Second Emulation
Welcome to Second Emulation, the ultimate podcast for all things pop culture! Join me, a devoted fan, as I dive into the fascinating world of movies, TV shows, and the ever-expanding universe of anime. Armed with just a mic and my trusty PC, I'll take you on an exciting journey through the latest releases, discussing everything from current shows to the hottest movies on the big screen. And if you're an anime enthusiast like me, get ready for an in-depth exploration of my watchlist for the upcoming season, with a focus on both subbed and dubbed gems.
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Second Emulation
Nick Cage Gets Drunk And Fights Crime
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Nicolas Cage as Spider-Noir should not work this well, and that’s exactly why we had to talk about it. We’re still moving through Cage’s filmography, but this time we detour into TV with Amazon Prime’s Spider-Noir and the surprisingly bold choice to let you watch it in black and white or color. We picked black and white, because if you’re going to call something noir, you have to commit to the shadows, the contrast, and the old-school rhythm of the dialogue.
We get into what makes this Spider-Man variant feel distinct in the Spider-Verse without leaning on Peter Parker. Set against a Depression-era backdrop, Ben Reilly plays like a worn-down private investigator who puts the mask on when he has to, not because he wants to. We talk about the best scenes that sell the concept, including the drunk bar fight where Spider-Noir throws hands while taking shots, a standout car chase that proves the action can move like real Spider-Man, and the smaller bits that made us laugh like the kid decoy trying to mimic his mannerisms.
We also don’t dodge what falls flat. The femme fatale romance doesn’t fully earn the risks the story asks him to take, the cure plot builds up only to feel weirdly pointless, and the season sometimes crams in too many villains at once. Even with those issues, we both land at a four out of five because the noir style, production design, and Cage’s weird-perfect performance make this one of the most watchable Spider-Man side stories in a while. Listen, then tell us: do you prefer Spider-Noir in black and white or color, and do you want a season two? Subscribe for the next chat, share the show with a friend, and leave us a review if you want to help more people find us.
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Welcome Back To Second Emulation
SPEAKER_00Hi hello, welcome to Second Emulation. Okay, you are just so lucky right now because you are literally about to spend like the best time with my amazing friend Sean. He is like the expert on all things movies, anime and gaming, and he just has like the best opinions. Seriously, talking to him is like a whole thing in the best way. So get comfy maybe with a little drink, I don't know. A kombucha, a latte, whatever is your thing. Because Sean is going to take you on like a total journey. Okay, love that. Here he is.
SPEAKER_05Hello there, and welcome back to Second Emulation. Today we're gonna be doing something different. It's actually not a movie, it is Spider Noir. I'm Sean.
SPEAKER_01And I'm Kylie.
SPEAKER_05And this is gonna be a unique thing because we are still following Nick Cage's filmography, but actually, we were actually treated to a something very unique. Nick Cage
Why Spider-Noir Is The Pick
SPEAKER_05doing a Marvel show.
SPEAKER_04A TV show.
SPEAKER_05A TV show actually on Amazon Prime called Spider Spider-Man Noir.
SPEAKER_01No, Spider Noir.
SPEAKER_05Or Spider Noir.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And we got the opportunity to watch it in black and white when you can choose to watch it in color. And I think it was actually really good.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so it's not a movie. I don't even know if he's done TV shows in the past 40 years. I think it's only been movies.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's only been movies.
SPEAKER_01So this might be his only television series, but we figured we'd watch it because one, we were going through the spy through the Nick Cage journey, but also I really love spy noir films. And I thought it was interesting that you got to pick between color and black and white. But the only way for something to truly be noir is you have to watch it in black and white. So that's how we watched it. And for those that are not familiar, Spider-Noir is what is he? It's a different variation of Spider-Man through the multiverse.
SPEAKER_05Multiverse, yeah. So they took the concept from the original Spider-Man through the multiverse animated movie, which he is Spider Spider Noir was first introduced. It's not the same Spider-Man that was introduced to there. They did take that character, and here we're introduced to the same monik moniker, but it's not Peter Parker.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_05So they did take that character and they brought it in through a live action, but it is portrayed by someone else.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and then there's also obviously he's in a different time setting, and he his journey to becoming the spider is different than Peter Parker's, but there are still familiarities of loss and stuff like that. So yeah, it was a different take, and it's interesting that's the first one they chose to go with, but I actually think there was probably a good reason.
SPEAKER_05Well, yeah, because I think well the reason for that is that there is licensing with Spider-Man between Marvel and Sony, so that Sony can only do for Marvel Spider-Man characters, but they can't use they only can only with Spider-Man properties, which is why all the movies that come out, like the villain movies, have all been like Spider-Man villains, yeah, solo films, and any type of Spider-Man movie has been under a shared through Marvel and not Sony. So I feel like this was like the compromise. We'll give you you could do a Spider-Man live action, but it can't be Peter Parker, and which is why there were such a big this one's done by Sony. It is done by Sony.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and for those who aren't familiar, it stars Nicolas Cage as the spider, Lamarne Morris as what I think is Robbie, who's the the journalist, and he's also from New Girl. He played Winston for those who are curious. And then the lady
Black And White Versus Color
SPEAKER_01his assistant, I think her name is Janet in the show, and she's played by Karen Rodriguez. And then you have Brandon Gleason who plays the Irish mobster. I feel like he often plays an Irish mobster and something, but I like his accent and I think he does a good job. So I guess after going from that, what are your favorite scenes from the show?
SPEAKER_05I think this doesn't get talked of enough, but I feel like this is almost manifestation because Nick Cage not only got to voice the character that he got to uh give life to in Spider through the multiverse of Spider Noir, because he was also the voice.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, in the car in the animated film he was the voice.
SPEAKER_05He got he was the voice. So I feel like this is almost not only paying homage to the character, but also kind of a manifestation of him bringing the character to full life. It might not be Peter Parker, but him getting full circle of him voicing the character and him playing the character in real life. So I thought that was pretty cool. I think some of my favorite moments is I think it's also for people who don't know, is that Nicolas Cage is essentially the goat when it comes to Marvel. He had a goat. He's played more Marvel characters now. He's played this will be a second Marvel character he's played.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so then how does that make him the goat? Because there's a lot of people who played multiple characters.
SPEAKER_05He's played Ghost Rider and Ghost Rider and it's Fire Run now. Second Marvel character.
SPEAKER_01Cause I was gonna say, technically Ryan Reynolds played he played Deadplays multiple times, but he also was the Green Lancher.
SPEAKER_05That's a different different character. If you think of Fantastic Four, coming back. Because yeah, Fantastic Four is in the same universe.
SPEAKER_01But but they have the I feel like there's incestuous kind of I guess they were split because Fantastic Four wasn't in Marvel back when uh what's his face before he became Captain America.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But the it just sometimes feels like there's a small pool because some actors play multiple parts. But yeah, Nick Cage was originally ghostwriter, and I guess he he was he's in this one, but he was also in Superman now with DC.
SPEAKER_05That is DC, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean Wasn't he supposed to be Superman?
SPEAKER_05He was supposed to be Superman at one point. He even stated that he had a and this is getting off topic, but it's just he is a nerd just like anyone else who grew up on comic books, and why he's so connected and took geek dumb is that he at one point after Christopher Reeves had passed away was actually going to play a role for as Superman for a script, and apparently that movie was filmed with him in it the whole thing, the whole thing, and it just never got produced. Interesting, which is why in the move in the movie of Flash Flashpoint, we got to see a part of that movie. And Nicholas Cage talks about it. He there's actually he got to the suit and everything. There's a suit that he I'm assuming he sold off, but he actually has a Superman suit that was fitted for him, and he got to do lines and things like that, and he read the script and did all this stuff, but it just never got to see the light of day. I think he got paid for and this was
Multiverse Spider-Man Without Peter Parker
SPEAKER_05very early on for DC. And I guess part of stuff like that where you do films and you do productions and stuff like that, and sometimes films they you film them and they just don't they get greenlit and then all of a sudden after a while they just get canned.
SPEAKER_01I think that happened with the supergirl movie. Or no, the background movie.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Depending on what time that movie was about to come out, stuff like that happens. But he did get paid for it.
SPEAKER_01Doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_05Doesn't matter, but yeah, only s Nick and we're gonna off topic, but this I think my favorite part is that favorite part is just that Nick Cage is the only one I feel like would be perfect to be Spider-Man, especially Spider-No-War Spider-Man, and I think truly because he got to play Dracula and Renfield, where we got to see what it would be like for him to be quirky and kinda supernatural in a sense. So I think for me, one of my favorite scenes was just see him c doing a duality role, essentially, and having that be on display, where Ghost Rider didn't really get to I guess you could say he did have that duality role, but he was mostly in CGI. This one he got to like really put himself in it, so I think seeing for me personally was like we first get to see him. I think for me, the my my favorite scene, I get off topic, is when we see him talk about oh my god, first interactions because this is during the time of the depression, so he's talking about how they're getting paid because he's a part he's a PI. He's talking about doing a job, and about how 20 bucks is very 20 bucks a day was pretty expensive.
SPEAKER_01I think it was a little like more of a livable wage than it was.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, more of a livable wage. And how some guy was like he was talking about like how he was going to try to follow someone, and he's like, hey, you're paying some guy 10 bucks an hour or a day to do that. I'll do it for this much. And just seeing his interactions in this world and the voice that he has that he was like portraying, you could see all the different characters and films that he's done kind of like portray on screen. So I thought that was pretty cool. I wouldn't say it was like my favorite. Just seeing Nick Cage be Nick Cage on.
SPEAKER_01What'd you say it was your favorite theme?
SPEAKER_05It's not my favorite. I don't know. I couldn't I guess you could say it's hard to have to actually pick a favorite scene in Spider Noir or Spider-Noir because it's a series, so each episode was different. So I think I have to come back. You'll have to come back to me.
SPEAKER_01But you but there you saw there must have been like moments that you watched that were favorites. For example, mine was would probably be when he he lost his powers because he was trying to Lamarin's character had to pretend to be him because the guy was starting they were starting to get suspicious of him as having powers. Also, this the jerky thing he does every time he's like trying to fend off the spider. I thought that that was fun. Just a lot of it when he's in his outfit, I was like, he looks funny. He looks like an old timey fly or something. I don't know. He looks quite humorous, but I can see there's a lot of moments to go from, but I think those are some of my top.
SPEAKER_05Okay, okay. I think uh one of the favorite things I like is when he gets drunk. Oh yeah, where he's in the bar and he's he's not in not in costume, and everyone's talking about the spider. So the the setup is like he's in the bar, he's already down on his luck, everyone's like, shit's already hit the fan, and he's kind of he feels kind of discommodated, kind of demasculated at this time. He's drinking, and everyone's talking about the spider, and just kind of like not really giving paying attention to him. So he's drinking, getting upset, and he walks out already pissed, and these guys are just like the thugs. And you would think he so we walks out, he's like, you know what, I'm done. So he turns around and he's like, you know what? I've already had a bad day, I'm just gonna go back in there. So he goes back in dressed up as the spider, and you know what he does? He goes in to just whoop some ass. And the whole scene is Nick Cage, you know, fighting these guys, and he's doing he's as he's fighting, he's doing quips as like Peter Parker or Spider-Man is known. He's doing quips and he's
Sony Marvel Rights And The Cast
SPEAKER_05drinking. So while he's fighting, he's like drinking while he's flying. Fighting, yeah. So he's you know, at moments putting lifting up the mask and taking a shot of like stuff and still fighting and and then doing stuff, and he's not fighting as nimble or as accurate as he could, because again, he's like still under the influence of what he's drinking. So he's like taking these un taking these risky hits, but still going at it, and just being as aggressive as he can, and he doesn't really care. So I think like that, you know, I think is my favorite scene because it's like a different portrayal of as if he's supposed to be like the hero of the city, you shouldn't have let that get to you. But it also shows like he's still human, but at the same time, he's not the type of hero you would think he would be, because again, he just walks right in there, full co full garb in coughs and just kicked everyone's ass, and there's webbing all over the place while the bartender was watching it, and then when he was done, the bartender was like, Hey man, it's on the house, and still gave him like whatever drink was available and drank. And then I believe Winston came in that time and was like, Hey, we gotta go. And the bartender was like kind of dumb for him, like, you know this guy, so I feel like that was my for me one of the favorite scenes because it kind of showed like the duality of the two. He's composed and he allows his he uses the spider to like funnel his anger and his rage. It's something that he can't do as Ben Riley.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That's your favorite.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I think too, the outside of just what the show's about, I really like the mystery. I thought the mystery was actually way better or the mystery of trying to discover what was happening and how like he if there's an antidote and all that stuff, the stuff he was uncovering I thought was more interesting than like the love story. But I did enjoy how committed Nick Cage was to doing a noir. Because whenever I think of noir, I always think of people being like, hey, what'd you do? Hey, get it together, hey? And just things shit like that. It's just talking fast with an accent, and I'm like, oh that they must he must be whoever it is. That's I I had a point, and then I was going, Oh, the way he's talking, yes. I'm like, he must be from that time span or that time frame. And I thought Nick Cage is an eccentric guy, he's a weird dude. He was gonna always be weird in this, he was always gonna take it and be weird. And I feel like Noir, the way that they talk, is it's not gonna be everyone's cup of tea because it's very specific. It's a very specific world of like oh there's a crime mystery, everyone's got talking really fast, and they're saying things in a way that we're not used to, and saying things like dame and all that stuff, just old timey talk, and that's just gonna what it's supposed to be. And I think Nick Cage is really the best guy to do it because he's a weird guy, and he was gonna make it weird, and he just got to make it a weird that I think fits really well. And he does it when he's talking and he says things that you would think ridiculous, just like I said 'em now, my brother laughing. He get he gets away with it because you're just like, huh, Nick Cage. Yeah, he believes what he's saying, and he sounds right coming from him, probably because he's an odd guy. So yeah, I liked any time that they talked in with their little act gangster accents. I thought it was funny. And they all and the old phrases that they use, like broad and dame, and they had words for drinks. It was all very interesting. I liked all of that.
SPEAKER_05For me, the second it's not really a second favorite scene. I think it was more so like Ben Riley and Cage's character. He wasn't, you know, glorified, but like his job was a P.I. So like he was doing stuff like unfavorable things to like to investigate. So like he himself had to get his hands dirty, so he was breaking in entering the places as a spider.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, he breaks into the mob guy's house to get the exactly the money. And which that was a cool part, a cool scene too. He figured out that the guy was marking his money, which is I'm sure they must have done back in the day. Yeah, like during Crow Hunt. Doing like signals and stuff, so like they can tell who's fucking around with their money.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so he was he didn't have any gadgets, he didn't, he was using I thought this portrayal of a Spider-Man, particularly different from Peter Parker, was that it showed that this variation of a Spider-Man was just as intelligent compared to Peter Parker because he didn't have the technology and he still was as brilliant as a PI. Ben Riley was just as capable as Peter Parker because he was able to utilize and to do marking the bills, given the time the prohibition, depression, beating the mob. And kind of and still had getting some assistance like with his crew and being able to put two and together, but like he was still able to figure these things out and do that stuff, and also being in an era where like technology is very at like very limited and computers and all that stuff. So like he's doing he's very like up there intelligent-wise, still dealing with like things that are low level, but still kinda advanced from where given the times that they're in. So you have to give him give him a lot of credit with the things that he has and the things that he's capable of doing. Just like we'll call him like the meta humans at the time. Which I think that was also one of my favorite things was introducing these very popular villains as science experiments. I was gonna say that was gonna be one of my other favorite scenes turning story um is was go ahead and finish but yeah yeah that that was like so that kind of also leads up just I think overall favor
Favorite Moments And Cage Full Circle
SPEAKER_05just how he handles these occasions of like marking the bills just how he handles these situations for him just not being not favored but just overall I think for me which is given the situation the time frame how he's not really your typical Spider-Man type of character he's even though he wears the monocle he's doing stuff that wouldn't be considered honorable in a sense he almost p he almost acts like a Batman type of type of character in a sense if you would think about it he's pushing that level of morality in a sense that he has to cross that line just enough in order to like help the people of the city yeah I would I guess I would I would agree.
SPEAKER_01I think too with him he because like he said he's a PI so he he's it's like a two for didn't his lady die? Yeah the that that was his story his MJ his MJ. Yeah that was his his story into moving away from because he wasn't he stopped being the spider when we meet him he was only a PI but he gets pulled into a web of a mystery of how all these other people are also have powers and but they're starting to deteriorate as the powers are showing he never did and that's because he also never really changed when they were they were experimenting on him he was able to take the serum is is what they would call it serum and all their tests and actually obtain the abilities and not turn in a really terrible way. So I think he's figuring out he's figuring out those those mysteries so he's operating from like the place of a PI and he doesn't want to be it's kind of Spider-Man after a loss he doesn't really want to be the spider he wants to just be Ben Riley. Yeah he even makes things harder by not being the spider and using his powers which is crazy but he by the end accepts what what's happening. So he's gotta follow this whole mystery and he's doing it as then Riley then as well as the spider and then he goes back and seeing that and also seeing him talk with the spider costume on I'm like I know that's not an occasion underneath there. I know she says audio it has to be because I just I don't see him getting into the suit he just has more it's more confidence.
SPEAKER_05Like again it's the moment the suit he puts on the suit Ben Riley's like he has this more swagger and confidence to him. And I feel like Nick Cage would have that bravado ah this is my armor I'm the spider.
SPEAKER_01Yeah like I was gonna say if his armor he can go hide behind it and also it makes him more bold. So he does have a lot of like the things he's holding his tongue on he does say it once he's dressed as a spider which is which is funny. Do you have any other favorite scenes?
SPEAKER_05Yes the car chasing so when they find when he finds out that they're going they find a location of what a police sting that they're going to catch them some of the mobsters at Ben Riley goes and he sees these two cars he lunges onto them and there's a giant car chase slash fight and you kind of get a sense of like what this show is going to be about based on this first fight and mind you perfectly awesome I thought it was gonna be like kind of janky it's like oh man it's an Amazon show they're not gonna put as much into it totally had my expectations blown away because Nick Cage is in it he's doing and everything he's in everything but you truly got to see a Spider-Man fight in this type of world he was using the webs he was dodging it truly was Spider-Man on there and I thought it was really cool. And so that for me that was like the first one I for me I think it was a top favorite scene for me was like that first kind of car iconic hero on top of the car chase because it's it goes back to the first Spider-Man movie of Tom McGuire when he is in the chase of the villain of after Uncle Ben dies. So very iconic it's always car fight scene so for me that's my other favorite scene.
SPEAKER_01Mine also I have another one and they're such small things just as funny but there's a kid in it who's talking like he's in the newsies and he makes me laugh he's using that old timey noir accent but Nicolas Cage pays him or they hook him up to come be in his house pretending to be him and I thought that that was really cute. The kid is trying to keep get his mannerisms down so he could pretend to be him through the window oh yeah I forgot about that. And I like that I like that I really like that scene I thought it it showed how much people go to lengths to help him even though he's supposedly a bad person.
SPEAKER_05Yeah he uses yeah that goes back he uses his methods are very different which his is what I was saying what I was trying to say is that he I feel like this version of Spider-Man is more like an anti-hero to a degree because of like the his morals he's not as moral as you would think as like Peter Parker because some of the things that he does Peter Parker wouldn't do just because he has like a a moral line he won't cross and that's maybe because Ben Riley has to adjust to the times that he's in as opposed to like Peter Parker won't do that. So if we're like and plus Ben Raleigh's an adult when dealing with stuff like people are being murdered so it's very different. So yeah and also what was the other one there's he uses uh the same kid as an irregular to find out who's telling him you mean the kid the news he's kid? Yeah he when he's walking around he sees a kid he goes he I think that kid like selling a newspaper or he's asking and he gives him a quarter and goes how long's my tail and then the kid looks over and goes oh it's a long one and because he looks over and he sees like a guy following him but yeah he uses like lots of irregulars same kid's to have him out so did you have any least favorite scenes?
SPEAKER_01Least favorite scenes yes and no I should preface it by saying I had a lot of not so much it's hard to pick scenes because like you said it's a TV show. So it's not so much scenes as like storylines and episodes that I liked. So I I liked his story as the PI. I liked his friend the journalist and his story of trying to come back and writing I liked his assistant and how they helped him they all believe in him clearly and they helped him and even at the end what my last favorite scene is when his assistant finds out quote unquote that he is the spider and he's what and he shocked and she's like I already knew like he told me every time you're drunk and like times he's told her and he's like he never said anything she was like I figured you'd tell me when you're ready and so she's just been pretending not to know this whole time and he's over here trying to be out fly but every time he gets drunk he tells her he's a spider. Oh yeah which I thought was really funny so that's another favorite one. So there I have a lot over the episodes that I liked about it. I would say least favorite is something that unfortunately is a part of Noir as well is you're supposed to have a femme fatal andor someone
Noir Dialogue And Mystery Over Romance
SPEAKER_01that alludes to that and he does end up falling for the mobster's girlfriend who's actually in love with somebody else and it's fine because it doesn't spoiler alert doesn't work out because she's in love with someone else but I and this always happens in noir where they like off quickly for each other but I just didn't buy it and I thought I didn't really I thought when they're supposed to escape together and all of that and everything that was happening I just didn't feel like they were actually interested in each other. That was the vibe I got which makes it a little hard to believe in that he would be willing to risk a lot for her because he don't really know her. So I didn't I didn't like that I didn't like the scene too where he they're planning like to get away or whatever the train and then they ultimately do it.
SPEAKER_05I didn't like that either for me what I didn't like was the whole premise of building creating the cure from Ben Riley. And the reason for that was that they built up the hype to make a cure and then not only did they create the cure but the cure ended becoming just useless at the end because most of the victims that were experimented on already died and so the only person who actually benefited from the cure was the scientist's son and Marco the sand man. And then everyone else who was essentially part of that whole experiment experimentation had already died from utilizing their their their powers too much. So I felt like it was like it was a story element to to get to the point that as you mentioned the fanfatel's love interest to survive and she get kind of gets her happy ending at the end.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Because it it didn't even it didn't benefit Ben Riley. It didn't benef he was the only one who didn't benefit from hey you're gonna capture me and take my stomach DNA to create a cure and yet I can't of course I want to cure myself but then what new threat's gonna come around that's gonna need the spider and so that doesn't benefit me at all.
SPEAKER_02And yet yeah I guess if he gets cured then it'd go away huh?
SPEAKER_05Yeah if he cures himself then the he what new threat would come around that needs a spider. So yeah it'd be no benefit for him. Which I I thought it was pretty okay that he tried to cure the other people then he'd be alone with superpowers. But at the same time it just it was one of those story pots like okay cool there's a cure he could have saved it for in case like something else came around for what there's other I would assume like other villains. Also didn't he get hit with a cure in this no he didn't how'd he lose his power does I keep forgetting now he was having like a mental block that's right he was having a mental block which just over the because they had injected him with drugs so he was having like a mental block under the like anesthesia so that was like the reason why and then the doctor dies like her and the person fire it was like so it was so un it was so pointless she creates the cure guest of our cures her son then they both die after he gets cured and like what was the point? Yeah what was the point and and I was like that just it was just it just helped move the story along it it's an eight episode show so you gotta move shit along it's gotta be the other guy who had the rhino skin he got cured but he did get cured so did the dust guy I think the only one who really didn't get cured was the elect what's his name he died afterwards I'm assuming he died but again like that's like how many fatalities of the whole platoon so many of them were killed off and then like what two people were cured from that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah I guess too I would agree I so I guess I have Yeah I was gonna say I guess I have a couple that I didn't really like I didn't really like when she went they went to the to try to get help with the the cure and she didn't she was like no especially when they kidnap him again to get the access to his his cells to make the cure. Like she was being super super selfish about it and like who could access it and all these things and then took it without his consent.
SPEAKER_05Yeah she sells them out. Yeah and I was just like huh this is kinda but that's a common theme in like Noir films like the portrayal like they're quick to sell you out oh yeah draw them below down the street.
SPEAKER_01Yeah they're quick to they're quick to say I just didn't I didn't like that part. It also seemed kind of moot at the end of the day because she doesn't even make it I don't think she makes it I can't remember but I'm pretty sure they die no she no she and Marco are alive her love interest the famous makes it out oh no the love interest I'm talking about the female doctor and her son.
SPEAKER_05No I I said that they both die.
SPEAKER_01Yeah that's what I said they both died because they come in and after he gets cured he they he dies like you said that's a waste.
SPEAKER_05So saying like they so they didn't again they do all that to make that breakthrough only for them to then themselves die and not have anything else like a cure and we don't even get to see like what that her son's ability was I think it was like it's alluding to like Vulture because Vulture had something where he ages very quickly but they never explained anything to that so he just was aging rapidly for no reason. And then he dies and so the cure was like okay we create the cure we die and then that was it and then nothing benefited from them.
SPEAKER_01And so I was like okay and then the mobster's like hey we don't want a cure for this guy yeah that story probably just didn't seem very well thought out yeah that the love story didn't seem well thought out it made sense for her to be in love with the Sandman because they they fell in love and it seemed natural but all the other stuff with Nicolas Cage I was like this is pointless.
SPEAKER_05This could have been probably like two less episodes than it was just they kept cramming in a bunch of mysteries in there which is fine but I was just like okay we're on a little bit of off the path right now so yeah I would say I agree with that there was also another part that wasn't my favorite and I can't remember it now I can't remember it now yeah there was it was a plot line oh what are you gonna do I'll go my least favorite one was uh the love interests the the female the fanfatels yeah the fem the fanfatels here were even though they were present they were morphely used for like a distraction but her allegiance was like she was flip-floppy it was more so about self-preservation than anything else you kind of knew from the beginning the moment that whoever held the power she that's who she was with so the moment she found out Ben Raleigh was a spider she was head over heels with him because she knew he could protect her and the moment we're gonna get away cool the moment she found out that there was a cure to take away his
PI Ethics And Spider Anti-Hero Energy
SPEAKER_05ability Franco Franco was the one with the power that's who she was with and to cure him because you know I think she was always trying to cure him to be honest.
SPEAKER_01I think she was using him the Nicolas Cage's character from the beginning to get the anecdote so she could give it to the Sandman. So I think she was using him from the beginning.
SPEAKER_05I don't think it was about power I think it was more like you can help me get what I want possibly her character was like I want to say just her in general was utilized very differently than I expected.
SPEAKER_01They just pushed her more to the love interest and yeah so it was definitely an noir because she was not as you would say a well-rounded character you have more well-roundedness from Ben Riley and even the fuck the fucking bad guy the sand man you have more and even the reporter his friend you have a lot of backstory for all of them that makes you see them as like a three-dimensional person and I think with her it really was there was nothing outside of her for being except for being a love interest that was it there's no other motivations for her in this except to she was the girlfriend of the main mobster she was in love with his one of his henchmen she needed to do whatever was possible to help the Sandman who she loved and I'm like that's fine but she also's in a lot of scenes so I was surprised too that they didn't make her more I don't know well rounded thinking were any other plot lines to do yeah they didn't give her anything else to do and so she wasn't on screen most of the time and she was on a good chunk though like at least a third she was also like I want to say the title like the cage bird because she was also supposed to be like the singer like she was also being monitored being sung because that was like one of my least favorite thing for me it's not like in a scene which is more of like her character because anytime they her and Ben Riley interacted she it didn't progress the story because she was you could see or their interactions she was pulling him more so for her for him her benefit and he was being manipulated because he was in a love interest so he was slow with the he was slow to catch on. That's on him though because who thinks they're in love after a few days come on yeah I felt like ready to run away with her and I was like okay you went on her for three days and then that's crazy. And she kind of used that like she did she used the whole thing to get what she wanted I'm just surprised he didn't see it sooner but honestly sometimes I think he's dumb in this and he does some dumb stuff and I'm like damn you're supposed to be the spider that actually I would say brings me to probably my my last least favorite I don't I did not like the electro guy oh I think like and you know what's funny is his accent was perfect and he seemed like perfect for the role as far as looks go But it's just something about him and his story I just didn't like. And I just didn't I didn't enjoy in most of what he was in because he was just such a jerk. And then at the end of the fight scene, he's just an anhole. So it's like it's I know what it is.
SPEAKER_05It's one of those it's one of those uh the archetypes where he was either bullied enough and then once he comes into power, he's like, look at me now. And and he was on blo he was a Broadway, he's an actor on Broadway, so all of his mannerisms and how he talks are all about Broadway. Yeah. So he's like all about the show. And so now his when his approach is like, now I have the power. Cause they were looked he they looked down upon him. Yeah, I didn't like that. And but he's in that type of mindset as an architect archetype now, because he was bully, looked upon, looked down upon were those who were in their ivory towers who had power. So now he's now I have the power, now you're going to look at me. Yeah. And it just it just took over his whole thing, which again I didn't like it, but it's also for Electro, because Electro in the series is driven by power, so it kind of made sense, but they didn't give so much about his backstory because I don't think he was part of the group that was captured. And they didn't give much to it, so I don't know, he he was more about me me thing. And so once he didn't like once he realized like these guys weren't part of it and he could have it all, that's before he went off to deep end. So and Electra has they how you write him is very he has their different variations, but it's all are the same thing. It's all about power and being number one. It's just it's weird how he went about it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I agree. He's just an odd character. I you know what actually least favorite part I think might be that there was too much going on sometimes, like too many villains. There's the Irish mobster, there's the Sandman, there's the electro guy, there's the lady doctor and her son who are supposed to be not bad guys, like I think they're supposed to be great, but they're experimenting on people with really without their permission, and then they are killing them now without their permission. So, like that I'm gonna call him a villain. So there's that one too. I was like, dang, you guys need to maybe sit down and just have a couple ideas. Noir is about like twists and turns, but it's not about every single time there's a million twists and turns. You kind of have to like adjust. So I would say that was another one of my least favorite.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. I think my last least favorite would have to be like throughout the entire The Mobster, the the Falcon kinda his character kinda just went inside entirely. He was supposedly made like this big bad threat in the beginning series, but like as talking about the Irish guy? Yeah, like as we were introduced to the soup the superpowers and he was employing stop being scared of him. Yeah, once we were introduced to them, they show and like he himself was like got pushed into the back, and he didn't become much of a threat. Even as a show as each episode, he was supposed to be like controlling the underground. Why did this burn down, all this other stuff from trying to figure out what's going on, and you realize this guy didn't really have any power overall, and his storyline didn't really make any sense because he was trying to figure out why his business burnt down or who would turn against him and all that stuff.
SPEAKER_01And it was burnt down because the two people who were trying to leave, right? Yeah, were trying to leave to become to run away together. Yeah. So I agree that's part of the the reason why I say there was too many plot lines, too many things happening, and it's a TV show, so I get why they would have a lot because you have to fill it with content. But I'm like, sometimes it's about quality, not quantity. And there were times where I was like, wait, who's which part is he upset with? No, or who was he trying to figure out? Because the Irish mobster guy left came and went a little bit, even though he technically owned the lady. I shouldn't say owned, but he acted like he owned her. And so yeah, I don't I didn't really love that part. I thought they should have picked a couple of things and stuck with it, stayed with it. And whoever, if they decided someone was just gonna stand there or do something, they could just stick with that that plot. I think they should have had like three plots across all of it, including the one love story. That's like a how I feel like that's one, that whole love interconnection. And then I think they should have just stuck to these men getting these powers and trying to resolve it. And then the third one, of course, is Nicolas Cage scrappling with his identity. And I think that would have been great, but no,
Best Set Pieces Bar Fight Car Chase
SPEAKER_01we got a bunch of other stuff, and then we, of course, also got his friend, the journalist, having in his story, which was fine.
SPEAKER_05Hold on, I forgot about Winston. Yeah, Winston.
SPEAKER_01His story, like he he has a part in it, and he that he plays. And then he also has uh at the end when he Nikagi's power, his friend has to come in dressed as him because there's no one, there's no one to do it. I will say I liked that scene until he got tased, and then I was like, oh fuck.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, there was a lot going on. Well, what would you rate the series?
SPEAKER_01Honestly, I'm gonna give it a four out of five for a lot of reasons. Because one, most of my criticisms are about this series as a whole, not like more so to do with the plot, not necessarily how it was executed. Like I think it was executed really well. I think that as far as noirs go, because I've seen quite a few with my grandma and the back in the day and I watched them as an adult, it was filmed in black and white, but everything looked accurate to the time period. The way that people were talking was very even Nicolas Cage was very like the language they used, whoever wrote it did like a decent amount of research and was using old like terms that they use and talking really fast and doing the hey, look at it here, see that I love to do. And so it made me feel great. So I was like, Oh yeah, this is this feels like noir. And then there was there was supposed to be there's always like a femme fatale betrayal, and technically he was betrayed, and like all these things happened, and I thought that was all executed well, I thought the costumes looked good, thought everyone acted well, and I thought that it was interesting enough that I wanted to see what happened and what was happening. So I would give it a four out of five. I think the only things I really didn't love was the lack of it was just too much too much happening sometimes. I think they should have s focused on certain things. It just got too convoluted. And I I feel like that's like an issue for me when I'm watching a TV show because if you put too much in it, I'm gonna forget some of it. If they go in the second episode, you forgot for a second they fell in love. There's so much has happened that you forget a little bit about it. Yeah, that would be it. But I honestly thought Nick Cage was like peak performance. He fit in really well as a spider. I was shocked. I didn't think it was gonna work, and it did.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and it allowed for him to just do what he does best. I felt like silly. Yeah. This if it does get a second season, or if they're able to do more.
SPEAKER_01What are they thinking about doing a second season?
SPEAKER_05I'm hoping if it does well, they could and they could explore more. But if it does ever get a second season, it's a standalone right now, but like if people like it and Amazon wants to do more, they could, but if this is like Nick Cage Peak, Nick Cage.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, no, I think Peak, this was hit a return to form. Because when you watch some of his movies later, you're like, oh, the surfer wasn't great, or these things were eh, but this one was a return to form. He was you can see that he is actually a talented actor, which sometimes you get confused with when you're watching his set of films because you're like, What the heck is happening, bro? What are you doing? Why are you acting like this extreme in this moment? But he has an Oscar, and in this there were glimpses of well, I remember why, because he did do a good job. And everything else was good. Again, I said the costumes, all that was good the way that they talked. I love that they shot it and then decided that we could watch it in black and white or color, so you had the op exactly. Even though you technically should watch it in black and white, they understood that people are not going to do that. And I saw stills of it in color, and the outfits and everything still are accurate and they look beautiful. So I was like, Oh, this is perfect. So yeah, I would give it four out of five. What about you?
SPEAKER_05I would give the same, give it a four out of five because again, this is a perfect adaptation of a live action. We already have a live action Peter Parker, but a live action noir show, but in live action noir spider-man, a divariant Spider-Man from an animated movie coming to life and also being voiced by Nick Cage. And Nick Cage being the one to give the character live.
SPEAKER_01So if And they also did enough to keep it him as different from Peter Parker in the sense that he's in a different universe, but also still enough in line, not just in his story, like how the other one did in the actual Spider-Man movie, but like in his character and who he is, a lot of that was very similar. So I thought they did a good job of it being like adjacent, but he's definitely standalone, he's his own person. Correct. He's not Spider-Man, he's the spider, and it's so it's like his motivations are different, his time period is different, but he still is has overlap. So correct.
SPEAKER_05So I mean, very first, very receptive. I again hit on the same key notes that be you're able to watch in both two different versions, black and white as is intended, or color, which Nick Cage also said that they wanted to do that.
SPEAKER_01Oh, he did, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, he said that they wanted for people to experience it as it's first intended as a noir. So you have that black and white, and again, and then he said if you want to again, for people who are want to watch it in color, they can also experience it in color and go back and watch it in more. So you can experience it twice in two different versions if you wanted to.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and there's honestly, people some people are probably like, why would you watch it in both? But there are definitely going to be differences of things that you see because in black and white, of course, it's all black and white, so your colors are skewed. You're looking at a grayscale, so you don't some things that may pop with color, you wouldn't recognize it some necessarily in the contrast of black and white. So some people might go and watch it in color to be like, oh hey, that's where that thing was, or something of that accord, which would be, I think would be interesting. We might go back and watch it in color, but I am a die hard black and white. That's the way you're supposed to see it. So yeah. I thought it was well done. I'm proud of him for his doing a TV show that's not bad, not a stinker because maybe he's got quite a V.
SPEAKER_05Yes, yes. And so now we're going to go on to our reviews. So we went to our website called Serialize, which does TV show and anime show reviews similar to Letterboxd and for TV.
SPEAKER_01Letterboxes and do TV, I found correct.
SPEAKER_05And so that's where we'll go going forward if we end up doing show reviews of Nicholas Cage or anything that we do together for shows, we'll go to serialized. And so I picked a good chunk of reviews. So I'm gonna go first. I thought this was this one caught my eye. So my first one's gonna be from the Royal Flash 24. Such a they gave it a three and a half stars, such a missed opportunity not to have spider no
What Falls Flat Love Story Cure Plot
SPEAKER_05noario surprise attack when fighting goons.
SPEAKER_01I would have loved to hear that in from Nick Cage's voice. That would be funny.
SPEAKER_04And I think I'm like, man, just have him, yeah, just have him when he's in full constant finding goons, go surprise Zack. Zack.
SPEAKER_01And especially as Nick Cage, who's clearly not in that outfit, but his voice is I just don't think it's him in the outfit because he has to fight and he's old.
SPEAKER_04We know it's a stun devil, but just to have him be yelling out, surviving them.
SPEAKER_01That would be funny.
SPEAKER_05That would be uh that would be awesome. Because he is do he is doing the quips and stuff like that, so you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Uh my one of mine is from someone called Tim Tam Titus, and they gave it three and a half stars, and they just said in quotations, how many villains do you want? And then the answer is yes. And I thought that was funny, because that's how I felt watching it. I was like, wow, they got a lot of enemies in this series, which it makes sense, but also we could have brought it down, we could have had one less, and it would have been fine. Or it would have been I don't think it would have changed the story very much.
SPEAKER_05So yeah, that's mine. My second one is gonna be from using Wizard, they gave it four stars. What an absolute blast. You're meaning to tell me Marvel slash Sony could have been making Spider-Man projects like this the whole time? They seriously cooked with this one. Nicolas Cage made for this role. Give me a season two. And I have to agree because the quirkiness of Nick Cage perfectly fits with a Spider-Man character because he does the quips and he's always talking. And just when you see him in the getup and he's in that first fight, and hearing him as the spider talking to the villains, you forget that's Nick Cage, but Nick Cage he is that quirkiness, he is that he's gotta talk to you while he's fighting. That's how that's it's like Big Daddy, he's he he brings that with him, so it's like it's perfect role for him overall, and so I like that. Like if they could do an a season two, uh I'm all for it.
SPEAKER_01Was there that now that you said that I've seen comments from people talking about a season two, so I wonder if that would be something that comes down the line. One of mine is from someone called four men, one guy, which what a name. They rated it four uh stars, and they said, I like his acting, but I'd rather see him play Superman. And I thought that was funny. It's like okay. I think everyone's interested in seeing him take play Superman.
SPEAKER_05Just going through all the reviews on Serialize and just seeing the and this is actually a first. We've gone through Letterboxd and a lot of mixed reviews on a lot of Nick Cage projects, but this is the first project I've seen so much high praise for a Nick Cage project, and that goes to show you this is a uniform project that Nick Cage has been on. That people are like the role as Spider Noir, just a Spider-Man, is perfect for him. It allows him to like really put all his effort in. It's like a role that's made for him, it allows him to express all the acting chops that he has. Yeah. And so I'm like, it's when you see an actor get into a role that's you don't really know yet, but like it's perfect for them. This is one of those roles, and I feel like if we could get a sec as like a season two for him to really explore that character and see what he could do beyond that, it's like return the form of Nick Cage. And I I think people are really chomping at the bits to get that return to form Nick Cage acting, and so he's got good stuff. Yeah, he does, but people want that Nick Cage back.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_05But I think overall the sentiments is that everyone is giving it at least about four out of five.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the this person called Looped Dreams, they gave it four out of five. And they said Nicolas Cage was the perfect fit, and the reason why I chose it is because this part made me laugh. They've and they're being serious, they said twice he's had such great hero casting. The ghost writer and now the spider. If another layer just another layer of love I'll have for the spider-verse now. The rewatch
Ratings Season Two Hopes And Why It Works
SPEAKER_01is gonna hit so much harder. He said uh did cast, good dialogue, great story. Phil's bad, I can't remember the name of the little dude, but I hope he's around for season two. There must be a season two, right? But I don't know, sir, if there will be, but also I can't but agree that hero, great hero casting for the ghostwriter was the vibe. I don't know if he would have been great, maybe with a better script. I don't know. That movie sucked.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, because Ghost Rider was like the earlier conception. It was very early, early on.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_05This is before Evan Eva Mendez met Ryan Goslin.
SPEAKER_01He's not he wasn't in that one. Biva Mendez is with them, yeah. Yeah, and he's gonna be the new ghostwriter according to the yeah, that should be interesting. But yeah, anyway, so those are what I have. Do you have any more?
SPEAKER_05I got one more.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_05And this is from Mario 95, and it kind of goes into yours. Gotta love Nick Cage. Also, he's kind of the superhero goat. Ghostwriter, Big Daddy, those were a couple of seconds of Superman, and of course, Spider-Man Noir and animation, and now in live action. Brendan Gilson goaded as usual as well. That's kind of intro song and banger. Hopefully, we get a second season. Four stars.
SPEAKER_01Four stars. I forgot about Big Daddy. Is that Marvel? Kick ass is Marvel.
SPEAKER_05No, that's just independent.
SPEAKER_01Oh, independent.
SPEAKER_05That's kick-ass.
SPEAKER_01I know. I didn't know if they were part of it, but they kick ass is his character not as great. So is Chloe Grayson Mortz.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I I would think it's like it's almost like unbreakable. It's like live action, comic books, but but none of them are super have superpowers. So I have to look it up. But any uh any final thoughts?
SPEAKER_01Nothing on the movie, just gonna say stay safe out there. Dress as a spider if it suits you. And I guess as always, I lost my hand. I lost my wife. Johnny has his hand. Johnny has his wife. Man, someone go watch Moonstruck.
SPEAKER_05Alright. We'll catch you guys in the next episode, and thank you guys for tuning in, and we'll catch you guys in the next one. Bye.
Serialized Reviews Final Thoughts And Farewell
SPEAKER_00Okay, wow, that was like so much fun. A total vibe. If you want to see any of the games we chatted about, like the full visual experience, you can find all that on our YouTube. But honestly, the easiest way to find like everything we do, all of our links, this podcast, and a super simple way to just send us a method is at our hub atverry.com. It's like our little home base for everything. So handy. Do us a favor, just tap subscribe so you don't miss our next chat. And if you're feeling extra amazing, leaving a little review is like the sweetest thing ever. It just makes our whole community better. Thanks for hanging out with us. Remember, just take things one day at a time and find your joy. Okay? Bye.