Favorite films of 2010

[valetoile]

Oh, I just remembered. I also saw RED. I really liked it, but I guess it wasn't all that memorable. It was super awesome to see a hollywood blockbuster where all the main characters are over 40 (and playing over 40), though.

[Lants]

To be fair to Nick Cage, he's a director's wet dream. He acts up to and no further than the level of the movie. If a movie with him in it is bad, he's not the underlying issue.

DISAGREE! Nick Cage is a nightmare hurricane that only the strictest director can tame. It's usually the studio's fault for pairing up Nick Cage with someone who ISN'T Werner Herzog.

I liked the Adam West thing in KickAss. The movie worked on it's own... who cares if it's not like the comic. It was fun and funny and hit girl was great and the music that went with her violent scenes was perfect.

Iron Man 2 was garbage. All the Nick Fury stuff was an afterthought and was SO forced in and it had nothing to grab onto (unlike the first).

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

Iron Man 2 was garbage. All the Nick Fury stuff was an afterthought and was SO forced in and it had nothing to grab onto (unlike the first).

disagree. if you're going to have Natasha play such a huge role and call back to his father's work, then SHIELD is going to play a significant role in the film, regardless of setting up the Avengers (of course, you have to do that as well. ). and SHIELD means Fury, especially after the sweet ass tag at the end of the first film.

[Tim Traini]

DISAGREE! Nick Cage is a nightmare hurricane that only the strictest director can tame. It's usually the studio's fault for pairing up Nick Cage with someone who ISN'T Werner Herzog.

hi my name is Adaptation and I'd like to speak with you

edit: if he was such a nightmare then why would he keep getting cast? Also while I haven't seen Knowing, Ebert loved it. Nick Cage is not a bad actor in any sense.

edit2: I mean come on do you think Ghost Rider and Con Air would be better movies with a different lead?

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

he's been very hit or miss with me since the Rock (Adaptation and Matchstick Men being the two major hits). i definitely prefer the quirky indie guy to the "i'm a badass action star" guy. which i guess was kind of epitomized for me in Kick Ass...i liked him as the nebbishy Dad, but not as much as Big Daddy (though his one actual action sequence was pretty damn cool...mostly because he didn't speak, so i didn't have to hear that awful Adam West patois. :p).

[Tim Traini]

But the thing to consider is that many people are involved in looking at the way he is acting and saying "this looks good, ship it." And in a lot of the goofy movies he's done, he soaks it in and practically revels in it. Yeah, in movie making there are times when you realize you cast a bad actor and don't have time to find someone else, but it's still the producer's/director's voice in how it's delivered and to at least work with the actors to find something that will work for the film.

That's why I said he acts up to the level of the movie. He can do great movies, and he can do corny/goofy movies. He's pretty versatile and just because he has more goofy movies under his belt doesn't discredit him.

[Lants]

DISAGREE! Nick Cage is a nightmare hurricane that only the strictest director can tame. It's usually the studio's fault for pairing up Nick Cage with someone who ISN'T Werner Herzog.

hi my name is Adaptation and I'd like to speak with you

edit: if he was such a nightmare then why would he keep getting cast? Also while I haven't seen Knowing, Ebert loved it. Nick Cage is not a bad actor in any sense.

edit2: I mean come on do you think Ghost Rider and Con Air would be better movies with a different lead?

Hi, my name is "Every single movie Cage has made since Adaptation that WASN'T Port of Call: New Orleans" and I'd like to speak with you.

I never said he was a bad actor, I said he's a fucking tornado. He is almost impossible to tame. He sees every character as a reason to push his insane version of what he thinks a human being is/ should be. Unfortunately, he's allowed to do this in most of the films he picks (which is probably part of the reason he decides to be in these shitty movies, they'll let him act that way.

Back in the 80s and early 90s, when Cage was still a normal human-being, he would commit to exactly what was written for him, he would play anywhere between subtle and extreme with no problem. Now he's been convinced he's a super human (the only reason he took Ghost Rider is because he always wanted to play a super hero and was told he couldn't be Superman) and thinks that being bat-shit is the way to go.

A director really has to work some magic to get subtly out of him any more. Either that or pull a Herzog and massage him the other way, write a part that calls for insanity and really show off that side of him.

[Tim Traini]

Let's not also forget Raising Arizona. And I was too hard on Con Air, it's a fun movie even if it hits just about every action movie trope. Maybe that's why it is.

This discussion reminds me that I really need to get around to watching Vampire's Kiss just to watch Cage be insane for 90 minutes.

It just seems kind of suspect when the movies he was good in were movies with a lot of good people behind it, and the movies he's "bad" in were bad movies to begin with. I just cannot in any sense blame an actor when the movie is crap/corny/cheesy from the get go. In those cases it doesn't make too much difference if you give it your all or you phone it in. Transformers would still be just as shitty if Megan Fox could act.

edit: I don't mean to imply that acting doesn't help make a movie, or that filmmaker intent is the bottom line at the end of the day, or even "turn your brain off and enjoy it" (people who say this should be shot), but more that I don't think when Ghost Rider was announced people got off their feet and went "I hope Hollywood doesn't screw up this franchise."

[Spots]

The Weatherman was an incredible film. I think it was directed by Gore Verbinski.


I have no strong strong opinions on Nick Cage. Obviously he's done many great films, and many self aware roles kind of like Chris Walken. Both are eccentrics so I think we could find many parallels.


If there's any problem with Nick Cage it's usually because he was miscast. I'd personally like to see him play more antagonists (and less save the world hero types).

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

but more that I don't think when Ghost Rider was announced people got off their feet and went "I hope Hollywood doesn't screw up this franchise."

nope...cuz we already knew they had.

[Tim Traini]

but more that I don't think when Ghost Rider was announced people got off their feet and went "I hope Hollywood doesn't screw up this franchise."

nope...cuz we already knew they had.

All five Ghost Rider readers tore up their newest issue in retaliation.

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

but more that I don't think when Ghost Rider was announced people got off their feet and went "I hope Hollywood doesn't screw up this franchise."

nope...cuz we already knew they had.

All five Ghost Rider readers tore up their newest issue in retaliation.

i'm not a huge Ghost Rider fan myself, though i've enjoyed stories where he's popped up in the past. but come on...the character's been around for almost 40 years. His first series ran for 10 years. His second series ran for nearly 8. He's continued on in series and mini series pretty consistently since. The character definitely has its fans. and even those who aren't hardcore fans can still get upset over a crappy adaptation. i doubt Jonah Hex has as many fans as Ghost Rider, and there were still folks aplenty decrying the horrid job THAT movie did of adapting the character and comic.

hell, i can't stand the Punisher and the last two movies were STILL crappy enough to make me want to see the character portrayed better. :p

[B. Tribe]

Just to throw in my change on Nic Cage. I think he's the worst A-list actor in Hollywood. I refuse to go see movies with him in it. I made an exception with Kick-Ass and it didn't change my mind on his acting ability. He has two modes: blankly staring while muttering or rolling wild-eyes while screaming. His lack of subletly is astounding. To me, he is the M. Night Shamylan of acting; if he's involved in any way with a produciton I refuse to see it. I know he's had a few good turns here and there, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

[dirty baby]

I only-recently saw Nick in Matchstick Men and thought it was quintessential Nick (and loved it; laughed out loud). (However) I won't be dreaming about the next Nick movie until it arrives. Eh, who knows? I'll bet everybody can admit to one movie he's done that they really like.

OH: his relationship with Sam Rockwell's character is probably an excellent model for the straight/absurd dynamic in improv. How could you keep that relationship up ?? (Well I guess if you were in it for the .... SPOILER ALERT).

[Rev. Jordan T. Maxwell]

I only-recently saw Nick in Matchstick Men and thought it was quintessential Nick (and loved it; laughed out loud). (However) I won't be dreaming about the next Nick movie until it arrives. Eh, who knows? I'll bet everybody can admit to one movie he's done that they really like.

OH: his relationship with Sam Rockwell's character is probably an excellent model for the straight/absurd dynamic in improv. How could you keep that relationship up ?? (Well I guess if you were in it for the .... SPOILER ALERT).

QUIET, YOU! great movie.