In February of 2023, I set out to watch every Nicolas Cage film ever made and write a review of each one. I called this experiment the WATC(H) for The World According to Cage (Hee-haaaaaii!).
At the outset, I decided I would “write a short review or reflection on the experience of watching it” and include my thoughts about the “world as defined by the movie,” the “world outside of the film at the time of its creation,” and the “perceived world within Nicolas Cage’s mind (or that of his character)”.
In half of these goals, I failed. Very few of my reviews were short. Very few discussed the world outside of the film or even within the film–other than to summarize the action.
But in the main goal, I succeeded.
I watched every single movie in Cage’s filmography. That’s about ~110 films (including full-length movies, animated films, voice-over narration, and minutes-long cameos) in chronological order of release. I wanted to see Cage’s progression (and regression?) as an actor.
I also succeeded in writing about the perceived world within Nicolas Cage’s mind in light of his characters. I chose a specific movie as my capstone or “final” viewing that summed it all up: the meta Nic Cage fanboy film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. This was the exact right way to finish this journey.
If you don’t believe me when I say I watched them all, just check out the list here.
So now that I’ve done it, what did it all mean? What did I learn? What were the results of this admittedly bizarre experiment? Let’s answer some of those questions by exploring…
The World According to Todd Watching Nicolas Cage for 21 Months
What It Was
- An experiment in a systematic way of watching films. This experiment was started to stave off some boredom. With all the streaming options and decision-making involved in selecting the next film or TV series, I wanted to follow my own formula instead of a Netflix algorithm. Too many choices are tiring and often lead to analysis paralysis. So I turned to a popular actor whom I once enjoyed and just decided to watch them all–the full career arc. Watching them in order removed the element of decision making: a nice prescriptive watchlist.
- A forcing function to just be writing “something”. Having a specific writing assignment every week forced me to do the thing I find increasingly hard to do as I get older: just write. I am a writer that often doesn’t make time for it. Having a “project” with a goal, even a personal one (rather than a publishing one) helped me gain some discipline and practice. A copious number of words were written over 21 months. Mission accomplished!
- A challenge I took on that could be shared with others. I didn’t set out to intentionally share this weird journey of mine with anyone else. Wasn’t seeking attention or trying to connect with people. BUT I did know this wasn’t some private vanity project. I wanted my journey to be “open to the public” should they choose to follow me in it.
I openly told friends and family what I was doing. I didn’t know that by doing so, I would generate quite a bit of interest. Friends and family watched Nic Cage movies with me, others sent me Nicolas Cage themed gifts, Nic’s own director brother (I choose to believe it’s him) commented on my blog–after his film student forwarded it. These were all happy accidents–getting to share my obsession with my community–and having them reciprocate with their enthusiasm and awe.
- A tremendous investment of time and mental energy. Often old people say things like, “If I could do it all over again…” usually when they are second-guessing some choice in life. I admit that I didn’t have a very good grasp of what watching 110 movies would be like in terms of time and energy investment. I mean you’re just sitting on a couch. How hard can that be? I also underestimated the tedium of writing a thoughtful review over and over again. To think creatively about The Croods 2 or G-Force. I mean, c’mon?!? This trek had me climbing a much, much higher peak than I originally surmised through my telescope.
After the fact, I did some rough math on the WATC(H). Adding up the total time of the films, here’s what I discovered:
Median length (duration) for Cage films: 1 hour 41 min per film (some longer some shorter)
Total time in hours (all filmography) = 193.23 hours
Total time in days = ~8 days
But those numbers assume that you only watched Nicolas Cage’s filmography one time.
I typically watched the film once so I could enjoy it, and then a second time so I could write copious notes and impressions. That’s not to say, I never fast-forwarded a second viewing BUT just for fun, let’s double the calculations:
Total time in hours (all filmography 2x) = 386.5 hours
Total time in days = ~16 days
And then there’s the time I spent notating, writing, formatting images, searching IMDB, reading Cage books and articles about him, etc. Even if I low in terms of estimates, all-in, I probably spent three complete weeks of my life on this project. That’s twenty-one 24-hour days, no breaks or rest or sleep, spent on the Nicolas Cage filmography.
You begin to get the idea of what this journey was for me. Nicolas Cage is known for the extreme lengths he goes to in order to get “in character” (e.g. pulling out his own teeth, becoming an alcoholic, learning how to play the piano, mastering jiu-jitsu).
I am also proud of the fantastic lengths I went to, in time and energy, to follow this guru’s career in film.
What It Wasn’t
- All that singularly unique in its premise. I quickly discovered that many, many people have taken up the task of watching all of Nicolas Cage’s films, have done their own analysis of him as an actor / genius, and have filled the online world with an ever-expanding collection of Nic Cage memes.
While doing my own research, I discovered fanatics and enthusiasts who have paved this path before me. Some watched Nicolas Cage films for numerology as a means to win the lottery. Others watched him while high. Others created podcasts, instagram posts, Reddit threads (r/onetruegod), and designed their own creative merch (e.g. face pillows).
A fellow local enthusiast sent me a Nicolas Cage devotional candle, a fictitious CD sleeve for a movie never made, and a Dream Scenario sleep mask.
I sent him a Nicolas Cage garden gnome in response.
Nicolas Cage, like bigfoot, is everywhere now–if you’re willing to look. (While my journey was not particularly original, I am on a very short list of folks who watched EVERY movie, even the animated ones, wrote a review, and did some tracking of Cage character firsts and recurrences throughout. I put my own unique spin on the experiment. Not to brag.
- My blogs were not wildly readable as literature. I’m aware that I wrote each review mostly for myself. Folks typically don’t read reviews for films they don’t watch. I took a lot of time to summarize the films and categorize the Cage-isms. This doesn’t lend itself to brevity nor does it make these posts highly readable. That wasn’t the goal. Like I said, I wanted to write, so write I did, without worrying too much about audience-friendly readability. If I did have to do this project all over again, I would probably take one theme from the films and key in on that. Would have simplified things. So some of the blog posts actually tell a pretty good story, while others are tedious, long-winded, and painfully prescriptive. It is what it is, and I don’t apologize for it.
- The experiment was not conclusive in establishing a pattern of career growth or progression for Mr. Cage. Early on while I was watching these films, I wondered if I’d made a serious mistake by choosing Nicolas Cage instead of Sean Penn as my actor of choice. Sean and Nic appeared in two films together early on and both struck me as good young actors who ended up having long careers. BUT I decided that Cage was different and had been in such a huge variety of films, I wanted to see how this experiment played out. I wanted to see a guy “grow up” on screen.
I thought by watching the films chronologically I would see a lot of growth / change / maturity in the “craft” and “methods” of Cage’s acting. What I didn’t predict was that Nicolas Cage’s whole career is built on being unpredictable. He chooses roles that challenge him. He chooses roles on a whim. He chooses roles because he needs money and acting is blue collar “work” to him. He chooses roles because of where he is geographically in the world at any given time. There’s so little observable foresight or care for what kinds of roles he “should be doing”. Instead he does what he wants.
- So, in a sense, waiting to see linear progression from an actor who embodies the chaos of the artistic, is a fruitless endeavor. Cage will do a Disney film, and then an indie arthouse film, and then a psychedelic horror movie, and then a historical biopic, and then, for kicks, a strange rom-com. His performances are a fortune cookie, a lottery pick, a crap shoot, as to what you’re going to get as a viewer. Some of his best work was in the beginning of his career and then again, wait, at the end (still going) and oh yeah, some great stuff in the middle, too! But there are also soooo many really unwatchable films mixed in there all along the way. So, yeah, I couldn’t really see a pattern other than the fact that there is no pattern. I guess that’s what makes Cage great.
So What Did I Learn Then
The question everyone wants to know is what was his best one and what were my favorites? It’s an impossible question for a true fan to answer. But I guess, that’s the first lesson I learned…
- I became a fan by watching. I was interested in Nicolas Cage from the beginning. I liked Raising Arizona, Wild at Heart, Face / Off, and Con Air as a young man, but I wouldn’t have really called myself a fan. I didn’t realize until I started the WATC(H) how many of his films I’d seen (and loved) and how (very) many I hadn’t ever seen. That was a process of discovery. With each one I watched, my appreciation and understanding grew.
- Nicolas Cage doesn’t give a fuck. He just doesn’t. So many films he is in show how he acts in his own unique way. Sometimes to hilarious and / or disastrous results. But however he performs a role, he makes it his own. If you’re into the enneagram, you’ll recognize that Number 4 is the Individualist or the Romantic. I think Nicolas Cage is a four. Maybe I want to believe this because I am a four as well. But something tells me that being “unique” and unlike anyone else in Hollywood seems important to him. At times that has meant doing a blockbuster and at other times it has meant signing on to a low-budget straight-to-video clunker. That defiant, trailblazer attitude in Cage really resonates with a lot of people (probably Americans most) and the consistency with which he takes it on is what really sets him apart.
- Sometimes the films themselves don’t matter. Throughout the journey, I mentioned how even the worst Nicolas Cage films were BETTER because he was in them. Even his bad films become watchable because of how he acts in them with a sincerity and transparent dedication that boggles the imagination. Quite a few of his films should not have seen the light of day, and yet, they exist and for many of them, I’d watch them again simply because of Cage’s performance.
- Nicolas Cage characters represent a complex mosaic of truthful masculinity that defies our contemporary categories. Ok, I know that one sounds weird, but bear with me. Go back to my reviews on Raising Arizona, The Weather Man, The Family Man, Mandy, and Bringing Out the Dead. While there may not be a cohesive connective theory in these reviews there are likely loose ties and inklings of what it means to be a man in the modern world. I mentioned that some of Cage’s best roles are when he is the Tragic Misfit Savior, flawed but with a unique ability to “save” others, usually to his own detriment / demise. But now that I’ve watched them all, I’ll restate it this way. Nic Cage plays the “Hangdog Hero” to great effect in his very best films. He’s not always the best, the brightest, the most attractive, or chivalric, but he’s the dark horse (or ghost rider) who usually gets the job done in the end.
You end up rooting for him–even though he’s often flawed. He’s tragic, awkward at times, often a misfit, but a man with a unique skill or perspective. There is a sense of displacement in Cage characters that I think the modern man relates to. He is no longer the alpha-male, the bread-winner, the sexual conquistador, but there is an understated virility, longing, and strength in him that usually persists to the end. It’s hangdog, moody, and beaten down, but not destroyed. Beyond the bravado, the spastic anger-fits, the erratic behaviors Cage is known for, we see in his work a vulnerability, a man who has lost his way and is seeking to reclaim of find it once again. This stands in sharp contrast to the feminine. Cage’s characters live somewhere in that squishy liminal space between toxic masculinity and impotent emasculation. He’s a man without a country. An Odysseus trying to navigate back to his lost world. - It’s fun to have a niche little hobby that connects to so many things in the outside world. I look forward to retirement because I enjoyed having a mostly useless hobby like this to nerd out to. Now when I think about the world–or see some scene in another film–I am always cross-referencing. I relate all of life back to the WATC(H). Has a Nicolas Cage character ever been in Seattle? Yes (Running with the Devil). Has a Nicolas Cage character ever uttered the words, “Hail, Satan!” Yes, twice. (Longlegs, Sympathy with the Devil). Which film was it where Nicolas Cage plays a character with dementia (Dying of the Light), or when was he responsible for protecting (or killing) a Navajo code breaker (Windtalkers)? The trivia list of questions, answers, and cross-references goes on an into infinity.
So those are a few of the things I’ve learned.
But What About the Lists
OK, ok. I did make some lists. I do have my top twenty five which probably is not as precise as you would think.
Here’s my top 25 based on two factors “my long-term enjoyment” and my personal taste based on overall quality and watchability of the film. I know lists may offend or lead to debate, but this is where I sit in 2024.
The Top 25
The Top 25
| 1 | Raising Arizona |
| 2 | Pig |
| 3 | Face/Off |
| 4 | Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent |
| 5 | Leaving Las Vegas |
| 6 | Bringing Out the Dead |
| 7 | Matchstick Men |
| 8 | Moonstruck |
| 9 | Mandy |
| 10 | The Family Man |
| 11 | The Weather Man |
| 12 | Dream Scenario |
| 13 | Joe |
| 14 | Vampire’s Kiss |
| 15 | Longlegs |
| 16 | Adaptation. |
| 17 | Con Air |
| 18 | The Rock |
| 19 | Willy’s Wonderland |
| 20 | The Trust |
| 21 | Wild At Heart |
| 22 | Kick Ass |
| 23 | Gone in 60 Seconds |
| 24 | Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans |
| 25 | Snake Eyes |
That’s pretty straight-forward. Agree to disagree if you must. But what I think is better is ranking Cage movies over a set of genres or categories.
These 12 lists are ranked within my own specialized genres / categories. I’ve added a line of asterisks (******) under a film in each column to signify my “bottom line”. Films above the bottom line are ones I highly recommend anyone see. Films BELOW the bottom line, well I think those are optional. I watched them twice and likely won’t watch them again.
12 Ranked Lists (based on my categories)
Just Bonkers
| Just Bonkers – If you like weird, disturbing, erratic stuff these are the films for you |
| Mandy |
| Wild at Heart |
| Longlegs |
| Dream Scenario |
| The Wicker Man |
| Color Out of Space |
| Willy’s Wonderland |
| Mom & Dad ****************** |
| Prisoners of the Ghostland |
| Never on a Tuesday |
| Grindhouse |
| Industrial Symphony #1 |
Drama
| Drama – Well done scripts and acting |
| Pig |
| Leaving Las Vegas |
| Bringing Out the Dead |
| The Weather Man |
| Joe ****************** |
| Rumble Fish |
| The Frozen Ground |
Comedy
| Comedy – Funny stuff |
| Raising Arizona |
| Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent |
| Kick Ass |
| Renfield |
| Guarding Tess |
| The Trust ****************** |
| Fast Times at Ridgemont High |
| Amos and Andrew |
Rom-Com
| Rom / Com – Funny but with a romantic twist, or lovey-dovey |
| Moonstruck |
| Honeymoon in Vegas |
| Valley Girl ****************** |
| It Could Happen to You |
| Captain Correlli’s Mandolin |
| Peggy Sue Got Married |
| City of Angels |
Action / Noir
| Action / Noir – High octane, high intrigue; guitars, guns and girls |
| Face / Off |
| The Rock |
| Gone in 60 Seconds |
| Con Air |
| Snake Eyes |
| Red Rock West ****************** |
| 8 MM |
| Ghost Rider |
| Primal |
| Arcadian |
| Kiss of Death |
| Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance |
Bad But Good
| Bad But Good – The bad ones that end up kind of being pretty entertaining |
| Deadfall |
| Drive Angry |
| Bad Lieutenant |
| Next ****************** |
| Dying of the Light |
| Dog Eat Dog |
| Looking Glass |
| The Best of Times (his earliest tv series) |
Bad But NOT Good
| Bad (Not Good) – The bad ones that are just not good. Don’t even bother. |
| Sonny |
| Jiu-Jitsu |
| Inconceivable |
| Trapped in Paradise |
| Left Behind |
| Time to Kill |
| Retirement Plan |
| Stolen |
| Zandalee |
| Outcast |
| The Runner |
| Arsenal |
| The Humanity Bureau |
| 211 |
Family Friendly
| Family – Popcorn, family-friendly fare |
| Spider Man: Into the Spider Verse |
| The Family Man |
| National Treasure |
| The Sorcerer’s Apprentice |
| National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets ****************** |
| The Croods |
| The Croods 2 |
| Ant Bully |
| G-Force |
| Astro Boy |
| Teen Titans Go: To the Movies |
| The Christmas Carol: The Movie |
IYKYK
| If You Know You Know (Twisting) |
| Vampire’s Kiss |
| Adaptation. |
| Matchstick Men |
| Sympathy for the Devil ****************** |
| A Score to Settle |
| Running With the Devil |
| Kill Chain |
| Knowing |
| Trespass |
| Grand Isle |
Period Pieces
| Period Pieces – Educational (sort of) no bottom line here |
| Windtalkers |
| The Cotton Club |
| U.S.S Indianapolis |
| Butcher’s Crossing |
| The Boy in Blue |
| World Trade Center |
| Season of the Witch |
| The Old Way |
Vengeance
| Vengeance – Somebody’s gonna pay for it – No bottom line here |
| Bangkok Dangerous |
| Seeking Justice |
| Rage |
| Pay the Ghost |
| Vengeance: a Love Story |
| Between Worlds |
War
| War |
| Snowden |
| Lord of War |
| Racing With the Moon ****************** |
| Army of One |
| Birdy |
| Firebirds |
Finally, for those who like brevity, and don’t have time to read 110 reviews, here’s my bite-sized summaries or life lesson from every film. Enjoy!
WATC(H) Bite-Sized Reviews
| 0 | The Best of Times | Nicolas Cage was a teenager once, it’s hard work, and he started out as a “never nude”. |
| 1 | Fast Times At Ridgemont High | Even big movie stars have humble beginnings, As Brad’s Bud the fry cook, he barely said a word, but did put an “I AM A HOMO” sign on someone (Tsk-Tsk.) |
| 2 | Valley Girl | Like totally tubular, Nic Cage hides in a bathroom to meet a Valley girl from across the tracks, and then he pulls some Rushmore-esque shenanigans to win her affection. |
| 3 | Rumble Fish | If you steal your best friend’s girl, there might be black-and-white rumble in middle-America and the name Rusty James may get dropped 42 times unnecessarily. |
| 4 | The Cotton Club | Nicolas Cage does some prohibition-era dirty dancing with Jennifer Grey (pre Swayze) and ends up dead in a phone booth via gatling gun. |
| 5 | Racing with the Moon | Nicolas Cage and Sean Penn show us what is was like to be pin monkeys, wounded soldiers, and train racers while wooing women before the War. |
| 6 | Birdy | Don’t let your friend convince you to dress up like a pigeon and jump from a roof and don’t pull your own teeth to get in “character”. |
| 7 | The Boy in Blue | There’s a pretty good reason no one knows who Ned Hanlon is and there aren’t more films about rowing; on the positive side this film is hard to find. |
| 8 | Peggy Sue Got Married | Back to the Future is way better time travel, but doesn’t offer a nasally Nicolas Cage and young Jim Carey singing in a glittery-suited pink doo-wap quartet. |
| 9 | Raising Arizona | Cage’s masterpiece film where H.I. McDunnough “tried to stand up and fly straight, but it wasn’t easy with that sumbitch Reagan in the White House,” Just see this one always, whenever it’s on. |
| 10 | Moonstruck | Nicolas Cage plays a one-handed baker who threatens to cut his own throat just to prove a point (and his undying love) to his brother’s fiance, Cher. |
| 11 | Vampire’s Kiss | Don’t sexually harass your secretary because you might be a vampire or just a guy who thinks he’s a vampire; also sing your ABCs loudly and often. |
| 12 | Never on a Tuesday | Big fake nose and a sports cars–just wacky. |
| 13 | Time to Kill | Don’t fall in love with the natives and please don’t rape them, then shoot them accidentally, while trying to kill a hyena; it’s a bad look. |
| 14 | Wild at Heart | Erratic, erotic, and truly wild at heart, Sailor Ripley is the perfect amalgamation of personal freedom, individuality, snakeskin jackets and the mad genius of David Lynch: proceed with caution. |
| 14a | Industrial Symphony No#1 | Breakups are hard (nay, apocalyptic). |
| 15 | Fire Birds | The movie that was trying to be Top Gun but with helicopters and the fictitious war on drugs. |
| 16 | Zandalee | Stay away from Cage films set in New Orleans: paint gets on the bed. |
| 17 | Honeymoon in Vegas | Never bet |
| 18 | Amos and Andrew | The movie where Nicolas Cage and Samuel Jackson poke fun at racial tensions and home invasions–only that joke isn’t very funny anymore (awkward). |
| 19 | Red Rock West | Life gets pretty tricky when you pretend to be Lyle from Dallas (Dennis Hopper) for a little extra cash. |
| 20 | Deadfall | The best WORST film in the Nicolas Cage filmography–his bro directed it, it was a big time bomb in spite of its star power–Cage gets deep-fried in the end and Christopher Coppola gets salty in my comment section. |
| 21 | Guarding Tess | Working in the Secret Service is a thankless job and this is the strangest mix of a comedy-turned-thriller you’ll ever see. |
| 22 | It Could Happen To You | Rosie Perez was kind of being a bitch, but I mean that is a lot of money to share with a waitress you just met, Nic. |
| 23 | Trapped in Paradise | You’ll feel trapped, not in paradise, watching this dumb film about Nic Cage trying to look after his mentally-challenged thief brothers, Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz (it’s worse even then it sounds). |
| 24 | Kiss of Death | Why isn’t bench-pressing a prostitute ever considered as an Olympic sport; wife-beaters and guido vibes abound from Little Junior Brown. |
| 25 | Leaving Las Vegas | It won him an Oscar and it’s a pretty good argument for anyone who is ready to stop drinking. |
| 26 | The Rock | Alcatraz is occupied by a disgruntled military unit who have chemical weapons, Nicolas Cage becomes the action star needed to stop them (with the help of a slippery Sean Connery). |
| 27 | Con Air | It’s Cage’s flowy locks that people will remember most, but my advice is to steer well clear of Con Airlines–there is no first class on those planes. |
| 28 | Face/Off | John Woo teaches us about the enigmatic Love Touch while Nicolas Cage and John Travolta try shoot each other in black suits–one of the best in the list. |
| 29 | City of Angels | Falling to earth has never felt this sappy, even for an established angel like Nicolas flipping Cage–watch the OG Wings of Desire instead. |
| 30 | Snake Eyes | Fight night has never been this exciting before, even though you are trying to foil the plot of your good buddy, Lieutenant Dan; hurricanes await. |
| 31 | Bringing Out the Dead | Working the graveyard shift takes on a whole new meaning in this Hell’s Kitchen glimpse of the trials and tribulations of ambulance driver, Frank Pierce; this Scorsese film got spiritual for me. |
| 32 | 8mm | If you know what a snuff film is you’ve probably already formed an opinion and either watched this one already or definitely didn’t; all else need not apply. |
| 33 | Gone in 60 Seconds | Stealing cars has never been as fun as this; it might be a remake, but it birthed an entire industry of Fast and Furious fodder. (Oh, Eleanor…) |
| 34 | The Family Man | The film where Nicolas Cage learns how to change a diaper and go suit-shopping at the local mall; be careful what you wish for, and this one gets my heartstrings everytime. |
| 35 | Captain Correlli’s Mandolin | Nicolas Cage isn’t a Nazi in this film, but he’s Nazi adjacent–don’t worry though he rights the ship, all for the love of his “Greek” Goddess, Penelope Cruz. |
| 36 | A Christmas Carol: The Movie | Nicolas Cage, the Ghost of Jacob Marley, animated–don’t bother. |
| 37 | Windtalkers | In this film, I learned that the Navajo codebreakers helped the U.S. win WWII in the South Pacific and were not thanked or acknowledged for decades–not surprising given our long tarnished history. |
| 38 | Sonny | Nicolas Cage, please don’t ever direct another film, ever again, America thanks you. |
| 39 | Adaptation. | A movie about a book being made into a movie about a book, Nicolas Cage gets neurotic, and existential, and talks to a more chipper version of himself in this one–alligators also eat people. |
| 40 | Matchstick Men | You down with OCD? Yeah you know me. Nic Cage as con man gets long-gamed. |
| 41 | National Treasure | Nicolas Cage meets Indiana Jones and gets Disneyfied–with U.S. history mixed in. |
| 42 | Lord of War | In the arms race, no one wins anything but bullets–learn from Nic Cage: do not sell guns to violent men. |
| 43 | The Weather Man | Archery and meteorology have things in common in this film and some dads are just built differently–cut them some slack and don’t throw burritos at them. Uh-oh to the camel toe. |
| 44 | The Ant Bully | Animated ants. Wizards. Whatever. |
| 45 | World Trade Center | The film where Nicolas Cage is trapped beneath the rubble of one of the twin towers on 9/11 for the entire film–true-to-life, heroic and very boring to watch. |
| 46 | The Wicker Man | Oh, not the bees. Really the bees were the least of his concern; life advice would say to steer clear of all solstice festivals on remote islands. |
| 47 | Ghost Rider | Comic book Cage does some administrative tasks for the devil and when not on fire or riding a Harley, he drinks jelly beans from a martini glass. |
| 48 | Grindhouse | You can watch Cage’s two-minute of screen time online if you don’t mind some odd cultural appropriation and seeing some breasted werewolf Nazis. |
| 49 | Next | Being a 2-minute Nostradamus isn’t all it’s cracked up to be–still not sure I followed the logic at the end…Next. |
| 50 | National Treasure: Book of Secrets | Ed Harris is similar to Nicolas Cage in the way he makes every film he’s in at least a little bit better; he makes a nice history-buff nemesis for Benjamin Franklin Gates in this History Channel sequel. |
| 51 | Bangkok Dangerous | Ever fall in love with a deaf mute Thai pharmacist while waiting for your med prescription to be filled in your downtime as an assassin? Yeah, me neither, but I’m not Nicolas Cage. |
| 52 | Knowing | The numbers say, “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine” but only Nicolas Cage knows how to read those alien digits. |
| 53 | G-Force | A foray into Disney live-action where Nicolas Cage voices a mole who’s a literal and figurative mole; take it for what it’s worth. |
| 54 | The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans | He really is a bad lieutenant in this one, even stooping so low as to bully and assault an elderly woman with an oxygen mask, but all’s well that ends well I guess. |
| 55 | Astro Boy | Blah, blah, blah, anime, blah, blah. |
| 56 | Kick Ass | Knock-off Batman, Big Daddy, trains his daughter to be a vigilante to hilarious results; a surprisingly good addition to Nic Cage’s filmography. |
| 57 | The Sorcerer’s Apprentice | It’s not Mickey Mouse and broomsticks, but you should never underestimate the power of a tastefully-decorated vase or Nic Cage in a fedora. |
| 58 | The Season of the Witch | Not to spoil anything, but there’s a demon in that witch; and Nic Cage as a crusader (even a disillusioned one) doesn’t really work for me. |
| 59 | Drive Angry | Mid-coital, bare-assed shootout with a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and the gun pointed at cultists in the other; Nicolas Cage breaks out of hell to save his grand-baby. |
| 60 | Seeking Justice | Generally universal life advice: don’t ever agree to do a carte-blanche favor for someone when you don’t know what it is or when it will be required. |
| 61 | Trespass | If the term, “there’s always money IN the banana stand” means anything to you, you’ll recognize that Kyle was kind of pulling the same Bluth scheme, and he almost lost it all to a home invasion. |
| 62 | Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance | They made another? How come? And no jelly beans this time… |
| 63 | Stolen | Stay away from films set in New Orleans: melting the gold was the easiest way, really?!? |
| 64 | The Croods | Cavemen dads are over-protective, in cartoon form. |
| 65 | The Frozen Ground | Biopic serial killer crime drama flick starring John Cusack and Nicolas Cage–it was better than it sounds. |
| 66 | Joe | There’s a job out there where people purposefully poison trees? Only in Texas. Nicolas Cage once said Joe was a role that was very similar to his true personality (or something like that). |
| 67 | Rage | Nic Cage gets really mad when someone kidnaps his teenage daughter. Deja vu. Yes, it’s happened before. |
| 68 | Outcast | Annakin Skywalker doesn’t add much to this Chinese period piece; sticking to my guns here: Nic Cage as a crusader (even a guy with an eye patch) doesn’t really work for me. |
| 69 | Left Behind | Desperate times call for desperate measures I guess; Nic Cage takes on an evangelical Christian rapture movie and somehow lands the plane (literally not figuratively). |
| 70 | Dying of the Light | An aging CIA officer with early onset dementia gets in a knife fight with his terminally ill terrorist nemesis in Africa–it sounds like what it is, but I still kind of liked it. |
| 71 | The Runner | Sarah Paulsen and Nic Cage get busy in the sheets and on the streets of PR campaign trail in this political snoozer. (Contrary to everything I believe in now, this film was not any better due to Nicolas Cage.) |
| 72 | Pay the Ghost | Word of advice: if a ghost is demanding payment for something, overlook the reason behind it, find out the fees required, and just pay it. |
| 73 | The Trust | That time when the morally-flexible policemen Frodo and Nic Cage decided to steal from crooks to pay themselves, and things didn’t go well. Cool too-scale blueprint of the vault though. |
| 74 | Dog Eat Dog | Weird ass movie about three ex-con friends who can’t seem to stay out of trouble; Willem Dafoe is next level “mad dog” and Nic Cage has his moment as Bogart. |
| 75 | Snowden | What I learned was, if you cross them, the U.S. government is not your friend; and Nic is good in this one, but barely a character, who prefers Budweiser. |
| 76 | U.S.S. Indianapolis: Men of Courage | Nic Cage takes on the A-bomb only to have to face shipwreck, sharks, court-martial and hari kari, a.k.a. Life sucks and then you die. |
| 77 | Army of One | Real life story of a weird American guy who tried to hunt down and capture Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan–who better than Cage to take this on. |
| 78 | Arsenal | Unofficial sequel to Deadfall, alternatively title Nic gets revenge on his brother. |
| 79 | Vengeance: A Love Story | Hard to watch due to the subject matter, a woman gets horribly raped in front of her daughter and Nic has to clean up the mess of corrupt judicial system. |
| 80 | Inconceivable | It’s inconceivable to me that Nic Cage appeared in this film. I’m going to deny that it happened and move on with my life. |
| 81 | Mom and Dad | Watch this family film on mother or father’s day with the kids–I did and it made for some interesting questions we discussed together as a family. “You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around.” |
| 82 | The Humanity Bureau | In a post-apocayptic future, Nic Cage works on the Minority Report until he runs across a rural mother and son whom he’d like to adopt as his own–there are better versions of this film out there. |
| 83 | Mandy | Man falls in love with woman–woman gets kidnapped and burned alive by cultists / orcs–man forges battle axe, drops acid, and brutally kills every living man and beast in sight. |
| 84 | Looking Glass | You may be tempted to, but don’t peep into people’s hotel rooms through secret double-paned glass. |
| 85 | 211 | All I remember is that Nic Cage’s real life son was in this one–he gets shot and dies. The rest is completely forgettable. |
| 86 | Teen Titans Go! To the Movies | Another animated affair for small children–Nic has a thing for Superman though and voices him here. |
| 87 | Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse | Another animated film, but this time more adult friendly; it’s the best of the lot and includes Nic as the memorable Spider Man Noir. |
| 88 | Between Worlds | Redneck Nic Cage seduces a much younger woman who is currently being possessed by his dead wife; during sex he reads poetry to her by a writer named Nic Cage. |
| 89 | Love, Antosha | Thoughtful documentary about the late great actor, Anton Yelchin; Nic voices some of Anton’s personal journal entries. |
| 90 | A Score to Settle | If you think this is just your standard ex con-Nic Cage getting vengeance for the wrong done to him flick, you’ll be surprised by the ending–maybe. |
| 91 | Color Out of Space | H.P. Lovecraft would know; you just don’t touch a meteorite or any alien object that falls to earth because chaos ensues. Poor alpacas. |
| 92 | Running with the Devil | Nic Cage has to figure out where in the drug trade supply chain the operation is breaking down, and only after traveling to South America, does he realize that he also has a domestic problem: Laurence Fishburne. Damn. |
| 93 | Kill Chain | Speaking of chains and South America, this is another revenge film set south of the border where Nic masterminds a nice plot to catch a group of people who traffic, drug, and kill young girls for governments–in broad strokes. |
| 94 | Primal | Weird take on Noah’s Ark where Nic Cage is Noah, and he’s angry and has to kill a deranged special ops assassin. |
| 95 | Grand Isle | Redneck Nic Cage needs marital counseling, but instead helps his wife kidnap, imprison, and impregnate young women since the wifey can’t have babies of her own. Spoilers you say–nah, not really. |
| 96 | Jiu-Jitsu | Trust me, don’t. |
| 97 | The Croods 2: A New Age | Nic Cage goes for the shameless cash grab in his reprise role of voicing Grug, a caveman who just wants to take care of his wife and kids. |
| 98 | The Prisoners of the Ghostland | Post-apocalyptic vision of a nuclear fallout Japan that’s turned into an Old American Western, with phantom zombies, mannequin cults, and Nic Cage in leather suits booby-trapped with bombs. Yes, he loses a testicle. |
| 99 | Willy’s Wonderland | A mute Nic Cage must survey the night in a demented Chuck E. Cheese where all the furry animatronics come alive and try to kill, since (duh) they are possessed by former employee serial killers. |
| 100 | Pig | Everything about this film is amazing–secret foodie societies in Portland, a truffle hunting prize pig, underground Fight clubs, and a beaten and bloody hermit played by Nic Cage. One million stars! |
| 101 | The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent | No words. Such a great tribute to the man, the myth, the legend. See it to believe it. |
| 102 | Butcher’s Crossing | If hours with sharks weren’t enough in U.S.S. Indianapolis, this film goes deep diving into the Old West buffalo hunting trade. You’ll wish you were a dead buffalo by the end of this one. |
| 103 | The Old Way | What happens when Old West gunfighters are autistic? How do they adjust to inscrutable social cues and lack of emotional triggers? This movie seeks to answer those and other compelling niche questions. |
| 104 | Renfield | Finally, Nic Cage is a vampire! Unfortunately, Renfield steals the show here. Funny, gory, entertaining. |
| 105 | The Retirement Plan | I wondered, watching this, whether or not Nic should have retired before making it. Thankfully, the films that come after this are much more watchable than this one. |
| 106 | The Flash | I think I mentioned that Nic really wants to be Superman. This time they used bad CGI to make it happen. |
| 107 | Sympathy for the Devil | Now I’m going to be worried about car jacked at a hospital parking lot–this one tricked me and I’m not easily tricked.` |
| 108 | Dream Scenario | What if Nic Cage was bald and boring and appeared in everyone’s dreams? What if he was wearing a giant Talking Heads suit and also had things in common with Freddy Kreuger. It’s a dream scenario for me. |
| 109 | Arcadian | Raising two sons alone is hard enough without having to fight off nocturnal mutants that are based on some kind of genetic mutation of Disney’s Goofy. |
| 110 | Longlegs | Glam rock serial killer Satanist and the best truly creepy thriller since Silence of the Lambs. Happy, Birthday, Lee Harker! |
In roughly a third of all his films, Nicolas Cage characters die at the end. His characters get shot more often than other modes of death, by others and his own hand. He also gets stabbed, immolated, exploded, car wrecked, globally-incinerated, deep-fried, impaled, sucked up into the heavens, or pulled through some mystical portal back into Hell.
It’s not easy being a Nic Cage character–the Hangdog Hero or the Misfit Messiah, but Nic Cage doesn’t care about what’s easiest. He lives in the extremes and death is always a reality along that spectrum. Whether it’s the death of his image, as he does what no one would expect, or the release that a symbolic death brings into a new creative forms and possibilities. This is the lingua franc of Nicolas Kim Coppola.
All along this WATC(H) I’ve had an opportunity to observe and learn from him, and I’ve learned a lot about myself, about the world, about the pursuit and the dedication to an artform–through this process. I’m thankful I tried it. I’m thankful I was able to finish it. I’m grateful others joined in.
As Nic Cage makes more films each year, I’m not yet sure if the WATC(H) will continue. For now, I’ve fulfilled the guidelines of my experiment, and am not obligated to keep viewing and reviewing. But I feel confident I will continue to WATC(H) him work from my couch, because he truly is…
Our National Treasure. Can I get an amen?
yeti speak... 
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