OPO: Nicolas Cage's Worst Movie

This poll can only be conscientiously completed by dummies who have bothered to sit through most of this shit.

I have carefully avoided most of his films since Guarding Tess.

I LOVED Face/Off.

Preview for National Treasure II before Superbad made me LOL as much as the preview for the Harold & Kumar sequel.

Yeah, Face/Off is awesome.

it's just kind of... staggering? to look at his entire career. Such a mountain of bad material collected in one place.

There are plenty of decent post-Guarding Tess movies on here: Adaptation, Lord of War, Matchstick Men, Face/Off, Con-Air (shut up). Of those, probably only Adaptation is a "great movie" but they are all watchable or have strong Cage performances.

(this thread prompted by the repeated airings of "City of Angels" on AMC over the last weekend)

8mm8mm8mm8mm8mm8mm8mm8mm8mm

(Mental image of Shakey Mo watching "City of Angels" and masturbating to the thought of a dead Nicolas Cage)

Rarely has anyone betrayed his talent so completely

What talent?

The Wicker Man (2006) .... Edward Malus

hint hint

(Mental image of Shakey Mo watching "City of Angels" and masturbating to the thought of a dead Nicolas Cage)

dood leave me out of your fantasies

Wow, I can't believe I've actually seen 10 of these films... a bit much, right? Though there are some of those 10 were good, well, maybe just Raising Arizona. I can't say I didn't enjoy at least some of the not-so-good ones, though.

*that

[10 *that were good]

wicker man is the worst worst worst by a mile and a half and a factor of 2

Since his Oscar win for the hetero-alky porn fantasy, I have only seen Adaptation, Bringing Out the Dead, and Face/Off, and yes he was OK to excellent in all of those. Learn to smell the shit w/out watching.

I wd've been OK with him winning an Oscar for Adaptation or Raising Arizona.

"Nic Cage is no longer an actor. He could be again, but now he's more like a... performer." - Sean Penn, 1999

He's really not as bad as everyone sez he is. There are at least half-a-dozen good films on this list.

I'm voting for National Treasure btw just for the 20 minutes I saw of it, even though the preview for the sequel looks even worse.

I saw 15 of his films *before* LLV, in the '80s missing only The Boy in Blue.

Of the ones I've actually seen, 8mm was the most reprehensible, but Con Air the stupidest. I'd really like to call it a tie, but 8mm had Tony Soprano sucking a gun like a dick, so Con Air.

I have to vote for The Wicker Man, because... why? WHY?! YOU MANIACS, YOU REMADE THE WICKER MAN!

I forgot about Matchstick Men yesterday when we were talking about this. That's a good movie too.

I saw that Wicker Man has the widow from Deadwood in it. Is there tittay?

dude there's tittay in deadwood!

and that should stop me from seeking out more why?

Basically Nicolas Cage should have just stayed a character actor and never been "promoted" to the action hero/lead role. So it's usually pretty easy to tell which of his movies are going to be good (the quirkier ones that actually involve acting and stories) and which ones are going to be terrible (the big blockbusters). Face/Off and Con-Air are the exceptions, as the big blockbusters that are insane enough to be enjoyable.

It was a tough choice between 8MM and City of Angels, but I chose the former.

Can't see what all the hate is for though, most of his films I've seen have been either good or great: Birdy, Peggy Sue Got Married, Raising Arizona, Moonstruck, Wild at Heart, The Rock, Bringing Out the Dead, Adaptation, Matchstick Men, The Weather Man... That's not a bad average.

i concede your point, Oilyrags.

8mm is so stupid

lol I think the only person who likes National Treasure. It's a mindbogglingly silly rip-off of the Da Vinci Code and therefore about ten times more fun.

I'm going with Sonny - saw that once on TV and couldn't believe I wasted a couple of hours of my life on it.

Ignoring Deadfall (which was basically a family-inspired cameo anyway), I find his making FIVE banal romantic comedies in a row really fascinating, especially when it comes right after a near decade of inspired insanity. From Kiss Of Death on it's pretty varied.

don't get me wrong there's a bunch of good, interesting performances up through at least Wild At Heart, but from the early 90s on - oof what a slide.

Personally I love him in Peggy Sue Got Married ("You don't know ZIP!" "I've got the TEETH, I've got the HAIR" etc.), Raising Arizona, Valey Girl, Moonstruck, etc.

8mm is one of the worst movies evar - but i havent seen most of these

xpost to self: actually, just banal comedies. Amos & Andrew and Trapped In Paradise weren't really romantic (outside of potential homoerotic subtext).

I can't really answer this poll because while I've seen a lot of crappy Cage movies, there are plenty I've ignored as well.

Guarding Tess was hella romantic though.

In fact, I think The Weather Man was one of the best movies I've seen this decade, and lot of it was due to Cage and Michael Caine. But because it wasn't an indie movie with and indie director and indie actors, it got a lot less cinephile attention than, say, Wes Anderson's movies.

It's alright, Roz, I liked National Treasure too, you're not alone. Of the one's I've seen, I think "It Could Happen To You" is the one I'd least like to see again. Though I'm guessing there are worse that I haven't seen because of my internal quality control (would I be right in saying that The Weather Man is pointless and not very good?).

um, xpost

(ignore random apostrophe there plz)

think The Weather Man was one of the best movies I've seen this decade, and lot of it was due to Cage and Michael Caine

Two of my least favourite actors in one film - thank Buddha I've never seen it

how can anybody hate Michael Caine

All these movies you guys are mentioning are worse than _Ghost Rider_?

Like I told Shakey on another poll yesterday, Nicolas Cage was BORN to sell out, so there's no need to rend our garments over a talent betrayed. The burden of proof is to show otherwise.

I voted for "Wicker Man", based on the clips I've seen on "YouTube". If there's a worse one than that, I don't want to even know about it.

how can anybody hate Michael Caine

Ha ha, I don't hate him, I just don't think he's a very good actor - though he has occasionally been good.

Now Michael Caine's Worst Movie - where would you start?!??!

you are talking a pile of poo re: Michael Caine.

But the answer to that poll is Jaws 4: The Revenge.

Oh yeah, Peter O'Toole, he's another one

The one in which he won a lottery, what was that named?

Jaws 4 no question

The Wicker Man might be my favorite movie of his since Snake Eyes, even if that opinion is smothered in irony sauce.

x-post to Heave Ho: It Could Happen To You

Nicolas Cage wasn't in "Jaws 4" was he?

leaving las vegas. i haven't seen most of the undoubtedly awful movies on this list, but even the smidgen of matchstick men i saw was better than leaving las vegas.

oh man, i forgot about FIRE BIRDS

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00008L3UF.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Yeah, it's hard to hate someone when you don't actually see the movies he's in that are supposed hateworthy.

These are the only Nic Cage films I've seen:

World Trade Center (2006)
Adaptation (2002)
Face/Off (1997)
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Wild at Heart (1990)
Moonstruck (1987)
Raising Arizona (1987)

also, Lord of War is the best movie no one's ever seen.

ts: Leaving Las Vegas vs. Honeymoon in Vegas

I've seen 7 of these, I think. I haven't seen Ghost Rider but I voted for it on GP.

lol I think the only person who likes National Treasure

i liked it ok! i don't understand the vitriolic reactions around here to such a harmless, fluffy movie.

as for my vote, i'd go with "Gone in 60 seconds"

the weatherman is REALLY good. and lord of war is pretty decent! and i still think Adaptation is way, way better than Eternal Sunshine

waht

8mm is the worst film ever made so it walks this.

I really do not get the love for Adaptation, such a cop-out of a film

Cage IS decent in it - he pulls off the twin thing well - but I remember feeling the film didn't take advantage of its best ideas.

His accent in Peggie Sue Got Married is something to hear.

Adaptation = Eternal Sunshine without the twee emo crap and narcissism (ok, less narcissism)

but... they're completely different movies about completely different things! And Adaptation has an even shittier twee-Hollywood-happy ending!

Adaptation is a great movie.

Eternal Sunshine = Adaptation without the meta crap and narcissism.

you people are crazy.

STEP AWAY FROM THE BIKE

I don't understand why anyone would think its so great to make a shitty film that tries to explain away its shittiness with a completely transparent "I MEANT to do that, because I'm rebelling against Hollywood" subtext. Its way more smug and self-serving and boring than anything in Eternal Sunshine - which is probably the most moving, genuinely emotional "romantic comedy" I've seen in at least 20 years.

Eternal Sunshine = Adaptation without the meta crap and narcissism.

that's funny!

i think i find the characters in Adaptation more interesting. more adult anyway...i think the subjects of grief and love in that film are more subtle, and definitely less sunk into the detritus of a failed relationship that isn't that interesting to begin with.

i think, however, that a lot of the problems with Sunshine are more due to Gondry and the performances than the script as written. it required a more detached eye, for my taste.

I don't want to get into this Adaptation v. Eternal Sunshine zero-sum game. I don't think Adaptation's "smug" at all, though. it's fucking weird and awesome.

so i guess im saying Jonze/Cage >>> Gondry/Carey

(and Kate Winselt is the onlyl reason Eternal Sunshine is even watchable as the sad sack bullshit it is!)

I guess its safe to say Adaptation won't be winning this poll

I think part of the problem with Cage is that he's been making movies really often for so long without much obvious aging or physical change, and the marketing of like 70% of those movies has made them indistinguishable from each other, even once you've seen them. One called The Family Man and one called The Weather Man and another called The Wicker Man (plus Matchstick Men!), at least 3 movies that take place in Las Vegas, and I don't really know the difference between Windtalkers and Captain Corelli's Mandolin. I like The Rock and 8mm in a kind of campy way, I like Raising Arizona and a few others more sincerely (Lord Of War looks promising), but really they all kind of blur together and his character/performance is only really unique or distinct in a handful.

and I don't really know the difference between Windtalkers and Captain Corelli's Mandolin

one's set in the European theater the other's in the Pacific theater

i don't think adaptation is smug at all. it's worried about smugness, it contemplates smugness, but if anything it's anti-smug. and i think the ending is funny and smart and coherent with the rest of the film.

I like him more than Morbius does, and yet somehow have seen way fewer of his films

I like Adaptation a lot, I just like Eternal Sunshine better.

i don't think adaptation is smug at all. it's worried about smugness, it contemplates smugness, but if anything it's anti-smug

this holds true for two thirds of the film, then it collapses in on itself. The problem: criticizing the ending means you're not "in" on the joke.

what joke?

"It's only a movie, written by a guy who can't think of an ending."

is Birdy the only film for which he shaved his chest? (and even at 20, that was a lotta work)

a question for the ages

vs the question of why ppl wanna rehash goddamn Charlie Kaufman fights that are 3 years old

he's terrific in Wild At Heart and Red Rock West.

seriously it'd be great if some journalist asked Cage the chest-shaving question in an interview for whatever shit he's working on now

no one is terrific bearable in Wild At Heart

He's also got the biggest toes of any major Hollywood actor.

FACT

PRINT IT

I kind of want to see National Treasure 2 - never saw the first one, but this one looks goofy and not at all serious.

Good sometimes, but seems to act a lot for paychecks - always easy to spot the ones that are going to be crap (like the one where he walks around Manhattan w/ bow and arrow??!) and avoid them. Doesn't really deserve kudos (fuck an Adaptation) or hatred.

He shaved his chest for Valley Girl.

I enjoyed both Lord of War and Matchstick Men.

I also like the Rock and Con Air for what they were.

8mm and Gone in Sixty Seconds are two of the worst movies I've ever seen.

He shaved his chest for Valley Girl.

nope. I thought so too, and looked it up, and his chest hair is right there on the poster.

http://videodetective.com/photos/053/002239_26.jpg

not only does he have chest hair, she can't stop staring at it!

There is a horrible touch of the David Schwimmers about that picture.

(like that's the worst thing about it)

do only non-brits rate michael caine these days?

in the uk the flatness of his accent was like being elbowed in the nose back in the day, more upsettingly potent than the ugliest stones song blah blah -- but non-posh accents on tv and film have shifted way towards the operaticly expressive in the britain (in my lifetime) (in fact in most of your lifetimes) and today it reads like overdone comedy shtick, a humorous straight-man character actor do-less tic even in his really strong early er "britpop" films (ipcress file, italian job, get carter blah blah)

wait, are you saying you like Caine or not, mark s?

accent nuances are lost on me, but I love him. he made me sob and sob in Children of Men

I most definitely remember the chest hair in Valley Girl.

Wanted to see The Weather Man but figured with NC's recent track record I could wait.

(also, Caine has given 2 of his best performances in the last few years in The Quiet American and Children of Men)

Now Michael Caine's Worst Movie - where would you start?!??!

The Hand. Demonstrably worse than Jaws 4

also, Lord of War is the best movie no one's ever seen.

It was OK, but hardly great. Not fault of Cage, but it was Ethan Hawke that dragged it down

He trimmed his chest hair into a V for Valley Girl. There was definite shaving going on, just not the entire chest.

i'm not a huge fan, no* -- i guess i was just putting up the possibility tht brits had soured on him more for reasons beyond his control than non-brits, bcz accent has been mobile in complex ways (incomprehensible to non-brits and rightly so no doubt), and he kinda hasn't mobile along with this

the souring isn't actually to do with his qualities as an actor, more to do with the effect of social fashion on the style of his acting (so he could pop right back in again, easy)

*the ipcress file is great but it's partly because it's so hyper-dour it's funny

"It's only a movie, written by a guy who can't think of an ending."

but no! (sorry morbs, i didn't get to have this fight 3 yrs ago.) the ending is the "adaptation" part -- the unfilmable Susan Orlean book evolving and adapting to fisurvive in a new environment (big-budget hollywood). just like the orchids do, etc. the whole thing is a riff on biology. or biological processes as an analog to artistic/creative processes.

survive, i mean. "fisurvive" is not a word.

yeah, that's correct. i think the reading that adaptation's all injokey and emptily "meta" is a pre-reaction to the movie--it's not actually like that.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082497/

whoa. That looks JJ and Fluffy Bear caliber!

note to self: nobody calls it "the britain" any more

the unfilmable Susan Orlean book evolving and adapting to fisurvive in a new environment (big-budget hollywood). just like the orchids do, etc. the whole thing is a riff on biology. or biological processes as an analog to artistic/creative processes.

-- tipsy mothra,

this is all jolly well true, and i never want to see it again

i vote the Wicker Man, only because... THE BEES. god, that shit makes me die laughing.

anyway, LLV is really good, and certainly among his top 3 best films, if we're talking acting.

(ps-- i also liked national treasure, but only because it was just so stupid)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e6i2WRreARo

STEP AWAY FROM THE BIKE

I remembered the bees, but I had forgotten how hilarious the rest of that montage is

I'm voting captain corelli's mandolin based on the name alone. how can that film be any good?

at least ghost rider and wicker man have some campy so-bad-it's-memeworthy value.

I see where shakey's coming from when it comes to cage's spent potential - the guy was never the 2nd coming of marlon brando, but during the 80s he did a lot of quirky little films and was generally well thought of, as least in my household (cf eric roberts).

now he's the guy talking about the craft he applied in his interpretation of the role of ghost rider.

he tried to REALLY get inside the MIND of a guy with a FLAMING skull

In Spain he is known phonetically as NEE-ko-la KAH-hay.

I kind of want to see "The Wicker Man" if only because he spends part of it in a bear suit punching out women.

Also: "HOW'D IT GET BURNED? HOW'D IT GET BURNED? HOW'D IT GET BURNED?"

I kind of want to see "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" if only because he spends part of it in a bear suit punching out women.

QED

omg

I wish I could find his method acting quote on ghost rider - something about drinking lemonade and listening to linda ronstadt albums and watching youtube clips of monkeys? think it was over on teh sandbox.

I totally remember that, dunno where it is though

here it is... it works best if you imagine james lipton asking the question...

What was something you really wanted in this character, considering how involved you were in the production?

Nicolas Cage: “It’s a deeply personal character and I was trying to find a new way of presenting how he would keep dark spirits at bay. I didn’t want him being a heavy drinker or a chain smoker. I wanted him eating jellybeans so he wouldn’t invite the devils in. I wanted him listening to Karen Carpenter to help him relax so he wouldn’t allow the devil with satanic Goth rock or something. Or, he’s watching chimpanzees do karate instead of The Exorcist. And, all three of those things I was doing in my own life. I was eating jellybeans out of a martini glass and listening to Karen Carpenter and on the Internet watching chimps do karate. And I thought, ‘Well this is funny, let’s put it in the movie.’ But it’s also true.”

more like methadone acting amirite

brando is turning in his piano right now

ho snap

that quote's kind of awesome. i'm using it.

just be careful in the wrong hands that quote could be dangerous

"With great megaroffles comes great responsibility."

I kind of want to see "The Wicker Man" if only because he spends part of it in a bear suit punching out women.

You kind of NEED to see the Wicker Man, but make sure you watch the unrated side of the disc. The BEES are not on the PG13-rated cut.

the minute he held up the girl at gunpoint and stole her bike i knew i was witnessing something special

Cage could easily turn his career around just by picking better movies. I think his acting chops are generally pretty well respected; he's certainly not someone who makes me cringe.

His movie selection perplexes me. You can't completely call him a sell out because he occasionally does offbeat things like The Wicker Man or The Weather Man. Yet neither can you label him as one of those actors who does a big budget film every once in a while so that they can sustain their supposed true love of more independent films; he just does way too many of those crap films.

One way for me to rationalize it is that maybe he's just a complete professional, meaning he no longer cares about a legacy or fame or defining himself. He just gets a role, does it (and does it well), and then moves on.

My gut feeling was face/off

Nicholas Cage = the Robert Mitchum of nineties action movies

Zandalee is the only answer. The only answer is Zandalee.

8mm was so lame. i've always wanted to read the original script, supposedly it got dumbed down in the translation.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i voted wicker man of course but man he's done some crap.

aaaaaaand... i agree with shakey regarding adaptation! not to mention the player did the exact same thing like 10 years before!! how come no one remembers that??

people voting for the wicker man kinda need to realize that the WORST is probably the one you didn't laugh all the way through.

i forgot that captain corelli's mandolin was a film that existed. fuck you people for reminding me that it did.

people voting for the wicker man kinda need to realize that the WORST is probably the one you didn't laugh all the way through.

-- da croupier, Monday, August 27, 2007 6:06 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Link

otm

seconded.

I don't see city of angels getting the hate it so rightfully deserves.

that goo goo dolls ballad...*shivers*

Ha, I haven't seen too many, so I'm not going to vote. I do recall starting to hate Nicholas Cage when a friend turned out to not only be a fan, but practically forced me to sit through Leaving Las Vegas. Argh. Same day I found out that the fellow had scat-porn stored on his computer.

Anyhoo, I'm just posting because this entertained me: I looked up "It could happen to you" to see if that was the awful, awful thing with Rosie Perez (least likable actress ever?), and what do I see?
Also Known As: Cop Gives Waitress $2 Million Tip! (USA) (working title)

Awesome!

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) .... Jack Singer 0

Tsk.

oh fucking dammit i could have helped 8mm tie for first. wtf kind of p.i. never heard of snuff films ???!!!

no in the movie he was aware of them. still what a shitty shitty movie.

i can' believe i've seen 25 of these movies.

anyway, i finally watched The Weather Man last night and i really liked it! i only watched it cuz i actually like bad nic cage movies so i figured this was just one more and i had completely forgotten what it was about or any reviews of it that i might have read. so, it was a surprise. i mean, it's not perfect or anything, but it had some really good funny/cringeworthy moments. and unlike most male pattern baldness midlife crisis mad-as-hell-not-gonna-etc movies there was no big fake explosion moment where the character just decides to let it all hang out and act irrationally and smoke pot and make a big speech about how he doesn't give a fuck anymore. the ending is actually pretty weird. i didn't really know where things would end up and i liked that.

Yeah I like that movie quite a bit I voted for it on the Michael Caine poll he's pretty good in this.

The Family Man got no votes. lol

1/39

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10010694-season_of_the_witch/

The one positive review:

It's creaky, predictable and frequently idiotic. But for a tipsy Saturday night, this should tick all the right boxes.

with friends like that

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7254/cagebird.jpg

totally read that as "lick all the right boxes"

deffo gonna peep season o' the witch dis weekend

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/feb/19/nicholas-cage-bad-film-guide

the problem i have with cage is that i even like his shit films. well apart from ghost rider, that was the absolute worst.

drive angry is shit... not as bad as bangkok dangerous or whatever it was called

Guardian commenters unusually OTM. Don't write about Nic Cage if you don't even like Face/Off and Con Air.

Lord of War is underrated.

actually i meant bangkok dangerous. that one was pretty shit. but i really liked the sorcerers apprentice!

My wife was watching National Treasure yesterday and that is such an awful movie. It made Da Vinci Code look like Citizen Kane.

yeah Lord Of War i'd put up there with Matchstick Men as one of the few later Cage flicks that's just a perfectly good movie

Bad Lieutenant may be may favorite Cageflick, it seemed to have sank like a stone but if you like Nic Cage as much as I do you should enjoy it; it's basically Nic Cage flipping out on random people for a good hour and a half. Very much like The Vampire's Kiss (another A+ flick in my book). I don't think he's ever made a bad movie. Even the terrible stuff like Season of the Witch or Ghost Rider is at least funny because he's in it. Also, keep in mind that these are my favorite things that Nic Cage has ever done:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYkw-5htPw0

"I don't think he's ever made a bad movie."

I believe it when people say he's totally without self-awareness because NEXT would have been saved if
Cage was at all aware about what it is people want to see him for, instead of playing a corpse the entire movie.
Even worse than Affleck's stab at PKD.

I admire Cage as an actor because he seemingly does not give a shit about what roles he takes and whether it's good for his actorly "reputation". Of course this means that he'll appear in lots of shitty movies but 9/10 times they're watchable because of him.

I think my personal Nick Cage turning point was Wicker Man, because no other actor could pull that kind of ridiculousness off. Wicker Man would just be a bad remake of a classic horror flick instead of a hilariously batshit bad remake of a horror classic.

I was down on Cage for a while then saw him in Kick-Ass, where he was gold through and through--he knew exactly what to do with that role. Very disappointed that the makers of the Green Hornet flick didn't let him do his jamaican-accented bad guy.

I think my personal Nick Cage turning point was Wicker Man, because no other actor could pull that kind of ridiculousness off.

That's basically why I like the man so much. Lots of his roles - The Vampire's Kiss, The Weather Man, Bad Lieutenant, Kick-Ass, etc. etc. just could not be done by anyone else. I mean the guy acts like a lunatic in every movie (and his off-screen persona backs this up) and plays every role 110%. The scene where he eats a cockroach in "Vampire's Kiss" wasn't even in the script!! He just suggested, "I think it would be better if I ate a cockroach here", so he did it. Daaamn

yeah idg how anyone can hate on someone this batshit - he's game for anything. Nothing's beneath this guy. If Tommy Wiseau wanted him to play a dog he'd probably do it. you gotta avoid half his films like the plague but I can't imagine a cinema without him. Also would love to see a super-insider doc about him blowing his millions.

Ouch. "A Score To Settle" (2019). OUCH!
Has a death scene to rival that of Peter Sellers' bugler in "The Party". Not kidding.

Still doin it:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6372694/

Whether that's gonna be good or not probably depends on how much one would want to see Boomtown Festival: The Movie

Impressed that there's barely any mention of Deadfall itt. But it may actually be the greatest of all his performances so maybe it has no place here.