We’ve given Nicolas Cage a little bit of a ribbing over the years, but it turns out the Ghost Rider star — who famously had to give up his valuable comics collection when he married Lisa Marie Presley — is really willing to let his geek flag fly. At the recent GHOST RIDER junket, Cage evinced some antipathy towards ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY and in this interview explains why:

‘Entertainment Weekly’ hasn’t done anything to me. Someone just asked me a question about whether I think comic book movies get a bad rap. Someone mentioned to me that there was a blurb in ‘Entertainment Weekly’ that said very condescendingly, ‘We get a kick out of watching Academy Award winners being in movies that they have no business being seen in.’ I thought, ‘Well, okay. That’s really shallow thinking because they can’t get outside their own box.’ They don’t understand the concept of what I would say is art. You have different styles and you can choose to be photo-realistic like ‘World Trade Center’ or you can be pop art illustrative. Why limit yourself to one style of acting, and especially when you look at ‘Ghost Rider’ you see a comic book story structure which digs a little deeper. It doesn’t take itself too seriously of course. It’s funny, but it’s coming from classic themes like Faust with Goethe or Thomas Mann or ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ It’s fascinating to take those story structures and reintroduce people to it in a pop art contemporary manner and a especially a comic book no less. It’s just fun and reaches a lot of people, but ‘Entertainment Weekly’ is the kind of magazine that is very condescending and they think in a very narrow box and they always have. So that’s why I would recommend that if you want to really get your information and know what movies to go see I wouldn’t resort to that particular publication because they are pretty shallow.


Thomas Mann! Nic really hasn’t read EW very closely (they are a true friend to comics, and put all kinds of superhero movies on the cover) but we appreciate where he is coming from. You go, boy! Pow! Flame on! Comics are ART!

On the OTHER hand, there is this examination of the Stonecutter-like powers that fanboys wield in Hollywood:

The key ingredient to making a good film great has been the presence of the much maligned and utterly crucial fanboy. The movie industry may see this as demographic upkeep. Movie fans should consider them a shield of vision and integrity to the superheroes many have grown up with.

Having a directly indirect influence on some of the most anticipated films, fanboys have the ability influence the portrayal of characters or the aesthetics during movie production via the all-powerful message board.

The “Transformers” movie is most recent example of this newfound power. Producer Don Murphy displayed early prototypes of transformers Optimus Prime and Megatron seeking fan input. Murphy has even posted message boards on the official movie website for constant fan participation.


To prove the point, right after this story there’s a comment from someone named ‘james’ that reads:

unfortunetley much of the input the fans had on Transformers the movie was to little to late, since almost all the designs need a complete overhaul


Thath’s it fanboy! You must NEVER BE SATISFIED! Your vigilance is all that stands between us and Michael Keaton as Batman!

1 COMMENT

  1. The problem with Transformers is that most of the people who will want to see that movie will go because of nostalgia for the 80’s cartoons and toys. But the movie is trying as hard as possible to move away from that selling to some wider audience–who probably won’t care.

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