Nicolas Cage goes wild? Yes, and no. Hear him in 1994

Nic Cage delivers another explosive performance in the new movie "The Surfer." But the actor I interviewed was somebody else.

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When I talked with Nicolas Cage on the phone for an hour in 1994, he already had a bit of a reputation for going ballistic in movies.  Just the crazed cockroach-eating scene in Vampire's Kiss was enough to give a guy a reputation.

But lo and behold, he told me a lot of things I didn't expect.  For starters, he's very shy off-screen and he felt like a reject in high school. Plus, he was reading Henry Miller and Rimbaud, enjoying Wagner's music, and – despite the plot of his new film "The Surfer" – he tried surfing and felt it was too difficult.

Cage's filmography is so huge – about 124 movies so far – that I couldn't absorb it all. So it's lucky I got help from Ty Burr – the former culture critic for the Boston Globe (where he was a finalist for a Pulitzer) and author of several books about movies. Ty now writes the terrific movie newsletter Ty Burr's Watch List.

During the episode, Ty lists all the Cage movies you'll want to stream, and the ones you can avoid.  Very useful!

After I found and listened again to my 1994 interview with Nic – which I had completely forgotten --  I decided to rewatch three of his movies from that year. One was very fun and worth watching (Guarding Tess with Shirley McLaine).  Two were, for me, barely watchable (Trapped in Paradise with with Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey and It Could Happen To You with Bridget Fonda).

Nic's fourth 1994 movie Red Rock West – which I loved when I saw it back then – isn't streaming anywhere. Injustice!  But I remember it well enough to confirm a highlight of all these films: Nic Cage's performance. I discovered that I'm a major Cage fan.  And that's the beauty of saving things.  When you got back to them, you learn something new.

The real surprise in this episode:  I take that old cassette tape in my hand, and I do something I'm supposed to do in every episode – and never do.  I guess Nic Cage gave me the inspiration to go a little crazy. In a good way, of course. Maybe he'll do the same for you? 

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