Feeling Sorry For Those "Left Behind"

Left Behind (2014)

PG-13

Starring Nicholas Cage, Chad Michael Murray, Lea Thompson, Cassi Thomson

Directed by Vic Armstrong

The Story:

Ray (Cage) is an airline pilot. Sometime during his flight across country, half of the passengers and crew on his plane simply disappear! Meanwhile, across the globe, the same phenomenon is happening, kids are vanishing and so are people. Cars are crashing, planes are crashing. I assume boats crash too.

What's happening?

Duh, it's The Rapture!

Perhaps if the rest of the people had listened to their Christian friends and family, they wouldn't be wandering around in a panic like they are now.

:D

Seriously though, as many atheists that claim they know the Bible backward and forward better than a Christian, it takes an alarming amount of time for the people left behind to actually put 2 and 2 together.

This was a movie back in 2000 starring Kirk Cameron as journalist Buck Williams. His character is now played by Chad Michael Murray, and he gets bumped back to the sidelines for Cage's character.  Based on the best selling book series of the same name, it will be interesting to see if this moves forward as a series.  They had tried before with direct to dvd efforts with less than impressive results.

I was expecting it to be horribly unwatchable, but it was engaging enough to keep my attention.

Cage gives a restrained performance as the pilot, so there's that.

Final Grade: C

Nicholas Cage Is A "National Treasure"... More Or Less

National Treasure (2004)

Rated PG for language and peril

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight, Havey Keitel,

Directed by Jon Turteltaub

The Story:

Benjamin Franklin Gates (Cage) is the latest historian in the lineage of the Gates family to seek the rumored Templar Treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers since the Revolutionary War.  However, his reasons are noble, and wants to ensure the treasure doesn't fall into the hands of mercenaries led by Ian Howe (Bean), so Gates and his pal Riley (Bartha) do whatever it takes, including stealing the Declaration of Independence to discover the clues to find the treasure.  But will they succeed?

Of course they will!

It's been 10 years since this movie came out, and was critically bashed.

Boo.

This movie is fun.

Check your brain at the door, and let Nicholas Cage have some fun on the screen and just enjoy it.

It's the most enjoyable trip in history, this side of Indiana Jones.

The sequel was decidedly less enjoyable, but nope, I still have a soft spot in my heart for this one.

It's a family-friendly popcorn film, courtesy of Disney.  Good action sequences, competent acting, some funny bits...


There's something for everyone, except the haters.

;)

Cage rules!

:)

Final Grade: Solid B

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor:  I already own it and it gets a spin every few years.

The Discovery of the Missing Link... "The Croods"

Not your typical stone-age family...

The Story:

Grug (Nicholas Cage) has spent his life keeping his family alive.  However his oldest daughter, Eep (Emma Stone) in typical teenage fashion is looking to broaden her horizons outside of the cave.  When she meets a mysterious stranger named Guy (Ryan Reynolds), she longs to go with him on his quest for a better tomorrow.  When the cave is destroyed by an earthquake, Grug will have to follow Guy on their quest to find safety on higher ground.  Trying new things is bad, and that's all Guy is really about.

This was a cute movie, perhaps overhyped by my kids on how great and awesome it was.

:)

It was good, don't get me wrong.

The animation was beautiful and the voice acting was tremendous.

Nicholas Cage is somewhat restrained in his role.  How often can you really say that about any Nicholas Cage role, since, oh I don't know... the 80s?

Ryan Reynolds plays himself, as usual.  Of course, as I've said before, I absolutely love Ryan Reynolds and all that he does.  Been a fan since Van Wilder, and enjoy anytime he turns up in a movie.

The movie centers around Emma Stone, and functions as a coming of age story for her where she will reject her father to follow the man that has stolen her heart.

Thankfully, she's less rebellious and stubborn than a red-haired mermaid that I know...

Plus, the makers do realize that ultimately the dad wasn't such a lunk-head, and without him, none of them would have survived.

So they managed to pull the movie back up and save it at the end when the father and daughter share their goodbyes.

Dads, get  your tissues ready, that's going to be your girl someday.

:: sigh ::

The colors in the movie are lush and vibrant.  I wasn't the biggest fan of the character models.  Some odd dinosaur choices, and the Croods themselves have an unusual body composition. 

Of course, I'm a guy that likes simple cavemen stories...

Like the Flintstones. ;)

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'm pretty sure there's a kid or 7 that will demand this be under the tree this holiday season...