what the hell happened to...

Nicholas Cage. The man used to be cool. The mannerisms, the excessive pauses, the staccato speech, the facial tics. It all worked. In the mid nineties, Cage was gold. Leaving Las Vegas, The Rock, Face-Off, Con-Air. All films cemented the fact that Cage was always watchable, no matter the subject matter. Since then he's worked with respectable directors (Brian de Palma, Scorcese, Oliver Stone, John Woo, Ridley Scott etc.) but in mostly mediocre, largely forgettable movies. Before he was box office dynamite, now he's more like a wet rag. His flops litter the box office charts. Lord of War, Weather Man, Wicker Man, Windtalkers, Bringing out the Dead, 8MM. Every once in a while there's a piece of crap popcorn movie like National Treasure which exceeds its expectations. And for every five of these there is a gem like Adaptation.

I guess it all comes down to output. Most actors do one movie a year. Cage is seemingly intent on spewing out product as long as he is allowed. In the last 7 years he has had 15 movies in theatres, and according to IMDB has another 7 movies in production. Nic's new movies, once an event, are now a commodity. Now I am not saying that he's not an interesting guy to watch, because he can make almost any role bearable, but he needs to start being a little bit choosier. Like accepting 6 films out of 10 offered, instead of 9. Lights, camera, bitchin' technology indeed.