Saw Lord of War last night. The three peeps I was with loved it but I was kinda so-so on it. I really admired the ambition of it and the way it was shot, but it didn't quite gel for me. I kept feeling as if I was waiting for it to actually start.

I noticed something interesting during the film. Jared Leto is approximately 10,000 times better looking than Nick Cage and is playing a more outwardly dramatic character, yet in their scenes together it's Cage you can't take your eyes off of. Cage has that movie star's ability to draw our attention, which is not a function of looks or talent alone.

Nicholas Cage is one of those movie stars whose popularity constantly astounds me. I just can't take him seriously. It's grown to be the kind of problem where I can't actually watch films he's in. I think everyone has people like that. My friend Nibbler can't watch anything with Jodie Foster without getting angry and throwing things at her head on the screen.

Yeah, I find Cage incredibly mannered and often off-putting, and I STILL found myself watching him and not Leto.

Ah, and see, I'm an unrepentant Nic Cage fangirl. He's just sort of magnetic. He's like the Hypnotoad! You can't look away!

Like an horrific car crash?

Like the mesmerizing Hypnotoad!

I, for one, welcome our new toad overlords.

Nic Cage is just like a car crash for me. I don't want to look, but I do, and I feel dirty afterwards.

My only problem with Cage is that he hasn't played anyone but Nicholas Cage since "Leaving Las Vegas" (not since "Raising Arizona," some could argue). He doesn't have the ability to separate himself from the role enough that you're looking at a character and not an actor. Some stars can transcend their own fame in roles. He can't.

I don't think it's his fame he can't transcend -- but his persona.

Yeah, I mean Harrison Ford can convince me he's whatever character is at hand, and he's rather more famous than Nicholas Cage.

I tend to think the latter uses tics and quirks in lieu of actual, y'know, acting.