Natey & Katy: At the Movies
Natey & Katy are two friends who love movies and love talking about them. Join them on their cinematic journey!
Natey & Katy: At the Movies
Disturbing Depths and Raw Realism
Can Nicolas Cage's portrayal of a satanic serial killer push the boundaries of your comfort zone? This surprise Saturday episode of "Natey and Katy: At the Movies" dives into "Long Legs," a film that left me, Natey, grappling with its disturbing themes and captivating performances. While Nicolas Cage's unsettling role stands out, the film's deep focus on Satanism and unsettling makeup choices made it difficult for me to fully appreciate. Find out why "Long Legs" earned a mixed review of three out of six, balancing intriguing moments with controversial execution.
On a brighter note, we shift gears to celebrate the profoundly impactful "Sing Sing." This film shines with authenticity, powerful storytelling, and compelling performances drawn from real-life experiences, earning a perfect six out of six in our books. The raw realism, enhanced by rough language and effective music, created an exceptional cinematic experience that left a lasting impression. Stick around for a heartfelt review of "Sing Sing," and get excited for a sneak peek into our upcoming thoughts on the classic Jack Nicholson film noir "Chinatown".
Hey everybody, it's Nathan, aka Naty, from Naty and Katie at the Movies. This is another surprise Saturday episode, and this one is very special because it's a double feature. That's right. I saw two movies and I will be talking about both of them. Both of these movies made me feel things, one in a negative way and one in an amazing way. But let's start with the not so amazing feeling. Take a listen. Do you remember anything? It's like a long dream and so dark, a world of dark, like a nowhere Between here and there. I don't ever want to forget him. Long Legs, starring Maka Monroe, nicolas Cage, blair Underwood and Alicia Witt.
Speaker 1:Before I can talk about this movie, I have to go over the synopsis. In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree. Let's be honest the only reason majority of people are going to see this movie is because Nicolas Cage is in it. This movie made a big deal. That he was in this film, that he played the serial killer and that he played a very creepy character All those things are true, but this movie is one of those films that, after I went to go see it. As a Christian, I had to basically say I'm sorry I went to go see that movie. This movie made me feel so disturbed, which, of course, is probably the point. Everything I'm about to say about this film, in a negative sense, is probably what a lot of people think is good about it. This movie makes you feel horrible because the synopsis says to try to end this terrifying killing spree. Spoiler alert she doesn't do that, but I don't want to get too much into the plot, even though I kind of just spoiled it. I didn't spoil anything else and I won't, even though I feel like this is one of those movies that does not need to be supported just because of what the movie is about. It's about a serial killer who worships Satan. Okay, that's the summarization of this movie, but let's talk about the biggest thing, like I said, the biggest part that most people want to go see this movie for, which is Nicholas Cage.
Speaker 1:Nicholas Cage is almost unrecognizable as this character. Nicholas Cage, I think, is at the point in his career where he doesn't care what he does. You know he'll do movies like Left Behind. He'll do the movie with Pedro Pascal, which he plays himself, which I thought was a great movie, by the way and then he does something like Long Legs, where they put prosthetics on him, they do all this makeup on him and he just you can tell that he's having fun with the character, which I don't know what that says about him, but he's having fun with the character. He's making it his own. There obviously are little little bits of nicholas cage in there, but he's still playing the character that's being written for him.
Speaker 1:I'm just going to say that I don't understand why people aren't making a bigger deal about the makeup job that they did on him, because I thought he looked ridiculous. Again, he's supposed to be an awkward character. He's supposed to be outlandish over the top, disturbing, all those things, things, and so his look is supposed to be strange, abnormal kind of, and I get that. But that's kind of like people who justified the crappy cgi in the flash and saying, oh, it's because he's running so fast, that's why everything looks so weird. To me that's not a justification. When, with this, that's not a justification. When with this movie, it's not a justification that his character is supposed to be weird and disturbing and that's why his makeup might look a little weird. To me that's not a justification. I it was off putting again, which I guess is the point, but it's just. It just didn't work for me. It didn't work for me and again, this is my opinion.
Speaker 1:I thought the actress in this movie was kind of one note with her acting. Again, I understand her character is supposed to be awkward, very socially awkward. There are reasons for that that you find out in the movie. But still that's not a justification for bad acting to me. Just because the character is supposed to be that way does not justify the bad acting. I thought the story overall was somewhat intriguing until they really dive deep into the Satanism. The fact that this main character, nicolas Cage plays just worship Satan, and as a Christian again, I was very disturbed by that. And the fact that this movie is doing so well in the box office is very unsettling too.
Speaker 1:The fact that so many people are going out to see this movie and apparently people are loving it is very off-putting and disturbing to me and I kind of called the quote-unquote twist in the movie earlier than some people in the audience, which I thought was kind of funny, because then I hear people behind me whispering oh, psst, psst, psst, psst, psst and I'm like, yeah, I already knew that, I already figured it out. I'm not saying it's totally obvious what the twist is, because it took me a while to get it, but once you get it you're like, ok, can the movie in now? And it's not really a horror movie. And again, the biggest sell was Nicolas Cage and he's not really in it that much. So if you're going to go see this movie because you think Nicolas Cage is going to be awesome in it, I'm not saying he wasn't good. I'm not saying he wasn't good, I'm just saying the makeup didn't help him that much and the fact that he's not in it a lot didn't really help that much. So that's my thoughts on Longlegs. I would actually give Longlegs a three out of six because there were moments that I found myself like oh my goodness, I can't believe that just happened and invested somewhat in what was going on. So I can't give it like a one or two, but I'm not going to give it a five or six either. I'm going to give it a middle round of three. So that's Long Legs and my second movie that I went to go see in this double feature episode.
Speaker 1:Take a listen to this. This is a clemency hearing for your conviction 25 to life. Since you've been in custody, you've been involved in the theater program. It's been a program that was established to help, uh, people get more in touch with their feelings and it truly gets some rehabilitation and it's turned into something I don't know wonderful. What part do you play? From time to time I do act like we all do so. Are you acting at all during this interview? This movie is called Sing Sing and I'm assuming this movie is based on a true story. The storyline in this film wrecked me. This is one of the few films where I teared up in the movie theater. This movie stars Coleman Domingo, clarence Macklin, sean San Jose and Paul Racey. But before I can get really into this movie, I have to go over the synopsis. Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, finds purpose by acting in a theater group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity and the transformative power of art.
Speaker 1:As many of you might know some of you might not know, but some might know that I teach theater. I'm an elementary theater teacher and I also act on the side. I also act on the side and so I know the power that theater has. I don't see my classroom as a classroom. I see my classroom as a place where kids get to learn to be better people. Theater teaches empathy. Theater teaches respect. Theater teaches community. Theater teaches so many things that people don't understand. When they look at it from the outside, they see it as just a silly class. They see it as a class that kids get to just go and take a break from the quote unquote, real work, all those things. That's what people see theater as, and as a theater teacher, it can get frustrating. That's what people see theater as, and as a theater teacher, it can get frustrating.
Speaker 1:And so every once in a while, when a movie comes along and shows the absolute impact that the arts and theater can have on people, I am going to support it 100%, and that's what this movie does. So, like I said, apparently this is based on a true story. It's a real theater company in Sing Sing Correctional Facility, where people sign up to join a theater company, and originally it was made to help them with management skills, but then you realize, as anyone does when they they do theater, it teaches you so much more than that. This movie was so powerful now, obviously because it takes place in a prison, the language isn't the best. I'm not really going to hold that against this movie because, again, the context is everything where it takes place makes sense of the language that is in this film. So, other than that, there's really nothing else wrong with this movie.
Speaker 1:The performances were just phenomenal and I stayed after the credits I mean after the movie ended and they showed all these people and I'm like, are these really? Are these really the people that are in this prison? Because it said, you know, all these people are playing themselves and I was like this movie just blew my mind all over again that these are real people that are in prison for maybe crimes they may or may not have committed, but they're using their time in prison to do theater. It was really cool to go see this because this was one of those unseen screen films and I remember seeing the trailer for this at my previous unseen screen movie, which was fly me to the moon. If you haven't heard that episode, go back and listen to it. And I remember seeing the trailer. I'm like, oh man, that looks really good because of what it. And I remember seeing the trailer. I'm like, oh man, that looks really good because of what it was about. It was about theater and man I.
Speaker 1:I really can't say enough about how good this movie was. The performances were great, the story was beautiful. I I loved how it's all all these men in a. They didn't do what I thought they were going to do, which I guess some people might think might be the obvious thing to do. They just told a beautiful, sometimes heartbreaking story and it was just so, so good. It's one of those hidden gems because when I was looking up when the release date was because Fly Me to the Moon came out a week after I saw it this movie apparently came out that same week as Fly Me to the Moon, but I hadn't seen anything about it being released. So I don't know if this movie has already been released. If it hasn't been released, what? But my goodness, this movie was so good. Coleman domingo was fantastic. It's again.
Speaker 1:It's one of those movies that had no weak link in it. It was so real, it was so raw and I think some of it might have been because the people in the movie actually lived this and so to to see them on the screen and then to learn later that these people actually live this life was just boom, mind-blowing to me. So sing sing gets a perfect six out of six for me. Yes, the language is rough, but the the message in this film, the acting, the music, just everything about it gets a six out of six for me and I it could be because I'm a theater person, or it could just be because this movie is fantastic. So those are my thoughts on Long Legs and Sing Sing man. Sing Sing is just going to be with me for a while because of just how beautiful that film was. Next up you can hear Katie and I's thoughts on the Jack Nicholson film noir Chinatown this Tuesday on Nadie and Katie at the Movies.
