See this film series: "Nicolas Cage: Greatest American Actor" at the Brattle

Valley Girl

At last it can be said - Nicolas Cage: Greatest American Actor. To back up those immortal words, the Brattle presents a retrospective of his most memorable performances, which, given the crazy shit he's done on screen, should be good. It starts tonight with Martha Coolidge's Valley Girl (1983; Monday, June 11 @ 7:30 pm, Tuesday, June 12 @ 5:30 + 9:30 pm), his first leading role, in which he plays a punk wooing the title girl. He's a bit rougher around the edges in the Coen Brothers' Preston Sturges-like wacko comedy, Raising Arizona (1987; Monday @ 5:30 + 9:30 pm, Tuesday @ 7:30 pm) in which he plays a rube who conspires to kidnap an infant. That's at the Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge | $9.75; $7.75 students; $6.75 seniors | brattlefilm.org