Every year the Alamo Drafthouse hosts a Nicolas Cage movie marathon to celebrate the birth of one of our most off-the-wall actors. This year's marathon was crazier than usual because Cage himself was in attendance. Of course, Nicholas Cage doesn't just show up to his own movie marathon and sit in the back and watch movies. He showed up and read Edgar Allan Poe's "The Telltale Heart," because of course he did.
The Alamo Drafthouse has been running CAGED, the Nicholas Cage movie marathon for four years now. This year, as the assembled crowd was beginning to open the marathon with a performance of Happy Birthday, the song broke down as Nicolas Cage himself showed up on stage. With barely a word he launched into his reading, which he intros in the video above saying that the piece was a major influence on him as a child which in turn influenced his performances in movies as an adult. As slightly bizarre as it is, it does give a bit of insight into the actor.
This year's film festival covered five great Nicolas Cage films, Bangkok Dangerous, Joe, Bringing Out the Dead, Army of One, and Lord of War. Cage was apparently directly involved in the film choices this year and he did remain thought the festival and watched all the movies with the assembled crowd. It's a rock solid collection of movies to be sure. There a couple of legitimately great films in there, and each one shows a different side of Cage's slightly off-beat personality. After the marathon was over the Nicolas Cage experience was not, as the actor hung out for a Q&A afterward, which you can check out below.
This year's CAGED event was also the place of another historic moment. There was apparently also a marriage proposal in the theater which Nicolas Cage "presided over" according to the Alamo Drafthouse. No word if he will be officiating the wedding, but that seems like the obvious next step doesn't it?
If you're the sort of person who attends Nicolas Cage movie marathons then you have a love for the actor that can't really be quantified. We can only imagine that just being in the theater with him was akin to a religious experience. Certainly, it was an event that fans, and one brand new couple, will never forget.
