andre
was saying, Nicolas Cage used this con artist
who discovers he has his daughter, and for a
good chunk of the movie, it's just him bumbling
around and trying to figure out how do I interact
with this being that's come into my life who's
touching my stuff. I don't know. Right. They're
doing a con. Oh. which I described as being like
Shutter Island, but not that it's revealed he's
crazy the whole time. Okay. Right. Spoilers for
Shutter Island, guys. It's kind of total whiplash,
but I really enjoyed it, honestly. And I guess
the key part is Nick Cage in this movie is great.
It's peak Cage, and it's peak good Nick Cage,
I would say. Okay. He has all these nervous tics
that he sells it. Um, but also, I mean, in those
emotional scenes where he's connecting with his,
with his daughter, it's like, okay, I believe
that relationship, you know, and how he's struggling
to humanize and relate with her, uh, in both
an entertaining, like kind of funny way, but
also like an emotional way too. So, um, I should
say this is, this is really Scott film, right?
So yeah, but there's some weird. scene transitions.
Like, there is a flip transition at one point
in this movie. Right out of PowerPoint. Give
me the flip transition. I want all of it. It
was just in the middle of the movie, and I'm
like, what? And they never do it again. It was
very disorienting. My personal favorite is at
the end, everything happens, and then it cuts
to a year later. So they have the text due one
year later, but it slides and bounces on the
side of the screen, and it's like, what? Oh my
god, yes! Right, and I feel like I want to say
it's on purpose, but it just feels out of place.
It feels like it has to be on purpose, right?
man 2 this did not waste it's Sam Rockwell yeah
it's really it's a good film Andre said that
it has developed a cult following not cult following
but like it's done very very well after it's
release yeah Roger Ebert liked it a lot. He gave
it four stars. I don't know if we care about
Roger Ebert. But yeah, this was quite enjoyable.
It was kind of weird to watch it after watching
Trust, which we'll talk about later, I'm sure.
Because it's kind of similar that he plays a
con... It's a similar kind of role, you're right.
He's trying to get a score. He's obsessed with
it. Anyways, long story short, fun movie, fun
concepts. I would recommend it. Maybe 15 minutes
too long. Yes, a little overwrought. Now, all
this sounds like it's great about the movie,
but what does the cage do for it in terms of
acting? You've got facial tics. You've got face
contortions. You have a whole montage of him
cleaning his apartment, including a scene where
he's scrubbing something with a toothbrush. He
plays that neuroticism so, so well. I'm not saying
he's the only actor who could do it, but he's
one of the few that I could believe in. It's
the combo of being neurotic but also still likable.
It's like, oh, Nick Cage, what are you doing,
man? You're crazy. You little scamp. On that
note, we'll save it for Trust. it was that similar
level of like, okay, this dude is fucking crazy.
He can pull it back suddenly. It's like, oh,
you're totally normal. And then, you know, he'll
turn around and suddenly, you know, the eye is
twitching and he has like a stutter. It's very
impressive what that man can do with like the
control of his body and bring out the crazy and
then pull it back and then bring it out even
more. Yeah. So I would say evidence that Nick
Cage is a good, it can be a good actor when he
wants to be, I guess. Um, I would give this one,
uh, like 3 .75, uh, yes, super chunk, super New
York fudge chunk buckets out of a big bucket
of ice cream. Lots of ice cream. It's like, yeah,
there you go. That's my rating Joe. Yeah. Um,
yeah, I would give him, um, 3 .5, uh, dog head
statues. Okay. All right. All right. Okay. Jason,
we'll go to your first one. Alright, so I'm supposed
to talk good now, right? Like, the good movie
that I watched? You can talk whatever you want.
I'm gonna finish it off with the bad movie, because,
like, it just... Okay, okay. Yeah. So, firstly,
I want to point out two facts about Nicolas Cage
to kind of set the scene here. First off, Nicolas
Cage's real name is Nicolas Coppola, as in Francis
Ford Coppola, the legendary director. Right.
Second off, Nick Cage has notorious tax and legal
and real estate issues. That's why he exists.
Right. So part of the reason that he does all
these movies, it's kind of like his gentleman's
agreement with the IRS. Like, this is his means
of making money. So he legally, according to
the IRS, has to basically accept every movie
offer that gets handed to him. So that's why
when you see a garbage -ass movie and it's starring
Nicolas Cage and you know it's going to be garbage,
he has to take it. Having said all that, I level
-set with thinking, like, Nicolas Cage will go
neutral to begin with, and then let me actually
watch a movie and decide for myself. So I wanted
to go with something that everyone loved to start
with, and I was going to watch National Treasure.
However, my wife had already seen National Treasure.
So instead, we had to watch National Treasure
2. Oh, no. I love the second one. It's got more
Riley. Okay. Let me tell you. National Treasure
2 is a movie that is so horribly written that
Nicolas Cage couldn't do a better job with it.
There's literally one scene where, like, these
French police stop and just, like, have a nice
chat with them as they're, like, vandalizing
a statue. Because, like, they're French, and
apparently that's what they do. Nicolas Cage,
in those movies, plays a man with Asperger's
who has, like, an obsession with American history.
Like, the entire movie is Nicolas Cage, like,
hearing one word and then going, ah! And then
telling a five -minute story that could have
been told in two words about American history.
It's true. Neuroticism and, like, acting, it's
like... peak to the point where it's just campy.
Like, you can't take it seriously after the first
five minutes. Like, the first time it's like,
oh, this guy saying my great -great -grandfather
is a murderer. You know what will solve this?
A treasure hunt. We're gonna prove this with
this treasure in Mount Rushmore. Yeah, but like,
you know, the first movie's selling line was
we gotta steal the Declaration of Independence.
I get that. But having said that, like, literally
the thing that starts this plot is, like, Ed
Harris comes along and says, hey, your grandfather
actually, like, plotted to kill Abraham Lincoln.
And he's like, no, uh, treasure hunt. And, like,
the dumb thing in the end was, like, Ed Harris,
like, when they find the treasure, he goes, this
was my plan all along. Sorry to, like, throw
your ancestor under the bus, but I needed you
to find this treasure. I'm like, why the fuck
didn't you just ask him to? How could you find
said treasure if you knew about said treasure?
Would you say that Nicolas Cage in this one comes
off a bit more bored with everything that's going
on? Or is he still giving, you know, 110 %? No,
that's the problem. He's giving the 110%. That's
why he's a man with Asperger's who's obsessed
with American history. Because literally the
scene where he's talking to the French policeman.
The clue couldn't be more obvious, right? Like,
the clue is basically, like, something, something,
resolute, something, something. And, like, when
I heard that, my first thought was, oh, resolute
desk. Like, it's the desk in the Oval Office.
And he's just like, oh, oh, oh, oh. I was so
excited about how the resolute desk was made
in front of, like, these two policemen and Riley.
And, like, all you could say was, oh, shit, that's
easy. That's the resolute desk. But Nicolas Cage
just, like, sells it so hard that it's just painful
to watch. Do you think he's too good that it
makes it worse? Or... Yeah, well, he's trying
so hard. There is one really good line he delivers,
so, like, spoiler alert for a movie that's ten
years old. There's a scene at the end where,
like, they're in the Golden City and it's filling
with water, and he's like, Gonna self -sacrifice,
and he tells his, like, wife or girlfriend or
whatever, he's like, you make sure my parents
get out of here. I'm like, all right, that's
a good one. And then he literally runs for the
door. Gonna make it out of there. He's passed,
like, that whole self -sacrifice thing. He's
like, yeah, I'm leaving now. So, in the end,
I would give National Treasure 2 Book of Secrets
two out of five resolute desks. I mean, I think
that's fair. The first one is just such a freak
of me. It should not be as good as it is, but
it's such a fun ride. The first one is literally
like your American history class in high school
come to life. The second one is like, I should
have graduated a year ago. It's the Da Vinci
Code, but for kids. I was going to say, it's
like watching Bill Nye the Science Guy. It's
a little out there and goofy, but you still learn
a little something. Yeah. Bill Nye meets Ken
Burns. Yeah. So, Mitchell, what do you got for
your first one? Yeah, so I'm going to start with
the movie where I had been meaning to watch this
for a long time, so selfishly I used this task
as an excuse to finally fire it up on HBO. And
it's Raising Heirs Up. So it's one of the earlier
Coen Brothers movies. Only one of the Coen Brothers
actually directed, the other wrote. So it was
a true collaboration in that sense, one pair
or the other. And it is a farce of a movie. So
for those who don't know what the plot is about,
it is about a couple who meet because the man
is a guy who gets arrested a lot, and he falls
in love with the police officer who keeps booking
him into jail. The police officer is played by
Holly Hunter, and the guy getting arrested all
the time is Nicolas Cage. And this movie opens
with what I think is such a solid 11 minutes
of just... a great, fun montage filmmaking of
a very brief story, not too dissimilar from Up,
of how a couple meets and starts a new life together,
but maybe not as emotionally stirring. But still
very entertaining, and what a fucking way to
open a movie. The first 11 minutes for Raising
Arizona. So after they meet, the plot actually
begins. Holly Hunter cannot bear children. They
desperately want kids. Well, luckily for them,
a very rich family had a newspaper article written
up about them for having quintuplets. So what
they decide to do is to go to this very rich
family's house in the middle of the night and
steal one of the kids for themselves. So thus
raising Arizona. And Arizona is the last name
of the kid. Anyway, so that's what it's about.
It stars John Goodman as well, Francis McDormand,
so the start of their Coen brother relationship
as well. It is, like I said, it's a farce, so
all of it is over the top. That's how the comedy
is written, and the music in this, the music
and the dialogue in terms of how over the top
these guys are speaking and looking into the
camera, it's exactly what this movie calls for,
and Nicolas Cage is perfect casting here. And
he's a guy who is basically overreacting to every
single scenario possible. Like, if you're presented
with a problem, my wife is barren, right? What
are some solutions here? You could adopt a kid,
which they tried to do, but he has a really bad
rap sheet, whatever. You know, there are a lot
of other ways that a couple could figure out,
hey, how do we fill this hole in our family?
Third idea I had was Steal a Child. Yeah, that's
pretty high, Mike. That's very high on the list.
And for Nicolas Cage, that was number two. He
went off and stole a kid. Very entertaining,
and mainly because of what the Coen brothers
are asking of each of the performers, and no
one does it better than Nicolas Cage in this
particular role. and I think, Andre, Jill, you
were talking about a certain look in his eye
in certain scenes in Match Point, or what was
the film? Matchstick Men. Matchstick Men. Yeah,
Match Point is a different film directed by Woody
Allen. Okay, and anyway, that is exactly what
Nick Cage is known to do, and this is kind of
in his wheelhouse. The more I look back on movies
that I actually enjoyed him in, and not necessarily
just watch for this podcast, but... I'm looking
back and thinking to certain monologues that
he has. And it's all this over -the -top stuff,
but somehow, and guys, I'm kind of showing my
hands here, somehow he pulls it off where other
actors who would go over the top like that would
never be able to pull off. And that is why I'm
really leaning towards the good actor part here.
And it's really dependent. as jason was alluding
to earlier he has irs trouble he has to take
these roles but if he's matched up with very
talented directors he's worked with spike jones
in the past he's worked coen brothers there are
many films that have have great reviews and receptions
from general audiences and he shines in those
because those act those directors actually know
how to use them nice so what would you give this
raising arizona oh raising arizona oh my god
if you're a coen brothers fan it's easily a four
four point five children oops out of five total
kids um and i'm a big coen brothers fan so four
and a half out of five for me um it's it's all
the fun of fargo without any of the murder so
the stakes are a little lower uh but you get
fun dialogue fun accents and it's guys i cannot
tell you how much I appreciated this. This movie
ended in 90 minutes. It felt so great. I do want
to kind of wonder though, and I have to look
this up, could Nicolas Cage direct himself? No.
No way. I don't think he has it in him. I know
he can't write, and I'm certain he's produced
things, but I don't think he could do a director
-actor moment. My thing is, I don't think, and
I know there's a lot of actor directors out there,
but for those who could really pull it off, I
don't think there are really many who can. So,
to be fair, he has directed himself in one film.
I'm just looking it up on IMDb. It's called Sunny,
and it stars James Franco. Interesting. Yeah,
and he's also in it. So, anyway, that is a movie
that he directed in 2002. Alright. Okay, that's
like baby James Franco. Yeah, wow. Look at those
tight jeans. Everyone go look it up. Oh my gosh.
I can see James Franco being a contemporary of
Nicolas Cage, but in a different way. I mean,
that's like Spider -Man James Franco. Yeah. Mike,
what do you got, man? I will talk first about
the one we all watched together, except for Jason.
Sorry, buddy. Oh, okay. really saying sorry,
buddy, to Jason here. I feel like Jason got off
the hook. Yeah, I guess so. We did another Netflix
party and watched The Trust, which was Nicolas
Cage, obviously, and Elijah Wood. They play two
cops who find out there is this treasure trove
of money that they can get to and get the score.
the whole movie kind of takes place in like one
house trying to get underneath it to get to this
safe which has all this money and everything
like that and like it's the things that go wrong
and people that live there and how would you
guys describe this movie the way I described
it is Nick Cage is doing the best he can with
what he's given which is not very good I would
describe it I'm sure if you read that script
you would think to yourself oh cool this is like
a fun neo -noir kind of movie you know this is
the Vegas underground and these are two crooked
cops one of them really wants to get rich quick
and the other is kind of going down this trail
with him begrudgingly but then you put it on
film and it is a completely different story it
is a mishandled plot and Everything, Jill, you
had a really good critique after we watched it.
You said, what Nicolas Cage did in particular
at the end, did that twist feel earned? I feel
like you could ask that question about a lot
of the plot development. Are we able to actually
get to this point? Does this really make sense?
And I'd argue it didn't at all. And it's not
up to the actors, in my opinion, but that was
a rough watch. It was a rough watch. The unfortunate
part was that it wasn't bombastically bad. I'd
honestly say we should watch Humanity Bureau
first over Trust. If I was going to get some
friends together and watch a bad movie. Right.
Yeah, its faults are more just kind of dull.
The pacing just doesn't go all the way there.
I wasn't super attached to Nicholas Cage's or
Elijah Wood's character. It's like, okay, all
right. I was totally okay if both of them died.
Nick Cage is into rape, and Elijah Wood is being
kind of a shithead about it, but he's going along
like, okay, oh, he cares about the girl now,
oh, all right, cool, you know. He was the naive
one. I kind of felt like it was two different
cop stories stitched together, or that, like,
Elijah Wood didn't have half the script. Like,
when his character, because, like, his cop character
is not inherently crooked. Like, he doesn't like
his job. He doesn't. He pays for sex. Along the
senior, the senior cop. And he's kind of, he's
for sex. He, and like, you know, the light bulbs
are starting to go off in his head, but he's
not really, he's thinking that what they're doing
has a purpose for the greater good, that they're
going to break into this safe and determine,
yes, there are bad, there are drugs, I think
is what he thought there was down there or something.
Right. And they're going to run and tell the
rest of the Bureau and they'll get a promotion.
Right. And as things are starting to go down.
You can see, like, the wheels turning in his
head. At the same time, there's still kind of
this, like, dude, you're not that dumb. Like,
come on. This doesn't seem weird to you. So,
like I said, the actor was missing half the script,
and Nicolas Cage is in the corner, like, holding
it, like, hee -hee -hee -hee. You have no idea
what's in store. And then pacing issues. I agree.
There's at least, like, a whole section where,
like, they're doing the break -in, and they stop
to eat some cheesesteak. Right. while they have
a live hostage. Do they really have time for
this? The way I would describe it is kind of
like it was a slow burn that had to reignite
itself every couple of minutes. Yes, that's a
good way to phrase it for sure. I did feel like
it was wheels. Yeah, I would say it's probably
a one out of five safe containers. I don't know.
I'm rolling with it here. Safe containers, Mr.
position under shitty apartments in Las Vegas
exactly this looks like how the jump got there
like what made Nick like because it starts with
him like noticing this guy got out of bail and
then he decides to back like figure out where
how he got out of bail like I don't actually
understand how Nicholas Cage because he paid
for it in cash and then he decides to trace it
and Like, even the ending. Like, I actually kind
of liked the ending if you look at it in a vacuum.
Right. But, yeah. Like, with Elijah Wood's character.
Yeah. Can I spoil? Yeah. Yes, please do. So,
we spend, like, most of the film doing the break
-in. Nicolas Cage reveals, like, guess what?
We're actually not here to just find some evidence.
We're gonna take it and we're gonna go to the
Caribbean together. I bought you a ticket, man.
It's not drugs, it's diamonds. It's diamonds.
Right. Yeah. They can easily fence. The light
bulb goes off, and he's like, no, we can't do
this. And he had found a gun earlier, so they
get into a shootout, and he shoots, and he actually
kills Nicolas Cage's character. And Nicolas Cage's
character dies holding tickets to the Caribbean,
and there are two of them. Because he kind of
didn't believe him and everything. Nope, he didn't
believe it. He thought he was the fall guy. Right.
So a lot of people put everything back, but he
still has this live hostage, a woman. He's just
called a woman. And throughout all of the break
-in, she's in the bathroom, like, tied up. And
at one point, she's like, I need to call my son.
And Elijah, being this, you know, this sweet,
doe -eyed, innocent cop, like, writes down the
number and has her talk to someone on the phone.
We don't actually hear the conversation. So he
gets her into the car, and they're driving away,
and they get on the highway, and the plan, it
seems, is he's going to drop her off and just
leave her and go. But then he notices these trucks
kind of zeroing in on him. notices that number
on one of the trucks right ahead of him is the
same number that the lady called. And before
he can really do anything, the door opens and
a guy pops up with a gun and he starts to reach
for his badge and goes like, wait, I'm a cop,
and then gets shot. And that's kind of how it
ends. I like that. That's exactly how it ends,
yeah. It's great cinema. There was no trust in
the trust. Exactly, no trust. And we have no
idea who this lady was. a set up for him. The
secret mafia clear people. Yeah, well, whatever.
But I'm not interested in answering those questions
like, okay. I am. That's my thing is I want to
know who this lady was. Why didn't they give
this character a name? There you go. Alright,
well, while you guys are rolling, take your second
Nick Cage movie. We don't have one. We don't
have a second Nick Cage movie. Oh, okay. Oh,
no. You're good then. I can talk about Moonstruck.
Because that movie really stuck with me. Oh,
that's going to be my second movie. I will not
talk about Moonstruck. Yeah. All right. Well,
Jason, you got another one, I'm sure. Oh, yeah.
So as you guys may or may not have known, Marvel
was supposed to come out with Black Widow this
last weekend. And of course, COVID -19 could
not. So I decided to watch the cross -section
between Nicolas Cage and a Marvel movie, the
first Ghost Rider. Oh, God. Oh, God. So much
PTSD. It is a mess of a movie, and this is one
where I do not give Nicolas Cage the benefit
of the doubt, because this is, like, height Nicolas
Cage, and, like, this is, like, the era of Marvel
movies coming off the back of, like, horrible
Spider -Man 3, horrible Daredevil, and, like,
yeah, like, meh Fantastic Four, like, so -so
X -Men. From Fox, like, nothing was, like, really
exciting about being in a Marvel movie. And the
first, like, ten minutes, like, in the true spirit
of, like, early 2000s movies, like, it's all
garbage, but, like, the first ten minutes where
it's, like, the young Johnny Blaze character,
like, making the deal with the devil, I am way
more invested in the younger actor who plays
this character for the ten minutes that I saw
him. than the entire movie that Nicolas Cage
was in the rest of Nicolas Cage's part like takes
forever to set up by the way like the first like
30 minutes is just him like looking at ramps
and like jumping over ramps oh god this also
reminded me jumping over impossible like he literally
at one point jumps over a football field worth
of uh of 18 wheelers and like it's just like
a shot of his like visor and you're like you're
seeing the 18 wheelers pass by you're like the
ramp was the size of like my driveway like there's
no way he's like jumping that and i don't know
if this was like a bad directing editing issue
or if this was just the way nicholas cage did
it but between every single shot he literally
ranges from like confused to sad to like overly
excited to just like plain like weird like he'll
be like what was that Yeah! And it's just the
weirdest fucking thing in the world. This movie,
on top of the plot, just super dumb and super
garbage. Like, Nicolas Cage does the blockiest,
most, like, horrible job in the world, like,
bringing any real life to a character. So, we
just looked at who directed Ghost Rider, and
they directed Daredevil. Yep. Yeah! Of course
they did. That's a guy. Did he do Elektra, too?
No. lecture was different. Hey guys, look at
his writing credits. Look what he wrote most
recently. The director of just... Yes. What was
his most recent writing credit? IMDb. It is amazing.
It came out last year. It is a Disney film. And
it is about everyone's favorite bear who looks
like the president of China. He wrote Christopher
Robin. Oh no. years it took him five years the
last movie he did before he was even involved
in before christopher robin was in 2013 so so
jason i got a question for you so the way the
way i look at nicholas cage and him playing ghost
rider i cannot escape the thought that he once
upon a time was cast to be superman back in the
90s when tim burton was the director He is notably
a huge Superman fan. He's always wanted to be
Superman, and the closest he got is playing Superman
in Teen Titans Go to the Movies. With Ghost Rider,
I feel like 10 plus years after the Superman
thing falls through, he desperately just wants
to be in a comic book movie after he's seen the
success of the first two Spider -Man movies and
all that. He settled for Ghost Rider, and it
kind of just falls apart. It could be his performance.
It could be the movie. I don't know. What are
your thoughts on that? Like, I felt like he settled
just to be in a comic book movie once everything
else fell through. So here's the other factors
in that. So, like, also remember that he had
another failed attempt to be in a comic book
movie. He was supposed to be in the defunct Batman
Triumphant, which was the sequel to Batman and
Robin, where he was supposed to play. Scarecrow
and Madonna would play Harley Quinn. Yes. Wow.
I would totally have been in that. While I think
you have a point that he may have just been very
desperate to get into a superhero movie, bear
in mind at the time, Ghost Rider comes out in
2007, which means it starts filming, he's cast
in whatever, probably around 2004, 2005. Yeah.
You're talking, like, not anywhere a height of
superhero movie, like, desire or demand. But
you're talking about, like, when, like, Spider
-Man 2 is coming out. So, like, it's a budding
genre. So I think it's something where he just
saw a great intersection of, like, this is something
I'm interested in. And, like, here is an edgy
character where I can, like, do it. Maybe, like,
going for a big name, like, because Superman
is just not going to, like, fly. So, like, maybe
we go something darker, something edgier. I think
that was the risk he tried to take. I was just
looking at, like, dates for things. So, Ghost
Rider came out in 2007. 2005, we had Sin City,
which is the graphic novel adaptation. And Ghost
Rider, when it came out, was kind of a, I mean,
Blade did it first. But, like, Ghost Rider was,
like, dark, a little bit edgier, a little bit
more. a little more leaning into that PG -13.
I can say one of the scenes... He literally has
martini glasses filled with jelly beans. Yeah,
because they still have to keep into consideration,
you know, it's the Marvel film we want. This
isn't, you know, this isn't for... This isn't
a hard R. This is a soft PG -13. We want all
ages to show up here. And, like, considering,
you know, Nicolas Cage in Spider -Man Into the
Spider -Verse, where he's, you know, Spider -Man
Noir, I kind of wonder... if he felt a little
FOMO for not being part of Sin City, because
I could totally see him fitting into that world.
I haven't read all of the graphic novels, so
I don't know if there was a character he could
have played, but he would have been aware of
that production. I feel like he would have had
an opportunity to be in Sin City 2, which was
a more low -key thing. He definitely could have
gotten in on that if he wanted it that badly.
Maybe he felt he was past his prime on that one.
I think Mitch has a point where, like, he was
probably trying to do something that crossed
with a passion and just, like, fell so hard on
his face. As a lot of those superhero movies
did before, you know, Marvel Studios formed and
really, like, kind of, like, changed the, like,
the contextual nature. Right. Because, to your
point, it was right after Spider -Man 3 and,
like... Basically, there's that weird gap where
it was the Spider -Man trilogy, and then it was
kind of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We're
in that awkward. Okay, sure. You had a couple
bad X -Men movies in there. You had some trial
and errors with Daredevil and Ghost Rider. And
V for Vendetta, and you've got 300, and you've
got Sin City, which is kind of like... the antithesis
to these superhero films. Sure. I would also
argue any comic property that's not, like, a
Marvel DC. Like, you're adapting something that
has more substance to begin with. Like, if you're
going to adapt, like, a Marvel or a DC character,
like, you're banking on, like, you know, marketability
over substance. So, like, a Poocher Vendetta
is not, like, comparable in my eyes. Because
I 100 % agree with that novel. Guys, Road to
Perdition. by the way, is based on a graphic
novel. So it's not a Marvel graphic novel. Oh,
was it? I didn't know it was Marvel. Cool. Also,
Men in Black is technically Marvel, too. Oh,
jeez. I did know that was a comic book, but I
didn't know it was Marvel. That's awesome. That's
awesome. Remember Rude or Rude to Tradition?
So, okay. Oh, Rude to Tradition. Jill, let's
talk Moonstruck, because I think... He was not
nominated for an Oscar for this film, but this
was the film that came out after Raising Arizona
in 1987. And it has one of my all -time favorite
Nicolas Cage monologues. So a little backstory
on this film for me personally, my mom is obsessed
with this. And when I told Kelly that I was going
to bring this up on the pod, Kelly said... I
watched this movie with my mom way back in the
day when I was like a kid or whatever. So we
have now dubbed this a mom movie. So this is
the mindset that I have of Moonstruck. It's a
romantic comedy. Cher plays a starring role.
She won an Oscar for this film where she plays
a woman at the beginning of the film who's set
to marry this guy who has a younger brother played
by Nicolas Cage. And there's this whole plot
of whether or not Ronnie, who is Nicolas Cage's
character, should go to the wedding. So Cher
really wants the entire family to be there. So
she goes to where Ronnie works, which is a bakery.
And one of the very first lines that we hear
from Nicolas Cage is him delivering a monologue
about how he lost his hand. And he blames his
brother for losing his hand. And I'm just going
to do a little reading here of this line. I lost
my hand. I lost my pride. Johnny has his hand.
Johnny has his pride. You make me, you want me
to take my heartache, put it away and forget?
It is all over the top. it is beautiful nick
cage it's like he is singing and i will tell
you it that monologue before i knew who nick
cage was when i was a kid and knew that he did
other movies that has stuck with me it's imprinted
in my head and recently going back and revisiting
it I'm blown away. I'm just like, this is Nick
Cage's wheelhouse. I could totally see him coming
off a Coen Brothers movie and trying to deliver
the same kind of energy with, you know, a temper
down to be more real world, but to live in this
universe on Nick Cage's terms. And it still works
and it's still fun. And despite this guy who
has a missing hand, like after delivering this
crazy ass monologue, you believe over the course
of this film that, yeah, Cher's going to fall
in love with him. And so I dig this movie, and
I really, really dig Nick Cage in it. Yeah. I
watched this a while, like a couple, a year and
a half ago at this point. I was bored. I was
over at my parents' house. I wanted something
to watch. It was on Amazon Prime. All I knew
was, isn't this the movie where Nicholas scores
with Cher? So that was all we were going into
it. I agree. He does a fantastic job. I actually
think they have very good chemistry. And it kind
of works for the two of them, but she just kind
of rolls off of his own craziness because she's
still Sharon. Her character is kind of this frustrated
with everything, but she kind of accepts her
lot in life. But she's also not going to sit
there and be quiet about it. It really works.
I totally buy their relationship. Yeah, I actually
never really considered Nicolas Cage to be, like,
sexy. He pulls it off, doesn't he? And he's missing
a hand. There was, like, what, a 20 -year age
difference between him and Cher? Yeah. I'd have
to look it up. I think that's probably about
right. Yeah, you would actually, like, never
know. Like, I'm not saying, like, Cher is Cher.
She's done things. She looks great. But, like,
they both kind of have this weird, like... Older
than their years. Sense about them. That just
plays beautifully. Throughout the film. And it's
good. I highly recommend this film. If anyone
has not seen it. It's fun. It's also just a nice
slice of the 80s. Absolutely. It's dripping in
80s nostalgia. The hair is big. The shoulder
pads are there. It's a fashion moment. Absolutely.
So I'm giving Nick Cage in this a personal Nick
Cage rating for me. Guys, this might be my favorite
Nick Cage because of everything that was just
said that Jill added on to me. He's sexy. He
delivers these crazy monologues, which is what
you would expect. He helps carry the movie with
Cher, and Cher won an Oscar, but I think Nick
Cage has the better performance. And I'm giving
it a 5 out of 5. Not the Bs, not the Bs. And
then for the film, you know, it's a romantic
comedy. I had a lot of fun. Good nostalgia for
me. Three and a half out of five pizza pies.
That's the more. That's my rating. Yeah. My next.
Yes. My next movie is is called The Frozen Ground.
The Frozen Ground was interesting. It's on Hulu.
What I will say about the movie is the plot itself
is kind of all over the place. It's based on
a true story. There was a serial killer in Alaska,
raped, killed 17 people. The cast for this movie
was excellent. The main trooper, the Alaskan
state trooper, is obviously Nick Cage. He works
with Dean Norris, who played Hank on Breaking
Bad. As well as you've got John Cusack is the
serial killer. It's like a, they call him the
baker butcher in real life. And then Vanessa
Hudgens is the prostitute that got away. So he
was killing prostitutes. He would take them like
saying they were doing a photo shoot. And he
would basically chain them up, take them to a
cabin in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness,
shoot them dead, leave them in the middle of
the frozen ground. And the whole tension comes
from the prostitute that Vanessa Hutchins plays
is scared to testify against him. And doesn't
want to... So, like, is constantly running away,
constantly, like, being flaky. And basically,
she... could put him away for rape no matter
what. They feel confident about that because
she can say, hey, he raped me, boom. That was
definitely proven. The reason they needed her
is because her testifying gave them reason to
look for evidence and get a warrant and that
kind of stuff. The reason I like this movie,
because overall it was just okay. The movie itself,
I give about 2 .5 out of 5 Frozen Like, glaciers.
Huh? Yes, sure. I'll give it 2 .5 because it
is an interesting story, but at the same time,
like, it's kind of one note. The reason I like
this, though, is it was a very subdued Nick Cage
performance. It's not over the top. There's really
only one scene where he goes all over, and it
kind of makes sense. They have John Cusack in
the interrogation room and he goes bad cop on
him. But it's not the Nick Cage of like, you
murdered her, you raped her, blah, blah, blah.
Like that. It was just more so like, where did
you get this? Where did you find this? Like,
it's a little more... It's subdued. Like I said,
it's a little more realistic in the fact that
he could actually have played a state trooper
in this. And so it's... It's a very slow burn.
It's not like you hear a serial killer. It's
not going to be like an action serial killer
movie. It tries to be kind of like Seven or like
Zodiac, that kind of thing where it's like slower
stuff. Not a whole lot happens, but it's more
the drama of it. But as I said, Nick Cage is
great in it. He's kind of subdued and he just
is not a parody of himself. Overall, I would
say Nick Cage has made this movie better. And
I'm trying to keep this short because the next
one I'm going to talk about, I know I'm going
to rant. So, yes. The next one is a fun one,
let me tell you. So, Jason, we'll go... Huh?
Tell us. Oh, well, wait. You've got a third one
to talk about, buddy. I do. I do have a third
one. So, let me start this off by pointing out,
you know, I watched... Ghost Rider first in this
whole sequence, which it started bad, then went
to hoping for National Treasure, ended up with
National Treasure 2, so not great. I was really
hoping to end on a strong note with one of the
best action heist movies of all time. Still lives
up to this day in Gone in 60 Seconds. However,
I thought I could stream it for free. Turns out
I had to rent it for money, and I figured, well,
if I'm going to pay money, I'm not going to watch
a movie that I've already seen a bunch of times.
So instead, we rented the movie Primal with Nicolas
Cage. And let me tell you this, this is a garbage
movie, but it is also 100 % the reason that Nicolas
Cage will be playing Joe Exotic. Okay. I'm on
board. so this is like i don't even know if you
could call it a b movie it could be a c movie
but it is basically snakes on a plane okay nicholas
cage plays a like hunter who like used to work
at zoos i think he said he like worked at eight
zoos over 10 years so clearly like not good The
movie starts, he has been in the Brazilian rainforest
for 10 months hunting a jaguar, and comes across
this one -of -a -kind white jaguar, and manages
to capture it and puts it on a boat. For some
reason, on the same boat, the NSA is transporting
a former Marine who went off and killed people
or something. Oh, God. Back to America to stand
trial. Okay. Sure enough, this guy, and this
guy is played by Kevin Durant, like, not Kevin
Durant, Kevin Durant, who, like, I couldn't tell
you what role he's played in various movies,
but, like, if you saw this guy's face, you'd
be like, oh, my God, I know that guy. It should
have been Kevin Durant. Yeah. Yeah, this movie
also... Stars, like, Famke Jensen, like, from
the X -Men series. But she literally spends most
of the movie just, like, sitting in a room kind
of thing. And then, like, Michael Imperioli from
The Sopranos is in there as, like, the NSA officer.
And his character literally makes no sense, but
I'll get to that in a second. So the whole plot
of the movie is they're on this boat. And, of
course, like, Kevin Durant, the murderer, like,
escapes, starts killing people. and frees all
of the animals, or a bunch of the animals, that
Nicolas Cage had brought on the boat, including
two incredibly venomous snakes, and the jaguar,
and it's a whole, just basically like, they're
trying to capture this guy, and he ends up killing
all of them, and Michael Imperioli is like, I
need to bring him back alive, he has to stand
trial, and literally there's a guy at one point
who has like, The bad guy in his sights and Michael
Imperioli just like casually stabs him through
the back of the head kind of thing. It's just
like, I need to bring him alive. But that's,
that's his entire arc. But in terms of Nicolas
Cage, it's not good, but it's very consistent.
The entire movie, his character has like one,
one plot point or not a point one. one id that
like powers his character spine and that's he
just doesn't like authority literally the entire
movie is him just going like i don't need to
listen to you that's a jag and that's the that's
his entire wow like it's not a panther it's a
jag oh god i don't need to listen to you i don't
take orders Yeah, this sounds like an award -winning
movie. But again, he plays essentially a Joe
Exotic -type figure thrown into, like, a marine
snakes -on -a -plane situation. Snakes on a boat.
Kinda. Okay. And I would give it, like, and,
like, also the cinematography is horrendous.
Whoever colored this movie should be fired immediately.
Everything is literally one of three colors.
Yeah, it's awful. I would give this one spot
on a white jaguar out of five jaguars. Dang.
Ouch. That hurts. What's the math on that? That
sounds like a very low score. It's a very low
score. Okay, I'll give it... Six dollars, or
negative six dollars, because that's how much
I paid to rent it. I dig it. Mitchell, you have
one more? I do, and it is from 1997, and speaking
of snakes on a plane, I see that movie, and I
raise you with cons on a plane. It is Con Air.
It is one of a long stretch in the 90s when Nicolas
Cage decided, you know what? I got my Oscar.
I'm good to go. I'm going to make some bank and
star in some action movies. And to be honest,
in hindsight. This may have been him trying to
get into shape to be a Superman type. And he
definitely gets pretty jacked up in this movie,
too. And I'm not saying steroids or anything,
but the guy is pulling off the action star look.
For those who have not turned on TBS in the past
20 years, Con Air is the story that is about,
as you would expect from the title, they're a
big plane filled with people who are in jail.
and are hijacking their way off this planet.
It is always on TBS. It is always on TBS, which
is probably how I watched maybe 60 % of this
movie periodically growing up. But this is a
movie that I think knows what it is. So it's
an over -the -top action movie. Late 90s, kind
of my era in terms of the type of action that
we're seeing. There's lots of fire, lots of explosion.
Nothing is subtle here. And it's everything from
even the casting choices. John Cusack is here.
Mike, so it sounds like a reunion with Cusack
and Cage. They love each other. Yeah, I guess
they do. John Malkovich plays the villain, so
that's a lot of fun. And Bing Rames is also here,
as well as a very young Dave Chappelle. And I
completely did not see that scene before, but
he is very much on the plane when they say, welcome
to Con Air. So I'm like, oh, crap, there he is.
So I'm a fan of the movie. It's fun. The thing
that I find interesting about Nicolas Cage is
that this definitely, in my eyes, defines a certain
moment in his filmography where Like I said before,
he's pretty much settled in terms of reaching
the heights of acting and getting that Best Actor
Oscar. And he decides to catch that check and
just go into these big action movies. And I think
he actually pulls them up. It's not any of these
things where he's out here screaming monologues
about missing his hand anymore. He is fitting
into this role of being an action star. I think
it works. He is a lot of fun. It's not like he
completely drains himself of any personality
that we've come to know him as over the previous
10, 15 years of his career. And this is just
a fun movie. This is a fun movie that knows what
it is. Nicolas Cage does exactly what he needs
to do. He flexes his muscles. He cuddles a little
stuff. Bunny rabbit, which is kind of like a
thing throughout the movie. Anyway, it's just
a fun, you know, mid -afternoon on a Sunday kind
of watch. You know, if you have nothing to do,
flip that thing on. Two hours are going to go
by like that. Turn off your brain. It's a good
time. Now, typically, I don't watch those kind
of movies. But when the action is as fun and
over the top as it is here, you just got to sink
your teeth into it. So I do want to end on this
because this whole thing is Nick Cage a good
actor. Let me read you this quote that I come
across in research. Wow. was in an interview
back in 2013, and in that lens, am I saying Nick
Cage is one of my favorite actors? Absolutely
not. Do I enjoy seeing him on screen? Kind of
depends on the movie. And that's what I've come
to realize. I think he is a good actor. I think
he is really good at that one thing, and that
is going over the top and maniacal. having the
right direction or the right project to express
that side of himself in is what matters here
so i think he is a good actor he may not be a
chameleon he's not daniel day lewis i'm not saying
that but he is entertaining and that is part
of being a film actor and you can say the same
thing about marlon brando he is you know he lights
up the screen and he makes choices just the way
nicholas cage makes choices and this whole obsession
with naturalism part I think is carried on into
tradition of younger guys like Ryan Gosling,
who is a very internal actor, who's one of my
favorite actors. But I could totally see that
as the antithesis of a guy like Nick Cage, who
people love to shit on because of a string of
awful movies that he's been a part of. But maybe
it's not always his fault. It's just he's being
used the wrong way, and the dude's, let's face
it, desperate for money. So I'm very excited
to see him as Joe Exotic. I can't wait to see
it. And, you know, after this little exercise
we've gone through, I think he is a good actor.
I'm not saying he's great. I think he is a good
actor who makes choices. And sometimes that's
all I'm asking for, is someone to actually make
something entertaining out of nothing, breathe
some life into a project. And Nicolas Cage will
do that. So I am pro -Nick Cage as far as this
podcast goes. My friends and I have a Twitter
feed that we do. We've watched enough bad movies
that we've kind of, you know, you start to see
the same faces popping up. And I coined like
a saying where it's just like it needs a little
bit of curry, as in Tim Curry. Doesn't matter
how bad. the movie is. What about Steph? No comment.
No comment. This is 100 % in reference to Tim
Curry. And I'm not trying to say that Tim Curry
is like Nicolas Cage. They are very human actors.
However, similar to what you're saying that,
you know, if you know he's going to be in something,
you still kind of want to watch it. There is
a certain something that they bring to the film.
They lift it up. It doesn't matter if the production
is bad, if the writing and pacing is horrible.
It's let them loose and whatever we're going
to end up with, at least for those 5, 10, 15
minutes worth of time, it's fun or at least interesting.
Absolutely. And I think we saw even a couple
moments like that in The Trust. Yeah. I'm like,
oh, that is a weird way to say those words. Or
that montage where he's infiltrating whatever
it is, where he's being chummy with the people
at the casino or wherever. Oh, yes. Right, right,
right, right. You know, and getting in on it.
Like, that is fun. Like, he's also, he's a physical
actor, too. Yep. So, yeah, you know, he brings
a little curry to the thing. A little curry.
A little curry. Well, then I'll finish it with
a terrible one. Bring it down. We're going to
talk about Next. If you know nothing about Next,
he plays Chris Johnson, which is the... The running
back? no the most terrible name for an action
hero ever um who also it's so bad yeah and he's
also a magician that has a show where he's frank
cadillac that's a stage name because of his two
favorite things frankenstein and cadillacs wow
yeah um so what chris johnson can do is he can
see in the future two minutes ahead as long as
it affects him personally And then he can change
things so that it doesn't affect him in certain
ways. The only thing he is seeing longer than
two minutes is Jessica Biel at this diner. And
so every day he goes to this diner to see her
to try to figure out why. Also, Julianne Moore
is in it as an FBI agent that is trying to use
him to stop a nuclear bomb from hitting Arizona.
You know, because that's how you do it. Basically,
one of the things that happens is he kind of...
The only scene I actually liked in this movie
was when he was actually at the diner and he
kind of went through these scenarios to talk
to Jessica Biel. And it was kind of like, okay,
he struck out in that one, so he's not going
to do that one. Okay, he did well in this one,
so he's going to do that. You know, like that
kind of stuff. And that was kind of a fun little
scene. But at the same time... They don't understand
how long two minutes is. Because that scene...
Nice. The Dragon Ball Z two minutes? Yeah, it's
like a Dragon Ball Z two minutes. Where it's
like... Are they screaming at the top of their
lungs? No. Is that what you meant, Andre? No.
So they'll have two minutes that last for like
six minutes, and then they'll have two minutes
that last for like a minute. And it's kind of
like, okay, what? That kind of stuff? basically
convinces Jessica Biel to drive him to Flagstaff.
They get stuck, so they have to stay at a hotel,
obviously fall in love right away, have sex,
and then these events happen where he sees the
future again, and Jessica Biel gets abducted
by the terrorists, strapped to a bomb vest, and
gets blown up. And so he's trying to prevent
that from happening, So that he can figure out
why he sees her in the future more than two minutes.
And then Julianne Moore is trying to use him
to try to figure out where this nuclear bomb
is. The end of the movie is what I'm going to
talk about. Because he saves Jessica Biel. They
are standing at the edge of this building. And
he goes, oh no, I made a mistake. And Julianne
Moore's like, what? You made a mistake. He goes,
I made a mistake. Grabs Jessica Biel. Nuclear
bomb goes off. Okay. And then he ends up back
in bed with Jessica Biel. It was all a dream.
And so he calls Julianne Moore's character and
goes, I will help you. You just have to leave
her out of it. And then half of the movie is
not actually. Yeah. Okay. And basically he tells
Jessica Biel, like, I will come back for you,
whether it's weeks or a month or whatever. I
will find you. I just need to do this. And then
credits roll. That is the cheapest ending of
all time. It's terrible. There is a way to do
that fake out. Look at Jacob's ladder. I'm not
going to spoil it. No, but I'm not saying what
happened. Literally just did. Pretty much did.
Or have I? There are ways to do this. Wait, Mitchell,
did you say Jason's Ladder? Hold up. I heard
Jason's Ladder. It's not cinematic classic Jason's
Ladder. Wait, what ladder are we talking about?
Jacob's Ladder. I've never heard of this. Oh
my god. If you like horror, Check out Jacob's
Ladder. It inspired pretty much a lot of Silent
Hill, the video game. Yeah. It is a fantastic
film. I've never seen a scarier thing than the...
Andre, is that the pre -Silent Hill 2 or something
like that? Or... You're talking about E .T.?
Yes. The hallway game? Yeah, that's that. That's
either for a Silent Hill game, yes. So, Jacob's
Ladder is more the OG Silent Hill. So, like,
Silent Hill 1 and 2. Mostly one. But it's just
a fantastic film. It's got a really good... Yo,
Tim Robbins is in this shit. Yeah. What are we
talking about? Oh, yeah, the ending. Right, okay.
Anyway, I'm just saying there's a good way to
do this plot device and it infuriates me when
it's just like everything you just watched for
the last hour, 45 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes,
doesn't matter. I immediately messaged our group
and was just like, I have this passion of Fiery
Sun for how much I hated this. Like, I was so
pissed off at this movie. Plus, it's just, Nick
Cage is bored the entire movie. It's not, he's
just walking through it. And so this is the only
movie, because I'll spoil it, I have him as a
good actor. This is the only movie that made
me sit here going like, maybe he isn't a good
actor. But, alright. He needed it really badly.
In a word, good bad actor. You have to say good
or bad. We'll go Jill and Andre. Good. Jason?
Sorry, I couldn't get off mute for a second.
I can only say good or bad? Only say good or
bad. Good. So you would say middle of the road,
probably. He has the capability to be good. Okay.
And then Mitchell, you said good? By the quality
of work that he's in, but he also has the capability
to be very dab. Yes. Pick an era of Nicolas Cage
as a moving target on good or bad. True. Mitchell,
you would say good? We take your first word because
I said in a word. Yep, good. And then I'm saying
good. So that is our cage match episode of Game
for a Movie. I was like, he made it on top. He
made it out pretty okay. He made it out alright,
yeah. We'll have to find another thing for us
to do for our next episode if we're still going
to be in quarantine. But thank you guys for stopping
by. Jason, thank you for being our special guest
and watching all those Nick Cage movies. slash
coming up with a cast yeah it was a it's been
a rough week yeah that's rough god we'll have
to get something better but thank you guys you
can delete that dude i just watched the i just
watched the trailer it looks amazing It's amazing.
It's really, really good. I'm just saying, though,
I can delete it from the podcast. I can't delete
it from my mind. Yes. I guess you're just going
to have to watch the film to see what all the
hub -a -loo is about. Yeah. Well, thank you guys
very much. This was Game for a Movie, where we
ask, are you game for a movie?