For the better part of a decade, Nicolas Cage has sauntered through a plenitude of dopey, dead-weight, mid-major action films. But like a true savior, Werner Herzog has turned Cage from the dark side – still sensing good in him – and given the 45-year old actor one of the greatest roles of his career as the reckless, off-kilter and just plain bad, post-Katrina Lieutenant Terence McDonagh.

After a rare bout of heroism during the opening scene in Werner Herzog’s crazily trigger-happy Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (an update of Abel Ferrera’s 1992 film), our titular subject and plainly described antihero suffers an evidently permanent back injury. His chest now slinks to one side, his gape more deliberate, his appearance more fatigued – the pain becoming impervious to the delicate relief of the merely prescribed pain medication. Such is the life of New Orleans’ most vulnerable powder keg of a police officer, and that’s before being placed in charge of a brutal quintuple homicide case.

Stevie Pruit (Val Kilmer) and Terence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage) -- New Orleans' finest.

With stress on the job and in his lower back, McDonagh takes advantage of his employee discount and acquires a taste for a more radical dose of painkillers. With the help of a cooperative yet cautious co-worker (Revolutionary Road’s Michael Shannon) and offenders who would like to avoid jail-time, McDonagh recklessly spirals into the life of a drug-addict. Of course, drugs lead to inebriated impulsions and our Lieutenant soon finds himself buried in debt to his regular bookie (Brad Dourif) and the target of a powerful city kingpin after an encounter with a non-paying customer of his prostitute “girlfriend” (Eva Mendes) turns sour. Then, when a break in the case is revealed, placing a cooperating witness in police custody, it’s McDonagh’s job to keep him in town and out of harm’s way.

But this police business proves to be tough sledding when you’re having to dodge your backwoods alcoholic father and sister or the precarious foot-long iguanas that aren’t actually there, if you’re listening to the advice of partner Stevie Pruit (Val Kilmer). There are no pulled punches in the provocation department, and like his main character of interest, Herzog proves to be an addict of the offbeat and the eccentric.

A renowned and legendary German director and documentarian, Herzog is best known for his 70’s/80’s masterpieces Aguirre: The Wrath of God (’72), Nosferatu (’79) and Fitzcarraldo (’82). The two of those films that don’t dredge in vampire legend are warped personal character studies about men who have lost themselves in an attempt to gain something (both played by Klaus Kinski). Here, decades later, Herzog is tapping into similar fundamental material – despite the fact that, at times, it’s unclear what Lieutenant Terence McDonagh actually wants – in a nevertheless, equally disturbing and fiendishly straight-forward study about a man in a serious crisis.

McDonagh doesn't resort to usual interrogation techniques at Deshaun Hackett's (Lucius Baston) home.

But this isn’t Aguirre, or Fitzcarraldo, or one of Herzog’s better films. Its maniacal tone and schizo-comedic shape outperform and upstage the film’s weaknesses and thematic shortcomings, resulting in something categorically auteurist in its own dark and comedically stimulating way. Shot with mostly handheld cameras on location in Louisiana and parts of Southern Mississippi, “Bad Lieutenant” looks like a post-Katrina doc on law enforcement insubordination. Interior lighting is limited to window streaks and only the wide-angle scene-setters of the New Orleans cityscape really glisten. It has all the spark and finish of a direct-to-DVD release.

What Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans has in manic energy and perverse excursions, it lacks in genuine artistry. It’s a pot-fumed, pass-the-joint cult classic in the making but it never calls itself out or gives any rhyme or reason to its motives to become anything more amply deserving. Neither does Terence McDonagh ever evolve over the course of the film, and even though Nicolas Cage is absolutely brilliant at this kind of pulsating, itchy and oddball acting, he’s never fully formed – there is never that moment. Still, it’s endlessly entertaining to watch an actor like this at the top of his game after such an Eddie Murphy-like drought of substance. Like McDonagh, Cage should apply to the theory that sometimes, it’s good to be bad.

Just a couple of days after news came down of January Jones signing on as Liam Neeson’s wife in the thriller, Unknown White Male, the “Mad Men” mainstay will now co-star opposite Nicolas Cage in The Hungry Rabbit Jumps for Endgame Entertainment. According to Hollywood Reporter, the film, described as a vigilante thriller, centers around a man (Cage) who becomes involved with an underground crime organization after his wife (Jones) is the victim of a brutal crime.

Roger Donaldson (The Bank Job) is directing for producer James Stern on the modest-budgeted $30 million thriller. Tobey Maguire and Jenno Topping of the actor’s own Maguire Entertainment, are also co-producing.

Jones (who lights up the latest issue of “GQ” in various stages of undress) will be busy in-between seasons of “Mad Men” this winter, as “Jumps” is set to begin filming in December with “Unknown” set to begin production in January. It’s great to see such a talented actress getting good work, and I hope the best for both her and her fictitious husband, Donald Draper (Jon Hamm), who will most notably star in Ben Affleck’s The Town as well as Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch for Warner Bros. in 2011.

With the news of the $4 Billion Marvel/Disney merger a few weeks back, now it seems every movie studio that has the rights to a Marvel property is rushing that property into production. Fox did it with their recent announcement of a Fantastic Four reboot.  Now, Variety reports that Columbia Pictures is moving ahead with plans for a sequel to Ghost Rider. David Goyer, who is no stranger to superhero films, having written Batman Begins and the Blade series, is currently in talks to create the story for the film. It’s said the Ghost Rider sequel will be based on a script Goyer wrote a few years ago. The original film’s star, Nicolas Cage, is also expected to return in the title role.

Every studio with Marvel rights is rebooting or making sequels to ensure their hold on the rights don’t slip back to Marvel/Disney. I, for one, wasn’t clamoring for a Ghost Rider sequel, but with Goyer in charge of writing, it does pique my interest. If only they could recast Nicolas Cage’s role. What do you think of this “hot” (insert drum roll here) Ghost Rider news?

One of the most profitable areas in the film industry today is that of childrens films. Studios are very wise to greenlight so many of these films because they rake in loads of cash. Not only do the kiddies see the film multiple times in the theater, they also bug Mom and Dad until they get all the merchandise as well. You know – the lunch boxes, action figures, and happy meal toys. If a product is emblazoned with their favorite animated character, chances are parents will be pulling out their wallet to go get it for their kids.

Animated movies today are dominated by two studios DreamWorks and Pixar. Of the two, Pixar is the king of animated movies, as every time they release a new one it becomes an “event” movie. This was the case earlier in the summer with the release of Pixar’s newest, Up. To date Up has grossed nearly $300 million domestically. That’s a pretty sweet chunk of change, so you can bet the producers behind Astro Boy are hoping to capture at least some of the same magic (box office) as Pixar. That’s right, I said they are hoping to catch the magic just like Pixar has with their films, even though (surprisingly) Astro Boy wasn’t made by either Pixar or DreamWorks.

It's a bird, it's a plane...it's a flying boy robot with an Ace Ventura haircut.

Astro Boy was however made by Imagi Animation Studios. The guys and gals over at the Hong Kong based Imagi are new to Hollywood.  Imagi’s only other release in the states was 2007’s update of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, cleverly titled TMNT. The story of Astro Boy begins in the early fifties as a Japanese manga comic created by Dr. Osamu Tezuka. Then in the 60s “The Mighty Atom” (Astro’s Japanese title) got his own TV show. The show was a hit and was adapted to American TV, where it ran on NBC for a few years before eventually being pulled off syndication in the early 70s. Astro Boy is considered the start of Japanese“anime”, and even as recently as last year, the show was still being aired here in the states on the Cartoon Network.

The 2009 big screen version of Astro Boy, follows the plot of the original 50s manga series. As with every hero film, the first chapter is always the origin story and Astro Boy is no different. The story of the film is that a brilliant scientist, who lost his only son, builds a robot in his son’s image with incredible powers. Astro Boy however doesn’t quite live up to his father’s expectations, so he disowns his robotic son. The film then sends our boy hero on a quest to find acceptance, while trying to avoid being captured by the military and giant robots. Astro must eventually make it back to save his home, Metro City, all while hoping to gain the acceptance of his scientist father.

Astro Boy gets some laser skin resurfacing to smooth out the complexion. He's so vain.

Astro Boy features many great Hollywood voice talents. While Freddie Highmore (August Rush) voices the title character, the film also features the voices of Nicolas Cage (Ghost Rider), Kristen Bell (“Heroes”), Bill Nighy (Underworld) and an actor no stranger to voice over work, Nathan Lane (The Lion King).

Astro Boy has a long history, and most of this new versions audience will have never heard of the character before they set foot in the theater. The film’s animation looks terrific. It perfectly captures the look of the original manga, and even the animated series. While I usually wait for these animated films to hit the rental shelves, I think I might make an exception for Astro Boy. This movie just looks like a lot of fun. I think it will definitely be a hit with its intended audience, and even with the older crowds who watched the animated series reruns on TV.

Astro Boy blasts off October 23rd.

“My nickel-gauge/rip your ‘Face-Off’/like Nicolas Cage.” Be sure that anytime I post a story when Cage’s name is mentioned I’ll start off with that line. Either that or “Larry’s Bird/flew outta Nicolas’ Cage.” For some reason, he’s a favorite among rappers. Last week, we reported Cage had stepped down from playing the main baddie role in the Seth Rogen-starring The Green Hornet. This proved to be disappointing to some, but today the sun shines down bright on the project once again.

“Deadline Hollywood Daily” reports that sure-to-be-nominated Christoph Waltz (Col. Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds) will take over the villainous role vacated by Cage. Waltz can be seen playing Chudnofsky in the film upon its release on December 17th, 2010.

I was more disheartened by the pushing back of the release date than I was Cage abandoning the film, but now I’m even more disappointed. I need this film as quickly as possible. Waltz is nothing short of a genius in Inglourious and I’m very excited to see him getting key roles in upcoming films even before his all-but-set-in-stone Oscar nomination. This continues to be the most intriguing upcoming film for me, and aside from Cameron Diaz (who I could take or leave, at best), I think every direction the film has gone in will make it something to behold. It just has the ingredients to be something special. Please share your thoughts on Waltz’ casting.

The Seth Rogen led adaptation of The Green Hornet will soon begin looking for a replacement villain. The Hollywood Reporter says that Nicolas Cage has dropped out of the film, which is set to open against Tron 2, recently pushed back to December 17^th 2010.  The film began production last week and Cage was all but set to play the main baddie opposite Rogen as the Green Hornet himself, Jay Chou as Kato, and Cameron Diaz as the films love interest, Lorna Case. What’s the reason behind Cage’s departure? Apparently, the Oscar winner and Columbia, the studio behind the film, couldn’t agree on a deal.

Is this bad news for Cage? Not really. The actor has had a slew of projects announced in the past few weeks.  At the moment, Cage is set to star in at least two upcoming films, the first project announced last week, is the 3D revenge film Drive Angry. And yesterday it was announced that he will star in yet another revenge themed film, The Hungry Rabbit Jumps, which is being produced by Spidey’s production company, Maguire Entertainment with Endgame providing the funds.

We know Cage is a big fan of anything superhero/comic book related (he even named his son Kal-El, after Superman), so I’m sure Nickel will find another comic hero movie to be in. Whatever he decides to star in, I hope it will erase our memories of Ghost Rider. Share your thoughts/opinions below.

Score one for the 3-D medium as today marks the first time I can recall in the recent 3-D craze where a big name actor has signed on to film a movie in that format.  Actor Nicolas Cage has joined the movie Drive Angry, an apropos title for anyone who regularly commutes in LA. The movie’s plot goes a little something like this (via Heat Vision) -hit it!!:

Written by Lussier and Todd Farmer, the story centers on a man (Cage) driven by rage who is chasing the people who killed his daughter and kidnapped her baby. The vendetta/rescue spins out of control as the chase gets bloodier by the mile, leaving bodies strewn along the highway.

FYI, Farmer and Lussier are the men behind My Bloody Valentine 3-D.  The format has been waiting to gain widespread legitimacy and despite those not believing in the format, to me this appears to be the swing that the medium might need for longer term success.  I think we may now see an avalanche of quality name actors coming on board to act in movies shot in the format. Even big name directors have claimed they want in on it at some point.  It will now not simply be for horror and animation genre films, I don’t think, despite what appears to be yet another horror-ish entry with Cage in the role.  The question still remains though, is this a good thing for the movie going public in general?  With The Final Destination cleaning up at the box office and a new Halloween in 3-D being announced earlier today, it certainly seems that there is a large market for films in this format.  Will Larry’s Bird fly out of Nicolas’s Cage?  That makes no sense, but still… Who’s on board with this?  Either the format or to simply “drive angry?”  Share.

Lionsgate, the studio behind such films as the Saw franchise (which is supposedly going to get two more sequels) have picked up U.S. distribution of Matthew Vaughn’s live action adaption of Mark Millar’s graphic novel “Kick-Ass”. Lionsgate plans on giving the film a wide release next year. From Variety:

“Kick-Ass” is based on a comic book by Mark Millar (“Wanted”) and John Romita Jr. about a comics-obsessed teenager who decides to become a real-life superhero, Kick-Ass, despite a decided lack of superpowers. Vaughn co-wrote the script with his “Stardust” writing partner Jane Goldman. (The scribes also have John Madden-helmed “The Debt” in post at Miramax.)

The cast for the film, which premiered its trailer at Comic-Con last month, includes Nicolas Cage, Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Aaron Johnson will play the title character in the film.

I haven’t read the series Kick-Ass was based on, but I have read Millar’s graphic novel that last year’s Wanted was based on. It was probably my favorite graphic novel I have read besides “Watchmen”. After I read “Wanted”, which was after I saw the screen version, I wondered why the movie wasn’t more like the book.  It’s probably because you could never get away with the stuff in the comic, in a live action version. The book was great, very twisted and put the film version to shame. The director of Kick-Ass, Matthew Vaughn, is also responsible for one of my favorite gangster films, Layer Cake. He and Millar are also supposedly looking at “American Jesus.” What do you say? Are you as pumped for this as I am?  I hope it delivers.