Indirectly it did! It made me want to watch Paddington 2 again (and also perhaps at some point to watch more of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent than that one scene).
It's worth a watch. Stupid fun, but it depends upon your Nic Cage Quotient. Mine is pretty high. I think he's a mad genius who will be studied by future generations. And also a hack. It's really quite fascinating.
(And that one scene is really quite wonderful. I just showed it to my colleagues in the theology office a couple of weeks ago, for reasons that, IIRC, had nothing to do with Paddington in Peru.)
I think he really loves silent film, and saw the limits of the obsession with "naturalism" in the post-Brando generations, and decided to just swing for the fences. Added: I see a lot of Lon Chaney Sr. in him.
Silent film? Like The Cabinet of Dr. Calgari, for example?
I’ve never seen Willy’s Wonderland, but I know it was Cage’s decision for his character never to speak in it. IIRC, he talked about “going full Harpo Marx” with that choice, which is not exactly a silent film reference but certainly taps into the same cinematic vein.
I feel like I've heard him talk about silents in interviews. I think he mentions Caligari in that scene, but also in other places. I think Chaney is one of the greatest of all film actors (I'm remembering a famous scene at the end of The Unknown at the moment). It's a different style: not really broad or melodramatic: just a particular method of pantomime. Add dialog and you get Nic Cage. But we're a long way from the bear in the blue coat at this point...
So you're saying it didn't make you want to be a better man?
Indirectly it did! It made me want to watch Paddington 2 again (and also perhaps at some point to watch more of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent than that one scene).
It's worth a watch. Stupid fun, but it depends upon your Nic Cage Quotient. Mine is pretty high. I think he's a mad genius who will be studied by future generations. And also a hack. It's really quite fascinating.
(And that one scene is really quite wonderful. I just showed it to my colleagues in the theology office a couple of weeks ago, for reasons that, IIRC, had nothing to do with Paddington in Peru.)
That’s very well said! It is indeed a fascinating space he occupies.
I think he really loves silent film, and saw the limits of the obsession with "naturalism" in the post-Brando generations, and decided to just swing for the fences. Added: I see a lot of Lon Chaney Sr. in him.
Silent film? Like The Cabinet of Dr. Calgari, for example?
I’ve never seen Willy’s Wonderland, but I know it was Cage’s decision for his character never to speak in it. IIRC, he talked about “going full Harpo Marx” with that choice, which is not exactly a silent film reference but certainly taps into the same cinematic vein.
I feel like I've heard him talk about silents in interviews. I think he mentions Caligari in that scene, but also in other places. I think Chaney is one of the greatest of all film actors (I'm remembering a famous scene at the end of The Unknown at the moment). It's a different style: not really broad or melodramatic: just a particular method of pantomime. Add dialog and you get Nic Cage. But we're a long way from the bear in the blue coat at this point...
But what about a Decent Films review of Mufasa!
(I beat the eminent deacon to it, but I admittedly stand on the shoulders of giants, my own thoughts rely heavily on his insights:
https://quantepast.substack.com/p/mufasa-movie-review-disney-animated )