McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is a criminal who has been moved to a mental institution. It seems that, perhaps he is not mentally ill, but has faked it to avoid the hard labour of prison time. There, he becomes a part of a group of patients who are seen over by the dominating Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher) and tries to raise their self-esteem and make their lives better in his own, ultimately flawed manner.
What a classic. You want to believe that the evil Nurse Ratched has her patients’ best interests at heart, yet she seems to be constantly getting the upper hand in power plays against them; most notably Billy. Then, when McMurphy comes along, she is challenged and cannot let things go until she wins. Also, McMurphy is a nasty piece of work; he just wants his own way and to have fun with little consideration of the consequences. But, being a selfish so-and-so obviously doesn’t deserve the treatment he ultimately receives.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Jack Nicholson), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Louise Fletcher), Best Director (Milos Forman) and Best Writing, Screenplay Adapted From Other Material (Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman) and was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Brad Dourif), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing and Best Music, Original Dramatic Score.
It’s been years since I watched any of these films, and I have such fond memories. The first film was awesome, the second even better and the third just brought them all home. I’m totally pleased I watched them again, although the middle film perhaps should have remained a memory.
Back to the Future
It’s a pretty creepy plot when you look it. Marty McFly (Michael J Fox), a teenager in 1985, hangs out with Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), an eccentric old scientist, and doesn’t think twice when arranging to meet him in a parking lot in the middle of the night. Instead of it turning creepier immediately, Marty is accidentally sent back to 1955 where his mother falls in love with him and he has to plot to set her up with his dad. That’s where it sounds pretty creepy – but provided you can get past that, it’s an awesome film. For me, this is one of the best films of my childhood that really stands up.
Back to the Future Part II
The first film was a huge success and had the setup for a sequel. So, of course it was going to get made. It seems, though, that in the scripting for the second film, they tried to add in too much new stuff. The key thing I have a problem with is the whole ‘What, you chicken?’ character trait. Suddenly, Marty cannot walk away from a dare if he gets called a chicken. Now, if that had happened in the first film, I probably would have bought it. But to suddenly introduce it made it feel like a really weak plot device.
If you haven’t seen it, this one has Doc taking Marty and his girlfriend Jennifer to 2015 to sort out a problem with Marty’s son. However Biff, the longtime rival of Marty’s father, steals a sporting almanac and takes it back to his younger self in 1955. This changes the future in a horrific way, so Marty has to go back to 1955 again, not change anything that happened in the first film, and solve the problem.
The key problems with this film are that, whilst the overall arc works, the individual scenes are often quite weak, and don’t get me started on the terrible make-up. At least the hover board is awesome. And Michael J Fox playing the daughter is hilarious.
Back to the Future Part III
Thank goodness this film makes everything good again. Perhaps I have a deep-seated love of cowboys or was having a lot of flashbacks to The Three Amigos (I need to watch that again. I love that film), but I just loved seeing Marty and Doc in the Wild West.
At the end of the second film, Doc ends up sent back to 1885. He sends a note to Marty through a confused delivery guy that he is happy and not to come back. When Marty discovers in local history books that Doc is killed only a few days after he wrote the letter, he feels he has no choice.
It’s great – it has romance for Doc, steam trains and crashes and all kinds of fun.
Although it is a bit creepy that Marty’s ancestor, Seamus, is married to a woman who looks exactly like Marty’s mum, but then again, all of these films have some element of creepiness that you just have to embrace or ignore to get through.
See them. But don’t give prime viewing time to the second film. It’s bound to disappoint. And definately watch the trailers – especially the first one – it’s fantastic!
ireckonthat 