Nicolas Cage has had a career full of a little bit of everything: comedy and drama, indies and blockbusters, hits and misses, critical success and across the board scorn. Despite this impressive range, many of his film choices can be broken down into three categories 1) For the Money 2) For the Show {Prestige} and 3) For the WTF Factor. Read the full story

Since busting on to the scene with Arrested Development in 2003, Michael Cera has worked with many of today’s most popular comedians, and you’d have to be living under a rock to not have seen at least one of his films. Some say he is risking overexposure. But I say Cera has been steadily working toward Kevin Bacon status, developing a film career worthy of his own 6 degrees game.

To be a truly effective Party Game Icon, Cera would have to link to a variety of film actors to allow for a range of players to participate:

• a major Hollywood star (for casual movie fans)
• an international film star (for film students)
• an independent film star (for hipsters)
• a film star from Hollywood’s golden age (for anyone over 25).

As you can see below – Cera’s plotted his course well:

Do you believe Michael Cera has reached Kevin Bacon status? Give us your examples in the comments below.

Another Tuesday coming up means another week of collecting and watching awesome movies that have hit shelves at your local video store. Here’s what’s good, okay and horrible: Read the full story

As June is the month of the Sundance Directors Lab, the writers of The Film Stage saw this as being an appropriate moment to reflect back upon the early days of all things Sundance. Read the full story

In honor of this week’s The A-Team, we decided to look back at some of the best and worst films based on TV shows. The A-Team, which hits theatres June 11th, stars Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

Based on the 1980′s television show of the same name, the film tells the story of a group of Iraqi War veterans who are framed for a crime they didn’t commit. Now fugitives on the run, they try to clear their name while finding the guys who set them up. This is one of my most anticipated films of the summer as I’m a huge fan of both Neeson and Cooper.

Let’s look back at some great and not-so-great big movies that come from the small screen.

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Official Synopsis: Acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan directs an international cast in an original sci-fi actioner that travels around the globe and into the intimate and infinite world of dreams. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb’s rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible–inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming. This summer, your mind is the scene of the crime. Read the full story

Today brought the tragic news of Dennis Hopper’s passing after a decade-long battle with prostate cancer. Hopper had many contributions to American cinema, so in honor of his memory we’re going to look back on the early films that helped him rise to fame.

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Robin Hood‘s biggest problem is its title. It shouldn’t have been called Robin Hood, or Nottingham or anything of the sort. Because, in fairness to the slew of critics who have pointed it out and based their entire review on this simple scruple, the film is not about Robin Hood, who “took from the rich and gave to the poor.” It’s not about Maid Marion, the spunky companion of Robin, or even King John, the slimy man who’s astonishing lack of accountability is the stuff of, well, legend. Russell Crowe is no Errol Flynn. But then, in fairness to Mr. Crowe and Mr. Scott, he was never trying to be. As a matter of fact, that was the point.

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If you’re reading this list, it’s most likely been a significant part of your life as well. The movie theater. A place where little socialization actually occurs when the lights dim and that green banner fades up, informing those in front of it there’s a preview on the way. Once that trailer starts, however, something social happens. You, and everyone sitting around you, may be in for the best batch of trailers, followed by the best movie, ever made.

Sure, the chances are slim you’ll recognize something like that the minute you walk out of theater and if you do you’ll be lying to yourself. But, all of that aside, your life is changed every time you see a movie, because you’ve seen something you haven’t seen before. Even if it was a cliche-ridden exercise in genre (as most films, in fact, are), it was different. It was different because you saw it for the first time, and, whether you know it or not at the time, it had an effect on you.

Years later, the movie stays with you. Somewhere in there, love it or hate it, it remains, and it takes only an actor, a director, a title or (God-willing for the screenwriter) a line to recall that film and, with it, that experience in the theater: who you were with, how you felt that night and everything that happened after it.

Most all movies are “dated.” Let us not forget that we, the movie-goer, are dated with them.

Here’s how films have dated me.

In chronological order:

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At the Academy Awards this past Sunday, The Cove, a documentary which details the annual killing of dolphins in a National Park at Taiji, Wakayama, Japan, took home the 2009 Oscar for Best Documentary. In a category that is often filled with heart-felt stories about important issues, this writer felt it important to highlight elements about the film that made it worthy of taking the trophy home. Read the full story