Old and Pig

Writer-director M Night Shyamalan, whose "The Sixth Sense" (1999) launched a career making metaphysical puzzle movies, is still going to existential extremes with "Old." In this podcast episode, HCC film professors Marie Westhaver and Mike Giuliano agree that "Old" is one of his better movies. It has an intriguing premise about a beach resort where tourists find that every half-hour they age one year. Also, the movie is well-acted by a cast that includes Gael Garcia Bernal. This movie has a running time of 108 minutes, so just imagine how old you will look by the end of it. Marie and Mike also discuss an unusual revenge drama, "Pig," in which Nicolas Cage portrays a reclusive guy in the woods whose only companion is his truffle-sniffing pig. Cage established himself as a serious actor with movies including "Moonstruck" (1987), and he won the Academy Award as Best Actor for "Leaving Las Vegas" (1995). In the decades since then, he seems to have deliberately trashed his career with "Ghost Rider" (2007) and other terrible movies. If you're expecting another campy over-the-top Nicolas Cage performance in "Pig," the welcome surprise is how effectively he underplays this role.