ABOUT

There have been ranked lists of Nicolas Cage films before, but they make the mistake of unpacking the great actor's oeuvre by assessing the "best" films rather than the most deliciously, explosively, powerfully Cage-like films.

Introducing The Cage Gauge: a regularly updated (upon the release of every new movie featuring the prolific actor) ranked list of every Cage movie, assessed using a unique gauge combining the quality of the film with—more importantly—the quality and originality of Cage's performance.

Each title on The Cage Gauge has been awarded a score out of 10, combining three key selection criteria. They are: the quality of the performance (marked out of four), the originality of the performance (also marked out of four) and the quality of the film (marked out of two). In this way The Cage Gauge emphasises Nic Cage as a co-author of his work—an actor so original, and so distinctive, he challenges the deeply entrenched auteur system, whereby a film's director is generally credited as its key creator.

To be eligible for this list, a film must include more than a "blink and miss it" performance. Cage must have at least a couple of lines of dialogue or, failing that, more than one appearance. Thus Fast Times at Ridgemont High, in which Cage is only seen in the background very briefly, is not included in The Cage Gauge.

Due to the huge number of films Cage has appeared in, many titles received the same score. In the event of a tie-breaker, a "captain's call" has been made, with myself (Luke Buckmaster) ordering the equally-scored films in terms of preference. Generally I have erred towards favouring films featuring bolder, more Cage-tastic presentation styles.

Any assessment of the quality of a film or performance is, of course, a subjective exercise. The core philosophy underlying The Cage Gauge is that every Nicolas Cage movie is worth watching—because every Nicolas Cage movie has Nicolas Cage in it. The point is ultimately to celebrate Cage's work, his collection of films representing one of the most substantial and eclectic contributions to cinema from any actor in history.

Got a question? Drop me an email or follow me on Twitter.

May the Cage be with you.

- Luke Buckmaster