"Hollywood's" Alternate Universe
A little different topic today but nonetheless a very serious topic that has been my favorite one to write about so far. Let's all enjoy this together shall we?
A few nights ago I was watching Interstellar with my wife (who is also the editor in chief for this blog) and I came to a very serious, and interesting, conclusion. My conclusion was this: in an alternate universe could Matthew McConaughey and Nicolas Cage have switched roles? In other words, is Nic Cage a star with multiple movie offers while McConaughey is doing every movie that comes his way? Ever since watching Interstellar I have been thinking about this question in way more depth then I would have ever hoped... but it is a question we must answer. One main point I will state right now is that because of Nic's financial trouble I am pretty positive he has to take any script that comes across his desk to repay his debts. You can find a comprehensive list of the ridiculous things he has bought right here. Before we get to far into this post I will disclose that I am not a huge fan of Cage or McConaughey but this topic was too important not to write about. I believe their roles could have easily been reversed and below you will find a timeline of both of their careers, in depth questions on both actors, and where I believe it all went wrong for Cage.
1. Is McConaughey a great actor or does he just get the right roles?
A: Interstellar was a great movie and I loved everything about it except 1 thing: Matthew McConaughey was in it. Watching him in this movie was extremely painful for me for many reasons. While trying not to get too into it, I will name a few: his facial expressions, the way he delivered his lines, and the sound of his voice made it rough to watch parts of this movie. I think Christopher Nolan could have picked almost any other actor and this movie would have been a hit, that's how good it was. The Lincoln car commercials he is in are absolutely awful and you can watch this compilation to see for yourself. I honestly believe the only great role I have seen McConaughey portray was in Dallas Buyers Club, but he has gotten some huge movies because of his name.
2. When did the downfall of Nic Cage start?
A: He wasn't always the butt of bad acting jokes with movies like Con Air, Face/Off ("one of the greatest action films of our time"--my wife states), Gone in 60 Seconds, National Treasure, and Lord of War which were all solid movies. Looking at the timeline the downfall started in 2007... and it was swift. After 2007 it seems that he started doing every movie that he was offered. In '07 he did a movie titled "Next" and the description from IMDB reads "A Las Vegas magician who can see into the future is pursued by FBI agents seeking to use his abilities to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack." Now don't forget this movie is starring my main man, Nic Cage, and believe it or not, it gets worse from here. In 2007 he did 4 movies, and don't you try to come back and say "good for him, he released four movies in one year." because the average rating for these movies is a 5.9 out of 10 on IMDB. In 2008 he did Bangkok Dangerous (which was another disaster) and in 2010 he did The Sorcerer's Apprentice and please do not get me started on this turd. From 2010 till now it has only gotten worse, the movies themselves are awful and most of the time they don't even have an interesting name, which is weird for Nic Cage. Here are the titles of some of those weird movies: Season of the Witch, Drive Angry, Trespass, Joe, Rage, Left Behind, Pay the Ghost, and finally... Inconceivable (which is a great way to describe how I feel about him still getting movie offers). Left Behind (mentioned above) is described as "A small group of survivors are left behind after millions of people suddenly vanish and the world is plunged into chaos and destruction". Sound good? If that does not drive you away then maybe the fact that it got a 3.1 rating on IMDB will.
3. And will his downfall ever end? Also will McConaughy ever go through a downfall?
A: Looking at his IMDB page it does not look like we will see Nic Cage in another meaningful movie for quite some time. The titles of his next movies are as follows: Red Squad, Looking Glass, #211, Mom and Dad, and Mandy. My 2 favorites out of this group are definitely Mom and Dad and Mandy. Here is the description of Mom and Dad, "A teenage girl and her little brother must survive a wild 24 hours during which a mass hysteria of unknown origins causes parents to turn violently on their own kids". Mandy is described as "Mandy is set in the primal wilderness of 1983 where Red Miller, a broken and haunted man hunts an unhinged religious sect who slaughtered the love of his life". Now I was not alive in 1983 but I am not sure I would describe it as a "primal wilderness."
I have yet to see The Dark Tower which stars Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughy. However while doing research I looked up reviews for the film which are no good but they are especially tough on McConaughy. Most reviews say Elba is one of the major strong points of the film but McConaughy plays an "incredibly boring wizard." Could this be his Sorcerer's Apprentice and begin his downward spiral? Stay tuned folks this could get really interesting really quick.
I honestly believe if you watch a McConaughy movie and picture Nic Cage in his role, you would not be able to tell the difference. Unless he made the ridiculous face you see here. McConaughy has had the pleasure to work with some of the best directors, writers, and movies of this time period and more power to him for being able to take advantage of that. I just don't believe McConaughy is as great as everyone says he is. Let's not forget about Nic Cage and how in an alternate universe he is a star and Matthew McConaughy is taking every role that comes across his desk.