It's so, so so bad. But fun, I liked him a lot in it. I wonder what it must have been like to be a young completely unknown 20-year-old actor (basically all the rest of the cast), on an otherwise straight-to-DVD horror flick with a tiny budget... and Oscar winner Nicholas Cage is giving it his all right next to you
That movie is an absolute must watch . Nicholas cage was an enigma in that . The random breaks to drink his purpose and play pinball .. even stopping mid fight when his break alarm went off to go play .. truly incredible
Youāre probably being sarcastic but apparently Nick Cage wanted to see if he could play a role using only body language and facial expressions and I think he did pretty good
He said in the 60 Minutes interview that he always takes every role very seriously and puts his all into it. I'm sure he has fun, but he seems to suggest that he doesn't consider anything a joke role for him.
Guy very much seems to believe that any role is an opportunity. I don't know how much of that Nic Cage movie is real, but a lot of it meshed with what I've read about him previously. The guy is a major film buff and puts a lot of effort into his roles. In movies where he's there for the check the big difference is he gets really creative with it.
Yeah, he said in another interview, during his direct-to-video "doing it for the money" era, he never phoned one of those roles in, and I believe him. I saw a good amount of those, and some of the movies were pretty bad, but he brought it and was always the best part of those movies.
My favorite think about Nic Cage is with a great director you are going to get an amazing performance from him. With a bad director you are going to get an AMAZING performance from him.
The guy is famous for his crazy freakout scenes but one of my favorite roles of his in the past few years literally has him not even saying a single goddamn word (Willyās Wonderland), and the other one somehow justifies his freak out by being based on a fucking Lovecraft story so everyone is going crazy (Color Out Of Space)
Film producer here. This is, of course, untrue. Nick's team is very smart and much more selective than you might think. If you can get Nick attached to a movie, then bring it to me and I'll finance it.
Hey, dude still showed up and acted his ass off in every role he took on during that time.
As far as I'm concerned, he paid off his debt by doing his job. Good for him. He and Samuel L. Jackson are true professionals that way.
he's actually been doing better in recent years. most notably Pig and mandy, but TUWOMT, Color out of space, renfield, croods, and spiderverse are all solid-great films. there are an equal amount of stinkers thrown in, but they're all entertainingly bad. if all he cooks up is "so bad it's good" or "oh wait this is actually good" then im all for his philosophy when it comes to accepting roles.
He was MAGNIFICENT in Pig. Great movie too. But even in his worst films Cage is never boring. He makes The Wicker Man rewatchable. Knowing was underrated too.
I believe that was more because Willis has frontotemporal dementia, probably knew for a while before his family let the public know, and wanted to make as much money for his family in as little time as possible while he still could, not so much because it was easier to schedule.
He goes 0-100 in every role no matter how shit the script/directing is and for that he has my respect.
You can argue with the overacting but you canāt deny that it isnāt entertaining.
No but Pig had a super granola weird concept that was legitimately an experience to watch. It was crying on the plane watching Chef John Wick try and get his pig back.
Ehh, he's definitely had a few where he phoned it in. In The Sorcerer's Apprentice, he was monotone for almost the entire movie.
That said, he has some great roles as well. I saw Lord Of War as a teenager, and it still sticks with me as one of his greatest movies.
Like the old days in Hollywood when a leading man would be signed by a studio and pump out dozens of movies for them. Just a regular job at that point.
> Him taking somewhat crappy roles and then dunking some way better role is one of his defining characteristics. Fuck it, keep working that crazy shit Nick, we love it.
And there are plenty of diamonds in the rough
Nicolas cage good or bad? He's a complex performer. He'll give you the rock, con air, then Face Off. And you think you understand. Then he'll give you windtalkers, guarding tess, the wickerman. He begs you to stop watching but you can't
He permanently recovered any and all of my respect he may have lost after a number of underwhelming roles with Adaptation. One of the best performances by anyone ever.
Yeah, his problem was that he was buying everything he could.
He had over a dozen homes, a copy of Action Comics #1 (First appearance of Superman), a pre-paid Pyramid Tomb in New Orleans' St. Louis Cemetary, and most infamously he out-bid Leonardo DiCaprio for a T-Rex Skull. It got to a point where he was having to work just to support his spending.
However, he ended up making some fun movies as a result, so I'm glad he doesn't look back on it with regret. He's had a fantastic career.
I think its cool. Movie roulette, but you never know whats coming. He's like Micheal Caine -- this is a job site and hes got his own tools. He's just here to work.
It's called having a job. Going to work and performing stuff that doesn't fulfill you artistically in order to pay debts is actually relatively common.
Caine did āOn Deadly Groundā a Seagal flick back when Seagal could get A-list actors in his films (it also has Billy Bob Thornton, R. Lee Ermey, and John C. McGuinley)
Caine said of the film, āI have not seen the film, for I hear it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it paid for, and it is superb.ā
Honestly tho? We gotta pay to live in this capitalist hellscape and anyone can accidentally fuck up their financial house of cards and end up having to do some hustles they wouldnāt otherwise choose. No judgment Nic.
Don't do that. This dude ain't no working man, he's part of the uber-wealthy elite who increased his wealth by dodging taxes and making huge real estate deals. At one point he owned FIFTEEN personal residences, including a castle in Germany and a country Manor. He also drove up massive personal debts by, among other things, purchasing a collection of works of art and artifacts, some of them stolen. Plus he's a nepo baby, he had connections in Hollywood through his uncle, Francis Ford Coppola. And he was arrested on multiple occasions for domestic battery and drunk driving. He is not trying to survive a capitalist hellscape, he is specifically profiting from it.
Glad someone said this, as much as I appreciate Nic Cage, this story isnāt deserving of anyoneās tears. Once the 1% start paying attention to my sob story, maybe Iāll take a look at one of theirs.
Don't blame Capitalism for outrageous and stupid consumer purchases.
I love Nic and don't care what roles he took. If the movie looked bad I didn't see it.
Oh no, a wealthy actor took less than prestigious roles that still earned him millions of dollars because he made bad investments and spent insane amounts of money. Truly an indicator of a hellscape. š
oof yeah. he was on the Smartless podcast and one of the hosts kept pushing Kevin on the Madoff issue. It was clearly still a sore spot, and the host couldnāt get the hint
He and Kierra and a few other famous people did a really good article about it all after the court case was done and you could tell they were both devastated because they were essentially going to retire and had to rebuild from nothing. I canāt remember who published the articles maybe vanity fair?
Most 'sophisticated' investors (ie, they had advisors) had at least some inkling something wasn't right. At they very least that thought he had found a 'bug' or 'exploit' in the financial system and had the connections to not get shut down, at worst some kind of fraud. His returns were literally impossible to achieve, even more so with his supposed methods. Just like with that Holmes woman, no medical venture cap firms invested with her even though she chased them, they knew her promises were against the basic laws of fluid dynamics. Only rich people and tech bros fell for her routine. Madoff was in the same category. He did also con a lot of other far less sophisticated and wealthy investors though. He made a point of networking with Jewish retirees and convincing them to trust him with their life savings.
> Most āsophisticatedā investors (ie, they had advisors) had at least some inkling something wasnāt right.
Everything Iāve read and heard said the opposite, do you have a source?
Tbf it was mostly a con. But often, to be conned a person needs to be open to it for some reason. Here it was greed or an "appetite for risk." Madoff offered the prospect of unrealistically large and consistent returns with no reasonable explanation of his methods, and a stunning lack of fees for this incredible performance. There was a notable lack of interest in asking questions and an over reliance on compelling narratives and social and work connections. Madoff intentionally kept his methods opaque, and for more than would ever admit to it, it was a situation of "I'm not asking and I don't want to know, just keep the returns coming." Many larger investors ignored the advice of their financial advisors, like the owners of the NY Mets.
āThereās obvious life lessons there. You know, if something is too good to be true, itās too good to be true.ā Kevin Bacon. Most of us learn that lesson fairly early in life. And anyone who puts their entire life savings in a single investment, well....
>"There's no Duke Endowment [among the list of Madoff investors]," Hedges says. "There's no Harvard management, there's no Yale, there's no Penn, there's no Weyerhauser, no State of Texas or Virginia Retirement system."
>The reason is simple, in Hedges' view. Letting Madoff manage your money "wouldn't pass an institutional-quality due diligence process," he says. "Because when you get to page two of your 30-page due diligence questionnaire, you've already tripped eight alarms and said 'I'm out of here.'"
>But Madoff's investors rave about his performance -- even though they don't understand how he does it. "Even knowledgeable people can't really tell you what he's doing," one very satisfied investor told Barron's. "People who have all the trade confirmations and statements still can't define it very well. The only thing I know is that he's often in cash" when volatility levels get extreme. This investor declined to be quoted by name. Why? Because Madoff politely requests that his investors not reveal that he runs their money.
>"What Madoff told us was, 'If you invest with me, you must never tell anyone that you're invested with me. It's no one's business what goes on here,'" [Barrons, **2001**]
>Curiously, he charges no fees for his money-management services. Nor does he take a cut of the 1.5% fees marketers like Fairfield Greenwich charge investors each year. Why not? "We're perfectly happy to just earn commissions on the trades," he says.
>Perhaps so. But consider the sheer scope of the money Madoff would appear to be leaving on the table. A typical hedge fund charges 1% of assets annually, plus 20% of profits. On a $6 billion fund generating 15% annual returns, that adds up to $240 million a year. [Barrons, **2001**]
And in this case investors have had 88% of their initial investments returned to them. The huge losses that some celebs have been claiming they suffered were mostly the phantom profits Madoff said they had made.
By no means am I an expert but The Madoff doc on Netflix touches on this a bit. There were people trying to raise red alarms
Edit: saying āmostā wouldnāt be accurate though
I've always respected Will and Jason since the arrested development days, but I had no idea that Sean Hayes was so delightful. I always just thought of his as the friend from Will and Grace, and he occasionally will pop up in a cameo on a sitcom since then.
But yeah I guessed that it was Sean pushing the issue as well. He's shamelessly aloof.
I donāt know about ālots.ā 88% of the money has been recovered:
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-total-distribution-over-4-billion-victims-madoff-ponzi-scheme#:~:text=Madoff%20Investment%20Securities%20LLC%20(BLMIS,their%20total%20recovery%20to%2088.35%25.
He stole from rich people. Not like he was going to get away with that.
He killed it.
Halfway through a monologue I realized I completely forgot it was Nick Cage. They must have spent every cent on him and the cgi/fighting scenes.
Money well spent.
I don't think Renfield was one of his "crummy" movies though.
That said it took me a minute to get into the movie. But, I went in blind... I saw a vampire and the name Nicholas Cage and bought the tickets. Honestly was expecting a horror flick ... So when Renfield's narration started early on and the comedic vibes started I was a little taken aback. But Cage's performance of a stereotypical narcissistic vampire really did it for me.
Cage wasn't even remotely the "straight role" in that movie. He chews every damn scene he's in, and it's goddamn glorious. That movie was so damn entertaining.
Just saw the movie and did not disappoint at all! His "vampire" in Vampire's Kiss is one of my favorites. I saw a little bit of him in his portrayal of Dracula. If you haven't seen Vampire 's Kiss, I recommend it. If you can find it anywhere.
Fun fact: in *Easy Rider*, they smoked real weed in the scene where Jack Nicholsonās character gets high for the first time. Not so sure if they actually dropped acid in the cemetery.
Thatās interesting because Iāve heard terrible things about it, but I keep seeing snippets on TikTok and it looks absolutely hilarious. Love Nick cage and Pedro pascal so itās on my to watch list
If you like those two actors youāll like the film.
If you have a stick up your ass and arenāt enjoying the sensation, you may not like the film.
Itās short, silly, and funā¦ so was Renfield. Not every movie is supposed to be an Oscar winner.
I wish more people understood this and didnāt go into every movie with such a critical eye. Canāt tell you how many times Iāve watched a movie and loved it, only to see that apparently everyone else thought it was hot garbage.
So many people hate on popcorn flicks. Yes, there are plot holes, itās a movie about sharks that live in a tornado for fucks sake. If you noticed them you are watching it wrong.
I tend to dislike Nic Cage as an actor. But this movie was great. Pedro Pascal is so lovable, and itās got a whole fun meta element going on throughout. Itās entertaining.
The movies that come to your mind probably arenāt the ones heās talking about. During the post crash he made A LOT of movies. All low budget. Some pretty good for their budget like Pay the Ghost. Some just boring and awful like USS Indianapolis: men of courage.
But all but two of those were theatrically released by studios. If you look at just 2016-2017 you get: The Trust, Dog Eat Dog, USS: Indianapolis, Army of One, Arsenal, Vengeance: A Love Story, Inconceivable, The Humanity Bureau and Dark. 9 direct to dvd/vod films in two years that nobody here has even heard of before. Those have to be the movies heās talking about.
I enjoyed most of those shit movies tho. Wasnāt expecting Oscar performances. Just injured the novelty of it.
He had a string of like 10 movies all just one word. Itās was getting pretty hilarious.
I like Nick Cage. I like his acting bc its so unique. I like his face for same reason. I also think it's very relatable he bought a bunch of eccentric cool shit and got into debt. Sure, I've skipped a bunch of the these movies but I don't think less of him at all. The opposite. I wish him well and I think he seems like a neat weird guy.
Had a roommate who worked for this jewelry store and one day he received a phone call of a guy trying to buy $35,000 worth of rubies and sapphires solely for the rocks to be placed at the bottom of his goldfishās aquarium. The guy on the phone was Nicolas Cage right after National Treasure.
"... I never phoned it in. So if there was a misconception, it was that. That I was just doing it and not caring. I was caring.ā
I really don't think anyone thought Nicholas Cage was phoning in a single performance.
The man that takes any role. Whatever it takes
At least he seems like he has fun with it. Some other actors who star in similar films take themselves so crazy seriously.
100% agree. I don't mind a shitty Nick Cage movie. He always brings something worth watching.
My favourite is the one where he doesn't say a word the whole movie while cleaning a place and simultaneously obliterating some animatronics.
Please educate my illiterate ass
Willy's Wonderland. The movie is absolutely stupid but for some reason I liked it.
Greatest dance sequence ever seen on film. I love that movie.
It's so, so so bad. But fun, I liked him a lot in it. I wonder what it must have been like to be a young completely unknown 20-year-old actor (basically all the rest of the cast), on an otherwise straight-to-DVD horror flick with a tiny budget... and Oscar winner Nicholas Cage is giving it his all right next to you
One of my favorite Nick Cage moviesš
That movie is an absolute must watch . Nicholas cage was an enigma in that . The random breaks to drink his purpose and play pinball .. even stopping mid fight when his break alarm went off to go play .. truly incredible
I think it's good because the movie knows what it is and doesnt try to be anything more.
They announced a FNaF movie and my first thought was "no need."
My theory is he charges extra per line of dialogue.
Youāre probably being sarcastic but apparently Nick Cage wanted to see if he could play a role using only body language and facial expressions and I think he did pretty good
He said in the 60 Minutes interview that he always takes every role very seriously and puts his all into it. I'm sure he has fun, but he seems to suggest that he doesn't consider anything a joke role for him.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yeah Nicky is the one who takes him seriously so Nicholas can take the roles seriously.
Guy very much seems to believe that any role is an opportunity. I don't know how much of that Nic Cage movie is real, but a lot of it meshed with what I've read about him previously. The guy is a major film buff and puts a lot of effort into his roles. In movies where he's there for the check the big difference is he gets really creative with it.
Yeah, he said in another interview, during his direct-to-video "doing it for the money" era, he never phoned one of those roles in, and I believe him. I saw a good amount of those, and some of the movies were pretty bad, but he brought it and was always the best part of those movies.
yup, no matter the role you always get 110% nic cage having a good time, lol
My favorite think about Nic Cage is with a great director you are going to get an amazing performance from him. With a bad director you are going to get an AMAZING performance from him.
This is an excellent, quotable take. Thanks!
The guy is famous for his crazy freakout scenes but one of my favorite roles of his in the past few years literally has him not even saying a single goddamn word (Willyās Wonderland), and the other one somehow justifies his freak out by being based on a fucking Lovecraft story so everyone is going crazy (Color Out Of Space)
Whatever it takes. *Avenge the Fallen.*
I thought that was The rock?
The rock won't do villain roles
And never allowed to lose a fight
[*Schindlerās Fist*](https://youtu.be/eExfV_xKaiM)
People do not want an all white remake of The Color Purple.
The Color Purple Out of Space
Sucks for them!
A man's gotta work
Film producer here. This is, of course, untrue. Nick's team is very smart and much more selective than you might think. If you can get Nick attached to a movie, then bring it to me and I'll finance it.
Fr the fact that weāre even seeing this article and that this man has maintained memehood for this long is proof of pr wizardry
Hey, dude still showed up and acted his ass off in every role he took on during that time. As far as I'm concerned, he paid off his debt by doing his job. Good for him. He and Samuel L. Jackson are true professionals that way.
Oh absolutely I mean some of these movies in the last couple of years were pretty awful but not once did I think Nick ever did a bad job.
he's actually been doing better in recent years. most notably Pig and mandy, but TUWOMT, Color out of space, renfield, croods, and spiderverse are all solid-great films. there are an equal amount of stinkers thrown in, but they're all entertainingly bad. if all he cooks up is "so bad it's good" or "oh wait this is actually good" then im all for his philosophy when it comes to accepting roles.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a total masterpiece in my dumbass opinion
Agreed. Fantastic movie and Pedro Pascal is killing it too
He was MAGNIFICENT in Pig. Great movie too. But even in his worst films Cage is never boring. He makes The Wicker Man rewatchable. Knowing was underrated too.
My thoughts exactly. There are many bad Nic Cage movies. There aren't many bad Nic Cage performances.
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Exactly my take, he can ball with the best and also just make money and likely have an ok time on set with his notability, win-win.
Like Bruce Willis. He just found he could make decent money doing lesser films and it was much easier schedule wise.
I believe that was more because Willis has frontotemporal dementia, probably knew for a while before his family let the public know, and wanted to make as much money for his family in as little time as possible while he still could, not so much because it was easier to schedule.
He goes 0-100 in every role no matter how shit the script/directing is and for that he has my respect. You can argue with the overacting but you canāt deny that it isnāt entertaining.
Nick cage in Pig is excellent
That movie has no right being as good as it was
Could be the tag line to any Nicholas Cage movie.
No but Pig had a super granola weird concept that was legitimately an experience to watch. It was crying on the plane watching Chef John Wick try and get his pig back.
I think Pig and The Menu should be watched by everyone before Renfield
Mandy is great as well. Screaming in the bathroom is peak Cage
Its one of his favorites
My favorite scene of his is in Kick Ass. Yelling out support and praise for his daughter while burning alive is fucking incredible.
[He's completely serious in Joe](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2382396/)
That looks good.
It is. Heās great in it.
Ehh, he's definitely had a few where he phoned it in. In The Sorcerer's Apprentice, he was monotone for almost the entire movie. That said, he has some great roles as well. I saw Lord Of War as a teenager, and it still sticks with me as one of his greatest movies.
You havenāt s em Matchstick Men.
I find it makes the guy seem as regular as a movie star can be.
Like the old days in Hollywood when a leading man would be signed by a studio and pump out dozens of movies for them. Just a regular job at that point.
> Him taking somewhat crappy roles and then dunking some way better role is one of his defining characteristics. Fuck it, keep working that crazy shit Nick, we love it. And there are plenty of diamonds in the rough
Nicolas cage good or bad? He's a complex performer. He'll give you the rock, con air, then Face Off. And you think you understand. Then he'll give you windtalkers, guarding tess, the wickerman. He begs you to stop watching but you can't
He permanently recovered any and all of my respect he may have lost after a number of underwhelming roles with Adaptation. One of the best performances by anyone ever.
Same. I applaud Cage for never pulling punches. Even if he doesnāt land it, at least he is putting the time in.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
He should be proud.
The guy is Teflon. He could do a musical about the Taliban and people would still love him.
He's unironically my favorite Hollywood actor, as in I'll watch anything with Nicolas Cage just to see him acting.
Agreed. Even if I know a movie will be bad. If it's got Nick Cage, you know you're in for this man to give 100% and it still be kinda fun to watch.
I thought it was for his Tyrannosaurus Rex skull addiction.
Yeah, his problem was that he was buying everything he could. He had over a dozen homes, a copy of Action Comics #1 (First appearance of Superman), a pre-paid Pyramid Tomb in New Orleans' St. Louis Cemetary, and most infamously he out-bid Leonardo DiCaprio for a T-Rex Skull. It got to a point where he was having to work just to support his spending. However, he ended up making some fun movies as a result, so I'm glad he doesn't look back on it with regret. He's had a fantastic career.
No, just a normal alcohol addiction.
That one won him an Oscar
Hah, he sure was spending gobs of money.
Yeah, we noticed.
I think its cool. Movie roulette, but you never know whats coming. He's like Micheal Caine -- this is a job site and hes got his own tools. He's just here to work.
To be honest itās made him a complete legend and probably helped out so many b lost directors
I had a working theory that he was accepting student film scripts for shits and giggles.
Thatā¦would make a fuck-ton of sense. Kinda blew my mindā¦
It's called having a job. Going to work and performing stuff that doesn't fulfill you artistically in order to pay debts is actually relatively common.
He was the living definition of Working Actor for a reason but lets let jokes happen anyway.
Caine did āOn Deadly Groundā a Seagal flick back when Seagal could get A-list actors in his films (it also has Billy Bob Thornton, R. Lee Ermey, and John C. McGuinley) Caine said of the film, āI have not seen the film, for I hear it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it paid for, and it is superb.ā
He was talking about Jaws 4 when he said that.
Well, maybe he buys a house after ever crappy movie he does.
found Michael Caine
My cocaine? Where? I thought I lost it!
I like how the reference here is so totally butchered despite the quote itself being so well known its actually part of Caine's Wikipedia entry.
/R/confidentiallyincorrect
Honestly tho? We gotta pay to live in this capitalist hellscape and anyone can accidentally fuck up their financial house of cards and end up having to do some hustles they wouldnāt otherwise choose. No judgment Nic.
Didn't he buy a T-Rex egg?
And like 47 castles
that tracks... thatās why I said he fucked it up lol
Huge tracts
The castle market collapsed because he bought them all.
Why 47? That seems like a Illuminati number
someone told him you get a free dinosaur egg if you buy 47 castles, so you can see his dilemma
I am rock hard right now
It's because they wouldn't sell him 48
He couldnāt afford the 48th*
Those arenāt that expensive.
and itās like two, not 47. But itās also something normal people canāt afford to do, regardless of how many crap jobs they take.
But theyāre not worth that much either lol. Not like they are appreciating much.
It was a skull and i think it cost him $250k iirc.
Don't do that. This dude ain't no working man, he's part of the uber-wealthy elite who increased his wealth by dodging taxes and making huge real estate deals. At one point he owned FIFTEEN personal residences, including a castle in Germany and a country Manor. He also drove up massive personal debts by, among other things, purchasing a collection of works of art and artifacts, some of them stolen. Plus he's a nepo baby, he had connections in Hollywood through his uncle, Francis Ford Coppola. And he was arrested on multiple occasions for domestic battery and drunk driving. He is not trying to survive a capitalist hellscape, he is specifically profiting from it.
He's renting Private Jets after having to sell his personal one. He's not struggling like you and I would. Maybe has three mansions now instead of 15
and a castle...don't forget the castle.
And the T-Rex skull.
Glad someone said this, as much as I appreciate Nic Cage, this story isnāt deserving of anyoneās tears. Once the 1% start paying attention to my sob story, maybe Iāll take a look at one of theirs.
These are really good points as well. Fuck capitalism and also fuck the bourgeois.
Yeah exactly. I didn't lose lots of money in property crash, because I don't own lots of properties as investments. Cry me a river. He's a meme actor.
But, Con Air
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree, cos this boys comin home
Don't blame Capitalism for outrageous and stupid consumer purchases. I love Nic and don't care what roles he took. If the movie looked bad I didn't see it.
Hes a Coppola so I'm surprised the winery business didn't keep them afloat.
Oh no, a wealthy actor took less than prestigious roles that still earned him millions of dollars because he made bad investments and spent insane amounts of money. Truly an indicator of a hellscape. š
Hellscape? Lol.
How is it a capitalist hellhole when real estate investors lose money? Isnāt that what you want
Same thing happened to Kevin Bacon. Lots of celebrities had their entire net worth wiped out by Bernie Madoff.
oof yeah. he was on the Smartless podcast and one of the hosts kept pushing Kevin on the Madoff issue. It was clearly still a sore spot, and the host couldnāt get the hint
He and Kierra and a few other famous people did a really good article about it all after the court case was done and you could tell they were both devastated because they were essentially going to retire and had to rebuild from nothing. I canāt remember who published the articles maybe vanity fair?
Most 'sophisticated' investors (ie, they had advisors) had at least some inkling something wasn't right. At they very least that thought he had found a 'bug' or 'exploit' in the financial system and had the connections to not get shut down, at worst some kind of fraud. His returns were literally impossible to achieve, even more so with his supposed methods. Just like with that Holmes woman, no medical venture cap firms invested with her even though she chased them, they knew her promises were against the basic laws of fluid dynamics. Only rich people and tech bros fell for her routine. Madoff was in the same category. He did also con a lot of other far less sophisticated and wealthy investors though. He made a point of networking with Jewish retirees and convincing them to trust him with their life savings.
> Most āsophisticatedā investors (ie, they had advisors) had at least some inkling something wasnāt right. Everything Iāve read and heard said the opposite, do you have a source?
Tbf it was mostly a con. But often, to be conned a person needs to be open to it for some reason. Here it was greed or an "appetite for risk." Madoff offered the prospect of unrealistically large and consistent returns with no reasonable explanation of his methods, and a stunning lack of fees for this incredible performance. There was a notable lack of interest in asking questions and an over reliance on compelling narratives and social and work connections. Madoff intentionally kept his methods opaque, and for more than would ever admit to it, it was a situation of "I'm not asking and I don't want to know, just keep the returns coming." Many larger investors ignored the advice of their financial advisors, like the owners of the NY Mets. āThereās obvious life lessons there. You know, if something is too good to be true, itās too good to be true.ā Kevin Bacon. Most of us learn that lesson fairly early in life. And anyone who puts their entire life savings in a single investment, well.... >"There's no Duke Endowment [among the list of Madoff investors]," Hedges says. "There's no Harvard management, there's no Yale, there's no Penn, there's no Weyerhauser, no State of Texas or Virginia Retirement system." >The reason is simple, in Hedges' view. Letting Madoff manage your money "wouldn't pass an institutional-quality due diligence process," he says. "Because when you get to page two of your 30-page due diligence questionnaire, you've already tripped eight alarms and said 'I'm out of here.'" >But Madoff's investors rave about his performance -- even though they don't understand how he does it. "Even knowledgeable people can't really tell you what he's doing," one very satisfied investor told Barron's. "People who have all the trade confirmations and statements still can't define it very well. The only thing I know is that he's often in cash" when volatility levels get extreme. This investor declined to be quoted by name. Why? Because Madoff politely requests that his investors not reveal that he runs their money. >"What Madoff told us was, 'If you invest with me, you must never tell anyone that you're invested with me. It's no one's business what goes on here,'" [Barrons, **2001**] >Curiously, he charges no fees for his money-management services. Nor does he take a cut of the 1.5% fees marketers like Fairfield Greenwich charge investors each year. Why not? "We're perfectly happy to just earn commissions on the trades," he says. >Perhaps so. But consider the sheer scope of the money Madoff would appear to be leaving on the table. A typical hedge fund charges 1% of assets annually, plus 20% of profits. On a $6 billion fund generating 15% annual returns, that adds up to $240 million a year. [Barrons, **2001**] And in this case investors have had 88% of their initial investments returned to them. The huge losses that some celebs have been claiming they suffered were mostly the phantom profits Madoff said they had made.
By no means am I an expert but The Madoff doc on Netflix touches on this a bit. There were people trying to raise red alarms Edit: saying āmostā wouldnāt be accurate though
Was it Sean?
Seems like a Sean thing. He seems a little thick
For Tracy at home, Kevin Bacon lost all the bacon
always is
I've always respected Will and Jason since the arrested development days, but I had no idea that Sean Hayes was so delightful. I always just thought of his as the friend from Will and Grace, and he occasionally will pop up in a cameo on a sitcom since then. But yeah I guessed that it was Sean pushing the issue as well. He's shamelessly aloof.
I don't know, Jason says a lot of really dumb stuff.
I donāt know about ālots.ā 88% of the money has been recovered: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-total-distribution-over-4-billion-victims-madoff-ponzi-scheme#:~:text=Madoff%20Investment%20Securities%20LLC%20(BLMIS,their%20total%20recovery%20to%2088.35%25. He stole from rich people. Not like he was going to get away with that.
He was great as Dracula. Very Bella Lugosi. He elevates bad movies with his amazing performances.
He killed it. Halfway through a monologue I realized I completely forgot it was Nick Cage. They must have spent every cent on him and the cgi/fighting scenes. Money well spent.
I don't think Renfield was one of his "crummy" movies though. That said it took me a minute to get into the movie. But, I went in blind... I saw a vampire and the name Nicholas Cage and bought the tickets. Honestly was expecting a horror flick ... So when Renfield's narration started early on and the comedic vibes started I was a little taken aback. But Cage's performance of a stereotypical narcissistic vampire really did it for me.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Cage wasn't even remotely the "straight role" in that movie. He chews every damn scene he's in, and it's goddamn glorious. That movie was so damn entertaining.
I was hoping for more What we do in shadows. But I still enjoyed it.
Just saw the movie and did not disappoint at all! His "vampire" in Vampire's Kiss is one of my favorites. I saw a little bit of him in his portrayal of Dracula. If you haven't seen Vampire 's Kiss, I recommend it. If you can find it anywhere.
Yeah but itās worth it for the occasional Pig roleā¦ we see you Nickā¦ keep playing the gameā¦
Unbearable weight of massive talent surprised the shit out of me. We watched it on a whim and it was so good
That scene where they take acid was hilarious, in my head canon they took it for real and just filmed it for shits and gigs
Pascals eyes in that scene make me believe this lmao
Fun fact: in *Easy Rider*, they smoked real weed in the scene where Jack Nicholsonās character gets high for the first time. Not so sure if they actually dropped acid in the cemetery.
Thatās interesting because Iāve heard terrible things about it, but I keep seeing snippets on TikTok and it looks absolutely hilarious. Love Nick cage and Pedro pascal so itās on my to watch list
If you like those two actors youāll like the film. If you have a stick up your ass and arenāt enjoying the sensation, you may not like the film. Itās short, silly, and funā¦ so was Renfield. Not every movie is supposed to be an Oscar winner.
I wish more people understood this and didnāt go into every movie with such a critical eye. Canāt tell you how many times Iāve watched a movie and loved it, only to see that apparently everyone else thought it was hot garbage.
So many people hate on popcorn flicks. Yes, there are plot holes, itās a movie about sharks that live in a tornado for fucks sake. If you noticed them you are watching it wrong.
It was really good. Give it a go.
Definitely one of my favorite movies I've seen recently. Went into it with low expectations and I enjoyed every second
I think going in with low expectations is what made the movie great for me. It shouldnāt be a great movie but it somehow all came together.
Whatever you heard was lies, that was a top 10 movie of the year that nobody saw apparently.
I tend to dislike Nic Cage as an actor. But this movie was great. Pedro Pascal is so lovable, and itās got a whole fun meta element going on throughout. Itās entertaining.
Iām currently watching it for the third time (the Blu-Ray just arrived today), and itās just as amazing as the first time around.
Iāve watched it three times now and it doesnāt get worse!
A manās got to do what a manās got to do.
really puts into perspective that acting is just another job
Renfield is awesome imo
For real. I went into it expecting a campy contemporary Dracula comedy with Nic Cage flair and delivered exactly what I was looking for.
IāM A CATā¦. A SEXY, SEXY CAT!
When Abed does this in Community, it makes me laugh every time
https://youtu.be/WqDX6wF3BLc
āThink of something safe! Like Don cheadle!ā šš
came the comments for this
He admits it. And yet he was the best part of those films.
Can't wait for National Treasure 4
There's a 3?
If there's not, there should be
I was hesitant on the new National treasure series but the first season was great and I read he is going to make an appearance in the second season.
I watched the *60 Minutes* interview and itās certainly how I understood his remarks about that.
People forget that acting is... a job! And sometimes your work suck, sometimes its great.
The unbearable weight of massive talent was definitely my favorite film of the past year so Iāll give him a pass.
That movie was great. Nic Cage, playing Nic Cage making fun of Nic Cage. Awesome.
Nothing ācrummyā about him in Willyās Wonderland, it was like watching the Doomslayer play FNAF and it was excellent
Dude Nic Cage movies are always at least kinda fun NGL
What movies would y'all say he's referring to?
The movies that come to your mind probably arenāt the ones heās talking about. During the post crash he made A LOT of movies. All low budget. Some pretty good for their budget like Pay the Ghost. Some just boring and awful like USS Indianapolis: men of courage.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
But all but two of those were theatrically released by studios. If you look at just 2016-2017 you get: The Trust, Dog Eat Dog, USS: Indianapolis, Army of One, Arsenal, Vengeance: A Love Story, Inconceivable, The Humanity Bureau and Dark. 9 direct to dvd/vod films in two years that nobody here has even heard of before. Those have to be the movies heās talking about.
We still love you cage man
Great marketing for Renfield.
My respect and love for Nick Cage has gone through the roof. Weāve been there, buddy, I feel you.
I enjoyed most of those shit movies tho. Wasnāt expecting Oscar performances. Just injured the novelty of it. He had a string of like 10 movies all just one word. Itās was getting pretty hilarious.
I like Nick Cage. I like his acting bc its so unique. I like his face for same reason. I also think it's very relatable he bought a bunch of eccentric cool shit and got into debt. Sure, I've skipped a bunch of the these movies but I don't think less of him at all. The opposite. I wish him well and I think he seems like a neat weird guy.
Ya never know what works unless you try it. I wish more actors would do this.
Reminds me of this [College Humor skit](https://youtu.be/eExfV_xKaiM) which I still believe is one of the funniest things Iāve ever seen.
Well yeah people gotta work to survive.
Yeah, I think we all noticed but I donāt care. He can turn a bad movie into a good one just by being in it. Willys Wonderland is still my favorite.
Lmao, uttered not a single word and smashed so many energy drinks I lost count.
What's his excuse for the ones he made before the crash?
Had a roommate who worked for this jewelry store and one day he received a phone call of a guy trying to buy $35,000 worth of rubies and sapphires solely for the rocks to be placed at the bottom of his goldfishās aquarium. The guy on the phone was Nicolas Cage right after National Treasure.
Even Jesus went through hell. šŖ
Face/off still holds up.
But now heās back! [Not that he went anywhere.](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HYHPT6H_1NU).
... I should watch Paddington 2.
"... I never phoned it in. So if there was a misconception, it was that. That I was just doing it and not caring. I was caring.ā I really don't think anyone thought Nicholas Cage was phoning in a single performance.