And I’m glad I did! I wasn’t really expecting much from this show, but once Harley broke free from her toxic relationship with Joker and started to do her own damn thing, it really hooked me. Yes, I will admit the thing that piqued my interest in the Harley Quinn animated series was the whole Batman-Catwoman “heroes don’t do that” debate. And this story seems to have reawakened Cage himself. Pig is fundamentally a story about the hold that memories have on us: memories of those we’ve lost, of dreams abandoned, of the good times (rare though they may have been). When he can bear to engage with his past in dealing with other people, he awakens something within them. It’s a subdued performance, yet no less intense for it.Īside from the skills he deployed in his previous life, Rob’s greatest talent is in being a keen observer of people - a talent that is not diminished even after years spent living as a recluse. No one could ever say that Cage doesn’t go hard in every single performance he gives - it’s impossible to phone it in when you’re screaming, “NOT THE BEES!” - but here, he manages to be just as riveting while playing a man of few words. But throughout its taut 92-minute run time, Cage conveys the deeper emotional trauma hiding beneath the surface. The character is a disheveled mess for pretty much the entire film, his face bloodied from the attack on his cabin and from a later assault that he accepts freely. It soon becomes clear that he has a reputation from his past, and while he is initially reluctant to use it to his advantage in the present, he finds that it (conveniently) unlocks a lot of doors. Rob slowly comes to life as he spends more and more time in Portland searching for his stolen pig. But the film zags at almost every point where you’d expect it to zig. You might assume that Pig would unfold as a relatively conventional action thriller, with Rob resurfacing in society to fuck people up à la John Wick. Sometimes, it comes when you least expect it - like after reading the premise of Pig, which goes like this: A truffle-hunting hermit named Rob (Nicolas Cage) who lives in a literal cabin in the woods of the Pacific Northwest is forced to return to civilization when his beloved truffle-hunting pig is, uh, pig-napped. Here’s the lowdown on what we’ve been watching here at Polygon HQ.Įvery so often, an actor turns in a performance so remarkable and compelling that it reminds you why they’re a movie star. From Nicolas Cage’s latest mesmerizing performance in Michael Sarnoski’s thriller Pig and the Harley Quinn cartoon series to The Great Pottery Throw Down and Netflix’s Blood Red Sky, there’s loads of great TV shows and films to watch either streaming or in theaters. We’ve had ample time this past month to catch up and watch tons of new (or at least, new to us) stuff lately. We’ve been watching and playing things, but it’s been a minute and half since we shared. How are we doing? Oh y’know, same ‘ole same old. Still, the final result is still a fun, worthwhile bloodbath.Hey y’all, how have you been? You look great, have you done something new with your hair? Looks great, very fashionable. And yet, by the end of the film, you sort of retroactively realize that some of the stuff presented ultimately didn't matter, and that maybe there was a better story to tell within the larger one. Sometimes attempts to give us quick shots of passengers in these disaster movies go awry, as we're usually introduced to a parade of caricatures and/or bad stereotypes, but Blood Red Sky is able to pull it off with moderate success. The film also lets us get to know several of the crew members and passengers, allowing investment in the collateral damage and, in turn, the overall stakes. Purcell's performance, meanwhile, is decent, not breaking the mastermind mold, but delivering satisfactory goods as the head of this hired hijack team. Like Nadja, Scheer's Eightball is someone who's going to cause expansive trouble, no matter whose side he's on, and he makes for a great foil for Nadja. Performance-wise, Alexander Scheer also shines as the wild card of a crew of villains led by Dominic Purcell. There's a terrific tug-of-war going on inside Nadja as she crosses lines and then pulls herself back from the brink. And even within that, she's a human trying her best to rein in these cravings and desires for the sake of her boy. She not only transforms via makeup and prosthetics, but also with her other-worldly movements and unleashing of animalistic rage. Baumeister is a force to be reckoned with.
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