It all started in a hospital room somewhere in Long Beach, California, on a chilly January day in 1964 — the day Nicolas Cage was born.
Since then St. Nic has appeared in nearly one hundred movies, embodying almost every genre imaginable, from high school dream date and rebellious thug to action superstar and the oft-conjured raging psycho. We think it’s accurate to say that there is truly no other actor today with an acting style — or diversity of accepted roles — that can match the Cage. For A-list movies, our folk hero is like lightning in a bottle, when a director can contain Cage’s wildness (or “cage-outs” as we call them) and then leverage him skillfully, within bounds of the script. And when his wildness is left, well, to the wild and unchecked, then are we bestowed some of the most hilariously-bad B-movies of all time.
Reece, Steve, and Kevin are old friends who grew up together watching bad movies rented from KT Video in Marietta, Ohio. (It’s gone now, sadly, along with Movies and Hollywood Video.) Even then we’d been huge Nicolas Cage fans, often acting out action scenes from “Face/Off” or “The Rock” in the public park for free. (Maybe we’ll post clips.)
In 2010, another friend named Matt exposed the group to a series of films starring Nicolas Cage they’d never seen. “Come,” he said. “Let us watch together.” And soon after, NCAN or Nicolas Cage Appreciation Night, became a monthly event where we’d watch two Nic Cage movies back-to-back and discuss them. It wasn’t long after movies like “Knowing,” “Bangkok Dangerous,” “Next,” and “Deadfall” came into view, we knew Cage was special indeed.
We’ve started this podcast years later in part to rekindle the spirit of NCAN. We remembered fondly the spontaneous quality of our discussions about Cage and hoped to revive them in a new format. We also wanted to challenge ourselves through dedication to Nic’s work, and experience it all together with a nice badge of honor at the end. And we’re not too sure how many people out there have watched every Nic Cage movie ever made. I mean, have you?
On top of that, we’re really just three friends with a common interest we thought would make a fun podcast.
Life has taken each of us to different parts of the world, but thankfully we have something fun to create while we’re apart. Thanks for listening to Late Night Cage Fight. More than anything, we hope you have fun with it too.
Rules of the Cage Fight
CAGE FIGHTERS (CF) are charged to deliver arguments concerning the film they believe — based on criteria — deserves to enter the LNCF BEE CAGE OF FAME, adhering to all formal laws of International Nicolas Cage Fighters Association. We also hope to provide an entertaining experience for our audience.
Official Rules
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A CAGE LORD (CL) shall be deemed sole judge and executor of absolute outcomes. The WILL of the CAGE LORD is final.
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The CAGE LORD must be addressed as “CAGE LORD (first name)” or “LORD (first name).” Violations of this rule may face PUNISHMENT at CL’s immediate discretion.
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A CL is not required to watch the films in battle, but must strive for an unbiased opinion based on criteria argued by CFs. (Asking questions is vital.) New criteria may not be added during a show. Additionally, one film MUST be chosen as winner in the end; no ties or non-selections.
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While only the CL can dole out punishments, CFs may defer to a CL in request of punishments for other fighters. The CL may in turn accept or reject requests for rebuttal at his or her discretion.
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A CL will be given a five-minute Self-Deliberation Period to weigh arguments at the end. When the final film is selected, the CL MUST explain all reasoning behind the selection based on CFs delivered arguments.
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No media clips allowed during a stream for sake of time. All quotes or references must be verbal. If a CF questions the validity of a quote, this can be brought to the CL’s attention who is then advised to validate veracity of quotes during Self-Deliberation Period.
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A live stream will be hosted online for one week after airing. The final edited podcast will then become canon as official Cage Fight.
Punishments
Punishments are meant to add fun to a Cage Fight and must not be malicious. While the CL is encouraged to select a punishment from our Cruelty-Free Cage List, he or she is welcome to invent new punishments so long as they last under one minute.
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Repeat: “I am a stain on the Cage and deserve to be stung by a pack of wild bees. “
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Repeat: “I have dishonored Nicolas Cage’s film legacy and should apply for Cage Conversion Therapy.”
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Repeat 3 times: “I am sorry, St. Nicolas Cage.”
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Repeat in Nic Cage voice, “God, I love (food item).”
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Repeat 3 times: “I am not bitchin’.”
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Repeat: “There is no better food in the world than peanut butter sushi.”
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Repeat 3 times: “I am a bad motorcycle boy.”
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Emulate a Nicolas Cage laugh.
Film Criteria
The biggest challenge in choosing a best film is identifying movies we like because they’re honestly good films vs. those we think are funny in an ironic way, carry a high Cage-factor, or are just inexplicably bad. It’s up to the CFs to employ the following criteria in arguments supporting their decisions (remember, no ties). And finally it’s up to the CL to decide whether your schlock B-movie or Oscar-winning gem makes the cut.
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Overall Enjoyment (Watchability)
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What do you like about this movie compared to the others? Were you engaged, or did you find most of it boring? Was it a good film or “so-bad-it’s-good?”
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Writing
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Did the story make sense to you? Did it meet or fail to meet your expectations? Did something happen you didn’t expect?
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Performances
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How was the casting? Did the actors over or underplay their roles? Did another actor upstage Cage? (Blasphemy!)
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Cinematography
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How did the film look? Were shots fluid or sporadic? Did scenes mesh together? Or did it look low budget with little thought for style?
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The Cage Factor
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Did Nic Cage shine in his role? Was he given enough screen time? Did he really try to act or just lose his shit? Without Nic how would this movie have suffered?
See you in the ring!