The One Tiny Flaw of Travolta/Cage is that Cage is OBVIOUSLY the Infinitely Greater Artist
When I came up with the idea for my column The Travolta/Cage Project and the Travolta/Cage podcast I was inspired by watching a bunch of late-period John Travolta movies like Gotti, The Poison Rose and The Fanatic that weren’t just bad but unforgettably, iconically terrible.
I was in love with the awfulness of Travolta’s late-period oeuvre. It wasn’t just that he made a bad movie or two (although god knows he’s done that) but rather that Travolta created an entire universe of crap it would take YEARS just to unpack.
That was the catalyst and the impetus for Travolta/Cage and the Travolta/Cage Project: I wanted to force myself to watch EVERYTHING the man did, no matter how dire, for one of my signature epic, ambiguously masochistic quests.
I instantly knew the perfect person to pair Travolta with: his Face/Off costar Nicolas Cage, another legend with a richly merited reputation for making LOTS of terrible movies in order to fund his castle addiction.
I’m not entirely sure why, but I saw Travolta and Cage as analogous figures, beloved icons whose careers are gifts to cinephiles and trash lovers alike.
It’s a lot easier to see Nicolas Cage and John Travolta as equals if you focus on the first five years of Travolta’s film and television career. Holy shit did he ever get off to an amazing start.
It was hit after hit for the lanky Scientologist with the bedroom eyes in the beginning. Welcome Back, Kotter! The Boy in the Plastic Bubble! Carrie! Saturday Night Fever! Grease! Urban Cowboy! Blow Out! Oh, and when he wasn’t making hit movies, hit television shows or hit television movies, Travolta was cranking out hit songs: five top 40 hits between 1976 and 1978, including the number one smash duet “You’re The One That I Want.”
Then things famously took a turn and he never quite recovered, even after scoring major comebacks with Look Who’s Talking and then Pulp Fiction.
When the Travolta/Cage Patreon began and patrons could choose whether they were Team Travolta or Team Cage literally everybody chose Team Cage. I understood why. He’s Nicolas fucking Cage, after all. He’s the best!
Doing the Travolta/Cage project and the Travolta/Cage podcast made me realize that in conceptualizing the projects I WILDLY over-estimated Travolta as an actor and icon and just as WILDLY under-estimated Cage.
Halfway through a project that will take up a full half-half-decade it is all too clear that not only is Nicolas Cage a better actor, icon and movie star than his one-time costar, but they’re really not even in the same league.
We learn that anew damn near every episode. With a few notable exceptions, like Get Shorty and Pulp Fiction, Cage destroys Travolta damn every time out. And for good reason. Cage has created an incredible and vast body of work that will stand the test of time while Travolta is a handsome, charming movie star who has made a lot of bad movies.
I was very wrong in thinking that Travolta and Cage had comparable legacies and filmographies. It’s not even close. Cage wins in a landslide.
Thankfully I do not have a problem being wrong. I don’t have a problem with being egregiously wrong. I am, if anything, way too comfortable being wrong not just SOME of the time but rather ALL of the time.
So even though we know damn well who the ultimate victor will be, I plan to continue doing the Travolta/Cage Project and the Travolta/Cage podcast because it’s just too much goddamn fun and I get to watch lots of Nicolas Cage movies, as well the lesser films of the other guy.
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