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.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 15:50 (sixteen years ago) link
I LOVED Face/Off.
― Beth Parker, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 15:51 (sixteen years ago) link
Preview for National Treasure II before Superbad made me LOL as much as the preview for the Harold & Kumar sequel.
― n/a, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 15:52 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 15:53 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― n/a, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 15:54 (sixteen years ago) link
(this thread prompted by the repeated airings of "City of Angels" on AMC over the last weekend)
― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 15:54 (sixteen years ago) link
8mm8mm8mm8mm8mm8mm8mm8mm8mm
― DavidM, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 15:56 (sixteen years ago) link
(Mental image of Shakey Mo watching "City of Angels" and masturbating to the thought of a dead Nicolas Cage)
― n/a, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 15:57 (sixteen years ago) link
Rarely has anyone betrayed his talent so completely
What talent?
― Tom D., Tuesday, 21 August 2007 15:58 (sixteen years ago) link
The Wicker Man (2006) .... Edward Malus
hint hint
― ☪, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:00 (sixteen years ago) link
dood leave me out of your fantasies
― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:00 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Mark Clemente, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:01 (sixteen years ago) link
*that
[10 *that were good]
wicker man is the worst worst worst by a mile and a half and a factor of 2
― elmo argonaut, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:02 (sixteen years ago) link
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
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:04 (sixteen years ago) link
He's really not as bad as everyone sez he is. There are at least half-a-dozen good films on this list.
― Alex in SF, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:05 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Alex in SF, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:06 (sixteen years ago) link
I saw 15 of his films *before* LLV, in the '80s missing only The Boy in Blue.
― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:07 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Oilyrags, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:08 (sixteen years ago) link
I have to vote for The Wicker Man, because... why? WHY?! YOU MANIACS, YOU REMADE THE WICKER MAN!
― kenan, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:08 (sixteen years ago) link
I forgot about Matchstick Men yesterday when we were talking about this. That's a good movie too.
― Alex in SF, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:09 (sixteen years ago) link
I saw that Wicker Man has the widow from Deadwood in it. Is there tittay?
― Oilyrags, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:09 (sixteen years ago) link
dude there's tittay in deadwood!
― gff, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:12 (sixteen years ago) link
and that should stop me from seeking out more why?
― Oilyrags, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:14 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― n/a, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:14 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:16 (sixteen years ago) link
i concede your point, Oilyrags.
― gff, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:17 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Roz, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:17 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― da croupier, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:19 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:20 (sixteen years ago) link
8mm is one of the worst movies evar - but i havent seen most of these
― jhøshea, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:20 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― da croupier, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:21 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:21 (sixteen years ago) link
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
― ailsa, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:24 (sixteen years ago) link
(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
― Tom D., Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:25 (sixteen years ago) link
how can anybody hate Michael Caine
― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:28 (sixteen years ago) link
All these movies you guys are mentioning are worse than _Ghost Rider_?
― Sundar, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:28 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:28 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Pashmina, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:29 (sixteen years ago) link
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?!??!
― Tom D., Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:31 (sixteen years ago) link
you are talking a pile of poo re: Michael Caine.
But the answer to that poll is Jaws 4: The Revenge.
― kenan, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:31 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh yeah, Peter O'Toole, he's another one
― Tom D., Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:32 (sixteen years ago) link
The one in which he won a lottery, what was that named?
― Heave Ho, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:34 (sixteen years ago) link
Jaws 4 no question
― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:34 (sixteen years ago) link
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
― da croupier, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:35 (sixteen years ago) link
Nicolas Cage wasn't in "Jaws 4" was he?
― Tom D., Tuesday, 21 August 2007 16:36 (sixteen years ago) link
ho snap
― HI DERE, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 22:42 (sixteen years ago) link
that quote's kind of awesome. i'm using it.
― latebloomer, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 22:44 (sixteen years ago) link
just be careful in the wrong hands that quote could be dangerous
― Edward III, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 22:50 (sixteen years ago) link
"With great megaroffles comes great responsibility."
― latebloomer, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 22:51 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― da croupier, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 23:37 (sixteen years ago) link
the minute he held up the girl at gunpoint and stole her bike i knew i was witnessing something special
― latebloomer, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 23:47 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― Wookie Rookie, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 23:48 (sixteen years ago) link
My gut feeling was face/off
― W4LTER, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 23:49 (sixteen years ago) link
Nicholas Cage = the Robert Mitchum of nineties action movies
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 23:50 (sixteen years ago) link
Zandalee is the only answer. The only answer is Zandalee.
― Bob Standard, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 23:52 (sixteen years ago) link
8mm was so lame. i've always wanted to read the original script, supposedly it got dumbed down in the translation.
― latebloomer, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 23:56 (sixteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― ILX System, Sunday, 26 August 2007 23:01 (sixteen years ago) link
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??
― s1ocki, Monday, 27 August 2007 01:03 (sixteen years ago) link
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, 27 August 2007 06:06 (sixteen years ago) link
i forgot that captain corelli's mandolin was a film that existed. fuck you people for reminding me that it did.
― the schef (adam schefter ha ha), Monday, 27 August 2007 15:13 (sixteen years ago) link
-- da croupier, Monday, August 27, 2007 6:06 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Link
otm
― latebloomer, Monday, 27 August 2007 15:22 (sixteen years ago) link
seconded.
I don't see city of angels getting the hate it so rightfully deserves.
― jessie monster, Monday, 27 August 2007 15:27 (sixteen years ago) link
that goo goo dolls ballad...*shivers*
― latebloomer, Monday, 27 August 2007 15:32 (sixteen years ago) link
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!
― Øystein, Monday, 27 August 2007 15:39 (sixteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― ILX System, Monday, 27 August 2007 23:01 (sixteen years ago) link
Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) .... Jack Singer 0
Tsk.
― Mark G, Monday, 27 August 2007 23:02 (sixteen years ago) link
oh fucking dammit i could have helped 8mm tie for first. wtf kind of p.i. never heard of snuff films ???!!!
― tremendoid, Monday, 27 August 2007 23:07 (sixteen years ago) link
no in the movie he was aware of them. still what a shitty shitty movie.
― latebloomer, Monday, 27 August 2007 23:31 (sixteen years ago) link
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.
― scott seward, Sunday, 21 June 2009 22:42 (fourteen years ago) link
Yeah I like that movie quite a bit I voted for it on the Michael Caine poll he's pretty good in this.
― Eastürzendes Annoybaten (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 21 June 2009 23:16 (fourteen years ago) link
The Family Man got no votes. lol
― III IV V (Bo Jackson Overdrive), Monday, 22 June 2009 00:07 (fourteen years ago) link
1/39
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10010694-season_of_the_witch/
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Friday, 7 January 2011 15:06 (thirteen years ago) link
The one positive review:
It's creaky, predictable and frequently idiotic. But for a tipsy Saturday night, this should tick all the right boxes.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 7 January 2011 15:35 (thirteen years ago) link
with friends like that
― all i gotta do is akh nachivly (darraghmac), Friday, 7 January 2011 15:37 (thirteen years ago) link
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7254/cagebird.jpg
― old man yells at cloud computing (am0n), Friday, 7 January 2011 16:17 (thirteen years ago) link
totally read that as "lick all the right boxes"
― da croupier, Friday, 7 January 2011 16:43 (thirteen years ago) link
deffo gonna peep season o' the witch dis weekend
― Princess TamTam, Friday, 7 January 2011 16:48 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Monday, 21 February 2011 14:08 (thirteen years ago) link
drive angry is shit... not as bad as bangkok dangerous or whatever it was called
― for all the fucked-up children of this world we give you 1p3 (history mayne), Monday, 21 February 2011 14:09 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― I've been dancing since 9 and I'm tired and hungry (Dorianlynskey), Monday, 21 February 2011 14:20 (thirteen years ago) link
actually i meant bangkok dangerous. that one was pretty shit. but i really liked the sorcerers apprentice!
― titchy (titchyschneiderMk2), Monday, 21 February 2011 15:55 (thirteen years ago) link
My wife was watching National Treasure yesterday and that is such an awful movie. It made Da Vinci Code look like Citizen Kane.
― rendezvous then i'm through with HOOS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 21 February 2011 16:02 (thirteen years ago) link
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
― some dude, Monday, 21 February 2011 16:12 (thirteen years ago) link
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
― frogbs, Monday, 21 February 2011 16:40 (thirteen years ago) link
"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 ifCage 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.
― Philip Nunez, Monday, 21 February 2011 17:38 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― pre-prison, prison, and post-prison (latebloomer), Monday, 21 February 2011 19:22 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― pre-prison, prison, and post-prison (latebloomer), Monday, 21 February 2011 19:29 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― WARS OF ARMAGEDDON (Karaoke Version) (Sparkle Motion), Monday, 21 February 2011 20:24 (thirteen years ago) link
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
― frogbs, Monday, 21 February 2011 21:00 (thirteen years ago) link
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.
― Cosmo Vitelli, Monday, 21 February 2011 21:05 (thirteen years ago) link
Ouch. "A Score To Settle" (2019). OUCH! Has a death scene to rival that of Peter Sellers' bugler in "The Party". Not kidding.
― Carly Jae Vespen (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 7 August 2019 23:26 (four years ago) link
Still doin it:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6372694/
― Tracer Hand, Tuesday, 14 September 2021 23:04 (two years ago) link
Whether that's gonna be good or not probably depends on how much one would want to see Boomtown Festival: The Movie
― Urbandn hope all ye who enter here (dog latin), Tuesday, 14 September 2021 23:16 (two years ago) link
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.
― Marty J. Bilge (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 14 September 2021 23:28 (two years ago) link