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Best Hair goes to…18/12/2003He's been presented with an Oscar, a Golden Globe and countless other awards during his career but the secret to Nicolas Cage's talent has thus far remained a mystery. His nuanced performances have turned heads on every continent in the world as he portrayed suicidal alcoholic down-and-out Ben in Leaving Las Vegas, swapped phizogs with John Travolta in Face/Off and took on dual roles in Adaptation. But what is it about the actor that gives him such broad spectrum appeal? Quite simple really: it's all in the hair. Like Samson, it is Cage's immaculately coiffed thatch that is the source of his power and, in recognition of said wondrous barnet, the Makeup Artists and Hair Stylist Guild have chosen to honour every hair on the actors head with a lifetime achievement award. The Barrymore Career Achievement Award is presented once a year to an actor 'whose body of work has had a profound impact on the artistry of hair and makeup' - no, amazingly enough, we're not kidding. Do you doubt the integrity of Cage's versatile locks? Well allow us to take you on a guided tour of the actor's finest hairstyle moments. We present to you:
CAGE GETS A NEW FOUR-LEGGED FRIEND12-18-03Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage's 40th birthday party took an unconventional twist on Saturday -- when his grandmother waltzed in with a pony. The star won't actually turn 40 until January, but opted to get the festivities started early with a Tinseltown bash. While the likes of Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher drew attention from fellow revelers, the show was stolen by Cage's grandmother, who arrived with a black pony as a birthday treat.
~Sourse~
Has Cage Bought Cashe's Home?11-21-03Nicolas Cage has reportedly bought Johnny Cash's former home in Tennessee.
According to American tabloid the Globe, the movie star has purchased the Cash mansion in Henderson for $3.2 million. The country star, who died in September, shared the 50 acre estate with his late wife June Carter Cash -- it has its own lake and recording studio.
The circuit10-12-03Thursday was pizza night for Nicolas Cage, who rolled into Tacconelli's in Port Richmond with five Chianti-toting friends. The movie star, whom staff described as a sweetheart, was spiffy in snakeskin pants and black trench coat as he ate his thin-crusted margherita. Tacconelli's requires patrons to reserve pizza dough in advance; Cage's hotel concierge had made the call for four pies. Cage is here shooting scenes for the historic adventure National Treasure. (Nic alert: Cameras may be at Reading Terminal Market tomorrow.)
Matchstick Men Premiere
9-2-03
Nicolas Cage is promoting Ridley Scott's new film Matchstick Men which premiered out of competition and was well-received by critics and public alike. Cage plays a conman with obsessive-compulsive disorder, alongside his protege, played by Sam Rockwell, and teenage daughter, played by Alison Lohman. More than 140 films will be screened during the festival, many of them world premieres, but only 20 movies are facing off in the main competition for the Golden Lion, which will be awarded on Saturday. They include Michael Winterbottom's sci-fi tale Code 46, which stars Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton.
Q & A
Q: Where do you go if every superhero film you want to make doesn't come to fruition?
A: Video games.
After false starts with Superman, Ghost Rider, Hellblazer, and who knows what else, Nicolas Cage his his next project in his sights. Dead to Rights, the derivative Max Payne/GTA wannabe. In their own stilted vernacular, here's what Variety had to say: "Cage will play Jack Slate, a disgraced cop who is hell-bent on discovering who murdered his father. The film is designed to have the Hong Kong-style action that has made the game so popular. "Dead to Rights" is controlled by vidgame maker Namco, which is aboard a package being shopped by CAA.
A sequel game is being produced for Christmas 2004 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube formats." The film is to be produced by AICN fave Lorenzo di Bonaventura for Paramount Pictures and is sure to feature some sort of bullet-time clone. Who to direct? Honestly, I hope it's a nobody or someone like "The Other" Paul Anderson or Jan Debont or Simon West. That way, nobody great is forced to abandon a more creative project.
The Governing Board of...7-22-03
The 39th Chicago International Film Festival will honor Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage with a Career Achievement Award, to be presented at their annual Summer Gala, Saturday, July 19 in the Grand Ballroom on Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave. Arts & Entertainment network anchor and award-winning journalist Bill Kurtis will emcee the event. Proceeds will benefit the education and outreach programs of Cinema/Chicago, the umbrella organization that presents the annual Chicago International Film Festival. The presentation of the Career Achievement Award will feature a film retrospective of Cage's career, which includes an Academy Award for Best Actor in Leaving Las Vegas, and an Academy Award nomination for his work portraying Charlie Kaufman and his fictional twin brother Donald in Spike Jonze's Adaptation. A live auction follows.
Cage leaving Los Angeles for winter filming in Chicago7-21-03
BY BILL ZWECKER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage flew into town Saturday to be feted with a lifetime achievement award by the Chicago International Film Festival--and to give us the scoop that he's planning on spending three months in Chicago next winter.
''In about six months or so, I'm going to really get the chance to discover Chicago,'' Cage told this column Saturday. ''This has just come together. I'm going to make 'The Weatherman' here and Gore Verbinski [''Pirates of the Caribbean,'' ''The Mexican''] is going to direct.''
Considering the dark comedy is about a TV weatherman, it sure seems appropriate the actor is picking the toughest meteorological season in which to experience Our Town.
''I've spent my whole 39 years in Los Angeles,'' said Cage. ''I'm ready to meet new people, learn about a new city like Chicago ...experience its restaurants and try new things.''
Speaking of food, Cage joked, ''I'm about the only male in my family who ISN'T a good cook,'' admitting he could never rival his uncle Francis Ford Coppola or father, August Coppola, in the kitchen. ''That is one thing I'm just not good at, but I'm a great audience when it comes to food.''
*One of the guests at the film fest tribute to Cage at Navy Pier was Deerfield's own Pete Jones, who gained fame when Matt Damon and Ben Affleck tapped him to direct his first film, kicking-off their ''Project Greenlight'' experiment for novice filmmakers. Jones gained national attention as much for the HBO series on the making of his ''Stolen Summer''--as he did for the movie itself, which starred Aidan Quinn, Bonnie Hunt, Kevin Pollak and Brian Dennehy.
Jones gave me the scoop he's planning to start shooting his next feature, ''Doubting Riley,'' August 19 right here in the Windy City. Casting is not finalized, but the story is about a young gay member of a staunchly conservative Chicago Irish-Catholic family who is afraid he'll cause a quick demise to his terminally ill father if he comes out of the closet.
An added twist: Riley's siblings don't believe he's gay and make him ''prove it''--giving the storyline an offbeat comedic twist.
Disney starts treasure hunt6/27/03
Guests will step onto a 900-foot long red carpet on Main Street and follow its path to New Orleans Square. Pirates of the Caribbean and two other rides will be open for guests, which include the film's stars - Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush and Keira Knightley - and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Other invitees include
Nicolas Cage, Drew Carey, Phil Collins, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Andy Garcia.
Chicago Film Fest to honor Cage6/9/2003
The Governing Board of The 39th Chicago International Film Festival presents The Career Achievement Award to NICOLAS CAGE I want to thank Kelly @ the "chicago film festival" for working so hard to get me all this info!!
Photo and Info
Gold Ticket Info
Green Ticket Info
For Immediate Release
Chicago Film Fest Pics!!
Party With Cage Article
Guest list expected to be star-filled - Chicago scoop: Oscar winner Nicolas Cage will be the honoree at the Chicago International Film Festival's summer gala July 19 at Navy Pier. The October-based festival began a new tradition last summer when it toasted the life and career of Clint Eastwood--a wonderful and successful event that gave everyone a jumpstart to thinking about Chicago's autumn celebration of cinema. Though many details have yet to be finalized, festival founder and artistic director Michael Kutza hopes to snare a number of stars and directors who have worked closely with Cage. Among some of the key names on the invite list are Norman Jewison, who directed the actor in "Moonstruck"; Ridley Scott, who helmed him in his latest film, "Matchstick Men"; his uncle, the director Francis Ford Coppola, and onetime co-stars John Travolta ("Face/Off") and Elisabeth Shue ("Leaving Las Vegas").
The gala evening will be hosted by Bill Kurtis.
Actor Nicholas Cage pays surprise visit to UCSC film classesPics5/26/03
A jolt of electricity shot through the Media Theater classroom on May 20 when Academy Award-winning actor Nicholas Cage stepped onstage for a surprise visit to Assistant Professor David Crane's Techno-Thrillers film class.
Nicholas Cage chats with theater arts graduate student Megan Mercurio after speaking to a UCSC film class, above. Below, Cage is with Film and Digital Media Department Chair Chip Lord. Photos by Scott Rappaport
The star of more than 40 feature films including Raising Arizona, Face/Off, Leaving Las Vegas, Adaptation, Windtalkers, Guarding Tess, Red Rock West, and Moonstruck, Cage appeared on campus with his cousin, Roman Coppola, a film and music video director, and the son of famed Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola.
The visit was arranged by Chip Lord, chair of UCSC's Film and Digital Media Department, who had met Roman through a mutual friend. After viewing Coppola's film, CQ, at the San Francisco Film Festival last year, Lord had scheduled a screening and a visit by the young director for the fall quarter. But 10 days before the event, they had to postpone when Coppola received an offer to direct a Nike commercial.
"We decided to reschedule for May and had made all the arrangements," Lord explained. "Three days before the date, Roman called me at home and said, `my cousin just invited me to go to Europe, but I don't want to hang you up.' Then he put Nick Cage on the phone, and Cage offered to come to UCSC with Roman when they got back from Europe. I said: `it sounds like you're making me an offer I can't refuse.'"
Impeccably dressed in a fashionable gray suit, Cage displayed the same combination of intensity and sincerity that has made him such a riveting presence on the screen. He fielded questions from Crane's class of 350 students for well over an hour, covering a wide range of topics from Hollywood relationships to production design:
On what it's like to be a movie star: "I don't go out unless I know I got up on the right side of the bed in the morning, because I know I'll be meeting people all day. Jack Nicholson says the average celebrity shakes 100,000 times more hands a year than the average person. So that's a lot of people you can piss off—but I'm in a good mood today."
On the meaning of acting: "Acting has always been a sacred hero for me. I use my acting as a way to turn a negative into a positive, to purge myself."
On choosing a role: "It's always more fun to play a villain, but I don't ever want to be typecast or trapped in any type of role. I want to try different parts and approaches…my methods will change with my roles."
On Hollywood blockbusters: "I like big entertaining movies…sometimes I make 'em."
On becoming an actor: "I became an actor when I saw James Dean in East of Eden. It was the breakdown scene with his father. It was so emotional and heartbreaking that I knew right then and there what I wanted to do. I wanted to act."
On watching his own films: "If a movie of mine comes up late at night on TV, maybe I'll tune in for 10 minutes because its almost like a walk down memory lane--I've been doing this for 20 years or more."
On his proudest moment in film: "There are moments that happen where it seems like there's been a shift in me as an actor. There's a scene from my film Amos and Andy--I think it was a three-minute monologue—where I'm talking about sea monkeys. I felt like I was finally relaxed in front of the camera talking about sea monkeys. That was a breakthrough moment for me."
On Pokey: "He always seemed like he was a little peeved at Gumby."
On commitment to the profession: "If you decide to be an actor, you're going to be dealing with rejection your entire life. And you really have to ask yourself if you want it that bad. That's almost as important as your talent. How bad do you want it?"
On insecurity: "I do worry a lot. I don't think I've ever started a picture where I felt I've known what I'm doing."
On acting classes: "I think some training is good but ultimately it's your life that's going to be your training. It's a gift that's given to you—you can enhance it somewhat, but it's something you can't really learn—it's almost a spiritual thing."
On relationship difficulties for actors: "Hollywood is a very hard town to have a relationship in. The insecurities can be so great that people no longer trust each other."
On actors he would like to work with: "I think that Jack Nicholson and I could really tear it up together—but that hasn't happened yet."
On the future: "I have a few projects at my company, which is called Saturn Films, that I'd like to get done. There's a comedy called Press Your Luck that hopefully Bill Murray will be doing."
On politics and acting: "I'm not a politically active actor, but I do think you can do that in your work. As artists, I think that's what our job really is. I think you can be very selective and careful in your work. I mean, I learned more about the disaster of nuclear power from the China Syndrome."
On getting your foot in the door: "The main thing is that you believe in yourself and don't let others say you can't do it because they're bitter and critical. Just don't give up."
SUPERMAN is set to fly again4/13/2003and the first of three new movies will be shot in Australia. Hollywood insiders yesterday said Warner Bros studios was in final negotiations to split filming of the fifth Superman movie between Sydney and Los Angeles. The only hurdle remaining is finding a superhero actor. Filming is set to start this year at Fox Studios in Sydney on a movie that will focus on Superman's origins. At the same time, Warner Bros will be shooting a new instalment in the Batman movie series. The final Superman movie, Superman Vs Batman, will have the two superheroes pitched in combat against each other.
Oscar winner Nicolas Cage, Josh Hartnett and Brendan Fraser have all pulled out of the project amid production delays, clashes over the script and even concerns about the so-called "Superman curse".
Matchstick Men4/2003Plot: Phobia-addled con artist Roy (Nicolas Cage) and his protégé Frank (Sam Rockwell) are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the unexpected arrival of Roy’s teenage daughter Angela (Alison Lohman) disrupts his carefully-ordered life and jeopardizes his high-risk scam.
Ghost Rider4/9/2003Ghost Rider Nabs Director, Electra May Join Starsky, More Ghost Rider, a Marvel Comics adaptation that had been idling in neutral for the last few years, has gotten a boost from Daredevil director Mark Steven Johnson, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Johnson has reportedly signed on to direct and rewrite the film, which is now again set to star Nicolas Cage. More than a year ago, rumor had it that Cage had left Ghost Rider, and more recent gossip suggested Kiefer Sutherland as a possibility for the title role.
Cage will play Johnny Blaze, a motorcycle stunt-rider who makes a deal to keep his true love safe. In exchange, he allows an angry spirit to take over his body, which turns him into the titular Ghost Rider — a biker with a fiery skull who wreaks a terrible vengeance upon evil souls — at night. Production is expected to start before the end of the year.
