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The Cage film is bad, but entertainingly so which is more then can be said about a lot of Cage's recent work.

8MM is mostly not very good (thought Joaquin Phoenix is a lot of fun in it, more fun than Cage), but it has one suspense sequence set to a (quite literal) needledrop of Aphex Twin's "Come to Daddy" that's fantastic.

Rating his work aside, he always had this infectious charm during interviews. I’m sure he was a joy to work for.

whaleallright wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 6:22 pmCar Wash (which he wrote but did not direct) is an excellent film, and D.C. Cab is not bad. Both suggest an almost termite-like, street-smart raggedy enthusiasm that none of the later stuff seemed to display. Interesting that several of his early successes (as a screenwriter and then director) were black-cast (or largely black-cast) movies, all at a moment when studio interest in that sort of thing was beginning to wane after a few fertile years.

Questlove actually posted this on social media:

Questlove wrote:Hella weird that all of my childhood cinema memories (Sparkle, Car Wash, & The Wiz) we're scripted by....Joel Schumacher?.....wow

They're not highly regarded movies, especially The Wiz (I wonder if Lumet was thinking of this when he said that sometimes you make a film to pay the mortgage?), but they're all musically significant. Sparkle's soundtrack is disappointing given who was involved - Curtis Mayfield with Aretha Franklin on vocals - but there are a few good songs on there that nearly live up to the promise of that collaboration. Car Wash had a fine hit single in the title track, and the movie is probably underrated. From Jonathan Rosenbaum: "Michael Schultz (Cooley High) directed a screenplay by Joel Schumacher, and if you compare this movie to Schumacher's somewhat similar D.C. Cab, made seven years later, you may conclude that Schumacher's is the dominant creative voice. Critics seemed to like this less than audiences; personally I had a ball." And The Wiz formally introduced Michael Jackson to Quincy Jones.

TBH I adore the Wiz. I even remember my school putting on a production of it. I played a flying monkey and my little sister played Toto.

I really wish I could like it. I mean, Quincy Jones producing music with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, both of whom had some of their best work ahead of them? I really, really wish it was better.

It's pure nostalgia on my part. Won't deny that.