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Welcome to my blog, if you are looking for reviews of the latest releases then I would suggest taking a look at some of the other excellent blogs mentioned to the right of this blog, for I review an eclectic mix of films from any era and any country and have sadly little time for the latest film news.
Enjoy my blog and don't hesitate to comment, I will answer without delay!

Friday 7 January 2011

7th of January!

Today,Friday the 7th of January 2011, is my birthday. I have reached the "venerable" age of 17!

I won't bore you all with a list of presents I received (but if you really want to know then check this out!) and what food I ate and what I did in general.

Instead I would like to point out that today is also the birthday of actor Nicolas Cage (47 years old).



Nic Cage is one of my favourite living actors, I think he gets a lot of hate from many people mainly over the amount of terrible films he has been appearing in recently. I do think he is a far better actor than most people seem to think though, of course every actor has their fair share of terrible films and in Nic Cage's case maybe a bit more than his fair share... But I think that the many excellent performances he has given shouldn't be dismissed because of the present low point in his career.


People who claim that he is one of the worst working actors should consider that he has worked with such directors as David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog, The Coen Brothers, Spike Jonze, Francis Ford Coppola, Ridley Scott, John Woo and Brian De Palma. Now that is what I call an impressive career and it's still far from over!
He received an Academy Award for his performance in Leaving Las Vegas, which I have yet to watch, and a nomination for his performance in Adaptation which he should have won, he was amazing and played two different characters.
Well, I just think that despite the large amount of terrible films Cage has been involved with, his excellent performances really shouldn't be overlooked but rather singled out and praised, the rest can just be forgotten...

But whether you like him or not, you have to admit he is a unique actor.

Check this out!


P.S.
Actor Jeremy Renner and film composer Clint Mansell were both born on this day.
As was English naturalist Gerald Durell of whom I am a great admirer.

Also, interestingly, in 1894 which is 100 years before I was born, the Lumiere brothers invented the Cinematographe, a device which really triggered film making as made it into what it is today. I won't say it invented Cinematography, because I'm still not sure whether that claim rightly goes to the Lumiere Brothers, or to Edison and Dickson, Louis Le Prince or William Friesne-Greene...
Interesting on the 7th of January 1894, Dickson patented motion picture film this was quite an important step in the birth of Cinema, now that is exactly 100 years before my birth.

It's very interesting to find out such trivia about the day of ones birth, if you can think of any trivia from your birthday preferably film related then I would be interested to hear of it!

15 comments:

  1. Holy shit!

    You're just 17?!

    Do you know that you write with the wit, skill, and talent of a graduate college student?!?!

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  2. By the way, this is my birthday present for you.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP1-oquwoL8

    Happy Birthday!

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  3. thanks guys, I really appreciate it!

    and Nathanael, I thought it was pretty obvious that I was relatively young and new to Cinema, I mean I've only been seriously studying it for about a year and a half, so I only consider myself a beginner...
    But thanks, I'm so glad you think I'm a good writer!

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  4. oh and that video of Nic Cage Losing His Shit is absolutely hilarious and extremely well done, thanks Nathanael :)

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  5. Goddammit I feel so old:(
    Happy BDay man!

    The 7th of Jan is also the Russian New Year, so Happy New Year as well!

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  6. thanks man and being old isn't necessarily a bad thing :)

    I didn't know that the Russian New Year was on the 7th, very interesting... thanks!

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  7. Happy birthday, Jack. I think Nicolas Cage was excellent in leaving las vegas and good in adaptation but I don't think he should've even been nominated for adaptation especially when Norton was snubbed for his performance in 25th hour. Enjoy your day!

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  8. thanks Rohit!
    Although I admire Ed Norton very much as an actor I still prefer Nic Cage, I mean they have both seen there careers slump lately but Nic Cage has been in more quality films than Norton...
    I still need to see 25th Hour, I know you highly recommend it and I actually have it but I've never got around to watching it!

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  9. That's cuz Norton works mainly with new directors, considering body of work, Norton is way more diverse.

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  10. I suppose, but really Cage is more diverse than Norton, just look at how many great directors he's worked with over the years, pretty much all the (living) best, Norton while very good, cannot rival Cage for diversity, but he's probably way more consistent but that's not very hard seeing as it's Nic Cage we're talking about ;)

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  11. Certainly your range is wide, wide and wide for your age. And your being an enfranchised English is interesting. I am proficient in my mother tongue (Punjabi), the national lingo (Hindi), not bad in English, more than a smattering in German and less than a smattering in French. So that makes me a jack of many tongues.

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  12. Well I like to think that I watch a wide range of films, but I then realise how far I have yet to go, I'm only a beginner really...

    I would say you're better than "not bad" in English, you write extremely well.

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  13. Danke, merci, dhanyavaad, meharbani, cpaciba.

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