NICOLAS CAGE: “Gunslingers.” / “The Surfer.” / “Willy's Wonderland.” / “Color Out of Space.”

“Gunslingers” (2025, Netflix) Western action film written, produced, directed, and edited by Brian Skiba. I don’t know who this Skiba dude was but he sure did a lot of work here. I am not saying that the work is cool. The only coolness in this little cowboy ride is my idol Nicolas Cage as Ben, a stuttering Bible-reciting photographer. Funny, funny. 

       Story: A reformed outlaw, Thomas Keller, flees to a town called Redemption only to have his past catch up to him. His peace is shattered by the arrival of a large bounty hunter posse, led by his own brother, who is seeking the reward on Keller's head. You dig? 

       Mr Keller is straight-to-video dude Stephen Dorff and her love interest in another streaming TV goddess Heather Graham. Sly’s daughter Scarlet Rose Stallone, plus my favorite Chinese character actor Tzi Ma, wearing a scary wig that is similar to Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh’s hairstyle in 2007’s “No Country for Old Men.” 🎥💻📽

“The Surfer” (2024, Hulu) psychological thriller, starring Nicolas Cage as a man who plans to surf at an idyllic beach with his son, yet he becomes thwarted and tormented by the locals.

       A lot of things don’t add up here but, you know, this is Nic Cage. And he makes this look good, LOL! He only had to make a super fool out of him to lure us to watch. At least in his post-“Leaving Las Vegas” (1995) and “Adaptation” (2002) years, or when he elevated himself into the most overworked A-lister actor in B-movies. 

       I have no complaints whatsoever, though. In this movie, I simply didn't know what's going on. Or I knew. But I didn't care. I just watched. Demented, tormenting, laughable. 

       Next Nic Cage movie, please! 🎥💻📽

“Willy's Wonderland” (2021, Sling) action comedy horror. A quiet drifter is tricked into cleaning up an abandoned family entertainment center inhabited by eight murderous animatronic mascots who are possessed by the souls of a cannibalistic killer and his colleagues. Stars Nicolas Cage. Repeat, Nic Cage!

       The silliness here is A-1 but you can’t miss Nic. The “I’m a woman’s man, no time to talk” girth here is played pretty kickass as Mr Nouveau Shamanic. He pummeled, crushed, and pulverized the wacky cartoon characters with basically his bare hands, no firearm, except with improvised kitchen tools and floor mop! Boom. And he insanely drinks whatever energy soda in a can, plus he dances, too!

       Yes, yes. I enjoyed this movie. But of course! Fact is, producers are thinking about a sequel. 🎥💻📽

“Color Out of Space” (2019, Hulu) science fiction horror, based on the short story "The Colour Out of Space" by H. P. Lovecraft, involves a meteorite crashing onto a family's remote farm in rural New England, introducing an extraterrestrial, otherworldly "color" that contaminates the well water etcetera. Stars Nicolas Cage. 

       The story follows the Gardner family after a meteorite crashes on their farm, unleashing an extraterrestrial color that mutates and warps all life it touches. The family's reality descends into a nightmare as the color infects their home, their land, and their minds, leading to terrifying physical and psychological transformations and an inescapable, horrific fate. The narrative is a cosmic horror story, adapted from a H.P. Lovecraft story, about a family's struggle against an alien force that cannot be understood or fought.  

       This is a cheesy B-movie pulp fate that works somehow. The special effects are enthralling and captivating, spiced-up by Nic's “nouveau shamanic” acting, whatever that is. 🎥💻📽