cult film freak: nicolas cage

Showing posts with label nicolas cage. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 2/06/2022 / No comments / amy heckerling , eighties , exploitation , interview , jodie foster , martin scorsese , nicolas cage , robert deniro , robert romanus , scott thomson , seventies

SCOTT THOMSON'S FAST TIMES SPEEDING THROUGH 'TAXI DRIVER'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHCfJUU4yYkKWrWLY3oHKpW74urBUWmiWhVw7J5Tm_JA-zfZW1xQVEQbDTwSqy-1Sqmrkok3pSqmH0iwLEWMtSTxR9rQFwYyJC7UIfni3yYG6Aayz49pZj-Lafzvt6hyEPGUI0Lav7j5yJzRW-KuIG5IVrEf8mxVwpg5OTbURVIj4eaxbkwGllLpvkTw=s1451" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="1451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHCfJUU4yYkKWrWLY3oHKpW74urBUWmiWhVw7J5Tm_JA-zfZW1xQVEQbDTwSqy-1Sqmrkok3pSqmH0iwLEWMtSTxR9rQFwYyJC7UIfni3yYG6Aayz49pZj-Lafzvt6hyEPGUI0Lav7j5yJzRW-KuIG5IVrEf8mxVwpg5OTbURVIj4eaxbkwGllLpvkTw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Scott Thomson with Robert Romanus from Fast Times at Ridgemont High</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In one of those bizarre and random pop culture occurrences, the actor who'd play the nerdy high school student Arnold in FAST TIMES AT RIDEMONT HIGH from 1982 was an extra in one of the greatest exploitation films ever, Martin Scorsese's gritty 1976 cult classic TAXI DRIVER...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But he was a very important extra being one of two young "Johns" picking up (or being picked up by) Jodie Foster's Iris, the extremely under-aged hooker that Robert De Niro's titular cabbie Travis Bickle winds up stalking, then saving... And here's what character-actor Scott Thomson recalls from that time-grueling night shoot... </p><p><span></span></p>

amy heckerling, eighties, exploitation, interview, jodie foster, martin scorsese, nicolas cage, robert deniro, robert romanus, scott thomson, seventies

SCOTT THOMSON'S FAST TIMES SPEEDING THROUGH 'TAXI DRIVER'

Scott Thomson with Robert Romanus from Fast Times at Ridgemont High In one of those bizarre and random pop culture occurrences, the actor wh...

NICOLAS CAGE & MATTHEW MODINE IN ALAN PARKER'S 'BIRDY'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nicolas Cage looking a hybrid of middle eighties and early sixties in Alan Parker's BIRDY Year: 1984 Rating: ****</u></td></tr>
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Alan Parker was an inspired choice to direct a feature combining anti-war sentiment and tortured, surreal insanity having pulled off PINK FLOYD: THE WALL a few years before BIRDY...<br>
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A neglected gem that, despite the title, centers equally on two "Philly Kids" Nicolas Cage as alpha male Al and passive Matthew Modine nicknamed BIRDY, living more in his mind (and with his bedroom birds) than on the outside, where Al revels in girls and muscular bravado...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nicolas Cage and title character Mathew Modine in the present story of BIRDY</u></td></tr>
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Yet the frame story has a meek, post-war/face-bandaged Cage at a military psych-ward trying desperately to bring his friend back to reality: mostly by reminding him (and us) of their fairly recent high school era past... <br>
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Modine, with lanky bird-like features to begin with, spends the present-time silently perched in locked quarters while Cage provides the hot and cold acting, which includes plenty of diatribes to sink his teeth into...<br>

alan parker, arthouse, buddy, coming-of-age, eighties, elizabeth whitcraft, matthew modine, nicolas cage, vietnam

NICOLAS CAGE & MATTHEW MODINE IN ALAN PARKER'S 'BIRDY'

Nicolas Cage looking a hybrid of middle eighties and early sixties in Alan Parker's BIRDY Year: 1984 Rating: **** Alan Parker was an...

JOURNEY THROUGH THE INTERNET, AFRICA & THE RAPTURE

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCW3yiUtQm02bZv6aEpNnUH-m2x77rerfWlcwjI-Uq9b5s_ddyu0ZrUsCAeZNJSasZOpYQZ4WKpq_T0DXqfDWyTYu9LaS9Yuc8s7GvZmTNVBprptOD6-MaJhRV8nC9a7GacsicRDvS_Y/s1600/1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCW3yiUtQm02bZv6aEpNnUH-m2x77rerfWlcwjI-Uq9b5s_ddyu0ZrUsCAeZNJSasZOpYQZ4WKpq_T0DXqfDWyTYu9LaS9Yuc8s7GvZmTNVBprptOD6-MaJhRV8nC9a7GacsicRDvS_Y/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **1/2</td></tr>
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<i>In a weekend dominated by a missing girl and a demonic doll, here's a three-pack including THE GOOD LIE, LEFT BEHIND and beginning with...</i><br />
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<b>MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN: </b>Seeing the Internet in a movie is like hearing a toilet flushing, in a movie… It’s so familiar we’d much prefer to escape life’s, um, personal necessities...<br />
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Nothing doing with Jason Reitman’s MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN, a film centering on an ensemble of characters, parents and teenagers, all using the almighty Net for various reasons: From dating sites to video games to modeling to texting: the latter appearing on the screen to showcase our distracted society. <br />
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The cast is loaded with potential talent, but Dean BREAKING BAD Norris should have had a lot more to do than passively navigate his son’s game-playing while Adam Sandler has a chance of reliving PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE… By turning in a serious role, perhaps he could prove something once again. But the males, including an existential high school ex football hero and a porn addicted jock, seem merely along for the ride... <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGKzDNSpPnXGZfPrex_s4_G-KBj87aG3GqQFxdaNgvqpCTTNJDhI9GZynxNd5G2WtGKzGsv5WgFfS1aco9UqZ2tGVTeZ4XRFOw-RINb7efFy66rW9c8aH_aWviSEtBMMrE54wDI4w26g/s1600/men-women-children-will-peltz-elena-kampouris.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCGKzDNSpPnXGZfPrex_s4_G-KBj87aG3GqQFxdaNgvqpCTTNJDhI9GZynxNd5G2WtGKzGsv5WgFfS1aco9UqZ2tGVTeZ4XRFOw-RINb7efFy66rW9c8aH_aWviSEtBMMrE54wDI4w26g/s200/men-women-children-will-peltz-elena-kampouris.jpg" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cute blonde</td></tr>
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It’s the women who have the most interesting, risqué storylines. One wife cheats… A young girl persists on staying skinny and loses her virginity to a jerk… An uptight mother, played by the film’s main antagonist, Jennifer Garner, strictly monitors her mopey, lovestruck kid… Meanwhile, Judy Greer’s progressive single mom takes unconventional pictures for her sexy daughter’s modeling website. <br />
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Everyone eventually connects, romantically or otherwise. And like MAGNOLIA and many ensemble films, there’s a stream of conscious narrative bringing things  together…<br />
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In this particular case it's the Voyager Satellite hovering just beyond our solar system with Carl Sagan as the token philosopher, providing depth through the wise voice of Emma Thompson, the female Morgan Freeman here…<br />
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But going beneath the surface level, whether an inch or a mile, can be considered deep. Ironically, the most intriguing elements occur during the mundane, everyday observations, and not when the writers try for meaning: That’s when things get preachy and pretentious, and downright predictable.    <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVR4k4gmV584dRvTQpMiu9SpXKVaqkH7KlCS11rX6P7FeBXRBvbx4i9U7-p8ou_fb8YY0FVpOA7sAki24Ju9KAzQeLhcMBUO3JbaiST7M9O6ZfSojV9F56F0IJ3-IRFjRCP624SC8srts/s1600/2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVR4k4gmV584dRvTQpMiu9SpXKVaqkH7KlCS11rX6P7FeBXRBvbx4i9U7-p8ou_fb8YY0FVpOA7sAki24Ju9KAzQeLhcMBUO3JbaiST7M9O6ZfSojV9F56F0IJ3-IRFjRCP624SC8srts/s320/2.jpg" width="203" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: ***</td></tr>
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<b>THE GOOD LIE:</b> You would think, judging by the trailers and the poster, THE GOOD LIE centered mostly on Reese Witherspoon’s bitch with a heart of gold, Carrie, and her friendship with three African refugees… But Carrie has little to do with the film but “babysit”… Yet she hardly even does that…<br />
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The real story centers on a young "family", beginning with their on-foot journey from war-torn Sudan to Kenya. This prologue lasts twenty minutes but packs about every trial and tribulation you can imagine –  drinking their own urine, dodging bullets and battling fierce wild animals, the preliminary trek is rushed in order to segue into the feel-good movie it becomes once the children, grown into college age young adults, move to Kansas City where a moody Witherspoon sets them up with various jobs.<br />
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It would be impossible to delve into the immense pain these kids felt unless ample time and effort was provided for us to, as the old saying goes, walk in their shoes. There are sporadic flashbacks and conversations to shed light on their past, but THE GOOD LIE is really a fish out of water tale not about surviving, but adapting in the comparably soft American culture. <br />
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During the last twenty minutes, when the family "chief" returns to Africa in search of a very special person, not only does the title become perfectly clear, the movie fills in the gaps from a somewhat cushy interpretation of hardship and struggle, providing a satisfying conclusion – for the characters and the audience.  <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHOnw5f-PLaJodmaV1OV_gXKBtISUKZmJIjjhasZH1rtb0fV0gDUkZwwUUPfXxvr2UbeEXEZh80C3lCc1p3oddanNIPWF_Jm3xZ28oPvajQ6mUANcvlUhvXcXe3IWGZL8q7IkdQngBoE/s1600/3.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHOnw5f-PLaJodmaV1OV_gXKBtISUKZmJIjjhasZH1rtb0fV0gDUkZwwUUPfXxvr2UbeEXEZh80C3lCc1p3oddanNIPWF_Jm3xZ28oPvajQ6mUANcvlUhvXcXe3IWGZL8q7IkdQngBoE/s320/3.jpg" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **</td></tr>
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<b>LEFT BEHIND:</b> Nicolas Cage, the once A-list superstar and Oscar winning actor, could be viewed as taking a serious downgrade by headlining the low budget Biblical-based thriller, LEFT BEHIND… Although, since he’s been demoted to Straight-to-DVD hell the last few years, perhaps this return to theaters is his way of serving in heaven, literally. <br />
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After a ponderous twenty-minute conversation within an airport terminal, the plot clunks underway… Based on a novel foretelling the predictions in Revelations – where God’s Rapture will take only Christians to heaven – much of the suspense takes place on a commercial airplane where Cage’s Rayford Steele is the sole pilot…<br />
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The children, a flight attendant and most important, co-pilot, have all been whisked away – all that’s LEFT are a pile of clothing… Same thing’s happened globally; but we center on Captain Steele’s hardened Atheist daughter Hattie, played by Nicky Whelan… It’s her character we followed through the overlong prologue, and she’s the focal point on the ground. In fact the Rapture begin on her “watch” when her little brother vanishes in the middle of a heartfelt hug.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu7YpBS6aJ65qJXBp5k0tDESnmaVKYqc0rxDKFlyv04jLv4UiShrl-B20XliSSNrAmlJzKyvNsNaSGhWS_ZIHkGoegWywkQruAH0fOQCA5He9FJnllj2y2WfT_cpPeS5tN8-m-orVLUIw/s1600/1351180703_nicolas-cage-knowing-film-photos_1024x768_19521.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu7YpBS6aJ65qJXBp5k0tDESnmaVKYqc0rxDKFlyv04jLv4UiShrl-B20XliSSNrAmlJzKyvNsNaSGhWS_ZIHkGoegWywkQruAH0fOQCA5He9FJnllj2y2WfT_cpPeS5tN8-m-orVLUIw/s200/1351180703_nicolas-cage-knowing-film-photos_1024x768_19521.jpg" width="107" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nic Cage</td></tr>
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Skipping from the airplane to the city, the best scenes occur eight miles high. Take away the Rapture aspect and we have a selected group of paranoid passengers not trusting each other, resulting in our heroic pilot having to land the airplane back in New York, just like the AIRPORT films of yesteryear. Meanwhile, an attempt to wedge the Christian agenda is awkward and clumsy...<br />
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But since it's a tale about people who weren’t lucky enough to make the ethereal cut, if this particular vehicle works, a franchise about desperate heroes surviving a godless world might crossover to the mainstream… After all, who's around to preach Christianity? <br />
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With a distracting low budget and a cheap acoustic soundtrack, LEFT BEHIND might be just that in the box office: not faithful enough for the faith-based and not exciting enough for a suspenseful thriller. Yet there are times when Cage makes you forget he's stuck in a bad movie. After all, he's had plenty of practice lately.

2014, adam sandler, drama, ensemble, nicolas cage, reese witherspoon, thriller

JOURNEY THROUGH THE INTERNET, AFRICA & THE RAPTURE

year: 2014 rating: **1/2 In a weekend dominated by a missing girl and a demonic doll, here's a three-pack including THE GOOD LIE, ...

Written by James M. Tate / 3/22/2013 / No comments / 2013 , action , adventure , cloris leachman , computer animated , emma stone , fantasy , nicolas cage , road movie , ryan reynolds , science-fiction

THE CROODS

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>year: 2013 voices: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds rating: ***1/2</b></span></span></td></tr>
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Grug is a caveman who successfully protects his family in a cave providing, when the sun goes down, shelter and bonafide safety from the dangerous elements outside. But he’s got a huge problem, and it’s not just the hungry wildcat lurking in the moonlit exterior. His curious teenage daughter wants to explore beyond the boundaries of “normal life.”<br />
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Thus begins our tale centering on a quirky clan of Neanderthals. The action begins as they strategically hunt for food, not an easy task. You’d think there would be a better (more natural) selection than a giant egg. That’s because the Croods exist in a barren landscape where opportunities haven’t opened up… but they’re about to. Boy are they ever.<br />
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After the teenage daughter Eep sees a strange glow outside the closed cave, she ventures into the night and meets a bitchin’ explorer dude named Guy, who’s discovered a thing called Fire. He also has a premonition, and anyone who saw ICE AGE 4: CONTINENTAL DRIFT will get major déjà vu: The land as they know it is about to break apart.<br />
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So when the initial destruction occurs, the Croods discover an inner-world so colorful and vibrant, Sam Raimi’s OZ seems like a plain paper sack in comparison. Within this creature-saturated jungle are even more dangerous elements, including a hovering flock of ravenous birds, man-eating plants, and a bigger, hungrier wildcat. But for Eep at least there’s cool stuff to discover. And we now have a destination: giant mountains in the distance where possible safety awaits. <br />
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Grug and family “capture” the progressively minded Guy, who knows how to hunt bigger game, make shoes and, unlike the cranky patriarch, always looks forward to something called Tomorrow. And eventually, as the gang treks toward their goal, encountering various bizarre hybrids that screech out of the woodwork, an impatient Guy asks The Croods if they know of any pace faster than “wander.” But for a movie that takes its time, allowing each obstacle to move the story along, “wandering” does this entertaining journey just fine.<br />
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The voices of Nicholas Cage and Ryan Reynolds, as Grug and Guy, eventually sound less like themselves; Cage even breaks from his breezy, shuffling tone to bring the Early Man grump-turned-hero to life. But it’s Emma Stone's Eep that really shines through, providing a flawed character with an important (and evolving) arc that will glue everything, and everyone, together.

2013, action, adventure, cloris leachman, computer animated, emma stone, fantasy, nicolas cage, road movie, ryan reynolds, science-fiction

THE CROODS

year: 2013 voices: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds rating: ***1/2 Grug is a caveman who successfully protects his family in a ca...

Written by James M. Tate / 3/01/2013 / No comments / bob maroff , crispin glover , eighties , elizabeth mcgovern , michael madsen , michael talbott , nicolas cage , romance , sean penn , war

SEAN PENN WITH NICOLAS CAGE IN 'RACING WITH THE MOON'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOy4STai9mkl9Ir8a-01OiUIbp6IVGz0EM3eM0Dxr6AQVO2cUffiTkEq12edG8ogkRe0TiNxmDogiumI-YiLgqIu7y1Ihn_Xxbb5TYoiovQkOBMzOPw4Dw8iQBKWEA13vWMm_-a6CavNBBEVHVraz_SQHocGGPiW2oHeIcZJQ587Aam19qxq0f-ax1du3N/s854/RM0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="854" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOy4STai9mkl9Ir8a-01OiUIbp6IVGz0EM3eM0Dxr6AQVO2cUffiTkEq12edG8ogkRe0TiNxmDogiumI-YiLgqIu7y1Ihn_Xxbb5TYoiovQkOBMzOPw4Dw8iQBKWEA13vWMm_-a6CavNBBEVHVraz_SQHocGGPiW2oHeIcZJQ587Aam19qxq0f-ax1du3N/s16000/RM0.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1984 cast: Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern, Nicolas Cage rating: ***</td></tr></tbody></table><p>From the very beginning, as Sean Penn’s Henry “Hopper” Nash breaks out of a classical piano piece into a racy show tune – ticking off his uptight music teacher during a private lesson – we know he’s a rebel.<br />
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Set in 1942, America's in the throes of the Second World War. Hopper and his pal Nicky, played with fiery charisma by Nicolas Cage, are high school seniors and in a month will both go overseas. RACING WITH THE MOON centers around that month yet too little time’s spent with the friends, both working hard at a bowling alley.<br />

</p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUkx8Cj03b1LnzPB2N2Kpaqu7S6SBzYmn6SHOsdqwYXszcdarcbWwGMFOSNZh9iPYlJAqFRO98OYHlqdERUKuGv2VwZZAG04o3s8bY8kv2hdLboRE3cQ_FuM0nO1JIbNu8PL6qRWjyonc2SGOUwzQjRHRt100bpsWt-WizX9QjkGkgBlqmHAuQpaKggajg/s805/RM5.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="805" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUkx8Cj03b1LnzPB2N2Kpaqu7S6SBzYmn6SHOsdqwYXszcdarcbWwGMFOSNZh9iPYlJAqFRO98OYHlqdERUKuGv2VwZZAG04o3s8bY8kv2hdLboRE3cQ_FuM0nO1JIbNu8PL6qRWjyonc2SGOUwzQjRHRt100bpsWt-WizX9QjkGkgBlqmHAuQpaKggajg/s16000/RM5.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob Maroff breaks up Sean Penn and Crispin Glover</td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the days before pins were loaded mechanically, the working class pals sweat hard for their paycheck despite harassment from local rich kids. And then something catches Hopper's attention: the mesmerizing blue eyes of Elizabeth McGovern’s Caddie Winger, a… or who seems to be a… upper class “Gatsby Girl” that Hopper spends most of his time chasing and eventually falling in love with.<br />
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Although Penn and McGovern have good chemistry, and their love story, set in the backdrop of the gorgeous California coastline, is the kind of nostalgia liken to old windswept romances, there’s not much to their relationship other than hormones masked as something deeper.<br />
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</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMC4EZKJ5aR0uFfEqMHG2A9r6511xP4iBXcIZ3Bl0CG8s7l_9IrRvZL6VlwCEu4Nw6N4eQ2Jnr419bm52sGL8PV05s1OaeCO_10-P3ynO0CPZRXMMZVW3FScMVWcIXGqk8Hq7Dj92zabuevguRJKVs5bwjQSYZqu8uHbTVdowtjMrTV6DNXSl3t9l_UTEc/s837/RM6.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="837" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMC4EZKJ5aR0uFfEqMHG2A9r6511xP4iBXcIZ3Bl0CG8s7l_9IrRvZL6VlwCEu4Nw6N4eQ2Jnr419bm52sGL8PV05s1OaeCO_10-P3ynO0CPZRXMMZVW3FScMVWcIXGqk8Hq7Dj92zabuevguRJKVs5bwjQSYZqu8uHbTVdowtjMrTV6DNXSl3t9l_UTEc/s16000/RM6.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sean Penn and Elizabeth McGovern</td></tr></tbody></table><p>It’s during sporadic breaks, when Hopper and Nicky chase after moving trains, or try hustling tough Navy guys at pool, that we’re not only entertained but the impending war seems that much more palpable.<br />
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And although the pace is slowed by a melodramatic subplot involving Nicky’s girlfriend’s abortion and other distractions, here's a film that successfully takes you back into another time and place.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWojEEdJWmSpeRIftIWzwFc3TNm49JbqxR7sExIn46EEWSP5eajclNg6L1SJ5yQ6NXTy-IvkO3MTiVQ34tU3n7n6i_6OphEp5eVZTTzd75fM1mtVp_6D6dCXXOnnDyVxlKfCIScw3p61TGM7taSBGDODJDU38OZjCPC3hy-SS4FW3uF4Z_VR_53g_pWf-Y/s819/RM10.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="819" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWojEEdJWmSpeRIftIWzwFc3TNm49JbqxR7sExIn46EEWSP5eajclNg6L1SJ5yQ6NXTy-IvkO3MTiVQ34tU3n7n6i_6OphEp5eVZTTzd75fM1mtVp_6D6dCXXOnnDyVxlKfCIScw3p61TGM7taSBGDODJDU38OZjCPC3hy-SS4FW3uF4Z_VR_53g_pWf-Y/s16000/RM10.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nicolas Cage and Michael Talbott in RACING WITH THE MOON<br /></td></tr></tbody></table>

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</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzlIju5elzxNOnsZYeNRCpa8ZZBP0KnWJL8wHlpF3ogZTdI_HJmBaPxproqRy5-GTJyb5mKEvUaU0wAjUT_mmR66znY2ssX2uNP1-q_WbS4N6JdpGDZIrvqsKuppnzd7D2YyAIwmO-HYK0Z20_qwYDj7m8L4z77xBg015KSvQzu9KywH73kxDWGfdCFQ-o/s841/RM3.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="841" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzlIju5elzxNOnsZYeNRCpa8ZZBP0KnWJL8wHlpF3ogZTdI_HJmBaPxproqRy5-GTJyb5mKEvUaU0wAjUT_mmR66znY2ssX2uNP1-q_WbS4N6JdpGDZIrvqsKuppnzd7D2YyAIwmO-HYK0Z20_qwYDj7m8L4z77xBg015KSvQzu9KywH73kxDWGfdCFQ-o/s16000/RM3.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nicolas Cage in RACING WITH THE MOON</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vHl3M5e0_TVrt3XS7JtLbFvK5b6HPmXjeYuMdtMcc_WYaXwCvx9uBRPUapSs6uJAamq30acpIx1parRx7w1Ce9l2nlsr8UzGzwDeP8NGTe5TGSvefJ9DQnTRbMv3yXPDerjLwDfpE7zPFOmdy26YsoUI3ClnnXZ_dzZa2hv9sf0Kr7K29fA7KBo475NG/s766/RM4.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="766" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vHl3M5e0_TVrt3XS7JtLbFvK5b6HPmXjeYuMdtMcc_WYaXwCvx9uBRPUapSs6uJAamq30acpIx1parRx7w1Ce9l2nlsr8UzGzwDeP8NGTe5TGSvefJ9DQnTRbMv3yXPDerjLwDfpE7zPFOmdy26YsoUI3ClnnXZ_dzZa2hv9sf0Kr7K29fA7KBo475NG/s16000/RM4.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crispin Glover in RACING WITH THE MOON</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpzJ3qVMJQnsExG7RXf2AcJm9MhaK401vX9iFwdvsi1INBWAEAF9YlssHnLqccbHilPVkR0LcJAyK5Y_UGOYWwYbKTCkResCu8SyxrtcBEyYjqTIsSjiK5_h0lUK0XLqczcFNbRCCibTer3Z98NI8Oh4rg_dNqMkQiS5ip4RVwWWuzRqU6nf1InnRKV0K/s854/RM7.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="854" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpzJ3qVMJQnsExG7RXf2AcJm9MhaK401vX9iFwdvsi1INBWAEAF9YlssHnLqccbHilPVkR0LcJAyK5Y_UGOYWwYbKTCkResCu8SyxrtcBEyYjqTIsSjiK5_h0lUK0XLqczcFNbRCCibTer3Z98NI8Oh4rg_dNqMkQiS5ip4RVwWWuzRqU6nf1InnRKV0K/s16000/RM7.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elizabeth McGovern in RACING WITH THE MOON</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGLCyxtgJvNeIzhnj4FSULvLxs9Cp1LkyuP5kvFN12r81vRGfhiEv3N9L81TMggk19ZNzi_-ksgBGAjSIgvJmj0zqJxa_XzTB6QscqG4dTWEBfUUXpyVzaPlSE_8WmjCGyOFbM_z5N4ftH46uKLOCmSFQrW9lnOo7NNnkW4W9ZnZjaFdJG2i0ed9kZH-5u/s830/RM11.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="830" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGLCyxtgJvNeIzhnj4FSULvLxs9Cp1LkyuP5kvFN12r81vRGfhiEv3N9L81TMggk19ZNzi_-ksgBGAjSIgvJmj0zqJxa_XzTB6QscqG4dTWEBfUUXpyVzaPlSE_8WmjCGyOFbM_z5N4ftH46uKLOCmSFQrW9lnOo7NNnkW4W9ZnZjaFdJG2i0ed9kZH-5u/s16000/RM11.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael Madsen in RACING WITH THE MOON</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN70qEsEts8GCxMDr1cjYaIHhyphenhyphenhmxz0Pwc_JXL-6RQ03d1gCpl-KhZyWZPBGAW_GpMZjlUStjs2fcOOQlrBhPSk0byciDNC6DWI_9sYR21uUPjiTtKyH8R9k3JTCIezRc5mPIWxKyE88y7G0PvVUn53s43Zv64gE1lIR3WsYznle1gXNV05ZdfTKxMPb1X/s854/RM9-1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="854" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN70qEsEts8GCxMDr1cjYaIHhyphenhyphenhmxz0Pwc_JXL-6RQ03d1gCpl-KhZyWZPBGAW_GpMZjlUStjs2fcOOQlrBhPSk0byciDNC6DWI_9sYR21uUPjiTtKyH8R9k3JTCIezRc5mPIWxKyE88y7G0PvVUn53s43Zv64gE1lIR3WsYznle1gXNV05ZdfTKxMPb1X/s16000/RM9-1.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nicolas Cage and Sean Penn in RACING WITH THE MOON</td></tr></tbody></table><br />

bob maroff, crispin glover, eighties, elizabeth mcgovern, michael madsen, michael talbott, nicolas cage, romance, sean penn, war

SEAN PENN WITH NICOLAS CAGE IN 'RACING WITH THE MOON'

year: 1984 cast: Sean Penn, Elizabeth McGovern, Nicolas Cage rating: *** From the very beginning, as Sean Penn’s Henry “Hopper” Nash breaks ...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/02/2012 / No comments / diane lane , eighties , francis ford coppola , gangster , james remar , nicolas cage , richard gere , robert evans , suspense

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA DIRECTS THE COTTON CLUB

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKNQTrqaAl5axq0dQEMql8SuEJgMhjfINOncjGdXPZK6jSNPeQaqGBCMo9aJey1vcEA8lcHdKWyDiD8DI5sYzs6hujBWa9vlu3yv9jjroKyhqKpX3WN7nyRxHZjnkk5AvrYBhqGDpMBiU/s1600/james_remar_Cotton_Club.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKNQTrqaAl5axq0dQEMql8SuEJgMhjfINOncjGdXPZK6jSNPeQaqGBCMo9aJey1vcEA8lcHdKWyDiD8DI5sYzs6hujBWa9vlu3yv9jjroKyhqKpX3WN7nyRxHZjnkk5AvrYBhqGDpMBiU/s640/james_remar_Cotton_Club.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1984 cast: Richard Gere, Diane Lane, James Remar, Gregory Hines rating: *1/2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If there’s one person dumber than the usually unattractive tough powerful guy who insists his beautiful girlfriend hang out with a younger, more charming guy... in this case Richard Gere’s Lucky, a talented musician... it’s that good looking guy who goes along with it and eventually, like in every film with this premise, falls deeply and hopelessly in love.<br />
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Well that’s the bottom line in this lavish depression-era timepiece directed by Francis Ford Coppola, produced by THE GODFATHER honcho Robert Evans and co-written by Mario Puzo. The scenes involving the gangsters, including a bloody fight establishing the Edward G. Robinson-looking James Remar’s Dutch Shultz as a man <i>not</i> to be reckoned with, lacks the vibe of being part of the action, or inside the situation, like the stuff Coppola used to provide us.<br />
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And with so many performers, like Gregory Hines and his brother tap dancing at the titular COTTON CLUB (a meeting place for high-rolling gangsters) and Richard Gere’s actual Cornet playing, you’d think Coppola would have made a documentary centering on gin-soaked jazz instead of mobsters. Because through the pallid romance between Gere and mob moll Diane Lane as Remar’s jealousy mounts, and Gregory Hine’s annoyingly stubborn courtship with a gorgeous singer, only the music stands out.<br />
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But even that gets tiresome without a worthy plot or interesting characters. So, like many of Coppola's movies post-APOCALYPSE NOW, this is all dressed up with nowhere to go. Yet despite the flaws, Diane Lane plays the part with gusto... and she was 18 years old!

diane lane, eighties, francis ford coppola, gangster, james remar, nicolas cage, richard gere, robert evans, suspense