I Know Why the Nick Caged Bird Sings

"Ahh bro it's just like dude you get the best barrels ever dude. Just like you pull in and you just get spit right out of 'em and you just drop in and just smack like whapaa! Drop down snap-BARRALALAA! And then after that you just drop in and just ride the barrel and get pitted so pitted like that..." This movie is not like that. The Surfer (2025) is not that fun.  

Hey there...it's uh...it's been a while, huh? So, uh, how've you been? Listen I'll cut right to the chase. The last time this podcast was inside your ears was nine months ago, so I have some news that may be difficult to hear: WE'RE BACK WITH A BRAND NEW EPISODE!!! WOOOOO. This week, we watch Nicolas Cage's third Western in as many years, Gunslingers (2025). And SPOILER ALERT - it's dreadful. Dreck. Trash. Rubbish. Refuse. Junk. Yes, I used a thesaurus. We had fun talking about it though, so give us a listen!

1 Star!   Ever since I was just a little boy, I've always loved daddy longlegs! To be clear, I HATE spiders, but love, love, love, me a good DLL (which are opiliones, NOT spiders, yuck!). They are an ancient, non-venomous species who cluster together stay warm - how cute is that??? So imagine my surprise, nay, my shock when I went into the movie theater expecting to see a movie that celebrated Earth's most fascinating creature and instead I see a mystery/horror/thriller starring a "transformative" Nicolas Cage!! I will not be watching Longlegs (2024) again! Also the person sitting next to me kept eating all my popcorn...   PS - for a good time call: (458) 666-4355

This week, we watched Nicolas Cage's A Quiet Place aka Arcadian (2024), finally (Steve had a work thing). After a long reprieve, Hanna and Steve are back and better than ever!!! Except...they really don't know what certain words mean. Here are some helpful definitions:   Arcadian - relating to an ideal rural place (not what we said in this pod) Homophone - two words having the same pronunciation but different meanings Dessert - a sweet course eaten at the end of a meal (not canned vegetables) Muppet - a portmanteau of the words "marionette" and "puppet" Excellence - this podcast...   Enjoy!

zzZZzz...zzZZzz...huh? What? Who goes there? Shhhh, it's okay, baby, it's just your favorite podcasters infiltrating your dreams to tell you about the brand new Nicolas Cage/A24 collaboration. The movie is Dream Scenario (2023) and it might just be one of the highest rated flicks of the year, and one of Nic's favorites! Give us a listen while you do your holiday shopping, why dontcha?

Welcome back everyone! First time in a long time that Hanna and Steve go back-to-back with some pods. You might say we're...ready for RETIREMENT??? My goodness - is that the greatest joke ever told? Wow...we did it...   Anywho - happy listening to our latest installment of this Nicolas Cage extravaganza: The Retirement Plan (2023) costarring Ron Perlman, Jackie Earl Haley, Ashley Green, Owen from Dodgeball, and Raven-Symone's mom from The Cheetah Girls!

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo! We watched Butcher's Crossing, and boy do we have thoughts...

Great Nicolas Cage screams + a below average plot = Sympathy for the Devil (2023)...Actually it equals, like, A LOT of Nic's movies, but this one is certainly one of them. Not sure what else to say, but we had some fun chatting about this flick and cutting in some incredible moments, so enjoy! Don't do anything I wouldn't do...

Greetings goblins and ghouls! And welcome to a very special episode of Through Nic and Thin where we played a bit of Nicolas Cage's first foray into the world of video games! Hope you all don't mind that this especially spooky podcast is a few days late (but certainly not $33 short, eh? Eh? It makes sense if you listen), but hey, gather three of your closest friends around a campfire and hear us fumble our way through understanding horror genre video games and how to pronounce the word "horror." Stayed tuned to the very end for some our favorite lines - it's pure, unadulterated Nic straight to the veins...or ears, I guess...   PS - Happy birthday to our number one fan, Alex!! This one's for you, champ.

SPOILER ALERT   Nicolas Cage is in the movie The Flash (2023). If you are at all curious about the movie and are looking for a detailed breakdown, this podcast is not for you. BUT, oh my that's a big BUT, if you're looking for two lovable hosts blabber about the most random cameo this side of the Mississippi, this podcast has your name written all over it!   We have to run because there's a line of people handing us checks, but before we go, check out our friends on the What We Watched Last Night podcast!

Hey y'all! We watched the omnipresent Renfield (2023) where Nic finally plays one of his three all time desired roles of Dracula (listen to find out the other two). I'd describe the movie overall as hyper violent, but it knows what it is. It's a little bit Tarantino, it's definitely a little bit Micheal Mann, it's kind of a cosmic gumbo. It almost moves to the beat of jazz. #iykyk   We had some minor technical difficulties which resulted in this week's pod being a day late...but you don't want to hear excuses do you? Huh? Do ya?    Thank you as always and see you next time!

YEEHAW!!! After a quick, hour-long horse ride to central New Jersey to an independent movie theater (the only one within 100 miles showing this week's flick), we are back with another podcast for you fine folks! That's right, Nic Cage dropped a move this weekend out of no where like a SoundCloud rapper (relevant reference, right?). We watched, The Old Way (2023), a modern spin on Westerns that is not modern or a spin but sure is a movie. If you are here for the banter, then listen to the first half. If you are here for the movie review/recap, listen to the second half. If you are simply here to listen to our sultry voices in the new year, listen to the whole thing! See you next time ;)

HI GUYS! WE ARE BACK!!!! So happy to be talking about the movie that is all over the place recently: The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022). Give us a listen this week if you want to hear us spoil this flick...or if you just missed the sweet, seductive sounds of our voices!   Missed you guys :)

We are caught up so...   Whether you have been listening since we had only one crackly mic, since Peggy Sue Got Married (which is our most popular episode for some strange reason), or since the Stoned Cage, Golden Cage, or the Renaissance Cage - we want to give a BIG BIG BIG thank you to all of you listeners for making this journey MUCH more entertaining than we had ever imagined.    Episode 102 (Pig, 2021) is genuinely one of my favorite to listen back to, so if you know our cat's name, if you know which Nic Cage movies absolutely broke us, or if you know how Hanna's neighbor sneezes - this episode is for you!   Don't worry, though! We will be back to discuss and recap every Nic Cage movie as long as there will be Nic Cage movies. And at some point, we will release "Through Nic and Thin: Season 2 - TNT with Friends!"    Always remember...we're here for you...

We're back after a brief break to bring you our analysis on Willy's Wonderland (2021) - a movie which dares to ask the question: What would you do if you had a Chuck E. Cheese to yourself for a night?...sorta...it's a touch more complicated than that, but we had some fun with it. Nicolas Cage turns in this gem of a performance just in time for spooky season!!!

After a brief reprieve, we are back, baby, with our 100th actual episode!!! Get HYPED!!! This week, we waited a bit so that we could watch Prisoners of the Ghostland (2021) on opening night. Was it worth it? Listen and find out!!!   I know we say this a lot, but thank you all so much for your continued support for 100 freakin' episodes!! 

YOOO! It's a bonus episode y'all!!!! We usually only do Nicolas Cage f*ckin' movies whether they're good or sh*tty, but this time, b*tches, we checked out our p*ssy-magnet friend in his first full-length television show, History of Swear Words (2021). Don't be a d*ck and give this d*mn podcast a listen!

"In this movie, there is a story of a man and his stick. A stick which has traveled through space and time and means a lot to the man. The man, is Nicolas Cage Part 2, A New Age." - My friend who has not seen this movie. But we did!!! Check out this episode (our 99th movie guys, Nic really doesn't stop does he??!) on The Croods: A New Age (2021) to learn about this man who doesn't have a stick, but does have a fun Stone Age time. This movie was fine, we think it's got a better storyline than the first The Croods movie.... but Nic Cage playing a cave man is always a delightful sight.  

So every six years, an alien arrives to earth on a glowing comet and enters a temple through a giant portal. This alien brought jiu jitsu to the humans like Prometheus brought fire to the humans. The alien demands that he fight 9 of the globe's best fighters, but, like Prometheus, the gods (in this case Nicolas Cage) became angry and decided to fight this alien differently?...I don't know...something, something, memory loss, something, something...this movie is bad, but SO MUCH FUN. Grab your corn for popping and pop Jiu Jitsu (2020) onto your tv for a great time!

Whoa! Wait a second...is this our 100th episode??? Yes that includes bonus episodes, but still - I'll take that as a win!! Thank you again to all of our loyal fans.    This week we watch perhaps the best movie that is ranked as a 0 on Rotten Tomatoes. Grand Isle (2019) stars Nicolas cage, Kelsey Grammer, some dude, and some lady. Enjoy our ranting...for the 100th time!

So Monster's Ball (2001) is a movie about romance and not about boxing, but Halle Berry won the Academy Award for best actress as the first Black woman to do so.    Monster (2003) is a movie about a serial killer/prostitute played by Charlize Theron who was the first African woman to win the Academy Award for best actress (she's South African). She does look "rough" in this movie but I don't believe her character is a drug addict. This movie is also not about boxing.   Million Dollar Baby (2004) is, in fact about boxing, and once again, Hilary Swank won the Academy Award for best actress. She was not really the first of anything in this regard.    Primal (2019) is a movie that is also not about boxing. It stars Nicolas Cage and Famke Janssen. Neither of whom deserve an Academy Award for this movie. Why do I elaborate here? Listen and find out!

Hey, man! Welcome back to Through Nic and Thin, where we watch every - crap someone's at the door - Nicolas Cage movie in - ugh someone's calling me - in chronological order - I'm hungry - so that you don't have to. This week, we got INCREDIBLY distracted as we discussed the fun 2019 film, Kill Chain. It's a kill chain...you'll get it...

Short episode this week! Big announcement in the beginning and then we blaze through some behind-the-scenes info and the plot of Running With the Devil (2019). While Nicolas Cage is an angel, he plays the devil in this movie...but not really...he's not even "The Boss"...sigh...

Based on a short story by a great writer (not so great human) and directed by an average director (also, allegedly, not a great human), Color Out of Space (2019) stars great actor (and a great weird human) Nicolas Cage as the main character. That was a lot of parentheses...too much? Perhaps! Perhaps, listen to this week's episode as we break down this cuh-RAZY movie about "a family getting closer together." If you know, you know...

In this weeks movie, A Score to Settle (2019), Nicolas Cage plays a man on a mission: to settle a score. A singular score...against several people...that does not actually come to fruition...or is it multiple scores? Who cares? The real question is: do you think "beef" is an accurate description of what I've got with your father? Enjoy and have a great holiday weekend celebrating 'Murica (regardless of your 'muricanness)!

Hello and welcome to our quaint little podcast here! This week, you've stepped into an alternate universe where up is down, down is up, and Hanna and Steve switch roles!!! That's right, Steve provides background info on all things Spider-Man Noir and Nicolas Cage's portrayal in this 2018 Academy Award-winning instant classic. Meanwhile, Hanna recaps the movie for you...but seriously - go watch this incredible flick if you haven't!

Hi, friends! Give us a listen this week as we discuss the...um...interesting film Between Worlds (2018). Nicolas Cage's most lewd performance yet! This time, we ask the real hard-hitting questions that any good investigative journalist would, like: "What does Steve want for dinner?" "Do you pronounce the 's' in au jus?" and "What is 476 + 24?" Trust me, it'll all make sense when you listen.    Stay tuned to the very end for a post-credit scene where Steve poorly explains how carbonation works...this is a weird episode, we know...

We are back after our first weekend off in a long time! Join us this week as we struggled to watch Teen Titans GO! To the Movies (2018) without a toddler nearby - who is definitely the audience demographic for this film. We had some fun with some of the jokes, but ultimately the best part of this movie was to finally see Nicolas Cage play Superman...after all these years...

Hi friends! Welcome back! A special thank you to the listeners who stayed on board after last week's weird-ass caption. I'm going to be honest with you all: I laughed more during the editing process for this episode than any other episode of #TNT so far. I hope you enjoy our review and recap of 2018's 211 (read as two-eleven). Nicolas Cage plays a small-town cop who falls bass ackwards into some international terrorism...enjoy?

Oh hello - didn't see you there. Who? Me? Oh, I'm just a podcaster with a dream. What's that dream, you ask? Well, to get people to listen to this week's episode, of course! It's only the coolest, hippest thing the kids are doing these days. What's it about, you say? Nicolas Cage, silly! He plays a motel owner with a haunted past and dark secrets in 2018's Looking Glass. It's a real treat!    Sorry, was that annoying? It's so late, I can't even think straight anymore. This movie is not really a treat...not bad, but just ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh;dfihv czh%MCEPASTEBIN%bsdugkcfvlasdhf;adsifh;jlhf 'OS   ^^That's me falling asleep on my laptop last night and forgetting to post...how's this improv working for ya? Good?

Wowzer, we stumbled across a good one! In this week's flick, Nicolas Cage plays a man on a mission to avenge the death of his wife, and, boy howdy does he ever. Listen this week as we break down some behind the scenes info on Mandy (2018) and take a closer look at this movie through the perspective of our boy, Nicky.

This movie is INCREDIBLY hard to find, so we watched what was readily available without having to travel 3,000 miles or use a sketchy website. Dark (2107) is essentially Paul Schrader's director's cut of Dying of the Light (2014). Nicolas Cage plays a CIA agent suffering from early onset dementia in this, more artsy, take on the story. We got the story, the analysis, the goods (if you will), so give us a listen!

Agent Noah Kross access case file 56672996: Implement under my authority the following instructions. Watch The Humanity Bureau (2017) and listen to this podcast. No notes at this time. Report to follow.   God bless New America or something!

Hello again friends, and welcome back to another banger! We talk about Mom and Dad (2017), directed by the guy who brought you Ghost Rider 2: Not as Good as the First One!! Nic plays one of the titular characters in this thrilling, zombie-esque movie that we had A LOT o' fun with. Side note: we must've watched this one the last day it was available for free, so I struggled to find certain sound bites...but I got the good ones...just let your hand do what it pleases and press play to give us a listen!

Welcome back everyone! Apparently, we may not have listeners after our hot takes last week, but fear not! We actually kinda liked this movie. Nicolas Cage plays the father figure in one of those oh-shoot-we-hired-a-murderous-yet-sexy-nanny-Lifetime-original-movie-esque movies, Inconceivable (2017). Sure, it's a little formulaic, but that's part of the charm!

Wow...we stumbled across another absolute stinker. Not only is Vengeance: A Love Story (2017) really bad, it could easily be considered insanely offensive. We break it down here for you so that you never, ever, EVER have to watch this piece of junk.    We say this in the episode, but it bears repeating - whenever we make light of this movie, please note that we are making fun of the film and not the subject matter.   Fair trigger warning: there is a lot of talk about brutal sexual assault and violence both in this movie and in this podcast.

It's the return of Eddie King, baby!!! You read that right, this gloriously average 2017 film, Arsenal, sees the return of the greatest character ever committed to film. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go back and watch Deadfall (1993) and then listen to our commensurate podcast. We had some fun with this one, but, honestly,  who could ever have a bad time at Ronnie's Barbecue?

How's your NCAA bracket doing? Mine sucks, so I made a Nicolas Cage one instead. Join us as we definitively rank the best scenes from the 50 or so Nic Cage movies that we've watched in this past year. Let us know if you agree...actually don't...ALL DECISIONS ARE FINAL! :) :)   If you are still super-duper confused, check out our March Madness episode from last March, why dontcha?

Welcome back to our humble little podcast, friends! Fans of our show will know that last week really tried Steve's faith in movies. This week, however, Hanna's faith in movies was tried. We watched Army of One (2016) which tells the tale of real life hero/patriot Gary Faulkner, played by Nicolas Cage. Listen this week as Hanna attempts to keep it together, we play lots of clips, and we have #cheesechat. Enjoy!    #ReleasetheCharlesCut

Uh oh, Steve's mad...

This week, we kick off March 2021 with another political thriller from Oliver Stone - Snowden (2016). Nicolas Cage plays a professor with, like, three lines in the entire film. We don't spend too much time talking politics, but we do both embarrass ourselves pretty severely. Have we told you lately that we loved you (for continuing to listen)?

Welcome back, folks! This week, we watched Dog Eat Dog (2016) - a movie so average, we started losing our collective minds. Join us as we discuss Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe as career criminals in a one-last-job motif that will drive you nuts...or you'll love it...the critics are split and so are we, I think. Could this highly stylized crime drama/thriller have benefitted from better editing? Probably! Listen and find out!

In this week's movie, Nicolas Cage plays a good cop gone bad alongside Elijah Wood and the late, great Jerry Lewis. Listen this week as we talk about The Trust (2016) which seems to spark something in Nic we haven't seen in a while. We also run down the official ranking of Nic's first 75 movies (holy f***ing s*** we've seen 75 of these things?!?!?!)...Enjoy!

In this week's movie review and recap, Nicolas Cage plays Brian Mills - an ex-CIA operative who must rescue his daughter against all odds. He has a particular set of skills...oh wait...wrong movie...Pay the Ghost (2015) seems like Taken on paper when you hear it's about a man whose son gets kidnapped and he'll stop at nothing to find him. BUT THERE'S A TWIST! It's spooky ghosts, like actual cult worship and portals and whatnot. It's not the worst horror movie we've ever seen, but we wouldn't compare it to The Exorcist, for example...

A few important things to note: 1. The Runner (2015) is a bad film. 2. Okay, it's not that bad, it just leaves something to be desired. 3. We almost forgot to rank this one, so apologies for the weird cut towards the end. 4. We need your help! I'll post something about this on Insta later (@IKnowWhytheNickCagedBirdSings), but we are considering changing the name of the podcast. We need your input and ideas, so listen to the end of this week's pod for clarification. 5. Enjoy!

Wow...another rough one this week. When I call a movie "rough" I don't always mean that it's bad. For example, this week's movie, Dying of the Light (2014) starring Nicolas Cage and the late, great Anton Yelchin, was really just okay - not bad. However, it's the "okay" reviews that are going to kill us slowly. ANYWHO! Listen this week as we talk about all the zany choices made by Nic, snapping our fingers, and Ruby Tuesday's salad bar.  PS - My devices died as I was editing in the last scream. It doesn't win Best Scream, so you're not missing much. But, fear not! There are LOADS of other Nic clips for your auditory enjoyment. 

Every once and I while, I write something along the lines of "this movie broke us." This time, I wasn't planning on typing that, but between constant recording interruptions and reliving this horrid excuse for a film, I came to the sad realization that Left Behind (2014) did, in fact, break us even further. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would take the lord's name in vain as much as I have watching this religious movie. If we had done a shot for every time we uttered "oh my god" or "Jesus f*cking Christ" while watching this, we'd be long dead by now. Watch this movie for a couple of good laughs at the bad acting, writing, and casting, but never EVER watch it twice...trust us...

I'm tired. This movie sucks. We had fun talking about it. This episode is short-ish. Please listen...if you want. Love you. Bye.

In this week's movie review and recap, Nicolas Cage plays Brian Mills - an ex-CIA operative who must rescue his daughter against all odds. He has a particular set of skills...oh wait...wrong movie...this movie is much, MUCH worse than both Taken (2008) and Stolen (2012, Episode 65). We have a LOT to say about this colossal waste of time.

Okay I need to set the record straight right away: we apparently did the 2013 Nicolas Cage movies out of order. It should have gone The Frozen Ground, The Croods, then Joe. Either way, we we're back on track by watching Joe (2013), which was another out-of-nowhere surprisingly good film. This podcast, and honestly this whole movie, rightfully focuses a lot on a brilliant supporting actor - the late Gary Poulter. Enjoy as we discuss the last good flick we will watch for a long time...

For the last podcast of 2020 (good riddance - AMIRITE?!?!), Hanna and Steve talk about a surprisingly excellent movie: The Frozen Ground (2013). Based on a true story it tells the tale of Nic Cage hunting John Cusack. Seriously, this movie benefits from going to extreme lengths to film on location and depict actual events. Listen this week as we talk about this and more...such as Brie Larson and her alleged difficulty, us holding Ke$ha at gunpoint, and whether or not Vanessa Hudgens is any good...clearly, we're feminists? We also forget to bring it up, but there's a moose in this...enjoy!