Last year we watched ten of the recent straight-to-DVD films of Mr Nicolas Cage.
Since then, he’s made six more…
The first Nicolas Cage movie I saw wasnt one of the cool ones.
It wasntWild At Heart,Raising Arizonaor evenValley Girl.
It was the Cher rom-com,Moonstruck.
A VHS ofBaby Boomwas worn down until the tape resembled a jot down of grey, flimsy nylon.
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I was resigned to watching them with her.
The plot ofMoonstruck, with its tale of true love conquering all, went right over my 9-year-old head.
There was just something so epically weird about him and his performance; something so unexpected and unnervingly refreshing.
For a while, that was easy.
But then there was8MM, andSnake Eyes, andGone In Sixty Seconds, andCaptain Corellis Mandolin.
By 2009, it emerged that there was a serious financial reason behind Cages film choices.
The fallout from this assault leads to a showdown between desperate characters who have everything and nothing to lose.
The film itself is competently directed.
He knows how to put a movie together, its just that theres nothing particularly special about this one.
As the credits rolled onTrespass, I started to worry.
What if… well, what if they were all like this?
I tried to brush this feeling off and headed into the second film with my chin up.
The film has two main problems.
I badly want to know if he feels it genuinely affects his performance.
Overall, I enjoyed watchingJusticeand would say its one of the more entertaining ones on this list.
My hopes now significantly up, I pressed on with the next film.
The plot concerns Cage falling foul of the cops after a bank heist.
Theres just one problem: Cage burned the money and has nothing to bargain with.
Where to start with this one.
Maybe a live-action Disney one starring a dog that talks?
IMDb 5, Rotten Tomatoes 14%
Tokarevis a fairly lacklustre and grim tale.
And that is kind of all there is.
This is everything I hoped for.
I can get on board with a film so awful that it provokes laughs where it aches for tears.
That kind of experience is at least preferable to sitting through something utterly dull and lifeless.
Oi aym the woyt gawst!
he hollers in a scene where he also scratches his beard with a live snake.
IMDb 4.4, Rotten Tomatoes 9%
Dying Of The Lightis a very weird affair.
The movie, as it stands, is a mess.
The film, such as it is, is a slight affair.
What will he do next?
Director Austin Stark has gone for a bleached-out look withThe Runnerand relies heavily on handheld camera work throughout.
Since it happens to be the most recent, that gives me a little hope for the future.
Hes also looking his age here, which is no bad thing.
Well, the clues in the name there; hes completely lost the plot.
All those things should make for a pretty fun watch, but sadly they dont in this case.
Mario Van Peebles (New Jack City, Baadasssss!)
Army Of Onecould have possibly been a great comedy, were the laughs actually there.
Cages performance, however, is definitely the main thing worth watching.
He really goes for it.
At times extremely tense and ultimately very satisfying, I would watch this again in a heartbeat.
Why, in this case, does Dromoor put everything on the line to go full vigilante?
We dont truly know as viewers, despite feeling like we may make the same decision.
IMDb 4.0, Rotten Tomatoes 4%
Steven C. Miller returns.
After completingMarauderswith Grenier and Shaech, Miller seems to have stepped straight off that set and onto this one.
You might want to fast-forward the rest, though.
Until then, put the bunny back in the box.
