Season 1

Season of the Witch (2011)

We draw the Season of the Cage to a close with its namesake movie, Season of the Witch. Does a movie starring Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Claire Foy, and that guy who played Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire actually deserve a viewing? A.Ron and I certainly have an opinion.

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The Romanoffs – 108 – The One That Holds Everything

Amazon Prime’s The Romanoffs arrives at the finish line in “The One That Holds Everything”. If you were hoping that this would be the one that really brings into focus Weiner’s thesis for The Romanoffs, you’re probably walking away disappointed. An ambitious story framing device that doesn’t quite work leads to a surprise ending that doesn’t feel earned, and we’re still left at the end of it all confused and asking “why?” What is so fascinating about the Romanovs and their lives of various levels of privledge and quiet desperation that justifies the time and expense that went into making this, or watching it? We don’t have great answers, but we’re relieved to see this particular line of Romanoffs brought to an end.

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Vampire’s Kiss (1988)

Have you ever seen Nicolas Cage make a phonecall while wearing plastic vampire teeth? Have you seen him shout and gesticulate his way through the entire alphabet? Have you seen him literally say “boo hoo” while crying? No? Then you certainly haven’t seen Vampire’s Kiss, which is in the running for “Cage-iest” movie of all time.

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Vampire’s Kiss (1988) – LIVEWATCH

Watching an unhinged Nicolas Cage performance for the first time is an experience that simply can’t be matched. There were enormous expectations for Vampire’s Kiss, and I’m happy to say they were met. Sync up your copy of the movie with ours and join us on this magical journey.

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Vampire’s Kiss (1988) – Rewrite

We take a couple cracks at the Vampire’s Kiss rewrite; one serious, one not so much. Can we fix a movie that isn’t worth watching without its lead actor? If not, maybe we can further ruin the movie in search of the dark comedy within?

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The Romanoffs – 107 – End of the Line

This, by our estimation, is the second best episode of Amazon Prime’s The Romanoffs, but unfortunately, that’s not saying much about “End of the Line”. It features fairly engaging material involving a couple desperate to have a child engaging in grey-market adoption shenanigans in Russia, and the man and woman in question are appealing and sympathetic as leads. The script also approaches “crackling” in places, as these potential parents begin to fight over how far they’re willing to go and what compromises they’re willing to accept for their child, as the adoption environment itself plays on their paranoia and prejudice. Unfortunately, all this is betrayed by what has become as much of a Romanoffs trademark as it’s nebulous connection to the titular theme; uninspired directing and editing.

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Con Air (1997)

Multiple viewings and hours of sober reflection have led us both to believe that Con Air is a bad movie. The plot is contrived, the accents are awful, and it’s perhaps the least “Cagey” performance in Cage’s entire career. And yet, maybe based on star-power alone, it remains a classic which simply must be watched.

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Con Air (1997) – Rewrite

A shocking discovery was made as we attempted to rewrite the cheesy classic, Con Air: It’s actually way harder than you think to fix this movie. Does that mean that the plot is actually better thought-out than we first assumed? Or is the fundamental idea so flawed that it’s simply impossible to film if you respect your audience? Or perhaps it’s simply a lack of imagination on our part? Any way you view it, we had to get real silly to make this one work, but we had a lot of fun in the process.

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Con Air (1997) – LIVEWATCH

We kicked off the back half of Season of the Cage with perhaps his most mainstream film of all time, Con Air. Does that mean it’s inoffensive? No. Is it one of Cage’s more impressive acting jobs? Also, no. Is it even a good film? Again, no. But that also doesn’t mean it’s not a fun movie to watch. Jim loves it, A.Ron probably doesn’t, but you should decide for yourself as you listen to us make jokes over it.

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Adaptation (2002)

We’re back with a review of Charlie Kaufman’s 2002 “look-mom-I-wrote-myself-into-this-movie-about-orchids” classic, Adaptation. It’s a real noodle-bender which features one of Nicolas Cage’s finest performances. Fitting, since it puts a bow on the Summer portion of Season of the Cage.

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