The great city of Melbourne is being blessed with a magical event: A 12-hour, all-night, non-stop tribute to the greatest actor of all time, Nic Cage.
A few weeks ago the kind folk at the Melbourne International Film Festival unveiled the glorious concept that is Cage-A-Thon; a centrepiece event in their sprawling 2018 programme that will showcase a handful of Cage’s very best in a movie marathon for the ages.
Quite cryptically though, they kept the exact details of what instalments from the Nic Cage oeuvre to their chest. Until now.
MIFF unveiled their gargantuan 2018 programme in full last night at a launch event in Melbourne, and among the 370+ films featured in this year’s festival, the slate of movies on offer at Cage-A-Thon was also revealed.
And folks, believe us when we say, it’s an absolute doozy.
A mix of old, new, whacky, and classic Cage, the slate of 7 films spans 31 years of pure Cage, from his eccentric, elastic early critically acclaimed work, to the writhing self-parody of his modern output.
The ‘Thon begins with Cage’s latest effort, a horror-action film called Mandy plucked straight from Cannes that critics have gone bananas over thanks to what’s described as an “electric” performance from the man himself.
From there, the marathon takes on Cage’s dance with the Coen brothers in Raising Arizona, before delving into rarefied Cage air on Red Rock West and Vampire’s Kiss.
At this point the Cage-A-Thon kicks into high gear, ramming through The Wicker Man and Drive Angry before, finally, bleary-eyed patrons will be treated to a big screen, big sound system, full-assed screening of the one and only Con Air.
Hell. Yes.
If this sounds like your kinda thing (really, it should), then heed these details:
The Cage-A-Thon is going down on Friday, August 10th at 9:30pm at the historic Astor Theatre, and it’ll run well into Saturday morning.
Tickets are available now via the Melbourne International Film Festival website.
Go get yourself some CAGE.
