The part about “Dr. Calamari” has actually happened to me. I found so much resonance there - the mismatch of taste, the loneliness of being criticized as an elitist who watches artsy films. It would be more interesting if there were some German expressionist techniques used in scenes of his imaginations.

The emphasis on meta-cinema is not inventive no more, as there are films like Abbas Kiarostami’s Shirin (2008), or even the disastrous The 15:17 to Paris (Clint Eastwood, 2018). It is simply not fair to compare former, an experimental arthouse film, to this Nick Cage film that attempts to be a blockbuster. If Eastwood’s the mainstream attempt is breaking the fourth wall, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is doodling on the fourth wall.

The interaction with Pattington 2 (Paul King, 2017) is brilliant as the latter, as I could recall, is about outdated bear. It was an effective joke even for people who haven’t watched P2, but those who have definitely understand the punchline.

I can only imagine Keanu Reeves doing the role to a comparable level. And the filmmaker could definitely recreate or tease the bullet time (even though the post-Matrix Hollywood had overused that in cinema, plus they already ruined it in The Matrix: Resurrections [2021])

I wish I had watched all films starring Nicolas Cage, but at least I get the Face Off reference in the “fans’ museum of Cage”

I know I like this film when reflecting on my experience - with someone kicking my chair for several times, the couple next to me continuously talking and other shit. If it’s a film I have a hard time going through, even the slightest noise of candy packages would drive me crazy.

I could not image this film being made sooner. It is a multiverse to some extent.

The kiss is way too much, even though it effectively shows how much the Cage in the film - it is important to recognize his acting versus him in real life - is reminiscent and even narcissistic about his glorious past. When he shouts “you have never helped me” to his imaginary younger self, it is this meta cinematic moment addressing the critique on his career that he started a “movie star” - that word feels strange in nowadays, as you could hardly find anyone that stands up to what he was to the public. Whether the fame in those years has something to with his later career of doing terrible films, I feel the potential importance of this film to Nicolas Cage himself.

When the mission came up in the film, I thought the film was like Joker or Shutter Island that the entire plot happened in his mind, especially the last scene at the theater - nevertheless, the shot reverse shot bridging the plot with the film inside this film is efficiently done.

I really wish this is his last film - an emotional farewell to the (once) movie star, Nic fucking Cage. (But god damn it looks like he’s making National Treasure 3.)