The Complete Works Podcast

We're approaching the end of our Cage Catchup mini-season of The Complete Works - but before we get there, we need to talk about a first for Nicolas Cage: his very own Netflix series! Specifically, Cage acted as the host for Funny Or Die's comedy docuseries HISTORY OF SWEAR WORDS, which premiered on Netflix this past January. 6 episodes, 20 minutes a piece, each focusing on a different swear word. If you like Nicolas Cage cursing, this one is for you.

It's our 100th Nicolas Cage episode, and what better way to celebrate than with the return of #CROODSCAST! In the midst of a pandemic, DreamWorks Animation finally released their long-delayed sequel to 2013's THE CROODS, and the entire cast came back - including, of course, Nicolas Cage. Also starring Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman, Clark Duke, Peter Dinklage, Leslie Mann, and Kelly Marie Train, it's time to talk THE CROODS: A NEW AGE!

On the latest episode, we're talking Nicolas Cage in a sci-fi martial arts epic that's pretty much just PREDATOR meets MORTAL KOMBAT. If that sounds good to you (like it did for Mike S), you're probably in for a good time! If it doesn't (like Mike D), then it might be a rough ride. Also starring Tony Jaa and Frank Grillo, this is JIU JITSU! 

Mike and Mike revisit one of their favorite films of 2020 to talk Nicolas Cage's wild performance, the extraordinary visual effects, and the unfortunate circumstances surrounding discussion of this movie a year after its release. It's time to talk COLOR OUT OF SPACE!

In a first for the podcast, we're talking about a movie we've already talked about... sort of. One of Cage's earliest movies was Francis Ford Coppola's THE COTTON CLUB in 1984... well, Coppola released a new director's cut of called THE COTTON CLUB ENCORE in 2019 which radically changes the movie, so we figured we should talk about it! What did we think this time? Are Bob Hoskins and Fred Gwynne the comedy duo of the century? How did they cut so many of Gregory Hines' dance scenes the first time around? All these questions and more will be answered! 

You're in GRAND ISLE, son! Put on your best/worst New Orleans accent and take a trip to Grand Isle with Nicolas Cage and Kelsey Grammar - it's a movie that is absolutely nothing like what you're expecting, completely confounding in every way, oddly compelling but also a pretty mixed bag. It can only be described... as GRAND ISLE. 

Nicolas Cage and a boat full of wild animals! A recipe for success? Well, it SHOULD be - we get into what works and what doesn't in 2019's PRIMAL, which reunites Cage with OUTCAST director Nick Powell and also stars Famke Janssen, Kevin Durand, and Michael Imperioli. 

It's our third straight Nicolas Cage VOD crime thriller in a row, and this one is surprisingly solid! Cage appears as just another link in the KILL CHAIN, as we follow a series of narratives that transpire over one pretty insane night in a sleazy hotel. Also, The Old Sniper segment is genuinely great. 

PSA: At no point in 2019's RUNNING WITH THE DEVIL do they ever play the Van Halen song. Missed opportunity. 

It's another VOD crime thriller with Nicolas Cage, this time a Redbox Original that's riffing on SICARIO and BREAKING BAD, but he's got a solid cast around him this time, including Laurence Fishburne, Leslie Bibb, and Barry Pepper. Will that be enough to make this a memorable movie? Or will it join the ranks of classic generic nothing-movies like 211 or THE RUNNER? 

It's not a true Nicolas Cage VOD thriller unless he's just been released from prison, trying to reconnect with his kid, and is out for revenge - A SCORE TO SETTLE has got it all. And yet, it's also got a little bit more going on under the surface than these movies tend to have. Hear us talk about why in our latest Cage Catchup episode!