It's very difficult to provoke my wife. By and large, Tina, and by extension (if only for the benefit of this short entry, the point of which we will be coming to shortly) my mother-in-law are the very picture of rationality, grace, and generosity.
Except when it comes to Nicolas Cage. When it comes to the subject of the Oscar-award winner for most ridiculous hair extensions in major studio releases, these two otherwise level-headed ladies can't help but dish out the vitriol.
One might be tempted to lump Nicolas Cage in with another polarizing Hollywood phenomenon like David Caruso. But unlike Caruso, whose impact on the thespic arts is negligible due to his insistence on punctuating every scene, regardless of dramatic effect or context with his eponymous sunglasses, Nicolas Cage is actually considered by many to be a rather talented actor.
As Nathan Rabin observed in his article on Cage's embarrassing, yet strangely compelling sexual thriller, Zandalee, Nicolas Cage is a brave actor, which is not always the best outcome for movies, or moviegoers in general:
A lot of people dislike Nicolas Cage because he makes so many terrible movies and does things like name his son Kal-El. I, on the other hand, love the guy. Think of all the gutsy, unforgettable performances he’s given through the years in movies like Valley Girl, Rumble Fish, Raising Arizona, Moonstruck, Red Rock West, Leaving Las Vegas, Face/Off, Bringing Out The Dead, Adaptation, Matchstick Men, The Weather Man, and Lord Of War. That’s lifetime-pass credentials for sure. And his Werner Herzog Bad Lieutenant movie promises to be great, wonderfully terrible, or both.
Like R. Kelly, even when Cage is terrible, he’s pretty terrific. You could even argue that when he’s terrible, Cage is especially awesome, on multiple levels. He’s a legitimately great actor. He’s also a great bad actor, a great crazy actor, and a great over-actor.
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, Cage’s primary criteria for choosing roles seemed to be:
How ridiculous will my accent be? Will it sound like a dialect never spoken by anyone, ever, in the history of time?
How about facial hair? Can it look like fake hair haphazardly placed on me by a blind man with an odd sense of humor?
Will I be called upon to shamelessly overact or go completely fucking nuts?
What do you think?
Enjoy! Or not.
3 comments:
Hahahahaha
I wonder if you can say it was so bad it was good? ;P I do not like him but must admit I did like Raising Arizona.
You have a lot in common with my wife then. She loathes him, but loves the movie "Guarding Tess" with Shirley Maclaine.
Love-hate relationships are infuriating, but fun for the observer. :D
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