CageCrazy

On Friday night I watched Drive Angry for the first time since it was in theaters last year. It was shot in 3D and was full of all kinds of ridiculous 3D gimmick shots. This is the 3D that I love. The DVD was not in 3D so I was treated to all of this 3D goodness in 2D. I still enjoyed it a heck of a lot more than I did in theaters.

While watching Nic Cage drive angry I thought ahead to Saturday afternoon's planned trip to see "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance". Wouldn't it be great, I thought, if I watched nothing but Nic Cage movies this weekend? It didn't take long for me to commit to the idea and after establishing 2 rules I was ready to go.

Rule #1: I would alternate between a newer Cage movie and an older one.

Rule #2: I would try and watch movies that I had hadn't seen before or had only watched once.

So as planned on Saturday afternoon I went and saw Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. It was loud, dumb and pretty much an exercise in creating the coolest scenarios for a guy with a flaming skull to do shit.

I missed several things from the first movie though. Eva Mendes was gone. No explanation given, none really needed. The Johnny Blaze wig was also gone. No explanation given, one needed.

I came away preferring the first movie but enjoyed what I saw. After all when going to see a movie that stars a guy with a flaming skull you can't really be too picky. Plus Cage obviously was let loose to be his crazy self and most of his movies are always better for it.

Back home I watched Guarding Tess. Cage plays a frustrated Secret Service Agent assigned to a widowed First Lady (Shirley MacClaine) who is quite demanding. Cage is pretty subdued here but given the material it wasn't unexpected. It's a light movie that takes a serious turn towards the end but ends on a nice happy note.

It also stars the gun-loving guy from the "Police Academy" movies. I would later discover that it was from the director of the original "Police Academy". How we were denied Michael Winslow and Nic Cage making crazy noises together we'll never know. I kind of feel like it was a huge missed opportunity. The lack of Cage/Winslow interaction probably would have bothered me for much longer if I didn't have another movie to jump right into.

And that movie was The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Another subdued Cage performance, but this time it felt like he was either there as a favor to Jerry Bruckheimer or needed the paycheck. With most performers that would be cause for alarm, but Cage never phones it in and the movie proved to be a pleasant surprise.

I ended my Saturday with Kiss of Death. And what a perfect movie to end the night with! Bat-shit crazy Nic Cage bench-pressing strippers and completely off his rocker. David Caruso is also in the movie and "stars" as a reformed ex-con just looking to stay on a righteous path or something. But none of that really matters. Nic Cage is the star here and he's bench-pressing a stripper! And he doesn't just press her once, he sets a personal best of 30 reps!

The cast is loaded and features a bunch of actors fresh from "Pulp Fiction". Sam Jackson, Ving Rhames and the guy who watched as Travolta and Willis had their tough guy stand-off all appear.

On Sunday I watched Season of the Witch. I would have loved to finish things off on a high note but this one was a bit of a let down. It's a perfectly OK movie, but with Nic Cage and Ron Pearlman starring it's hard not to expect more. Also there weren't enough witches for a movie called "Season of the Witch".

There was a short adjustment period for the next few days every time that I watched a movie. Something was missing. After extended exposure to Nic Cage movies that side-effect was expected. And as I work my way back to my normal non-Cage intensive viewing habits I can't help but feel like another series of Cage-fueled viewing is on the horizon.

But fear not, dear reader. I'd welcome it.