Adaptation. / Raising Arizona screening

Another double feature will grace the Aero Theatre as part of American Cinematheque’s tribute to actor Nicholas Cage. In Spike Jonze’s wonderfully weird Adaptation, Cage plays the self-loathing Charlie Kaufman as he struggles with adapting a screenplay onto film – so far, so meta. We then get a taste of Cage’s comedic chops during the actor’s early years in Coen brothers-helmed Raising Arizona. As if the premise wasn’t absurd enough – criminal H.I. "Hi" McDonnough (Cage) falls in love with policewoman Edwina “Ed” (Holly Hunter) and together they kidnap a baby – the screwball comedy is replete with traditional Coen quirks: symbolism, idiosyncracies and anything unconventional. If Ghost Rider made you laugh in all the wrong ways, this double header might make you see Cage in a new light.