SCFZ

This week, Nicolas Kim Coppola is turning 57!

greg x wrote:Well, I'm generally not a "celebrity" guy, but sometimes you just gotta celebrate the real legends of cinema history.

I mean I'd prefer skipping choosing yet another director and just polling the best Nic Cage films, but this is Flip's baby, so I'll play by his rules and pick one of his directors instead and just look forward to a chance to do a Cage poll some other time.

What the hell, I'm doing dry January this month so I need some kind of distraction and what better way than to celebrate the real legend of cinema history?

I will do the tallying but will borrow flip's rules seeing as everyone is familiar with them already. Dude's got 111 movies and I've somehow only seen 17 of them but would like to go beyond a top 5 so we can do the extended rules, up to 10 films each.

The rules:

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Tuesday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline up to three days, if someone requests an extension

we'll use the extended rules for this poll:

• if you have seen an odd number of Cage films, you can round up instead of down when determining the length of your ballot (e.g. if you have seen 7, you can list 4 films instead of the usual 3)

• if you have seen more than 10 Cage films, your ballot can extend beyond 5 films (e.g. if you have seen 13, you can list up to 7)
However, the max number allowed in total is 10 even if you've seen 21+.

Only question is really whether we should rank the films as films or the films in terms of Cage performances within them, I could see the reasoning behind either, so I'll leave it up to the community to rank them as they see fit.

MrCarmady wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 9:23 pmwhether we should rank the films as films or the films in terms of Cage performances within them

the latter imo cuz the greatest film ever made with a 30sec cage cameo should def not win such a poll, but per the rules ymmv

Yeah, I tend to agree. For my part, I LOOOVE Rumble Fish but I don't think of it as a Cage movie, so here's my top 9 for now, will use the opportunity to get to a full top 10 for sure:

Vampire's Kiss
Face/Off
Bad Lieutenant
Wild At Heart
Con Air
Leaving Las Vegas
Raising Arizona
Red Rock West
Snake Eyes
HM: The Rock, Lord of War, Mandy

LEAVING LAS VEGAS
MOONSTRUCK
RAISING ARIZONA
KISS OF DEATH
BRINGING OUT THE DEAD
COTTON CLUB

Good old Nic Cage. He's kind of gone off the rails, no doubt, but nothing can dim for me his very best work, which it seems is increasingly far behind him. Whatever. I'll take his statement in MOONSTRUCK that Marc Chagall was "having some fun" over numerous other actors' entire career output.

EDIT -- how can I have forgotten his magnificent work in KISS OF DEATH as Little Junior Brown, the psychotic asthmatic body-builder who bench-presses strippers and gives lectures on personal growth. One of the joys of 1990s film acting.

seen 9

raising arizona
leaving las vegas
adaptation.

I'm kinda sad he's largely a meme now.. because I unironically really like him as a performer. The memes are funny too though.

Seen 26.

Wild At Heart
Snake Eyes
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call-New Orleans
Adaptation
Bringing Out The Dead
Face/Off
Raising Arizona
The Weatherman
Dog Eat Dog

Oh boy! I am excite! Now I just have to figure out which Cages get the nod. (I'm going with best Cage movies, not best movies with Nic.)

I was kinda bummed out by the memeing at first since I also unironically like him, but I gotta admit some of that liking comes from his need to go to excess at times, which goes beyond most normal measures of irony or liking in the usual mild sense, so the memes kinda make sense in recognizing how unusual he is as an actor, to whatever end. I haven't seen many of his more recent films, but I don't think that Cage has made any of the 51 movies I've seen of his worse for being in them, and some he's the only reason they're interesting at all.

Holymanm is CONSTANTLY trying to get me to watch Nicolas Cage movies, yet according to Letterboxd I have only seen 8.

Kick-Ass
Rumble Fish

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Raising Arizona
The Rock
Snake Eyes
Con Air
Moonstruck
Wild at Heart

I really liked the performance of the denim jacket he wore in Red Rock West, it was actually the other way around, it wore him.

Yeah, I think a lot of the meming stems from ignorance, some numpty watching an out of context clip from Vampire's Kiss and deciding it's hilarious, then patting themselves on the back for being above it, when in fact Cage's performance in it is highly calibrated to be exactly what Minion's script demands and is only excessive in so far as the character himself is. Unsurprisingly, great directors like Lynch, Herzog, and the Coen Bros know exactly what to do with Cage and those films end up being quite well received, trouble is that while he gives every role 110%, he is not great at picking projects and especially in the second half of his career just ends up in bad films that even he can't rescue.

On the watch-list, who knows how many I'll manage to actually watch before I tally this:
Bringing Out the Dead
Moonstruck
Matchstick Men
Peggy Sue Got Married
Valley Girl
It Could Happen to You
The Weather Man
8MM
Color Out of Space

Seen 51

Wild at Heart
Lord of War
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans
Adaptation.
Raising Arizona
Matchstick Men
Bringing Out the Dead
Joe
Red Rock West
Face/Off

damn! i had missed marking a few seen so i've got 25 now and i have to go with sentimental favorites

moonstruck
raising arizona
face/off
con air
valley girl
peggy sue got married
red rock west
wild at heart

this is peak nic cage for me. plus he gets to play an italian which doesn't happen often

https://youtu.be/ji9C_R6HLvg


he was in the cotton club? cuz i don't remember that at all. i know i can list more but i'll stop there i think

haven't seen any of his films of the last ten years. gave up after the bad lieutenant

Yeep, I've only seen him in three movies. Not qualified to vote.

ooh ooh can we do keanu next

I’ve seen 18 apparently.

Face/off
Raising Arizona
Con air
Leaving Las Vegas
Bringing out the dead
Wild at heart
Snake eyes
The rock
Mandy

FLABREZU wrote: ↑Tue Jan 05, 2021 10:45 pm Holymanm is CONSTANTLY trying to get me to watch Nicolas Cage movies, yet according to Letterboxd I have only seen 8.

well listen to him sir

rischka wrote: ↑Wed Jan 06, 2021 12:54 am ooh ooh can we do keanu next

only if we can all agree to put bill and ted's bogus journey on top

seen 22 apparently, not intentionally, truly can't stand cage, so ranking based on my opinion of the films (about half of which i gave one star on letterboxd, so i don't like many of the below), not the performances

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (Werner Herzog, 2009)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Amy Heckerling, 1982)
Adaptation (Spike Jonze, 2002)
Snowden (Oliver Stone, 2016)
Wild at Heart (David Lynch, 1990)
Raising Arizona (Coen Brothers, 1987)
Kick-Ass (Matthew Vaughn, 2010)
Matchstick Men (Ridley Scott, 2003)
Dog Eat Dog (Paul Schrader, 2016)
Moonstruck (Norman Jewison, 1987)

I like Nic Cage. I gather that his reputation is mixed, but I've only seen 10, skipping most of the junk, so I can only recall the heights of his career. I'll vote for three; the first two at least are brilliant performances:

1. Matchstick Men
2. Wild at Heart
3. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

MrCarmady wrote: ↑Wed Jan 06, 2021 1:36 am

rischka wrote: ↑Wed Jan 06, 2021 12:54 am ooh ooh can we do keanu next

only if we can all agree to put bill and ted's bogus journey on top

ok never mind

When I checked that I’ve seen 51 films from Cage, I assumed that it was the most of any actor for me. But I checked four other actors and I’ve seen more by all of them:

Samuel L. Jackson - 71
Robert De Niro - 63
Bruce Willis - 62
Morgan Freeman - 52

Looks like adaptation won't win. That's insane. You are all insane

now, reading about his reputation being mixed and insane people gathering around this forum, i guess i can finally admit i can't stand him (i can't even utter his name — he drives me crazy!).
i remember, when i finished watching "Wild at Heart" i was almost shocked i was NOT aversed to him during or instantly after the film (on the contrary, he seemed almost cool — SHOCKING!).
however, i firmly believe it was due to Laura Dern's immense charm that his annoying characteristics were in this particular case suppressed.

1. Wild at Heart

the rest is as bad as the utterly bad "Bad Lieutenant" or worse — i expect (i don't need to watch each and every film with him to reassure myself he is annoying).
am i blind or we don't have here vomiting smilies???
p.s. no offense to anyone fond of him.
p.s.p.s. i am okay with Keanu Reeves.

Don't really want to add ones where he was great, but the movie was meh - Mandy, Wild at Heart, Lord of War - because then that would mean having to rank all the ones I liked by his performance alone too, and that could get pretty out of WHACK. So just favourite movies with him starring in them (no Fast Times, Rumble Fish, etc.)

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (Werner Herzog, 2009)
Face/Off (John Woo, 1997)
8MM (Joel Schumacher, 1999)
Mom and Dad (Brian Taylor, 2017)
Vampire's Kiss (Robert Bierman, 1988)
It Could Happen to You (Andrew Bergman, 1994)
Adaptation (Spike Jonze, 2002)
Peggy Sue Got Married (Francis Ford Coppola, 1986)
Raising Arizona (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, 1987)

Seen 36

1. Adaptation
2. Snake Eyes
3. Raising Arizona
4. Leaving Las Vegas
5. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
6. Bringing Out the Dead
7. Wild at Heart
8. Drive Angry
9. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
10. Moonstruck

keep making ballots for this one, but it's tough. some flicks i just don't like (the family man, leaving las vegas, wild at heart), but the cage perfs in them are decent

also, agree with the curtis that adaptation. is probs cage at his best (though i've seen only 21 of the 111(!!!) movies that the dude has been in)

a wonderful, wonderful actor, always great no matter the material, the directing or what his co-stars are doing.

I'm going to vote for best films, not best performances, cause I can't individually remember every performance of his I've seen (most were brilliant anyway), but I can remember all the films.

01. Wild at Heart (David Lynch, 1990)
02. Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis, 1995)
03. Snake Eyes (Brian De Palma, 1998)
04. City of Angels (Brad Silberling, 1998)
05. Adaptation. (Spike Jonze, 2002)
06. Bringing out the Dead (Martin Scorsese, 1999)
07. It Could happen to You (Andrew Bergamn, 1994)
08. Racing with the Moon (Richard benjamin, 1984)
09. Between Worlds (Maria Pulera, 2018)
10. Vengeance: A Love Story (Johnny Martin, 2017)

Cage seen: 41

Would be fun if this poll was run after Nic's new film with Sono: https://letterboxd.com/film/prisoners-of-the-ghostland/

Adaptation.
Red Rock West
Raising Arizona