Hollywood Weirdo: A Nicolas Cage Top Ten

by Cláudio Alves

A new Nicolas Cage movie is in cinemas, a blessing to the actor's fans and all those who've ever dreamed of this Hollywood weirdo playing Count Dracula. Renfield comes at a time in his career when the industry seems ready to recognize him as something more than a meme, finding value in the thespian's oddities past the point of self-parody. This happens after many years when it felt like Cage was only ever mentioned in jest, the butt of a bad joke, a meme to make the internet laugh. And so, it tastes a bit like justice. At least, it does to longtime admirers that never entirely bought into a negative narrative that stems partly from the supposition that exaggeration and what's beyond realism don't belong in the box labeled 'good acting.'

In celebration, allow me to give in to the homosexual prerogative to make lists and present you with my top ten best Nicolas Cage performances. As with recent lists for Angela Bassett and Gwyneth Paltrow, this will only include big screen work, and the movies will remain unranked. However, I decided to add a unique twist to this Nic Cage lovefest...

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Monday Monologue: "Three kinds of pipe" in Moonstruck

Bringing back an old series Monday Monologue* for fun - will try to do this weekly since we love amazing combos of actors and screenplays.

The women of Moonstruck (1987), mother and daughter Rose (Olympia Dukakis) and Loretta Castorini (Cher), get all the credit. It's not hard to see why since both actresses won richly deserved Oscars but the men in the movie are indispensable to its pleasures, too. Though we've seen Moonstruck many times, when we were prepping for a recent episode of Streaming Roulette, we chanced upon a brief character comedy scene we'd completely forgotten about. In the scene, the family patriach and plumber Cosmo Castorini (Vincent Gardenia) is trying to convince a couple that they need to pay for a huge upgrade to fix their a bathroom leak...

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Olympia Dukakis (1931-2021)

by Nathaniel R

Olympia Dukakis as "Anna Madrigal", one of three iconic roles

Olympia Dukakis, the much-loved Oscar winning actress of stage and screen, has died just a month shy of her 90th birthday. The Los Angeles Times has a lovely article which goes in depth into her early career and backstory. On her devotion to theater, which often pulled her away from mainstream success, she's quoted as saying:  

I did not become an actor in order to become famous or rich. I became an actor so I could play the great parts.

I regret that I never had the opportunity to see her on stage. Like the rest of the world, I fell in love with her first via "Rose Castorini" in Moonstruck (1987), a role she initially and surprisingly didn't think too highly of. Nevertheless she aced it, becoming one of the most beloved and famous screen moms of that era -- a screen mom to Cher no less!

But I'm not here to talk about Moonstruck. Have you ever had a actor that reminded you specifically of one exact person in your life? I don't mean an actor who looked like a loved one in some small way, but a star who always brought a real loved one immediately to mind...

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2 days til Oscar nominations - The rarity of father/daughter Oscar noms

by Nathaniel R

The final Oscar nomination predictions are up if you're just joining us. But if you've already discussed those, here's another discussion prompt with two as the magical number. Looking through the Oscar probabilities we don't have many familial pairs in the acting category competition this time like siblings or father/sons or mother/child etcetera.  What we do have is not one but three pairs of onscreen father & daughter teams, one only spiritually but it counts:

• Anthony Hopkins & Olivia Colman - The Father
• Sacha Baron Cohen & Maria Bakalova - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
• Tom Hanks & Helena Zengel - News of the World

How often are father/daughter onscreen teams nominated? Turns out quite rarely...

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Showbiz History: "Roots" takes America by storm and Tom Cruise nabs a "Magnolia" win

7 random things that happened on this day, January 23rd, in showbiz history

1962 François Truffaut's new wave classic Jules et Jim is released in France and Canada. It makes it to the US a couple of months later though it's not immediately embraced in the US. In the UK it's a different story and the film receives two BAFTA nominations: Best Film and Best Foreign Actress... 

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