On the Sir Laurence Oliver scale of acting, with Sir L. a 10, Pauly Shore a 1, where's Nicolas Cage?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Poll question: On the Sir Laurence Oliver scale of acting, with Sir L. a 10, Pauly Shore a 1, where's Nicolas Cage?

[edbermac]

1. He does some good films once in a while.

Raising Arizona, Moonstruck, Leaving Las Vegas, Honeymoon In Vegas, Adaptation.

And Oilvier has been in a few stinkers, The Betsy, Inchon etc.

[UTUSN]

2. I don't know what the poll choices mean, but Nick is the pit of the pit

And I'll give my reasons:


1) Being a legacy kid without redeeeming talent (unlike other legacy kids)

2) Trading (Lisa Marie)

3) Ugly

4) Jerk

5) Annoying

6)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

3. The poll basically positions "Face Off" as one of his ultimate groaners

The "I'm Castor Troy" line is supposed to be a sort of climactic moment instead of teh facepalm it is.

:-)

[pacalo]

4. I gave him a 2 for the only two movies in which I liked him.

"Honeymoon in Vegas" & "Kiss of Death" (very bad guy in that one).

[gratuitous]

5. It depends on the vehicle

If he's just paying the bills (see Michael Caine's comment on his own "work" in Jaws 3), he can be dreadful. But when he's got a decent script and a competent director, he can be quite good. Mostly I find him likable, so I can stand many of his movies, but I really like some of them.

[MrMickeysMom]

6. What? No, "Peggy Sue Got Married"?

Voice... weak... very..... weak...

[JCMach1]

7. Two words: Wicker Man... one of the worst performances and worst remakes

EVER!

[MilesColtrane]

8. Shoot him again.

His soul's still dancing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXNfHb9b6Y0

I like Cage. I give him a seven.

Hell, Jack Nicholson is now revered for his going over the top.

Like most actors, Cage needs a good director and script.

[IMATB]

9. I didn't vote

but I do like Nicolas Cage. He's a bit ill in the head. Once upon a time he actually thought he WAS Elvis. I always thought that's was why he married Lisa Marie.

My favorite movies are Ghost Rider and Bringing Out the Dead. Other than that, he seems to play the same character in all of his movies.

He was filming a movie near me last year and he was so enthused with a pickup truck that had big rig pipes on it with monster tires. What I call a redneck bubba mobile.

He treated everyone very nice and signed atuographs every day after filming stopped. He ate locally and didn't mind being around the locals.

[CBGLuthier]

10. Watch the film The Betsy. Then tell me about Olivier

Great trashy movie with an excellent scene of an aged Olivier rutting away upon a young french maid.

Cage is capable of great work. But he is either lazy or greedy and has instead turned a once promising career into an embarrassment. But at least he's well paid.

[Moondog]

11. Lord of War wasn't terrible. Had OK moments.

[NewJeffCT]

12. Some of his movies seem promising in previews/trailers

then end up sucking. However, I don't think he helps himself with his choices of scripts or directors. (the upcoming 'Season of the Witch' looks like it should be right up my alley - medieval fantasy - but I'm leery just because it has Cage in it...)

I would give him a 5 overall - he can be pretty good (not great) in the right role with the right director.

[Bertha Venation]

13. He and Cher. Oscars. I'll never understand it.

Edit. I'll amend that. I understand Cher's Oscar because it seems sometimes people get "consolation" Oscars -- an award down the road for a performance that was okay, but it says "Hey, you blew us away in 'Silkwood,' but someone else was better that year. Well, here ya go."

Edit. And whom did Cher beat out when she got that Oscar? Glenn Close. A goddess in any role, but she didn't get it for "Fatal Attraction." A crying fucking shame.

. . . I'm not gonna be IGNORED, Michael.

[old mark]

18. Compared to Cage on the 1 to 10 scale, Cher is a 26... and she can sing, too.nt

[MrScorpio]

14. I'm feeling generous today

I gave him a 3

[baldguy]

15. At his best he's a 7 or 8.

Bit most of the time he phones it in for a 3 or 4.

[KG]

16. Birdy!!!

[old mark]

17. 2, maybe...no higher. A waste of time, mostly....nt

[Demoiselle]

19. I'm befuddled by your criteria.

Paulie Shore at the bottom, sure. But I've always felt Laurence Olivier was a terrible actor in the movies. (IN THE MOVIES, I said, before you jump down my throat.)
He's always seemed to me to be stiff, and/or overdone, just unbelievable in movie roles. But I was lucky enough to see him on stage in a production of Strindberg's Dance of Death at the Old Vic, a thousand years ago. It was incredible. I had a pretty lousy seat, way way back in the orchestra, and it felt like he was one foot in front of me for the entire performance, virtually breathing, and snarling, in my face. Astonishing.

I guess I would put Spencer Tracy, Frederick March, Montgomery Clift, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra up at the top of the movie actor pantheon. But never Laurence Olivier.

I'm sorry. Have I just been an old prissy poop here? My apologies.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

20. I just put him at the top because some people think he belongs there

He's not in my top 10. And that "I'm Castor Troy!" line was haunting me, so I had to put something together QUICK.

:rofl:

[OmahaBlueDog]

21. I'd give Nic a 7

He's made some stinkers, but so did Olivier, whose credits include gems such as "Inchon", "The Jazz Singer" (Neil Diamond Remake), and "The Wild Geese II"