A Cage-a-Day in May 2022
"IMDb Is Obsessed" podcast host Alex Logan presents this comprehensive list of Nicolas Cage's best films to watch daily throughout May 2022. Weekly themes will guide you through my favorite performances and the essential films of his four decades in Hollywood.
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- DirectorTom GormicanStarsNicolas CagePedro PascalTiffany HaddishMoviestar Nick Cage is channeling his iconic characters as he's caught between a superfan and a CIA agent.Sunday, May 1 -- This is the movie that likely brought you here in the first place, so check out this ridiculous laugh riot while it's still in the theater!
- DirectorMartha CoolidgeStarsNicolas CageDeborah ForemanElizabeth DailyJulie, a girl from the valley, meets Randy, a punk from the city. They are from different worlds and find love. Somehow they need to stay together in spite of her trendy, shallow friends.Monday, May 2 -- Next, we'll go back to the beginning for a week full of Cage's absolute best performances from his early career (pre-Oscar Winner only!), beginning with this star-crossed lovers' tale set in the San Fernando Valley. It's, like, totally rad.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsNicolas CageHolly HunterTrey WilsonWhen a childless couple--an ex-con and an ex-cop--decide to help themselves to one of another family's quintuplets, their lives become more complicated than they anticipated.Tuesday, May 3 -- The Coen Brothers + Nic Cage playing a "Looney Tune" = an iconically chaotic comedy. Add in Holly Hunter, John Goodman, Sam McMurray, plus a bunch of yodeling to create a perfect movie.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsCherNicolas CageOlympia DukakisLoretta Castorini, a bookkeeper from Brooklyn, New York, finds herself in a difficult situation when she falls for the brother of the man she has agreed to marry.Wednesday, May 4 -- Cher falls for a truly outlandish Cage character who has a wooden hand and a passion for opera. But the unlikely couple (and director Norman Jewison) make it all work in a completely winning rom-com.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsNicolas CageLaura DernWillem DafoeYoung lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.Thursday, May 5 -- Let's hear it for another romance about oddballs in love. This time, the film has an effervescent Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe with evil, tiny teeth, Cage in a snakeskin jacket that's a symbol of his individuality, and the steady/weird hand of auteur David Lynch.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsMatt DillonMickey RourkeDiane LaneAbsent-minded street thug Rusty James struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, and longs for the days of gang warfare.Friday, May 6 -- Amazing film with great (if limited) Cage performance as well. Possibly overshadowed by two other, related Francis Ford Coppola films, but hey, it's all relative for Cage, right folks? Anyway, the OTHER S.E. Hinton adaptation that Coppola did in '83, 'The Outsiders' was the more accessible hit, and Uncle Francis's OTHER Nic Cage collaboration a few years after, 'Peggy Sue Got Married' was again, more accessible. But to me, this is their best association and just a striking, fully realized work of art.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsMatthew ModineNicolas CageJohn HarkinsAfter two friends return home from the Vietnam War one becomes mentally unstable and obsesses with becoming a bird.Saturday, May 7 -- Cage and Matthew Modine "spread their wings" as serious up-and-coming thespians in this Vietnam War psych ward dramedy that has a real gut-punch of a finale.
- DirectorRobert BiermanStarsNicolas CageMaria Conchita AlonsoJennifer BealsAfter an encounter with a neck-biter, a publishing executive thinks that he's turning into a vampire.Sunday, May 8 -- Our second week of Cage is all about Getting Weird, and what better place to start than this disturbing, dark comedy (I guess?) that features the infamous ranting-and-raving clip from the Cage "freakout" supercut... the alphabet reciting scene. It's not a pretty picture, but a fascinating one, and one to better understand Cage and his obsession with silent horror movies, like 'Nosferatu' and 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.'
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsNicolas CagePatricia ArquetteJohn GoodmanHaunted by the patients he failed to save, a monumentally burned-out Manhattan ambulance paramedic fights to maintain his sanity over three increasingly turbulent nights.Monday, May 9 -- Martin Scorsese lets Cage drive his ambulance to the dark side with fellow EMT partners - who also giving it their crazy best - John Goodman and Ving Rhames.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsNicolas CageMeryl StreepChris CooperA lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.Tuesday, May 10 -- Cage went meta way before 'Unbearable Weight' in this Hollywood tale of twins (one fake, one real and the writer of this film, Charlie Kaufman) in a failure of a book-to-movie adaptation that is exactly about... all of that. And more! His only other Oscar nom, sadly.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsNicolas CageJoaquin PhoenixJames GandolfiniA private investigator is hired to discover if a "snuff film" is authentic or not.Wednesday, May 11 -- Director Joel Schumacher followed up 'Batman & Robin' with... this! A pitch-black detective tale about the underground adult industry of "snuff films" where Cage has to team with a young Joaquin Phoenix to solve a crime so grisly, they have to consider if they even want to know the truth.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsNicolas CageAlison LohmanSam RockwellA phobic con artist and his protégé are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the former's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly.Thursday, May 12 -- Ridley Scott directs Sam Rockwell and Cage as low-class con men. And Cage has OCD, so his performance is brimming over with tics and outbursts. Do I really need to keep pitching this one to you?
- DirectorChristopher CoppolaStarsMichael BiehnSarah TriggerNicolas CageWhen Joe loses his dad in a sting, he contacts his dad's twin, Lou, who has a major sting planned. Lou's helper feels threatened by Joe. Who's conning who?Friday, May 13 -- Spoiler Alert: This movie is bad. Very bad, but it's Friday the 13th, and even in the most miscalculated of his films, Cage is giving it his all and going way, WAY over the top as an almost unrecognizable scum bag. Maybe he wasn't TRYING to be recognized...
- DirectorNeil LaButeStarsNicolas CageEllen BurstynLeelee SobieskiA sheriff investigating the disappearance of a young girl from a small island discovers there's a larger mystery to solve among the island's secretive, neo-pagan community.Saturday, May 14 -- Spoiler Alert: This movie isn't nearly as bad as everyone tries to tell you it is! It's totally weird, wacky, and overblown, but I also think that's the point and everyone involved knows the score. Maybe I'm wrong, but this unnecessary remake of an excellent Christopher Lee picture from 1973 is solid. I know podcast guest and TikTok expert, Hillary Bautch agrees!
- DirectorMichael BayStarsSean ConneryNicolas CageEd HarrisA mild-mannered chemist and an ex-con must lead the counterstrike when a rogue group of military men, led by a renegade general, threaten a nerve gas attack from Alcatraz against San Francisco.
- DirectorSimon WestStarsNicolas CageJohn CusackJohn MalkovichNewly-paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger Cameron Poe finds himself trapped in a prisoner-transport plane when the passengers seize control.Monday, May 16 -- Cage and Bruckheimer take to the skies in the silliest movie that I love dearly. Turn off your brain and let the good times roll with Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, and a dozen more cool dude convicts.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsJohn TravoltaNicolas CageJoan AllenTo foil a terrorist plot, FBI agent Sean Archer assumes the identity of the criminal Castor Troy who murdered his son through facial transplant surgery, but the crook wakes up prematurely and vows revenge.Tuesday, May 17 -- "IMDb Is Obsessed" producer and guest Jeff bought me a t-shirt that is a picture of Cage with "John Travolta" written about it in honor of John Woo's face-swapping trash-terpiece (that is somehow getting a sequel)!
- DirectorJon TurteltaubStarsNicolas CageDiane KrugerJustin BarthaA historian races to find the legendary Templar Treasure before a team of mercenaries.Wednesday, May 18 -- Cage steals the Declaration of Independence for the good of the USA. How have you not already watched this movie several times on TV?
- DirectorJon TurteltaubStarsNicolas CageDiane KrugerJustin BarthaBenjamin Gates must follow a clue left in John Wilkes Booth's diary to prove his ancestor's innocence in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.Thursday, May 19 -- I'd argue that the sequel sliiiightly edges out the first, because this time, Benjamin Franklin Gates is defending his family's honor by stealing the President! At least for a little while.
- DirectorMatthew VaughnStarsAaron Taylor-JohnsonNicolas CageChloë Grace MoretzDave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a superhero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.Friday, May 20 -- Cage channels Adam West-era Batman for his vigilante-in-a-cape-and-cowl called Big Daddy. There's a fully unhinged screaming scene that must be seen to be believed. It's glorious.
- DirectorBob PersichettiPeter RamseyRodney RothmanStarsShameik MooreJake JohnsonHailee SteinfeldTeen Miles Morales becomes the Spider-Man of his universe and must join with five spider-powered individuals from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.Saturday, May 21 -- Much like Kick-Ass, there's minimal Cage in this one, just his voice in a supporting role as a Humphrey Bogart-inspired "film noir" Spider-Man from another universe. The film as a whole is perfect and Cage is but one part of that perfection.
- DirectorJohn DahlStarsNicolas CageDennis HopperLara Flynn BoyleUpon arriving to a small town, a drifter is mistaken for a hitman, but when the real hitman arrives, complications ensue.Sunday, May 22 -- From Action flicks, we delve into Hidden Gems, starting with this John Dahl neo-noir that's also a revisionist Western, co-starring Dennis Hopper as a bad dude you don't want to mess with. The film can be hard to get your hands on, but totally worth the trouble.
- DirectorGore VerbinskiStarsNicolas CageHope DavisNicholas HoultA Chicago weather man, separated from his wife and children, debates whether professional and personal success are mutually exclusive.Monday, May 23 -- Quietly one of Cage's best performances was in this tragicomedy about a titular meteorologist who gets less respect than Rodney Dangerfield.
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsNicolas CageEva MendesRussell M. HaeuserTerence McDonagh is a drug- and gambling-addled detective in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating the killing of five Senegalese immigrants.Tuesday, May 24 -- Director Werner Herzog lets Cage go full Klaus Kinski in a bizarre crime thriller that gets psychedelic when you'd least expect it.
- DirectorDavid Gordon GreenStarsNicolas CageTye SheridanGary PoulterAn ex-con, who is the unlikeliest of role models, meets a 15-year-old boy and is faced with the choice of redemption or ruin.Wednesday, May 25 -- If you've been following along, you'll recognize writer/director David Gordon Green from 'Unbearable Weight.' This film spawned that joke cameo, but another of Cage's quiet best.