CHICAGO – In anticipation of the scariest week of the year, HollywoodChicago.com launches its 2024 Movie Gifts series, which will suggest DVDs and collections for holiday giving.
Nicolas Cage
‘The Croods’ Rip a Funny Page Out of Pre-History
Submitted by PatrickMcD on March 22, 2013 - 7:37pm Rating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Good cartoons know that we’re in on the joke, that all the surreal actions will satisfy our basic funny bone. Great cartoons give us a little bit more, an empathy or a story that really goes beyond expectations. “The Croods” is a great cartoon, and a wonderful achievement in animation evolution.
Nicolas Cage, Guy Pearce Find Boredom While They’re ‘Seeking Justice’
Submitted by BrianTT on March 16, 2012 - 12:25pm Rating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – “Seeking Justice” must have been such a juicy proposition on paper. Director Roger Donaldson is coming off his most interesting film in years (“The Bank Job”), Nicolas Cage is overdue for a quality drama, Guy Pearce is one of our most interesting actors, and the supporting cast includes a number of interesting actors with recent TV hits – Jennifer Carpenter (“Dexter”), Harold Perrineau Jr. (“Lost”), and January Jones (“Mad Men”). The only thing you’ll be wondering during this inert alleged thriller is where it all went wrong.
‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ Begs Audience to Accept Mediocrity, Stupidity
Submitted by BrianTT on February 17, 2012 - 2:10pmRating: 1.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – At the very least, I can take some comfort in knowing that the YouTube montage of Nicolas Cage freaking out has some new (and golden) material. As cursed as Cage’s Johnny Blaze character is by the demon inside him known as the Ghost Rider in the newest chapter, “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,” so is this movie cursed by unthinkable dialogue, lackluster acting, obnoxious camerawork, and confusing editing.
Horrendous ‘Trespass’ With Nicolas Cage, Nicole Kidman
Submitted by BrianTT on October 14, 2011 - 10:14am Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Joel Schumacher’s “Trespass” represents a new low for the often divisive and (lately) horrendous director of such gems as “The Number 23,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Bad Company,” “8MM,” “Batman & Robin,” and “Batman Forever.” The film is getting a very-brief theatrical release before essentially going straight-to-DVD, leading a few industry watchers to question if perhaps one of the stars had it in his or her contract that the film had to run in movie houses. Unless you have a similar contract requiring you see it, avoid at all costs.
Life's a Grind For Nicolas Cage in ‘Drive Angry 3D’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 25, 2011 - 3:13pm Rating: 3.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – Muscle cars, kick-ass dudes and foxy ladies have been staples of the grindhouse since Detroit had a pulse. Nicolas Cage joins that parade in the over-the-top road picture called “Drive Angry 3D,” lest we mistake it for the 2nd dimension.
Forged in Myth, Nicolas Cage Shines in ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’
Submitted by PatrickMcD on July 14, 2010 - 10:56am Rating: 3.5/5.0 |
CHICAGO – The fantasy action epic has joined the animated film as the go-to genre for summer films. Disney joins the fray with “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” featuring magic, special effects action and a deep mythology, spiced with Nicolas Cage doing a slightly warped version of a King Arthur-era apprentice for Merlin the Magician.
Wildly Entertaining ‘Kick-Ass’ Lives Up to Its Title
Submitted by BrianTT on April 16, 2010 - 7:07pmRating: 4.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – With a half dozen superhero movies every year that feel as if they were created by a Hollywood blockbuster machine, it’s so refreshing to see one with its own distinct, subversive personality like Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass”.
In Purely Exploiting Gratuitous Violence, Paul W.S. Anderson’s ‘Death Race’ Remake Kills All Comedic Value
Submitted by HollywoodChicago.com on August 22, 2008 - 1:23pm Rating: 2.0/5.0 |
CHICAGO – While 2008’s “Death Race” makes no secret about being a remake of 1975’s “Death Race 2000” with David Carradine as the title character Frankenstein and Sylvester Stallone as his archrival Machine Gun Joe Viterbo, what’s perhaps less obvious but still clear is how the film steals from others.
