It’s kind of funny how time can change your perception of a movie.

When the first National Treasure came out a few years ago, I dismissed it as an American knock off of The DaVinci Code done on the cheap. To me, more notable than the outlandish plot was the excessive and blatant product placement in the film.

But you know how things change. A few years go by, the movie crops up on cable from time to time and you end up watching it. No matter how so-so my reaction to it the first time or how many time I had seen it since, I would always stop what I was doing to watch National Treasure on TV and… I came to like it!

Apparently enough people felt the same way because National Treasure: Book of Secrets is coming out on Friday and it looks like more of the same.

That’s not a left-handed compliment. There’s nothing especially wrong about National Treasure except that its mechanics are somewhat cliché and its ties to actual history are tenuous at best. The further the original film progresses, the further it slides away from reality.

But then again – why not? It captures the imagination in a unique way, recasting history in a way you wish it were. The performances from Nicolas Cage, Sean Bean and Jon Voight are all amiable. It’s really one of the top shelf “B” movies of the last 5 years.

Cami never had a question about her affinity for the original movie. She’s a history buff – specifically Presidential history. So the plot of the second film – a President’s book of secrets that contains all the top secret goodies we’re not supposed to know about – will be too much to pass up. That’s what I love about her. Despite her interest in actual history, she doesn’t find fake history to be a detractor. I think she just likes a good story.

Concerning today’s comic, I don’t know if anyone will find the joke funny except for me. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Nicolas Cage seems to sport a different hairpiece in every movie and, for me, it’s starting to get distracting.

Obviously I encourage any actor to use whatever tool in their arsenal to inhabit the spirit of the character they’re portraying. If it means gaining 50 pounds or wearing a fake nose, so be it. Similarly, if wigs help you find the essence of the character, go for it.

But Nicolas Cage is the exception to the rule for me mostly because his wig choices are so damn awful. I mean, you can SEE it’s a hairpiece from a mile away and some of them are laughablly stupid.

Ghost Rider, for instance. Or Next. Or The Weather Man.

Some of his hair choices have made more sense. Like the redneck bad ass Cameron Poe in Con Air or the neurotic Charlie Kaufman in Adaptation. But in those roles, he was actually trying to do a little acting. Throwing on an accent or performing in a way contradictory to his usual character. For his more recent action fare, he’s pretty much been playing Nicolas Cage. If that’s the case, why would you go out of your way to look weird?

I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me.

Be sure to tune in tonight for another live broadcast of The Triple Feature talkcast over at Talkshoe.com. Tonight we’ll be talking about I Am Legend and it’s record-breaking box office win this weekend. We hit the air at 9:00 PM CST. Be there!