I make no secret of my love and respect for American national treasure, Nicolas Cage. Although over the last two decades he has done some questionable roles, I still argue that he has incomparable acting range. Need I remind you Nic and Leonardo DiCaprio have the same number of Oscars? Absolutely no other actor could possibly be placed in his iconic roles and produce the same quality film.

He can do serious films, as proven by his roles in Leaving Las Vegas, World Trade Center and Matchstick Men. He can do comedic roles like nobody else. My evidence: Raising Arizona, Mom and Dad and Moonstruck. Then there are my favourites; the ones that are supposed to be serious but are kind of bad as dramas. If you take those same movies and view them as comedies, you’re going to have a much better time.

My personal top five Nicolas Cage films:

5. Con Air
Nic Cage on a plane full of convicts with the most legendary mullet that has ever graced Hollywood. Enough said.

4. Kick-Ass
Cage plays a direct rip-off of Batman in this goofy comic book movie. I don’t want to give too much away if you haven’t seen it before but really, it came out in 2010. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re blowing it. Nic Cage has an epic death scene where he screams in a way that only he can, all while burning alive. I know of at least two movies where he burns alive and the other just happens to be next in my top five.

3. The Wicker Man
You can go ahead and completely disregard IMdB’s rating for this film because it’s absolute hogwash. This film has mystery, weird flashbacks, people in bear costumes and Nic Cage on an island full of women who despise him. It’s probably just like real life for him. This is for sure one of his most quotable movies.

2. Vampire’s Kiss
Shot from two perspectives: Nic Cage thinks he is turning into a vampire but he is not and everyone else’s perspective where Cage is peak weirdo. If you’ve ever seen the Nic Cage freak-out video on YouTube, This film makes up at least 50 per cent of that footage.

1. Face/Off
Nic Cage is a terrorist. John Travolta is a federal agent. They trade faces. This 100 per cent my favourite film of all time. If you’ve never seen it – or if you’ve never seen any Nic Cage movie on purpose – I suggest you start here!

These are just my favourites. I highly recommend just watching through all of his films as laid out by an article in which Rotten Tomatoes ranked all Nic Cage Movies. Let me know in the comments if you’ve got a favourite that didn’t make my top five list, but you think should have been there.