He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper

Itttt’ssssss Tiffany! Isn’t this neat? I think so. Though I DO feel somewhat inferior as a student of film [“student of film” actually meaning that I half-assededly took a smattering of film courses in my college years] who didn’t peg the Hitchcock-homage header… ESPECIALLY since that flick is like THE textbook example for anything anyone has ever needed to learn about filmmaking ever, at least according to any introductory level textbook. I swear I’ve had to take notes on Alfie’s storyboards for that crop duster scene approximately 18 times.

And now for the convergence: in a recent correspondence, Robbo brought up the film What Women Want starring Mel Gibson. I’ve always liked that movie more than I think I should [much like Major League, or The Wedding Planner… no, now that I come to think of it, The Wedding Planner is pretty inexcusable] – but anyhow, it got me to thinking about the charm of Mel Gibson [Pre- controversial anti-Semitic ranting Mel Gibson, of course]. I’ve always kind of thought that Mel Gibson’s schtick was a huge rip-off of Cary Grant. The same goes for George Clooney, actually. Have you ever noticed this? That whole debonair, slightly befuddled, grinning sort-of-a-jackass who’s actually a sweetheart underneath it all demeanor… I just think they should give credit where credit’s due, you know? Kind of like how I should be getting my rightful props for re-popularizing miniature ponies. [Please click that link. I found it when legitimately looking for some mini pony stuff—I don’t speak any Russian[?] but as far as I can tell it has nothing to do with little horses and everything to do with the greatest amassing of inexplicable photos mine eyes has ever seen. Am I missing something here?]

I’ve gotten to thinking now about movies and actors that I like more than I should, as a reasonably responsible consumer of arts and culture. The first one that comes to mind is Nicolas Cage, who I have defended tirelessly [Adaptation! Raising Arizona! Moonstruck!] against some pretty rightful criticism [Wicker Man! Ghost Rider! National Treasure!]. I read a cracked.com list that I think summed him up pretty well: “Nicolas Cage seems to be conducting some kind of experiment, wherein he intentionally takes only the best and worst projects offered to him, and absolutely nothing in between.” On the surface this seems entirely apt, but at the same time, I would tend to offer the Con Air Counterpoint, which states that Nicolas Cage possesses a supernatural power to make ridiculous movies [Con Air, Valley Girl, Amos & Andrew, The Rock, etc.] into really likeable, always watchable fare.

Perhaps Cage is actually a covert humanitarian, who takes on bad projects just so he can redeem them into, if nothing else, ideal early afternoon weekend movies, when you’ve got nothing to do but sit in your jammies with some cereal, nursing a hangover or whathaveyou with an easily-understandable comedy or action thriller. And maybe, just maybe, this is how we’ll start to see movies like National Treasure in a few years. Ooorrr maybe he’s just losing his magic touch…