Guys.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Suburbian nightmare
Amos and Andrew (1993)
From the Netflix jacket:
"Racial stereotypes get skewered 1990s style in this satire from director E. Max Frye."
This was our first clue that this was gonna be a tough one. "1990s style?" What does that even mean? we wondered. Are the stereotypes going to be skewered by bad fashion and grunge music? Or were the 90s a particularly notable time for skewering racial stereotypes? Who writes these things?
After watching it, I still don't really know what that phrase means, or how it relates to this movie. So the whole thing basically revolves around one joke: Samuel L. Jackson moves into an affluent, all-white neighborhood and is subsequently mistaken to be a burglar. Cause he's black. So then when they realize their mistake the dumbass police have to cover their tracks by striking a deal with a criminal (Cage) so that he will go in there and pretend he actually was holding Jackson hostage the whole time.
It's not a bad joke, really. Kinda. But unfortunately, this is not a 5 minute Saturday Night Live sketch, this is a full, 96 minute movie. How did they they manage to fill up all that time, you may ask? Cue the bumbling cops, nosy attention-grubbing neighbors, and white criminal vs. black good guy shenanigans. It doesn't work. It doesn't "skewer" anything. It's pretty painful in fact, and despite being about 91 minutes too long, doesn't even have a real ending.
Both Nicolas Cage and Samuel Jackson do all right, I guess, considering what they have to work with. And really, this little stinker for SJ is no biggie, considering the next year he was going to go on to totally kick ass in Pulp Fiction. Unfortunately, Nic in 1994, not so much, but that's another post.
cory says.... hands down the worst movie so far.... at least in firebirds he had a couple scenes where he flipped out. this movie just set the bar on the ground.
But wait! Don't completely write this movie off, because without it Sir Mixalot would never have been commissioned to write its theme song (and, incidentally, create a new word) which plays through the credits and is quite a gem.
You think I'm joking?
From the Netflix jacket:
"Racial stereotypes get skewered 1990s style in this satire from director E. Max Frye."
This was our first clue that this was gonna be a tough one. "1990s style?" What does that even mean? we wondered. Are the stereotypes going to be skewered by bad fashion and grunge music? Or were the 90s a particularly notable time for skewering racial stereotypes? Who writes these things?
After watching it, I still don't really know what that phrase means, or how it relates to this movie. So the whole thing basically revolves around one joke: Samuel L. Jackson moves into an affluent, all-white neighborhood and is subsequently mistaken to be a burglar. Cause he's black. So then when they realize their mistake the dumbass police have to cover their tracks by striking a deal with a criminal (Cage) so that he will go in there and pretend he actually was holding Jackson hostage the whole time.
It's not a bad joke, really. Kinda. But unfortunately, this is not a 5 minute Saturday Night Live sketch, this is a full, 96 minute movie. How did they they manage to fill up all that time, you may ask? Cue the bumbling cops, nosy attention-grubbing neighbors, and white criminal vs. black good guy shenanigans. It doesn't work. It doesn't "skewer" anything. It's pretty painful in fact, and despite being about 91 minutes too long, doesn't even have a real ending.
Both Nicolas Cage and Samuel Jackson do all right, I guess, considering what they have to work with. And really, this little stinker for SJ is no biggie, considering the next year he was going to go on to totally kick ass in Pulp Fiction. Unfortunately, Nic in 1994, not so much, but that's another post.
cory says.... hands down the worst movie so far.... at least in firebirds he had a couple scenes where he flipped out. this movie just set the bar on the ground.
But wait! Don't completely write this movie off, because without it Sir Mixalot would never have been commissioned to write its theme song (and, incidentally, create a new word) which plays through the credits and is quite a gem.
You think I'm joking?
Monday, April 26, 2010
the kling klang king of the rim ram room
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
There is no denying that this is a great movie with an amazing performance by Nicolas Cage. You can practically Feel his pain as you watch him physically degenerating.
Ok, that said, I have three problems with this one. First and foremost, THE MUSIC. It is sooo loud, and the same songs play over and over and over. It's incredibly distracting and odd and the songs themselves (sung by Sting, Don Henley, and Michael McDonald) just do not date well.
Second, I don't understand why Sera kicks Ben out after she finds him with the hooker. Seems to me like the whole premise of the movie is how they accept each other as they are...but then, she doesn't really. I don't know...maybe I'm missing something, but every time I watch this movie I always feel like that part is just there to add some drama...drama that I don't really think is necessary for the story.
Third, the sex scene at the end. I mean, it's definitely portrayed as sick and sad, as it should be. However, I just don't think that it's realistic to think that it could even happen at all. I mean, in real life I have a hard time believing that he could even come close to, er, performing...not to mention if he was really that far into the dt's he'd probably be pretty gross, personal hygiene-wise, and sex would probably be the last thing on either of their minds. I know, I know, it's a movie, not reality, but up to that point it is a pretty darn realistic movie, and then there is that scene and i just think "oh, Hollywood."
All that said, it's a very well done movie, and I'm glad Cory got to see it (I can't believe he hadn't already).
cory says... I'm not joking here... I didn't really feel depressed watching this (other than the rape scene). I found it to be somewhat playful in a twisted way. I thought the acting was excellent, and it seemed like they had a good time making this. I agree the music is fucking terrible.
Hmm.
I really want to read the book now. Did you know that the author was an alcoholic too, and killed himself two weeks after learning his book was going to be made into a movie? Sad stuff.
By the way, whatever happened to Elisabeth Shue?
A nice surprise
Yay! It made me so happy to sign in today and see some comments today. Blogging can feel a lot like talking to yourself after awhile, and even though i put that viewcounter thingy on here it's still NOIICE to have evidence from actual feedback that people are reading. So, thanks!
Plus, we've been pretty hermity lately, what with the not drinking and all, so lame as it may sound, it's nice to have a little contact with the outside world. Speaking of, since May 1 is Saturday, this was our last full weekend of Sober April. I think we're both pretty darn ready to be done with That part of the project. It's been nice to have some time to reset and relax, but the weather has been pretty beerific these days, and we're ready to join in the fun.
Now, on to the movies.
Red Rock West (1993)
This was one of those that we knew nothing about, and were pleasantly surprised by. It wasn't amazing or anything, just an interesting mystery, with decent acting and writing, not too long, not too flashy or boring. Nicolas Cage is a cowboy from Texas also, so he gets to throw in a little twang, which is interesting.
Dennis Hopper is also in it. If you're like us, you're thinking "Dennis Hopper and Nicolas Cage OMG ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN!" But actually, they're both very subdued. Which actually works in this movie but, you know, is still a bit of a bummer.
Plus, we've been pretty hermity lately, what with the not drinking and all, so lame as it may sound, it's nice to have a little contact with the outside world. Speaking of, since May 1 is Saturday, this was our last full weekend of Sober April. I think we're both pretty darn ready to be done with That part of the project. It's been nice to have some time to reset and relax, but the weather has been pretty beerific these days, and we're ready to join in the fun.
Now, on to the movies.
Red Rock West (1993)
This was one of those that we knew nothing about, and were pleasantly surprised by. It wasn't amazing or anything, just an interesting mystery, with decent acting and writing, not too long, not too flashy or boring. Nicolas Cage is a cowboy from Texas also, so he gets to throw in a little twang, which is interesting.
Dennis Hopper is also in it. If you're like us, you're thinking "Dennis Hopper and Nicolas Cage OMG ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN!" But actually, they're both very subdued. Which actually works in this movie but, you know, is still a bit of a bummer.
cory says... this review makes it sound only mediocre, but I think it was a very good movie.. then again we've been watching some really really bad stuff!!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Rockin' good news
Wild at Heart (1990)
Really fun and rather straightforward (for David Lynch) film. A rebel-love story/road movie. Nic has an Elvis thing going that I could watch all day, and Laura Dern is the sex pot love stricken 20 year old. Willem Defoe is creepy/awesome too.
Great movie and Cage killin it.
Really fun and rather straightforward (for David Lynch) film. A rebel-love story/road movie. Nic has an Elvis thing going that I could watch all day, and Laura Dern is the sex pot love stricken 20 year old. Willem Defoe is creepy/awesome too.
Great movie and Cage killin it.
Three-way
Man, we had a run of some dull movies this weekend.
Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)
Pretty straight-forward rom-com. I'm yawning just thinking about it. Nic gets to dress as Elvis at the end though, which I bet he liked.
Zandalee (1991)
Judge Reinhold produced this one, and he's also the star. And the keywords on IMDB are:
poet, friend, erotica, tank top, jogging.
So, there ya go.
Check out Nic's crazy hair!
Lots of nudity. Those are the good parts.
Cotton Club (1984)
Nic Cage is a minor character. He kills some kids. Cool costumes, but pretty bland as far as stuff happening.
Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)
Pretty straight-forward rom-com. I'm yawning just thinking about it. Nic gets to dress as Elvis at the end though, which I bet he liked.
Zandalee (1991)
Judge Reinhold produced this one, and he's also the star. And the keywords on IMDB are:
poet, friend, erotica, tank top, jogging.
So, there ya go.
Check out Nic's crazy hair!
Lots of nudity. Those are the good parts.
Cotton Club (1984)
Nic Cage is a minor character. He kills some kids. Cool costumes, but pretty bland as far as stuff happening.
"Suck my tongue"
Face/Off (1997)
Um, this movie is totally gross. So, I had heard of it before, and knew it involved some sort of identity switch, but somehow I never knew that this identity switch actually involves FACE TRANSPLANTING. EWWW!
A shame, because I really liked what Nicolas Cage was doing with his character Before his face was switched and he had to act like John Travolta. Actually, I can't help thinking that it would have been a much better movie as just a straight up revenge flick, with no squidgy face-switching involved. Then we could have had more of this:
Right?
Um, this movie is totally gross. So, I had heard of it before, and knew it involved some sort of identity switch, but somehow I never knew that this identity switch actually involves FACE TRANSPLANTING. EWWW!
A shame, because I really liked what Nicolas Cage was doing with his character Before his face was switched and he had to act like John Travolta. Actually, I can't help thinking that it would have been a much better movie as just a straight up revenge flick, with no squidgy face-switching involved. Then we could have had more of this:
Right?
Monday, April 19, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
The List
Cory made this list, so I thought I'd give y'all a mid-month update:
Season of the Witch (2010)
Kick-Ass (2010)
Astro Boy (2009) (voice)
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)
G-Force (2009) (voice)
Knowing (2009)
Bangkok Dangerous (2008)
National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
Next (2007)
Grindhouse (2007) only in a mock trailer
Ghost Rider (2007)
The Wicker Man (2006)
World Trade Center (2006)
The Ant Bully (2006) (voice)
The Weather Man (2005)
Lord of War (2005)
National Treasure (2004)
Matchstick Men (2003)
Adaptation. (2002)
Sonny (2002)
Windtalkers (2002)
Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001) (voice)
Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
The Family Man (2000)
Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
8MM (1999)
Snake Eyes (1998)
City of Angels (1998)
Face/Off (1997)
Con Air (1997)
The Rock (1996)
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Kiss of Death (1995/I)
Trapped in Paradise (1994)
It Could Happen to You (1994)
Guarding Tess (1994)
Deadfall (1993) ✓
Red Rock West (1993)
Amos & Andrew (1993)
Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)
Zandalee (1991)
Wild at Heart (1990)
Fire Birds (1990) ✓
Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted (1990) (TV)
Tempo di uccidere aka Time to Kill (1989) ✓
Vampire's Kiss (1988) ✓
Never on Tuesday (1988) (uncredited) .... Man in Red Sports Car
Moonstruck (1987) ✓
Raising Arizona (1987) ✓
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) ✓
The Boy in Blue (1986) ✓
Birdy (1984) ✓
The Cotton Club (1984)
Racing with the Moon (1984) ✓
Rumble Fish (1983) ✓
Valley Girl (1983) ✓
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) ✓
There are 58 total, and we are going to watch 51 of them. Good grief. We've only watched 13.
Our list to watch includes Kick-Ass (see below), but not Season of the Witch, since there's no release date on that. It also doesn't include some other ones. We decided to skip Never on Tuesday, since he's just an uncredited "Man in Red Sports Car." Maybe it's a good movie, but not really pertinent to our mission. We also decided to skip the Christmas Carol movie, G-Force, and The Ant Bully, where he just does voices for animated characters. Animated movies are for sissies. And we're skipping Grindhouse because he's just in a mock trailer; again, not really pertinent to the task at hand (although I've never seen it and really want to, so I am trying to put it on a mental list to watch later).
We included Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted in the total because a tv movie/musical directed by David Lynch, starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern with music by Julee Cruise (Twin Peaks) sounds totally rad, but it's pretty hard to find, so we're not holding our breath.
We're still trying to stick with chronology, but sometimes we can't, and that's ok with us.
By the way, we really need to say THANK YOU to John Morrow for pretty much being our sponsor for this whole thing. He's burned us so many movies! I think he's almost as excited as we are about all this. Almost.
So what's next for the Cage-meisters? Field Trip! Kick-Ass opens at the Alamo at 12 a.m. Guess who's gonna be there, balcony-style? We're committed, people!
Season of the Witch (2010)
Kick-Ass (2010)
Astro Boy (2009) (voice)
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)
G-Force (2009) (voice)
Knowing (2009)
Bangkok Dangerous (2008)
National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
Next (2007)
Grindhouse (2007) only in a mock trailer
Ghost Rider (2007)
The Wicker Man (2006)
World Trade Center (2006)
The Ant Bully (2006) (voice)
The Weather Man (2005)
Lord of War (2005)
National Treasure (2004)
Matchstick Men (2003)
Adaptation. (2002)
Sonny (2002)
Windtalkers (2002)
Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001) (voice)
Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
The Family Man (2000)
Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
8MM (1999)
Snake Eyes (1998)
City of Angels (1998)
Face/Off (1997)
Con Air (1997)
The Rock (1996)
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Kiss of Death (1995/I)
Trapped in Paradise (1994)
It Could Happen to You (1994)
Guarding Tess (1994)
Deadfall (1993) ✓
Red Rock West (1993)
Amos & Andrew (1993)
Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)
Zandalee (1991)
Wild at Heart (1990)
Fire Birds (1990) ✓
Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted (1990) (TV)
Tempo di uccidere aka Time to Kill (1989) ✓
Vampire's Kiss (1988) ✓
Never on Tuesday (1988) (uncredited) .... Man in Red Sports Car
Moonstruck (1987) ✓
Raising Arizona (1987) ✓
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) ✓
The Boy in Blue (1986) ✓
Birdy (1984) ✓
The Cotton Club (1984)
Racing with the Moon (1984) ✓
Rumble Fish (1983) ✓
Valley Girl (1983) ✓
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) ✓
There are 58 total, and we are going to watch 51 of them. Good grief. We've only watched 13.
Our list to watch includes Kick-Ass (see below), but not Season of the Witch, since there's no release date on that. It also doesn't include some other ones. We decided to skip Never on Tuesday, since he's just an uncredited "Man in Red Sports Car." Maybe it's a good movie, but not really pertinent to our mission. We also decided to skip the Christmas Carol movie, G-Force, and The Ant Bully, where he just does voices for animated characters. Animated movies are for sissies. And we're skipping Grindhouse because he's just in a mock trailer; again, not really pertinent to the task at hand (although I've never seen it and really want to, so I am trying to put it on a mental list to watch later).
We included Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted in the total because a tv movie/musical directed by David Lynch, starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern with music by Julee Cruise (Twin Peaks) sounds totally rad, but it's pretty hard to find, so we're not holding our breath.
We're still trying to stick with chronology, but sometimes we can't, and that's ok with us.
By the way, we really need to say THANK YOU to John Morrow for pretty much being our sponsor for this whole thing. He's burned us so many movies! I think he's almost as excited as we are about all this. Almost.
So what's next for the Cage-meisters? Field Trip! Kick-Ass opens at the Alamo at 12 a.m. Guess who's gonna be there, balcony-style? We're committed, people!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
sculling and heeleeocopters
The Boy in Blue (1986)
Those are the opening credits for The Boy in Blue, which we watched on Sunday. As you can see, the movie is about the Riveting sport of SCULLING! (which, incidentally, was a word in a crossword I did on Saturday. The cosmos are aligning for Cage and me.) Also, as you can see, Nicolas Cage is Ripped in this movie. Sculling is hard, and you need muscles.
So this movie is about Ned Hanlan. What? You've never heard of him? Well, he was a great Canadian sculler, who against all odds won a bunch of championships and proved everyone wrong and got the girl and...yeah, it's that story. But, as far as formulaic biopics go, it was pretty harmless. Watchable. I'm not sure if it stays true to real events or not; I started to do some research and it seemed like the director had taken some artistic license but I stopped before I got too involved because I realized I didn't care that much. But I Did find out that there is a statue of him in Toronto, and it looks like this, which is pretty awesome.
Fire Birds (1986)
Fire Birds is Top Gun with Helicopters, and Goose doesn't die. In fact we kept hoping one of the characters would die so we could start to feel something, anything, for ANY of the characters. It made us long for the Nic Cage of the 80's. Here is the best scene and it is yawnsville compared to even the most boring scenes from VAMPIRE'S KISS!
There is also a pretty good air kick when he's pissed at his ex-fiance. And Tommy Lee Jones pronounces the word "helicopter" as "heeleeocopter." What's up with that?
But that's it. I think this one is definitely the worst so far. Cory thinks Moonstruck was worse, but that's probably because he's a boy and boys like action movies and girls like romantic comedies. Or something like that. But seriously, it is terrible. Bad plot, bad script, and bad acting...even by our hero. They barely take the time to identify the enemy for pete's sake ("leaders of drug cartels" who are being protected by ONE sharpshooter pilot, Eric Stoller), or even where the Important Mission to take down these cartel leaders is supposed to take place ("South America"; they don't even bother to specify which country).
Four thumbs down, wayyy down.
By the way, did anyone see Nic (rockin' the new blond locks) on Leno last night?! We didn't even know about it, but my good friend Matt Smith gave me a heads up. I watched it today, which was better anyway because I could skip over anything that wasn't interesting (i.e. not involving Nicolas Cage). I'm glad that Jay kept it light and stayed away from the foreclosure mess that's been all over the place lately. And the batman trivia with Adam West was great. Nic definitely gave him a run for his money. I'm not suprised at all.
I'm pretty stoked for Kick-Ass.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Contains Spoilers: Time to Kill is boring, stop watching Deadfall when Nic Cage dies
Tempo di Uccidere (Time to Kill) (1989)
Unfortunately, this movie isn't nearly as exciting as that picture on the IMDB page makes it look. It wasn't bad, and I think it's a good performance by Cage, but it was very slow-moving. Also, we had just finished Vampire's Kiss (which you all have to watch, immediately, remember?) and so it was kind of hard to transition from the crazy comic energy of that one to the quiet, depressing world of this one.
How depressing? Nicolas Cage is a soldier in the Italian army during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, who believes he has contracted leprosy from a girl he raped. Heavy. The rape scene is pretty graphic, and clearly there are no occasions for funny-face-Cage moments in this one.
But, we powered through, and I'm glad I've seen it I guess. The strange thing about this movie is that it is made by an Italian director and is about Italians, yet no Italian is spoken in the movie, only English. So I guess when they released it in Italy they had to dub it or subtitle it into Italian? I wonder why they chose to make it that way.
After we finished this one we decided we still had time for one more (what a wild Friday night!), and we had Firebirds, which is the next on the list. But it looked like another war movie, and I just couldn't handle it. So, we decided it would be ok to bend the rules a bit and go for Deadfall.
Deadfall (1993)
It's about grifting! I love movies about grifting! But this was just. so. awful. It's directed by Cage's brother, Christopher Coppola, so I'm assuming Nic did this movie as a favor.
And luckily he did, because now the world has this:
Eddie
This character was hilarious, so manic, so off-the-wall, so badly bewigged, that it was magic. A coked up gritted-teeth-talking Tony Clifton. We laughed out loud at probably every scene he was in.
Too bad the rest of the movie couldn't hold up its weight. In fact, the suckiness of this one inspired a new rule for our Cage-a-thon; if his character dies, and the movie is terrible, it's ok to turn it off. We're only in it for the Cage, after all.
Unfortunately, this movie isn't nearly as exciting as that picture on the IMDB page makes it look. It wasn't bad, and I think it's a good performance by Cage, but it was very slow-moving. Also, we had just finished Vampire's Kiss (which you all have to watch, immediately, remember?) and so it was kind of hard to transition from the crazy comic energy of that one to the quiet, depressing world of this one.
How depressing? Nicolas Cage is a soldier in the Italian army during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, who believes he has contracted leprosy from a girl he raped. Heavy. The rape scene is pretty graphic, and clearly there are no occasions for funny-face-Cage moments in this one.
But, we powered through, and I'm glad I've seen it I guess. The strange thing about this movie is that it is made by an Italian director and is about Italians, yet no Italian is spoken in the movie, only English. So I guess when they released it in Italy they had to dub it or subtitle it into Italian? I wonder why they chose to make it that way.
After we finished this one we decided we still had time for one more (what a wild Friday night!), and we had Firebirds, which is the next on the list. But it looked like another war movie, and I just couldn't handle it. So, we decided it would be ok to bend the rules a bit and go for Deadfall.
Deadfall (1993)
It's about grifting! I love movies about grifting! But this was just. so. awful. It's directed by Cage's brother, Christopher Coppola, so I'm assuming Nic did this movie as a favor.
And luckily he did, because now the world has this:
Eddie
This character was hilarious, so manic, so off-the-wall, so badly bewigged, that it was magic. A coked up gritted-teeth-talking Tony Clifton. We laughed out loud at probably every scene he was in.
Too bad the rest of the movie couldn't hold up its weight. In fact, the suckiness of this one inspired a new rule for our Cage-a-thon; if his character dies, and the movie is terrible, it's ok to turn it off. We're only in it for the Cage, after all.
"I turned into a vampire. It's a long story."
Vampire's Kiss (1988)
I can't BELIEVE this movie has a lower rating on IMDB than Moonstruck!! People don't know shit about shit. This movie is so good. The loose, bizarre plot is basically just an excuse for Nicholas Cage to go absolutely Crazy all over the place, and he does not disappoint. I don't think I've seen anything like it. It makes his performance in Bad Lieutenant seem tame.
There are so many amazing moments from this movie, you just have to watch it for yourself. Don't believe me? Just watch this...I promise you'll be dying for more.
Nicolas Cage at his very best. Jennifer Beals makes a hot 80s vampire.
ALVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't BELIEVE this movie has a lower rating on IMDB than Moonstruck!! People don't know shit about shit. This movie is so good. The loose, bizarre plot is basically just an excuse for Nicholas Cage to go absolutely Crazy all over the place, and he does not disappoint. I don't think I've seen anything like it. It makes his performance in Bad Lieutenant seem tame.
There are so many amazing moments from this movie, you just have to watch it for yourself. Don't believe me? Just watch this...I promise you'll be dying for more.
Nicolas Cage at his very best. Jennifer Beals makes a hot 80s vampire.
ALVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"GET IN MY BED!"
Moonstruck (1987)
First of all, does anyone remember a movie called Frog? Late 80s, Shelley Duvall, singing frog...I can't help but think of it every time I hear Dean Martin's "That's Amore," this movie's theme song. Just wondering. I can't even really remember what it's about, and it looks like it's hard to find, but I remember I Loved it, and that song, when I was a kid.
Ok. Moonstruck. We unfortunately heard a lot of great things about this one, including the fact that it Won Three Oscars, and that Nicolas Cage has a wooden hand in it. Unfortunately, we were pretty disappointed. Now, I suppose I should start this with a disclaimer and say that I'm a little biased because I'm not really one for romantic comedies. However, that's not to say that I'm completely averse to all cheesey movies. Especially cheesey 80s movies. But this movie piled it on so thick I couldn't just forget myself and have a good time. There were so many self-consciously cutesy one liners and cliches. And Cher? I just don't really get it. She won an Oscar for this? And the chemistry between her and Nicolas Cage was so...awkward. It's not his fault; he's pretty cute in this one...all young, italian, and passionate. But she just never really lets herself go, even when her character is supposedly losing control in their illicit affair. Plus, she looks like a man (tranny). I guess that's not her fault and all, and I probably shouldn't judge her for it, but it's distracting for me.
Anyway, speaking of Nicolas Cage, he and his wooden hand definitely add a much-needed off the wall element to the sickly sweetness of this thing. You can tell from his first appearance, where he screams melodramatically for his employee to "GET THE BIG KNIFE" so he can slit his throat, that at least he will bring some unpredictable humor to the table. He doesn't disappoint; one of the best scenes is when Cher is trying to leave him and he shows that sometimes the best way to a woman's heart is really just a little brute force -- "GET IN MY BED!!!" Yeah! Woman! DO IT!
I thought Olympia Dukakis was good, but Cory thinks that I just have sympathy for her character. Either way, I'd like to watch more movies with her in them. And there's that guy...John Mahoney...who also plays Frasier's dad. He's pretty funny in this too.
Otherwise, whatever, Moonstruck.
First of all, does anyone remember a movie called Frog? Late 80s, Shelley Duvall, singing frog...I can't help but think of it every time I hear Dean Martin's "That's Amore," this movie's theme song. Just wondering. I can't even really remember what it's about, and it looks like it's hard to find, but I remember I Loved it, and that song, when I was a kid.
Ok. Moonstruck. We unfortunately heard a lot of great things about this one, including the fact that it Won Three Oscars, and that Nicolas Cage has a wooden hand in it. Unfortunately, we were pretty disappointed. Now, I suppose I should start this with a disclaimer and say that I'm a little biased because I'm not really one for romantic comedies. However, that's not to say that I'm completely averse to all cheesey movies. Especially cheesey 80s movies. But this movie piled it on so thick I couldn't just forget myself and have a good time. There were so many self-consciously cutesy one liners and cliches. And Cher? I just don't really get it. She won an Oscar for this? And the chemistry between her and Nicolas Cage was so...awkward. It's not his fault; he's pretty cute in this one...all young, italian, and passionate. But she just never really lets herself go, even when her character is supposedly losing control in their illicit affair. Plus, she looks like a man (tranny). I guess that's not her fault and all, and I probably shouldn't judge her for it, but it's distracting for me.
Anyway, speaking of Nicolas Cage, he and his wooden hand definitely add a much-needed off the wall element to the sickly sweetness of this thing. You can tell from his first appearance, where he screams melodramatically for his employee to "GET THE BIG KNIFE" so he can slit his throat, that at least he will bring some unpredictable humor to the table. He doesn't disappoint; one of the best scenes is when Cher is trying to leave him and he shows that sometimes the best way to a woman's heart is really just a little brute force -- "GET IN MY BED!!!" Yeah! Woman! DO IT!
I thought Olympia Dukakis was good, but Cory thinks that I just have sympathy for her character. Either way, I'd like to watch more movies with her in them. And there's that guy...John Mahoney...who also plays Frasier's dad. He's pretty funny in this too.
Otherwise, whatever, Moonstruck.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
"Maybe it was Utah."
Peggy Sue Got Married
I've seen this before, so no suprises here. I still like it. Cute, heart-warming, slightly edgy, a little wacky, and totally worth watching just for the hilarious nasally voice that Nic uses as Charlie! It totally makes the character. After watching it, we were certain that it was such a strange voice it must have been entirely his idea. And the next day I found out that we were right, when I read on Wikipedia that he told Conan O'Brien that he based the voice on Pokey from the Gumby show. Awesome! AND, Coppola and the studio were so unhappy with the voice, that they almost fired him! Double awesome!!
Raising Arizona
A classic. We had both seen this one sooo many times, but not in a while, and I'm happy to say that it totes held up all these years. I can't imagine anyone else as H.I., and the rest of the cast is stellar, right down to those cutesey-youtesy babies. Watching it brought back so many memories; this was one of my parents' favorite movies and growing up my family watched it a LOT. Funny to think of how scared of/disgusted by the "warthog from hell" i used to be, or how my brother and sister and I would snicker when Nathan Arizona says, (when the reporter asks if he has a message for the kidnappers) "Yeah, watch your butts."
So...what is the count now...7 days, 7 down? yikes, we need to get moving. Luckily the weekend is coming up...Moonstruck is sitting on my coffee table, the Boy in Blue is on the way from Netflix, and hopefully whoever rented the Cotton Club has returned it to Vulcan so we can finally watch it (we had to skip it).
I've seen this before, so no suprises here. I still like it. Cute, heart-warming, slightly edgy, a little wacky, and totally worth watching just for the hilarious nasally voice that Nic uses as Charlie! It totally makes the character. After watching it, we were certain that it was such a strange voice it must have been entirely his idea. And the next day I found out that we were right, when I read on Wikipedia that he told Conan O'Brien that he based the voice on Pokey from the Gumby show. Awesome! AND, Coppola and the studio were so unhappy with the voice, that they almost fired him! Double awesome!!
Raising Arizona
A classic. We had both seen this one sooo many times, but not in a while, and I'm happy to say that it totes held up all these years. I can't imagine anyone else as H.I., and the rest of the cast is stellar, right down to those cutesey-youtesy babies. Watching it brought back so many memories; this was one of my parents' favorite movies and growing up my family watched it a LOT. Funny to think of how scared of/disgusted by the "warthog from hell" i used to be, or how my brother and sister and I would snicker when Nathan Arizona says, (when the reporter asks if he has a message for the kidnappers) "Yeah, watch your butts."
So...what is the count now...7 days, 7 down? yikes, we need to get moving. Luckily the weekend is coming up...Moonstruck is sitting on my coffee table, the Boy in Blue is on the way from Netflix, and hopefully whoever rented the Cotton Club has returned it to Vulcan so we can finally watch it (we had to skip it).
A rough patch
Racing with the Moon (1984)
The most boring piece of boringness I've seen in a long time. And the chick at the video store said she liked it (yeah, the same one who scoffed at Valley Girl), which made it even worse cause it gave us false hope. Cory likened it to a Lifetime movie and he totes nailed it; that's exactly what it felt like. But Lifetime movies don't know any better! They have tiny budgets and leading men like Mario Lopez and Jason Priestley, not Hollywood budgets and Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage! Ugh.
Birdy (1984)
I don't know where to begin with this movie. It is so weird. But, unfortunately, not cool-weird. More like dumb-, boring-weird. Pretentious, yet an extremely simple story; it somehow manages to be flat and melodramatic at the same time. Which is a pretty strange combo.
There is a scene with Birdy and a girl and her boobs that is pretty cool-weird though. And also Nicolas Cage's face is all bandaged up and he's crying and yelling a lot, so you get to see him make some pretty funny faces.
But really, the most notable thing about this movie is how it ends. Whoa, if anything ever deserved a WTF?! it's the ending to this movie. Seriously. I want you all to watch it, just so you can truly understand what I mean about the WTF?!ness about the ending. I guess, then, I kind of like it for that. I don't know. I'm sure it's not the case, but I like to believe that Nic was like, "...so...after watching all this footage, I've decided that the only way I'm going to let you attach my name to this two hour mess is if you replace Your ending with this incredibly bizarre Other ending I just thought of that doesn't really resolve anything, and that isn't really even an Ending at all, just a scene to put at the end to make the audience go WTF?! Ok? Ok. Now get me out of here."
My favorite Man Who Wants To Fly movie is still Brewster McCloud.
Oh, and on second thought, you probs shouldn't watch it just for the ending, or the funny faces, or even the cool-weird boob scene. It's really not worth it.
The most boring piece of boringness I've seen in a long time. And the chick at the video store said she liked it (yeah, the same one who scoffed at Valley Girl), which made it even worse cause it gave us false hope. Cory likened it to a Lifetime movie and he totes nailed it; that's exactly what it felt like. But Lifetime movies don't know any better! They have tiny budgets and leading men like Mario Lopez and Jason Priestley, not Hollywood budgets and Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage! Ugh.
Birdy (1984)
I don't know where to begin with this movie. It is so weird. But, unfortunately, not cool-weird. More like dumb-, boring-weird. Pretentious, yet an extremely simple story; it somehow manages to be flat and melodramatic at the same time. Which is a pretty strange combo.
There is a scene with Birdy and a girl and her boobs that is pretty cool-weird though. And also Nicolas Cage's face is all bandaged up and he's crying and yelling a lot, so you get to see him make some pretty funny faces.
But really, the most notable thing about this movie is how it ends. Whoa, if anything ever deserved a WTF?! it's the ending to this movie. Seriously. I want you all to watch it, just so you can truly understand what I mean about the WTF?!ness about the ending. I guess, then, I kind of like it for that. I don't know. I'm sure it's not the case, but I like to believe that Nic was like, "...so...after watching all this footage, I've decided that the only way I'm going to let you attach my name to this two hour mess is if you replace Your ending with this incredibly bizarre Other ending I just thought of that doesn't really resolve anything, and that isn't really even an Ending at all, just a scene to put at the end to make the audience go WTF?! Ok? Ok. Now get me out of here."
My favorite Man Who Wants To Fly movie is still Brewster McCloud.
Oh, and on second thought, you probs shouldn't watch it just for the ending, or the funny faces, or even the cool-weird boob scene. It's really not worth it.
Rusty James and the Motorcycle Boy
Rumble Fish (1983)
I' m not really sure what to say about this one. Sometimes it's the hardest to talk about the things you like the most, which is a shame. Cory and I agree this was the best one so far (so far=up through Raising Arizona). Nic does a great job as Smokey, but his role isn't too big. Mickey Rourke and Matt Dillon are wonderful.
I was reminded of Rebel without a Cause. You can see elements of Jim Stark's (James Dean's character) conflicted personality and his struggle with/against society, but kind of split between the personalities of the two brothers in Rumble Fish. And I dig all the "how do you know if someone's crazy" stuff because, you know, sometimes it's not that clear.
Anyway, it was so good I rewatched some key scenes a couple days later because they were stuck in my head. Dennis Hopper rules, and seems made for his role. And Tom Waits is in it too, with typical Tom Waits-ey hip, tired wisdom. It's kind of haunting. I bought the book.
I' m not really sure what to say about this one. Sometimes it's the hardest to talk about the things you like the most, which is a shame. Cory and I agree this was the best one so far (so far=up through Raising Arizona). Nic does a great job as Smokey, but his role isn't too big. Mickey Rourke and Matt Dillon are wonderful.
I was reminded of Rebel without a Cause. You can see elements of Jim Stark's (James Dean's character) conflicted personality and his struggle with/against society, but kind of split between the personalities of the two brothers in Rumble Fish. And I dig all the "how do you know if someone's crazy" stuff because, you know, sometimes it's not that clear.
Anyway, it was so good I rewatched some key scenes a couple days later because they were stuck in my head. Dennis Hopper rules, and seems made for his role. And Tom Waits is in it too, with typical Tom Waits-ey hip, tired wisdom. It's kind of haunting. I bought the book.
Here we go! Like, totally!
Fast times at Ridgemont High (1982)
When we first looked at the list, we were a little suprised to see this on there. Neither of us remembered him being in the movie. Turned out we were right; he's in something like four scenes total. Not even sure why he's credited (as Brad's Bud), but my guess is it had something to do with his uncle. Funny movie, regardless. You know, you've seen it.
Valley Girl (1983)
"She's cool, he's hot. She's from the Valley, he's not."
Neither of us had seen this movie, and despite the snicker from the girl at the movie store, we had high hopes. Not that we thought it was going to be amazing cinema or anything, but it looked silly and harmless. Which, it turns out, is exactly what it was...well, maybe even better because there are a ton of hilarious quotes.
For example, the best breakup line ever:
(Julie Richman): "It's, like, I'm totally not in love with you anymore, Tommy. I mean, it's so Boring."
and also this exchange:
Randy: Where do you work?
Julie: At my parents' store.
Randy: What do they sell?
Julie: Health foods.
Randy: That's cool.
Julie: Like, it's not cool at all! Like, it's all this stuff that tastes like nothing and is supposed to be good for you. Why couldn't they, like, open a pizza hut or something?
Yeah!
Anyway, it's a pretty fun movie that totally transports you to a world full of bitchin' early-80s hair, clothes, and parties, and where people actually Say things like "Gag me with a spoon!" and people meet at the mall for fun. They'll try to tell you that the moral of the story is that you should just, like, love whoever you want to love, even if your friends think he's grody, and like totally don't approve. But Nicolas Cage knows that the Real moral of the story is that if your girlfriend dumps you for her richer, more popular boyfriend, then just, like totally stalk her for a while, and she'll come around. Even in this early, pretty goofy role you still get to see some glimpses of the wild inside this guy.
Great soundtrack too! Sparks!
Oh, and just in case you're wondering, Nicolas Cage's first line in film is "What? I don't want to go to the Valley." I know at least one of you is.
When we first looked at the list, we were a little suprised to see this on there. Neither of us remembered him being in the movie. Turned out we were right; he's in something like four scenes total. Not even sure why he's credited (as Brad's Bud), but my guess is it had something to do with his uncle. Funny movie, regardless. You know, you've seen it.
Valley Girl (1983)
"She's cool, he's hot. She's from the Valley, he's not."
Neither of us had seen this movie, and despite the snicker from the girl at the movie store, we had high hopes. Not that we thought it was going to be amazing cinema or anything, but it looked silly and harmless. Which, it turns out, is exactly what it was...well, maybe even better because there are a ton of hilarious quotes.
For example, the best breakup line ever:
(Julie Richman): "It's, like, I'm totally not in love with you anymore, Tommy. I mean, it's so Boring."
and also this exchange:
Randy: Where do you work?
Julie: At my parents' store.
Randy: What do they sell?
Julie: Health foods.
Randy: That's cool.
Julie: Like, it's not cool at all! Like, it's all this stuff that tastes like nothing and is supposed to be good for you. Why couldn't they, like, open a pizza hut or something?
Yeah!
Anyway, it's a pretty fun movie that totally transports you to a world full of bitchin' early-80s hair, clothes, and parties, and where people actually Say things like "Gag me with a spoon!" and people meet at the mall for fun. They'll try to tell you that the moral of the story is that you should just, like, love whoever you want to love, even if your friends think he's grody, and like totally don't approve. But Nicolas Cage knows that the Real moral of the story is that if your girlfriend dumps you for her richer, more popular boyfriend, then just, like totally stalk her for a while, and she'll come around. Even in this early, pretty goofy role you still get to see some glimpses of the wild inside this guy.
Great soundtrack too! Sparks!
Oh, and just in case you're wondering, Nicolas Cage's first line in film is "What? I don't want to go to the Valley." I know at least one of you is.
Begin at the Beginning
So here we go on our trip through Nicolas Cage land. The goal is for my boyfriend, Cory, and I to watch his entire canon, in 30 days. Why? Cause he's awesome. As a side note, we are also not drinking for these 30 days either. The two are not related, really, but since we won't be going out as often, we figure it will be nice to have a project to focus on.
I think there are 56 movies in total, including Kick-Ass, which is in theaters right now (field trip!). We are trying to watch them in chronological order, however we're skipping around if something is checked out in the movie store or whatever because otherwise we would just go crazy...and definitely not finish in 30 days.
I've never blogged before; I feel weird typing into the empty internet, but I think that something like this should be recorded Somehow, if only so that when Cory and I are old and gray (or more like next year), we will have something to look at when we turn to each other and go, Remember when we watched all those Nic Cage movies? Plus, I figure since these days every teenager or psychopath with a laptop can do it, I probably can too.
Anyway, I'm going to try to post every couple of movies or so. We've already watched several, so I'll be posting those soon.
It's gonna be a wild ride!
I think there are 56 movies in total, including Kick-Ass, which is in theaters right now (field trip!). We are trying to watch them in chronological order, however we're skipping around if something is checked out in the movie store or whatever because otherwise we would just go crazy...and definitely not finish in 30 days.
I've never blogged before; I feel weird typing into the empty internet, but I think that something like this should be recorded Somehow, if only so that when Cory and I are old and gray (or more like next year), we will have something to look at when we turn to each other and go, Remember when we watched all those Nic Cage movies? Plus, I figure since these days every teenager or psychopath with a laptop can do it, I probably can too.
Anyway, I'm going to try to post every couple of movies or so. We've already watched several, so I'll be posting those soon.
It's gonna be a wild ride!
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