This weekend, the Gateway Film Center gets a little wild. All weekend long you can celebrate the over-the-top brilliance that is Nicolas Cage with their Out of the Cage program. The series highlights five exceptional but sometimes overlooked films in the much beloved, often unhinged actor’s canon. From his first leading role in 1983 to the 2021 performance that probably should have earned him his second Oscar, the program hits a handful of Cage’s best films and best acting.
How does a person choose just five of his 106 (!) films? He has one Oscar win (Leaving Las Vegas, 1996) and another nomination (Adaptation, 2003). He has eight Razzie nominations (No wins?!). He’s worked with the Coen brothers, John Woo, Paul Schrader, Werner Herzog, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Francis Ford Coppola and Brian De Palma, and rocked a mullet like no Hollywood icon before or since.
“This lineup is amazing,” says CU film critic George Wolf. “It includes five of Cage’s very best performances in underseen films. We all love Raising Arizona and Moonstruck, but we’ve all seen those, too. Red Rock West, though? Nobody saw that one, and it’s a phenomenal movie.”
Agreement all around.
“I haven’t seen Mandy and I definitely want to see Red Rock West,” says Teri Collins, a GFC member. GFC member Tyrone Russell may join her.
“I’m definitely going to Red Rock West” he says. “It’s the only one on the list that I haven’t seen, and I’m not familiar with it either. Listen, I know this is a hot take because lots of people seem to love Nicolas Cage… but going to one of his movies is a real crapshoot! This one looks like it’s from early enough in his career that it is most likely really good.”
It may be that wild range of quality that makes Cage movies so much fun.
“I love Nic Cage movies!” says Joel Savage. “All of them! The high art to the straight to VOD. That guy never gives a bad performance.”
If Savage had to choose just one film in this lineup, which would it be?
“Oh damn. If I had to pick one? Wild at Heart,” he says.
“I’ll watch Valley Girl and Wild at Heart anytime,” says Collins, who may just make it to everything this weekend. “Wild at Heart would be my first choice because I’m a Lynch fan, but Red Rock West – with Hopper, Walsh and Boyle – sounds like a must see.”
“And for anyone who thinks Cage only works in unhinged extremes, you’ve got to see the nuance of his performance in Pig,” Wolf says. “This entire program really is the perfect summary of Cage’s remarkable range.”
Gateway’s Full Out of the Cage lineup:
- Friday, May 12, 9:30 p.m. – Valley Girl (1983)
- Saturday, May 13, 7 p.m. – Wild at Heart (1990)
- Saturday, May 13, 10:15 p.m. – Mandy (2018)
- Sunday, May 14, 1:30 p.m. – Red Rock West (1993)
- Sunday, May 14, 5 p.m. – Pig (2021)
For tickets, showtimes and additional information, visit gatewayfilmcenter.org.