One Cage at a Time

Time to Kill - #039

Sandwiched between Vampire’s Kiss and Wild at Heart is an Italian film largely forgotten by critics and audiences alike that is the only project Nicolas Cage has ever done outside of the Hollywood system and is nearly impossible to get your hands on these days. So why does this film exist? Was Vampire’s Kiss so detrimental to Cage’s career that he had to go to the other side of the planet to get a leading role? We’ll find out as we dive deep into the 1989 Italian film Tempo di uccidere or as it’s known in the US Time to Kill.

An Italian Army Lieutenant takes a short cut back to his unit in Africa after trying and failing to find a dentist but things go off the rails hard and fast for him in a series of bizarre, awful and tragic events of his own making.

Time to Kill stars Academy Award nominated Italian voice and screen actor Giancarlo Giannini (best known in the US as French Agent Rene Mathis in the Daniel Craig James Bond films Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace but is also the go to voice actor for Al Pacino redubs in Italian), Italian actor turned director Ricky Tognazzi, French actress Patrice Flora Praxo, and of course, Italian American Academy Award winning actor and scourge of Ethipoia Nicolas Kim Coppola better known as Nicolas Cage.

Stolen - #038

In 1997 Nicolas Cage and Simon West teamed up to make the first summer blockbuster action film to feature Nic as the leading man with Con Air, then a full 15 years later they teamed up again to make possibly the last with a critical and box office bomb. But does this film deserve the hate it got from critics and audiences alike? Yes, yeah it totally does. But join us anyway as we breakdown the 2012 action “thriller” Stolen.

Fresh out of prison a former bank robber must reluctantly go back to a life of crime in order to come up with ten million dollars in 12 hours to save his daughter who has been kidnapped by his former partner.

Stolen stars the love interest from Sweet Home Alabama, Kevin Costner’s younger self on Yellowstone, and star of Stolen 2009, yeah that’s right he was in two movies called Stolen less than three years apart Josh Lucas (who is just awful in this film), Swamp Thing from Con Air M.C. Gainey, legendary director John Huston’s son and Anjelica Huston’s half-brother Danny Huston, the Silk Specter from Watchman herself Swedish American actress Malin Akerman, Thomas Jane lookalike and that guy who was in an episode of that one show you saw Mark Valley, and of course, the greatest bank robber in American history according to this movie, Academy Award winning actor Nicolas Kim Coppola better known as Nicolas Cage.

Industrial Symphony - #037

Laura Dern and Nicolas Cage had amazing chemistry both on and off screen for Wild at Heart, so David Lynch decided to use that lightning in a bottle to set the stage for a little avant-garde concert film he had planned with sadly recently departed Twin Peaks actress/musician Julee Cruise.

So, without further ado let’s dive briefly into the delightfully weird 1990 concert film Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted.

Wild At Heart - 036

Ah David Lynch. A man who can make every moment of a film memorable, albeit in most cases bizarre. But what happens when you team him up with an actor who is also capable of making every line and gesture equally as memorable? We’ll find out as dive deep into the weird wonderful wacky world of the legendary 1990 black comedy romantic crime thriller: Wild at Heart.

After serving time in prison for killing a man in self-defense, Sailor Ripley reunites with the love of his life Luna Fortune who decide to run away together but Luna’s mom isn’t too keen on her daughters choice of men so she hires a hit man to get rid of Sailor once and for all.

Wild at Heart stars the second greatest actor of his generation and a bona fide chameleon of the screen Willem Dafoe, Nic’s Best of Times co-star who is exactly as weird as you’d expect in this film Crispin Glover, a legendary character actor who career spanned six decades Harry Dean Stanton, David Lynch staple Grace Zabriskie, Laura Dern’s mom both in this movie and in real life academy-award nominated actress for this film and others Diane Ladd, Academy Award winning actress and five time Golden Globe winner Laura Dern, and of course, Elvis’ love child and gift to all mankind, Academy Award winning actor Nicolas Kim Coppola better known as Nicolas Cage.

The Old Way - 035

It’s hard to believe that Nicolas Cage has been acting professionally for 40 years, has over 100 credits to his name and he has never once been in a Western, well that was until now. In fact in 2022 Nic shot two of them back to back just to make up for lost time, one was Butcher’s Crossing and the other was a film one critic summed up by calling it the mild, mild west. So saddle up partner as we dive deep into 59 year old Nicolas Cage’s western debut: The Old Way.

A retired gunslinger is forced to face the consequences of his past when the son of a man he killed in his outlaw days comes for revenge sending he and his young daughter on a mission of vengeance.

The Old Way stars Ron Howard’s weirdo brother and perennial character actor Clint Howard, a rising star who is learning how to chew scenery from the best James McCallister, Firestarter 2.0 and American Horror Story alum Ryan Kiera Armstrong, character actress and scene stealer Kerry Knuppe, and of course, the man with the best damn caterpillar mustache in showbiz, Academy Award winning actor and fastest gun in the old west Nicolas Kim Coppola better known as Nicolas Cage.

Arsenal # 034

What happens when you bring one of Nicolas Cage’s most insane characters back from the dead and drop him in the middle of a mediocre crime drama? Well, you get a mediocre movie with a bafflingly strange character who is a shell of what made him interesting in the first place. So join us as we journey through a boring slog that one critic called the worst movie of 2017: Arsenal

When a protective older brother gets in over his head with a sadistic mob boss his younger brother must risk everything to rescue him and unleash vengeance upon a ridiculous character straight out of a comic book.

Arsenal stars Nic’s Con Air co-star who brings nothing to this movie besides a do-rag John Cusack, the guy who had such an amazing Entourage they made a whole TV series about it Adrian Grenier, the lead singer of the amazing one hit wonder That Thing You Do Jonathan Schaech, Lindsey from Van Wilder Lydia Hull and, of course, a man too distracted by some FUCKING HANGERS to adjust his hairpiece, Academy Award winning actor who doesn’t give a FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK that his character died in 1993 Nicolas Kim Coppola better known as Nicolas Cage.

The Rock #33

Believe it or not, once upon a time Nicolas Cage was considered “too quirky” to star in an action blockbuster but luckily for us, Nic took this to be a challenge rather than a roadblock and in 1996 he embarked on a nearly 20-year action voyage that only Ghost Rider Spirit of Vengeance had the power to shipwreck. So how in the name of Zues’s butthole did a quirky indie film character actor, fresh off an Oscar winning performance as an alcoholic screenwriter become the action star of the 90’s? We’ll find out as we lock ourselves in solitary confinement with the only Michael Bay movie I’ll even contemplate considering a classic: The Rock

When a disgruntled General threatens to unleash deadly chemical weapons on the city of San Francisco, the FBI turns to an unlikely hero in the form of a chemical warfare expert named Stanley Goodspeed and a former British spy/top secret prisoner to break into Alcatraz to dismantle the weapons before they can be launched.

The Rock stars four time Oscar nominee Ed Harris, the only man who could keep Eddie King in check during Deadfall Michael Biehn, H.I. McDonaugh’s old cellmate William Forsythe, the one and only Claire Forlani, Sean “James Freakin’ Bond” Connery and of course, why don’t we just cut the chit-chat A-Holes, Academy Award winning actor Nicolas Kim Coppola better known as Nicolas Cage.

ConAir - #032

Nic Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames Danny Trejo and Dave Chappelle hopped onto an airplane with Jerry Bruckheimer and the guy who directed the Rick Astley video for Never Gonna Give Your Up, not a joke, and together they managed to get every freak and creep in the universe to churn out an action classic that may just be the most recognizable performance of Nicolas Cage’s career. Join us as we put the bunny back in the box for this season of One Cage at a Time with the timeless classic action thriller Con Air.

Army Ranger Cameron Poe wound up in prison for defending his pregnant wife’s honor but as luck would have it he managed to get paroled just in time to end up on a prisoner transport plane that is taken over mid-flight by a gang of violent, evil, sadistic criminals and he’s the only man who can stop them.

Con Air stars a laundry list of stars including Machete himself Danny Trejo, Bubba from Forest Gump Mykelti Williamson, Colm Meany AKA Miles O’Brien from Star Trek, a man who seems to be trying his best to out Nic Cage Nic Cage when it comes to direct to video acting roles John Cusak, Nic’s Bringing Out the Dead co-star who only boarded the plane to go look at some hookers Ving Rhames, legendary stand up comedian Dave Chappelle, John “Cyrus the Virus” Malkovich, Steve “I guess the serial child murderer wasn’t so bad after all” Buscemi, and of course, one of only four men I trust, Academy Award winning actor with the most angelic locks in Hollywood Nicolas Kim Coppola better known as Nicolas Cage. 

The Best of Times - #031

Everyone has to start somewhere, even if you’re the grandson of a legendary composer and nephew of one of the greatest directors of all time, though I’m sure that helps with getting auditions. Nicolas Coppola was no different when he co-starred in a variety show television pilot opposite the one and only Crispin Glover long before his turn as George McFly in Back to the Future. So enjoy as we bask in the glory of Nicolas Coppola’s acting debut and an absolute treat for any Nicolas Cage fan: The Best of Times.

Meant to be a television pilot that was never picked up to become a series, The Best of Times is a “variety show” about life as a teenager seen through the eyes of eight teenagers who perform skits, songs and dances that relate to their views between childhood and adulthood. That’s the best we can describe it because god knows there’s no plot to this thing at all.

The Best of Times features the acting debuts of a handful of stars including the man who made it in life by being cast as George McFly in Back to the Future but was subsequently fired and replaced by a double in the sequels which triggered a lawsuit that still protects actors from having their likeness used without their permission today – the always strange and slightly unsettling Crispin Glover, scream queen horror actress Jill Schoelen and of course the man who puts the muscles in muscle beach Academy Award winning actor and future El Salvador war draftee Nicolas Kim Coppola better known as Nicolas Cage.

The Family Man - # 030

Sandwiched between Rush Hour 1 and 2, a pre-accusations Brett Ratner tapped everyone’s favorite “Man” to star in a heartfelt loose adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life that has largely been forgotten despite pulling in $125 million at the box office. We watched as he burned up in The Wicker Man then saw him get pelted by fast food in The Weather Man but before either of those roles Nicolas Cage starred as The Family Man.

Bachelor Jack Campbell lives a lavish, fast-paced life as a Wall Street executive but after a chance encounter on Christmas he’s given a glimpse of what life could have been like had he settled down with his college girlfriend and lived the life of a family man.

The Family Man stars Academy Award nominated actor and War Machine himself Don Cheadle, Nic’s best bud in the film who is constantly tell him to ‘hug it out, bitch’ Jeremy Piven, Madam Secretary herself and winner of a Saturn Award for this role Tea Leoni, the always a treat character actor Saul Rubinek, and the family man himself Academy Award winning actor and best damn tire salesman in New Jersey Nicolas Kim Coppola better known as Nicolas Cage.