My Arch Nemesis

I know the Oscars are in a week, and I still have a few Best Picture noms to go through, but I've been watching movies with my least favorite actor in the world lately.

Nicholas Cage

He is the one actor that I can NOT stand. I just don't like him. Something about the way he talks, the way he looks, and the movies he chooses to do that just irks me. The National Treasure movies and Gone in 60 Seconds jump out as terrible ones for me. But in the past couple of days, I've watched two movies that prove that he wasn't always so horrible; he actually has some talent....or did, I guess.

 Tonight, it was Raising Arizona. It is an extremely weird comedy about Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter stealing a baby and mayhem ensues. Nicholas Cage was actually really funny during this movie. I actually forgot that he was who he was for a little while. I thought the entire cast was great. John Goodman was hysterical. It's a Coen Brothers movie, and it definitely seemed like one. I called it before I looked it up, but it was one that I could get on board with. It was the right amount of weird, and I think the zaniness and ridiculousness made it even funnier.
The other movie I watched was Leaving Las Vegas. Now, this is the movie that could potentially restore my faith in Nicholas Cage. It was a great performance by him. The movie is about a man who goes to Las Vegas to drink himself to death, and on the way he meets a woman. I could not believe the amount of alcohol he was putting into his system, and before this movie, I didn't know it was possible to have physical signs of withdrawal from alcohol. It was probably the saddest movie I've ever seen. Way sadder than any movie about Alzheimer's I've ever seen, and maybe even sadder than Marley & Me. It is definitely worth it though. I can't stop thinking about it. It is just so haunting how someone could be that messed up. I recommend you watch it. It's on instant play of Netflix.
I must say that these two movies really do give Nicholas Cage a little bit more credit than I ever have given him. While I still can't stand his voice or his face, I'm starting to appreciate his talent a little bit more. And I'm going to stop discriminating against movies he's in. I almost did that with Kick Ass but that turned out to be a really great movie that I loved.