WHAT WOULD TOTO WATCH? » Nicolas Cage

‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ – A Mickey Mouse attempt at adventure

cftoto — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:05:43 +0000

Must be nice to be The Chosen One.

You know the type – the unsuspecting dude who suddenly realizes he holds the key to saving the world.

“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” inspired by the “Fantasia” short featuring those dancing mops, casts Jay Baruchel as the latest “One.”

Isn’t he out of his league?

The casting gives this bland adventure some spice, but it’s still little more than a kiddie movie with enough gumption to keep adults from nodding off.

Nicolas Cage stars as Balthazar Blake, a sorcerer who learned the mystic arts alongside Merlin many years ago, or so a talky prologue tells us.

Now, Balthazar – still looking good in 2010 – must find the person destined to be a great magician in order to spoil a plan by a rival wizard (Alfred Molina). This evil-doer plans to spring the vile Morgana LaFay (Alice Krige) from a centuries-old imprisonment.

That person turns out to be a nerdy physics major named Dave (Baruchel), a guy more interested in winning the heart of his old school chum (Teresa Palmer) than casting spells.

“Apprentice” pays homage to the source material in one witty mop-dancing moment, but otherwise it’s a modern example of special effects standing in for storytelling magic.

Cage and Barauchel find a comfortable comic chemistry, but the screenplay-by-committee gives them little help. Scene after scene wraps with either a limp punch line or throwaway eye candy. If you’re looking for punch, try HI-C.

The running gags scattered through the film are, appropriately enough, run right into the ground, including one about frumpy looking shoes.

Director Jon Turtletaub (“National Treasure”) knows to keep things moving all the same, and he delivers one sweet moment in which Dave’s knack for science wins his gal pal’s heart. Or at least lets him drop his geeky persona.

Molina is Molina here, meaning he elevates the material and proves compelling no matter the scenario. It takes a special skill to shine in mediocre fare.

“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” wants to be a breathless amusement park ride, but instead is simply exhausting in its eagerness to please.

(Photo: “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” star Nicolas Cage plays a magician trying to stop an evil force from overtaking the planet. Photo credit: Abbot Genser © 2009 Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Jerry Bruckheimer, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Is Anybody There?’

‘Kick-Ass’ – Pre-teen hero steals movie, sparks controversy

cftoto — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:04:24 +0000

The superhero film should be impervious to further reinvention.

We’ve had an uber-serious “Batman,” a Dark Knight with metallic nipples, a drunken superhero in the form of Will Smith, and even a sort-of super duck from outer space.

But “Kick-Ass” still manages to wring something fresh out of a seemingly exhausted subject.

Based on the popular comic book, “Kick-Ass” may be the next logical step in the genre’s evolution – what if a regular Joe decided to throw on tights and fight crime sans super powers?

He’d get crushed. But that’s where this dark but guilty pleasure begins.

Young, nebbishy Dave (Aaron Johnson) doesn’t hang with the hipster crowd. He’s an outcast more at home with his fellow nerdlings.

But a nagging thought starts eating at him. Why not create a superhero character out of whole cloth – and a diving suit – and go fight crime? What better way to escape the rut that is his social life?

Thus Kick-Ass is born. And, before you know it, it’s his own buttocks which gets a good thrashing.

Dave isn’t the only wannabe crime fighter. Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage, having a ball) and his young daughter Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz) are also out fighting crime, but they’re getting much better results.

It helps that Hit Girl is a one person wrecking crew. More on her in a moment.

“Kick-Ass” is several movie genres in one. Take a smidgen of “Revenge of the Nerds,” the eclectic feel of “Mystery Men” and the R-rated “Watchmen” and you’ve only scratched the surface.

Director Matthew Vaughn (“Layer Cake”) guides it all with an unsteady hand, nailing the action and pathos but taking far too long to settle on the story’s ultimate tone – sheer nastiness.

These heroes bleed. Often.

Johnson makes for an appealing quasi-hero, never pushing too hard on the nerd accelerator but retaining his sense of humility even when fame enters his life.

Audiences will likely be too distracted by Hit Girl to notice.

Moretz gives a flashy performance as the pint-sized hero, a warrior who makes up for her lack of size with sheer brutality. Her eyes blaze beneath her standard issue mask, making her the heir apparent to Dakota Fanning as the next child actor to watch.

But do audiences really want to root for a savage pre-teen in tights?

It’s upsetting to say the least to watch her slash her way through the film’s cardboard thugs, and Vaughn doesn’t skimp on the gore.

One’s enjoyment of “Kick-Ass” may rest entirely on a willingness to process her character. And those who can’t have a very good argument, even if this critic was able to overlook the moral murkiness.

Mark Strong of “Sherlock Holmes” fame delivers another bracing turn as a film baddie, while McLovin himself – Christopher Mintz-Plasse – stretches a bit to play his conflicted son.

“Kick-Ass” is not for the kiddies, or those who can’t stomach the sight of children doing things even adults shouldn’t do. But as a slam-bang action vehicle with more than a few twists, “Kick-Ass” sends thunderbolts coursing through the movie house.

‘Bad Lieutenant’ redux

cftoto — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:43:00 +0000

The stark, disturbing 1992 film “Bad Lieutenant” is getting a reboot.

The original, directed by Abel Ferrara, focused on a cop teetering on the edge. OK, the film’s star, Harvey Keitel, didn’t so much teeter as fall off said edge.

Keitel got a jump on the whole frontal male nudity thing before those Judd Apatow films took a crack at it.

Now, Nicolas Cage takes over in the Werner Herzog remake “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.” The movie will be featured during the upcoming Starz Denver Film Festival and will be released in select cities Nov. 20 (NY, LA, San Francisco, Chicago and DC).

The new film casts Cage as a high functioning drug addict who still manages to stay completely devoted to his job. The lovely Eva Mendes co-stars as a prostitute Cage’s character romances.

Check out these two peeks at the latest Cage project, which allegedly lets him chew scenery as only he can.

(Photo: Nicolas Cage, right, stars as a drug addled cop in “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.”)

Comment of the Week – 3/30/09

cftoto — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 01:23:31 +0000

Sharp movie blogger James Frazier chimed in to defend Nicolas Cage against a tidal wave of hate from movie critics:

I really can’t pinpoint just why so many people despise Nic Cage. It’s true that the man has made some terrible movies, but this is the star of “Raising Arizona” and “Adaptation,” for Pete’s sake. And who could forget his well-deserved Oscar for “Leaving Las Vegas?” I too wish he would ease back on the nimrod action roles, but the guy is a serious talent and has more than earned his spot in film history.

Leave Nicolas Cage alone!!

cftoto — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:40:19 +0000

Question: Can you think of an Oscar winner who gets more bad press these days than Nicolas Cage?

OK, with the exception of Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Cage’s recent film choices have been weak, to be kind. But the critical floodgates opened up in a big way once his latest film, “Knowing,” hit theaters.

Apparently, it’s one thing to make a string of clunkers, but to crank one out that dovetails with religion is another matter.

Just google “nicolas cage worst actor” and see what you get.

I’m here to defend Cage, not bury him.

I can’t put up much of a defense for “Ghost Rider,” and I haven’t dared to watch “The Wicker Man” or “Next.” But Cage earned a permanent Get Out of Jail card for his brilliant role in “Raising Arizona.” He also won me over with possibly the silliest “SNL” skit ever … “Tiny Elvis.”

I’m not proud of the fact that it makes me laugh … but it does.

Just wish I could post a video of Tiny E here. Can’t seem to find one anywhere across the Web.

WWTW Interview: Director Alex Proyas

cftoto — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:22:07 +0000

The spectacular events that take place in Nicolas Cage’s new film “Knowing,” opening wide today (March 20), couldn’t possibly happen in real life.

That doesn’t mean the thriller abandons scientific principles.

“Knowing” director Alex Proyas (“Dark City,” “I, Robot”) says he had a team of consultants on the set to bridge the gap between science and fiction.

“It’s a bit of a challenge to make that aspect work. You want to make it as real as possible, but you have to make some concessions to dramatic license,” he says. “You have to find that sweet spot.”

“Knowing” stars Mr. Cage as a college professor who watches his son’s class unearth a 50-year-old time capsule. Some papers removed from the capsule contain a series of random numbers, but Mr. Cage’s character figures out the digits allude to catastrophes both past … and future.

But can he crack the entire code in time to prevent the latter?

Mr. Proyas grew up loving science fiction, but he often had to turn to literature to scratch that itch.

“Science fiction [film] projects were few and far between,“ he says, although “The Outer Limits“ and “The Twilight Zone“ stood as two happy exceptions.

He considers “Knowing” more science fiction than fantasy filmmaking. He says he’s much more comfortable working within the confines of the real world. And anyone who saw the underrated “I, Robot” would have to agree.

The disaster sequences at the heart of “Knowing” play out with gritty sound effects, not the usual triumphant score in the background. That wasn’t an accident.

“I wanted to avoid glamorizing the events, make them as visceral, real and unsettling as possible,” he says, a reaction against how Hollywood movies typically treat destruction on a major scale.

(Photo: Rose Byrne and Nicolas Cage are trying to prevent an imminent catastrophe in “Knowing,” a new sci-fi thriller coming to theaters March 20.)

Sneak peek at ‘Knowing’

cftoto — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:59:12 +0000

Nicolas Cage’s track record is spottier than a leopard skin coat.

Sure, he gave us “Raising Arizona” and earned an Oscar for “Leaving Las Vegas. But “Next?” “Ghost Rider??” “Bangkok Dangerous???”

His latest film, “Knowing,” could set him back on track. It’s a sci-fi thriller from “I, Robot” director Alex Proyas about a man who believes a long-buried note holds the key to a number of catastrophes – both past and future.

Got a sneak peek at five scenes from the new movie today, which opens March 20. Interesting stuff. Two powerful action sequences jump right out at you, but the film’s tone is serious and potentially thrilling.

It all depends on the final act, though – will all the narrative threads tie up in a satisfying knot?

(Photo: Nicolas Cage tries to decipher a series of numbers which could tell the future in “Knowing.” Photo credit: Vince Valitutti)

Proyas’ ‘Knowing’ vision

Proyas’ ‘Knowing’ vision

cftoto — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 06:00:39 +0000

The new sci-fi thriller “Knowing” bears all the trappings of a popcorn summer movie. Big set pieces. Bigger disaster sequences.

And it stars Nicolas Cage, a guy who knows his way around an action film set.

But it’s heading our way March 20, well before the onset of blockbuster season.

Director Alex Proyas, who previously gave us “Dark City” (at the top of my must catch up with list) and “I, Robot,” promises a smart science fiction movie guaranteed to surprise audiences.

We’ll see. For now, check out the film’s official site and the accompanying trailer.

(Photo: Rose Byrne and Nicolas Cage team up to avoid future catastrophes in “Knowing.”)