Where to watch:
Raising Arizona - HBO; inside the crib you share with your six identical twin brothers and sisters The Weather Man - Hulu; the sun-soaked stretch of sand beneath the glorious arc of an arrow in flight Impression: Raising Arizona - a silly comedy starring Nick Cage and an early directorial effort from the always quirky Coen bros The Weather Man - an indie turn for Nick. I recall being mislead by the trailer and subsequently disappointed; you can see the slight of hand on the marketing material with Nick Cage, bow and arrow slung over his shoulder and grim expression on his face, tantalizing a full-blown Cage; but my memory is a more subtle, possibly boring performance. Reaction: Raising Arizona Blue collar people and high-stakes crime. The template was set early on for the Coen bros. with their debut movie, Blood Simple. While their first movie is humorless and apathetic, their second feature film, Raising Arizona, revels in a warm ignorant glow. The plot is simple and dark: Holly Hunter wants a baby and Nick Cage wants to steal one for her. The execution introduces a slew of atypical Coen bro characters that would come to populate the rest of their movies. There is an early, more silly version of Anton Chigurh played by the cartoonish Randall 'Tex' Cobb; Franny McDormand does a Franny McDormand-thing; and John Goodman plays a character straight out of 'O Brother Where Art Thou. The Weather Man Cage plays a successful weatherman who expresses constant frustration at the size of variance in his weather predictions. The Weather Man is the fifth movie from a surprisingly fun and eclectic Gore Verbinski of Pirates of the Caribbean fame. The connection for the double feature is the stagecraft styling of Nicholas Cage. While Raising Arizona is probably the best example qua example of Nicholas Cage chewing scenery in a way that perfectly fits the tone of the movie, The Weather Man displays the less appreciated but equally potent, subdued version of Cage, beaten down by a failed marriage, a meaningless job and simmering in his own apathy. Favorite Line/Scene: Raising Arizona: Nick Cage: I'll be taking these Huggies and whatever cash ya got. The Weather Man is trolled by random fans who throw fast food at him. Nick Cage: Always fast food. Fast food. Other notables: Barry Sonnenfeld, the director of such stylistic classis as The Adams' Family, Men In Black and A Series of Unfortunate Events, helms the DP duties on the first three Coen bro movies, Blood Simple, Raising Arizona and Miller's Crossing. More fun trivia: The aforementioned, leather-clad villain is played by a former heavyweight boxer and kickboxer. Conclusion: I really enjoyed both movies. They each have a specific but different dark vibe: zany and subtle. Check the Cage range in these back to back films. Arbitrary rating: Six twins and four soaring milkshakes.
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