Lists are a time-honored tradition in the world of cinema. Best 100 this, Top 10 that. As such, every now and then, actors are asked to name their favorite performances. The prolific Nicolas Cage, who has more than 200 movies to his credit, was tasked with just that recently. While appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the host asked Nicolas Cage for his top five, well, Nicolas Cage movies. It didn’t take long for Cage to rattle off his picks. And now, in no particular order: Pig (2021), Mandy (2018), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), and Joe (2013).
As you can see, for the most part, Nicolas Cage picked movies from the more recent phase of his career, with three coming from the last decade. Colbert, meanwhile, cited 1997’s Face/Off as a personal favorite, prompting Cage to declare, “Oh, I like that one a lot! I love Face/Off.” On older movies, Cage cited 1998’s Vampire’s Kiss as a runner-up–and if you’re not familiar with that one, you’ve at least been hit with the “You don’t say?” meme. And while it has become a cult classic that Cage loves, we do suspect he worked it in to tie into Renfield, where he played Count Dracula.
Give Nicolas Cage some more time, and he might have an updated list of his favorite movies. That said, it seems like his time making movies could be ending, with him saying recently that he was planning to retire – from films, that is. He actually wants to do a TV series, and the buzz recently is that series may well become Spider-Man Noir, Sony’s Spider-Verse spin-off (assuming Madame Web didn’t turn them off the idea). Before he retires, Cage has some interesting movies lined up, including the horror flick Longlegs, and a Lord of War sequel.
Of note, in a JoBlo.com poll from last year, not a single one of the actor’s picks made it to the fan-voted list of favorite Nicolas Cage movies. Instead, it went: The Rock, Face/Off, Raising Arizona, Con Air, and National Treasure. Sorry, no votes for City of Angels or National Treasure: Book of Secrets. For what it’s worth, my personal favorite Nicolas Cage movies are Leaving Las Vegas, Adaptation, Bringing Out the Dead, Red Rock West, and Raising Arizona. There are plenty of movies to choose from, and it seems like Cage has worked on almost all of the film genres. Almost.
What are your top five Nicolas Cage movies? Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is surely a contender for some fans. Would you include Fast Times at Ridgemont High, even though he’s barely in it? Is there any love for The Cotton Club or USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage? Family Man, Ghost Rider, Peggy Sue Got Married, Wild at Heart, and Snake Eyes have their fans… and, of course, there’s the classic Deborah Foreman romantic comedy Valley Girl and, to go more recent, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022).