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lillulu's review
4.0
Great overview of everything Nic Cage has worked on from the very start of his career. The author clearly has seen every one of his movies multiple times, so if that sounds like you, this is right up your alley.
skvllresidve's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.5
A quick rundown of Cage's filmography that does a good job of contextualizing all of his films and gives some insight into why his career is the way it is. Makes Cage even more endearing, painting a picture of a true eccentric who cares deeply about his craft, but who became too successful for his own good.
The downside to Phipps'd approach is that it ends up trading depth for breadth by covering so much so quickly. If I wasn't already a big Cagehead I'd probably give this a 4+, but I found myself wishing for a deeper dive into a smaller number of his most pivotal films.
The downside to Phipps'd approach is that it ends up trading depth for breadth by covering so much so quickly. If I wasn't already a big Cagehead I'd probably give this a 4+, but I found myself wishing for a deeper dive into a smaller number of his most pivotal films.
maggierachael's review
2.0
The best way I can describe this is to call it an extended, 200 page Wikipedia article on Cage’s career. Not really anything interesting or noteworthy beyond the basic facts and a gathering of the author’s own personal feelings on a lot of Cage films — most of the text is clearly spent on films in his filmography that Phipps prefers over the bigger releases that probably should’ve been given more dedicated space. (There are whole chapters on films I’ve never heard of, and yet things like Valley Girl and National Treasure get only a passing glance, brushed off by the author as essentially schlock fodder.)
It’s also worth noting that, despite coming out last year, is already deeply out of touch with the trajectory of Cage’s career, dismissing the success of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and Pig and arriving slightly too early to include the release of Renfield, all of which have placed him back in the pop culture zeitgeist. Largely a string of film reviews and AV Club features strung together as a book, it’s really nothing worth buying, even if you *really* love Nic Cage.
It’s also worth noting that, despite coming out last year, is already deeply out of touch with the trajectory of Cage’s career, dismissing the success of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and Pig and arriving slightly too early to include the release of Renfield, all of which have placed him back in the pop culture zeitgeist. Largely a string of film reviews and AV Club features strung together as a book, it’s really nothing worth buying, even if you *really* love Nic Cage.
emilyyyytug's review
3.0
It was well written, but I expected to learn more about Nick Cage than I actually did. And that's coming from someone who really didn't know much about him to begin with. The book was a lot more focused on the shifts of Hollywood movie making in general. But even that seems half baked. Again I feel like I didn't learn that much.
The book also featured more author opinion in it than was maybe needed.
I think the book would have benefitted from diving deeper into one or two films. The wide scope of Nick's career makes that hard, if you want to cover everything.
The book was just generic, and without a strong voice. And given Nick Cage has such a strong voice in his works, it was a weird mismatch in that aspect.
The book also featured more author opinion in it than was maybe needed.
I think the book would have benefitted from diving deeper into one or two films. The wide scope of Nick's career makes that hard, if you want to cover everything.
The book was just generic, and without a strong voice. And given Nick Cage has such a strong voice in his works, it was a weird mismatch in that aspect.
mattgoldberg's review
5.0
I loved this book so much. There’s a lot of mileage to get out of just an examination of an iconic actor’s career over the span of four decades, but what really makes the book sing is how Phipps uses Cage’s career as a way to explore how cinema has changed during that time as well. Part of me wishes other iconic actors would get this same kind of deep-dive treatment, but I doubt their stories would fare as well as Cage’s who has committed himself to acting as a craft that defies easy categorization. I’ll recommend this book to every cinephile I know.
carrienation76's review against another edition
2.0
How in the name of Zeus' butthold did I give up five hours of my precious life to this book? As an appendix, the author lists out every Nic Cage movie and his personal rating out of 4 stars. If I had known Phipps considered The Rock to be three stars, I would have chucked this book before reading. According to my spreadsheet, I have watched 93 movies starring Nicolas Cage in my lifetime. I've even made plans to watch the original cut of Dying of the Light in the UCLA archives. This book is a mess. The amount of space taken up by Francis Ford Coppola commentary alone is embarrassing. Uggggggh. Phipps does a disservice to the last decade of Cage's career by cramming all the VOD releases into a lazy, rushed chapter. He acknowledges that there are some great performances amongst them, but can't be bothered to reference any with even fake gusto. Phipps considers 2014's Rage to be Cage's worst film. I'm not saying Rage is good... but his worst film is Fire Birds, obviously. It's a sexist, racist embarrassment. Yet he gave it 2 stars. My only bit of relief is knowing I didn't waste money on this book.