Kudos to Sandler for stepping outside of his normal dreck (not sure I like a single movie of his).
(I sure don't)
Nicolas Cage on the other-hand went bankrupt and makes any movie he can for cash nowadays. Some of his latest movies are average, but most are bargain bin trash.
Noone knows the whole truth, but it's obvious that Cage accepts any offered role which means he needs $.
From his latest movies I've watched
Mandy, a retro light and borderline trash&grindhouse entry where he was the only one making things interesting, still couldn't save the utter fail of the dumb script.
The word on the street is that
Kill Chain and
Color Out of Space are good, he appears in both, but I have yet to see them.
It's the same for Steven Seagal, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, They both used be some of the best action stars but nowadays both are almost has-beens at best.
Can't remember the last Seagal movie I gave a chance, I remember thinking after some I did watch that I'll never watch another one of his.
Van Damme has a relatively new above average flick where with some great fighting scenes there is, imagine this, a proper story! Yes, I've expected an action with acrobatics no story lullaby to cure me insomnia, got surprised and I really liked it. It's
Lukas.
Anyway, you've forgot Wesley Snipes case. Back in the day I've fallen in love with his interpretations yet seems he can't get a proper role postprison. His recent appearances are a few minutes in some movies not giving him enough time to show anything. Apparently he shines, again a few minutes max support role, in
Dolemite Is My Name, but it's a biography movie so I'm not sure I'll ever watch it.
I saw Midsommar. Really good!
Hereditary was really good too, though not a movie I want to watch again.
I think this Ari Aster guy is one to keep an eye on.
Ari Aster is a style over substance hack. Nothing even remotely interesting to see in those two overrated flicks.
If you're a florist, find out where he'll film next, hundreds of thousands of $ profit guaranteed.
While I can't recommend those to anyone, in a discussion with an unexperienced acquaitance she admitted it's deaths that shocked her so much which made those two movies her favorites.
I guess if you never watched movies that glorify different ways to kill someone (example
Valhalla Rising) the above can be true. To me Aster's deaths were - boring.
Then again, I know if you're stuck in a burning building, you'll get poisoned with monoxide, die (choked) and not feel the actual burning of your body. On the other hand, if you're stuck in trunk tyres, someone pours oil on you and lits a fire, now that's what would make me shiver. And it did. In a brazillian gem we mentioned a few times in this thread
Elite Squad.