One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Review

And number 15 in the top 1000 films of all time is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest.  I haven’t read the book, which the film is based on, so I won’t be discussing it in this review.

What’s it about: Jack Nicholson plays a criminal called McMurphy who upon being convicted of the statutory rape of a 15 year old is transferred to a medical institution for a psychiatric evaluation.  His hospital ward is ran by the tyrannical Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher.) McMurphy then leads the other patients in an insurrection against her.

The good: I really liked all of the different characters and how they interacted with each other.  Even though the cast large, each character was quirky enough to distinguish himself from the next, from the deaf mute “Chief” to the stuttering, nervous Billy Bibbit (Brad Dourif) to the crude and foul-mouthed Max Taber (Christopher Lloyd.) Louise Fletcher was also great as the villainous Nurse Ratched,  Even though, she doesn’t have major screentime or use physical violence, her presence is always felt, even as a threatening and ominous aura.  The ending of the film was very poignant too.  After Nicholson attacks Nurse Ratched, he is lobotomised and then returned to the ward.  The Chief who has grown close to McMurphy performs a mercy killing on his friend and then escapes.  I found this very poignant, because I always find something powerful in seeing tough, strong men cry.  This is why it was so painful seeing the stoic, solid yet silent Chief exhibit such emotion.  

The bad: There were a couple of plot errors that really irritated me, especially concerning the hospital’s security or lack thereof.  The first sees the Chief helping Mcmurphy over the hospital’s perimeter fence, before stealing a bus and taking the other prisoners on a fishing trip.  Firstly, the fence was at least ten foot high and is topped off with barbed wire.   In my day, I’ve climbed under, over and through barbed wire fences and it is nowhere near as easy as McMurphy makes it look.  Secondly, I find it completely implausible that no security guards or orderlies spotted Mcmurphy climbing over the fence.  My other criticism concerns the scene where Mcmurphy is attacking Nurse Ratched for what seems like a very long time, before the orderlies intervene.  Again, I find it very implausible that orderlies would hesitate at all in stopping an attack like this.

The Ugly:  The chief’s grief at the film’s end was very heart-wrenching to watch.

Rating: Good

A very interesting film exploring the different reactions to authority and servitude.  Even though this film is very emotionally poignant, it does have a few logical errors, which hurts it badly.  McMurphy might have flown over the cuckoo’s nest in this film, but his loyalty and dedication to his fellow patients are honourable enough to make seven samurai proud, let alone one. 

The Third Man Review

Number 99 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1949 film noir The Third Man.

Set in post-WW2 Vienna, American writer Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) arrives in Vienna to meet his childhood friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) only to discover that Lime has been killed in a traffic accident.  Suspecting there is something more to it, Cotten embarks on an investigation to find the truth and to discover who the mysterious third man present at Lime's death was.

The Third Man has become known as a standout classic in the Film Noir and thriller genres and its easy to see why.  This is a film that has received considerable praise for its unconventional "Dutch Camera" angles and harsh stage lighting, which all contribute to the tone and tension of the film.  The highly stylised monochrome cinematography made the film atmospheric and suspenseful.  Although, of course, nothing new now, the "Dutch Camera" angles helped to set the Third Man apart from other noir films of the era, like Casablanca, Double Indemnity and Citizen Kane.  The quirky tilt shots and angles were engaging and added a new facet to the film.  They also contributed to the unsettled tone of the film by emphasising how alienated and out of place the characters were, especially the American, Holly Martins.

As a thriller, this film keeps the tension up with plenty of twists, turns and moral ambiguity.  I won't ruin the big twist here, but it was certainly a good one.  The moral ambiguity, especially centring around Lime's character, and also the film's ending, tie in well with the social context of WW2 Austria, at the beginning of the Cold War.  Although, Austria was being shared by Britain, France, America and Russia, there was no love lost between America and Russia, which was something that translated well into the film.  Tensions run high in the film, as Martins faces a number of obstacles that prevent him from finding the truth, including some of his key witnesses being murdered, Lime's ex girlfriend and army officers who are initially unwilling to help.

Finally, we come to the famous speech of the film and probably what provides the biggest food for thought:

"You know what the fellow said – in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Are good results the result of bad environments or intentions? Is it possible for good consequences to stem from good environments? Is it ever as black and white as this? Let me know your thoughts below.

Dead Poet's Society review

 Number 375 on the top 1000 films of all time is the coming-of-age drama 'Dead Poet's Society.'

John Keating (Robin Williams) is the new English teacher at the prestigious prepatory Welton school - a school that prides itself on its devotion to tradition and discipline. He inspires a group of students led by Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard) and including the shy Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke) to break free of the school's draconian measures by embracing the world of poetry.

While watching this, I couldn't help but be reminded of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Keating is the Mcmurphy character rallying the students to rebel against the apparently tyrannical school regime. Except Dead Poet's Society, while certainly enjoyable, didn't quite hit the same heights.

The stakes never felt high enough nor did the school feel tyrannical enough. Headmaster Dr Gale Nolan (Norman Lloyd) wasn't as fearsome as Nurse Ratched. There were vague threats of the student's individuality and creativity being wiped out, but they were never really capitalised upon. True, one of the students does get paddled, but even that never felt particularly serious. And Dr Nolan wasn't as menacing as he could have been.

Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke were certainly enjoyable enough in the lead roles. It was nice to Anderson's transformation from a shy to a more confident student. It was difficult to believe this was the same Hawke who wowed audiences in Training Day or the Before trilogy. But the rest of the gang faded into one another. I also found it very unlikely that a group of teenage boys would rebel against the system by running into the woods and reciting poetry rather than drinking or smoking weed. Having said that, these are posh, private school kids. Anything's possible with them.

Robin Williams was the definite highlight of the film. He gave a restrained performance that was hilarious at moments, but heartfelt in others. I particularly enjoyed his impressions of the different celebrities of the time.

Dead Poet's Society wasn't a bad film by any means, but it also could have been a lot better.

It Happened One Night Review

Number 132 on the top 1000 films of all time is the romantic, screwball comedy, It Happened One Night.

Ellen Andrews (Claudette Colbert) is a pampered, spoilt, selfish socialite who tries to elope with pilot King Westley.  However, Ellen's father, Alexander Andrews, knows that Westley is only interested in his daughter, because of Alexander's immense wealth.  When Alexander retrieves Ellen from Florida and wishes to have the marriage annulled, Ellen runs away to join her husband in New York.  On the way there, she meets out-of-work reporter Peter Warner (Clark Gable.) Warner agrees to help her, in exchange to the exclusive rights to her story.  If she doesn't agree, then Warner will give her up to her father.  Knowing she has little choice, she allows Warner to help her get to New York, but as the two get to know each other better, they begin falling in love.

It is fair to say that It Happened One Night was a bit of a sleeper hit.  Nobody expected it do well from Columbia Pictures who made little effort to market it, to lead actors Gable and Colbert, with the latter denouncing it as "the worst picture in the world." Despite this it received critical acclaim and it was the first film to win the Oscar grand slam: the best picture, actor, actress, screenplay and director.  And I thought it was well-deserving of this win.

This was a thoroughly charming romantic-comedy with great performances from Gable and Colbert, who was so certain she wouldn't win the Oscar, she refused to attend the ceremony.  Both characters begin as unlikable with Andrews being a spoilt brad and Warner being a selfish and jaded cynic.  However, as the two begin loving one another, they transform into kinder and more sensitive individuals.  For example, when another bus passenger approaches Warner about working together to return Andrews to her father and then split the $10,000 reward, Warner puts on a tough guy act.  He pretends he's working for the mafia and has taken Andrews hostage in hopes of a $1,000,000 ransom sum.

The act is convincing enough to send the bus passenger running for his life.  Andrews also has her more sensitive moments: on the same bus, a mother collapses from hunger.  With her son in distress, Andrews doesn't think twice about giving him money. 

The film also has its comedic moments.  When Andrews and Warner are spending the night in a hotel, they pose as husband and wife to avoid suspicion.  When the police come sniffing around, Warner and Andrews continue to play their parts by having a huge, shouting row.  This is enough to make the police so uncomfortable that they leave.  This scene was so brilliantly overacted that it was hilarious to watch.

Overall, this was a great little film.  It was thoroughly watchable and had some great performances in it.  After all, it was the first film to win the five big Oscars, a feat that wouldn't be repeated until One Flew over the Cuckoo's nest and The Silence of the Lambs.

Cool Hand Luke review

Number 150 on top 1000 films of all time is the 1967 prison drama, Cool Hand Luke.

Luke Jackson (Paul Newman) is a likeable and relaxed war veteran.  When he is caught drunkenly destroying municipal property, he is sent to a Florida prison.  There he quickly becomes a hero to the other prisoners, in particular to the formidable Dragline (George Kennedy,) when he refuses to bow to the prison rules.

When I started looking into this movie, I thought it would be something like One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.  Luke Jackson is McMurphy standing up to the Nurse Ratchetesque guards.  Except the film didn't play out like that. 

Although the film is supposed to be in a prison, it didn't feel like that.  The prison guards didn't have the tyranny or the hostility I was expecting.  I thought they would be absolute despots abusing their power and their prisoners, but they seemed more like bored college kids at a holiday camp.  True, they weren't overtly cruel, but they were also quite indifferent to the prisoners.  They were more like acquaintances than prison and guard.

While there was the punishment of spending the night in the "box" -  a tiny cell with barely enough room to sit - and the prison bosses, but I don't think they were utilised enough for them to be any serious threat.  If we had seen more of them - more of the true horrors of the box, then the drama of this film would have been more apparent.  But as it stood for me, I didn't find it particularly tense or engaging.

What I preferred watching was the relationship between Luke and the other prisoners particularly Dragline.  George Kennedy won Best Supporting Actor for his role and it was well-deserved.  Kennedy was a powerhouse in this film.  He brought a great energy to the role and was very charismatic.  Although the two initially are at each other's throats, they quickly win each other's respect. 

And with Dragline's respect, the rest of the prisoners quickly follow.  There is a particularly powerful section where after Luke is recaptured after an attempted escape, the guards give him extra rice to eat at dinner.  If he doesn't finish his plate, they will punish him.  The prisoners all take spoonfuls of rice and help him to finish.

I imagine I'm going to get some slack for this review, as I usually do, if I don't positively review one of the best 1000 films of all time, but Cool Hand Luke didn't land for me.  While I liked the relationship between the prisoners and George Kennedy was great, this film didn't have enough dramatic tension to keep me engaged.

Top Ten Golden Oldies on the top 1000 films of all time

 There is no agreement as to when exactly the Golden Age of Hollywood started and ended. Some sources say it began in 1915 with the release of the horrifically racist In the Birth of a Nation and stretched well into the 1960's.

However, I will be sticking with the general consensus that the Golden Age of Hollywood occurred between 1930 and 1960 - dominated by the five big studios of MGM, Warner Bros, RKO, 20th Century Fox and Paramount, as well as the "little three" studios of Universal, Columbia and United Artists.

This is a list of what I think are the top ten films from the Golden Age of Hollywood that also features on the top 1000 films of all time. This list of Golden Oldies is in no particular order except for chronology.

It happened One Night (1934) Columbia Pictures

Coming in at 132 on the top 1000 films of all time is Frank Capra's romantic-comedy: 'It happened One Night.' Starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, it was the first only three films to win the five big Oscars: Best film, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Only One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Silence of the Lambs have only repeated this feat.

But it is easy to see why 'It Happened One Night' was so heavily awarded. Yes, it is cheesy and predictable in the way that many of the older films often were, but it still has an undeniable charm.

It was very much a sleeper hit with Gable and Colbert giving great performances which turned this film into a real classic.

The Great Dictator (1940) United Artists

How do you talk about the Golden Age of Hollywood and not mention the legendary Charlie Chaplin? Although he is best known for his silent films, Chaplin gives one of the best speeches in film history.

In many ways, this black comedy was Chaplin's first foray into the world of sound cinema. It was a great satire of the horrors that were occurring in World War Two Europe. Coming in at number 52 on the top 1000 films of all time, if there is a Charlie Chaplin film you're going to watch then it should be this one.

Casablanca (1942) Warner Brothers

Speaking of World-War-Two, let's talk about this brilliant romantic-drama. It focusses on the cynical Rick Spader (Humphrey Bogart) who is slowly drawn into helping the Czech resistance movement as they combat the Nazis.

Casablanca went onto win the Best film Oscar. It has a list of endlessly quotable lines, as well as the archetypal, reluctant hero played by Humphrey Bogart. Also starring Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains, it's no wonder that Casablanca ranks at number 29 on the top 1000 films of all time. Now, here's looking at you, kid.

It's a Wonderful Life (1946) RKO pictures

Elf? Muppet Christmas Carol? Home Alone? Die Hard? The best Christmas film is It's a Wonderful Life. You heard it here first. Frank Capra's supernatural drama focusses on George Bailey (James Stewart,) a suicidally-depressed man who's taken on a magical journey where he is shown how bad life would have been if he had never been born.

No other film since has really keyed into the power that Christmas has to bring people together. Although RKO released this film to a lukewarm reception, it's gone onto become the 23rd best film on the top 1000 films of all time. There are some who might dismiss it as cheesy, overly-sentimental rubbish, but that's Christmas for you.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) Warner Bros 

We've returned to Old Bogey with John Huston's Western. Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt and Walter Brennan star as three prospectors looking for a mythical lost treasure in Mexico. All three lead actors give terrific performances, and the cinematography is astounding.

This intense, gripping film foregoes the usual tropes of a Western, in favour of an in-depth precautionary tale about the dangers of greed. I'm not the only one who thinks so as it comes in at 94 on the top 1000 films of all time.

Strangers on a Train (1951) Warner Bros

Alfred Hitchcock had to feature on this list, but the question was which film? The Birds features too late to qualify. Psycho, North by Northwest and Vertigo are all too obvious while the 39 Steps and the Lady Vanishes are all a bit ridiculous. Instead, I opted for the under-rated Strangers on a Train.

This film noir clocks in at 210 on the top 1000 films of all time. While some film noir *cough cough* the Big Sleep, it doesn't stumble over itself trying to be as smart as possible. Instead it presents a tense story revolving around a chance encounter of two strangers on a train. One stranger, Bruno (Robert Walker) is a psychopath who suggests murdering Guy's (Farley Granger) estranged wife if Guy murders Bruno's father. Cue a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse.

Yes, it is unlikely, as is much of Hitchcock's films, but comparatively-speaking, it is one of his most straight-forward films.

On the Waterfront (1954) Columbia Pictures

I could have been a contender. I could have been somebody.

These lines won Marlon Brando his first Best Acting Oscar. And he won this by starring as Terry Malloy, a New Jersey dock-worker turned hero in Elia Kazan's crime-drama that comes in at 118 on the top 1000 films of all time.

On the Waterfront tells a powerful story about the importance of standing up for what's right. It won a further seven Oscars including Best Supporting Actress for Eva Marie Saint.

On the Waterfront is a film that will live long in your memory long after the curtain has been drawn.

Rebel without a Cause (1955) Warner Bros

Legendary James Dean only starred in three films before his untimely death - one of them was the amazing Rebel without a Cause, which features at 458 on the top 1000 films of all time.

Receiving a posthumous Oscar nomination, he stars as Jim Stark - a lost, young man living in 1950's LA. There are some who might dismiss this film as whiny and edgy, but it perfectly encapsulates the alienation of a post WW2 generation, as well as every other successive generation questioning their place in the world.

It also stars Natalie Wood, another actor who died far too young.

12 Angry Men (April 1957) United Artists

12 Angry Men is 8th on the top 1000 films of all time - that is the highest placed of any film from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Courtroom dramas aren't for everyone. Some can find them dull and lacking in action, but Sydney Lumet struck gold with his poignant story of twelve jurors deciding if a young man is guilty of murder or not. It has a brilliant cast led by Henry Fonda.

12 Angry Men is a claustrophobic, suffocating affair that presents many moral quandaries which it leaves up to the viewer to solve.

Paths of Glory (December 1957) United Artists

Forget The Killing, Barry Lyndon or the Shining. This is one of Kubrick's best films, second to only Full Metal Jacket. It is even better than 2001: a Space Odyssey. I said what I said.

Kirk Douglass plays Colonel Dax fighting to save three of his men from being unfairly shot for cowardice. It is a brilliant moral-drama that explores the horrors of war. At times, it is explosive, at others it is understated, but it is always entertaining. It also highlights the devastating effects of PTSD - a condition that was poorly understood at the time.

Featuring at 56 on the top 1000 films of all time, I would argue that it should be a few places higher Not only is it one of the top ten Golden Oldies, but one of the best films I've seen.

As always, this was a hard list to put together and there were many films that did not make the cut. Did I miss out any? Let me know in the comments below.

China Town Review

Number 121 on the 1000 greatest films of all time is the films that launched Jack Nicholson's career: Chinatown.

Directed by Roman Polanski, Jack Nicholson plays P.I Jake Gittes.  Initially hired by Evelyn Murray to survey her husband, he soon realises that there is a bigger mystery at play.  As Gittes seeks to discover the truth, he becomes embroiled in a plot involving incest, corruption and murder.

This film is a quintessential "one man against the system," with Nicholson playing the roguish Jake Gittes.  Initially beginning as a selfish, self-interested character, he develops into a hero, as he seeks to discover the truth.  Nicholson is well-known for playing characters who rebel against authority, with the best example being One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and I think that it was China Town, which first established him as such.  He is convincing in the role and his arc was entertaining to watch. 

When fighting against the system, Gittes is fighting it at the highest possible level, as he discovers a plot by Noah Cross, (John Huston) the partner of Evelyn Murray's father, and powerful business man, to buy up the Californian Northwest Valley and the according reservoirs, to monopolise the water supply.  And Noah Cross is ruthlessly corrupt, having already killed previous investigators.

What this film does best is tackle corruption.  *SPOILER ALERT* Chinatown concludes with Evelyn Murray shooting Noah Cross in the arm.  As she flees, the police then shoot her dead.  When Jake Gittes demands vengeance, he is told to "forget it.  It's Chinatown." In just one line, the corruption that is present within high-level organisations is utterly encapsulated.

People are completely resigned to it, as they think that it is the order of things.  The police are in the government's pocket and people are afraid to speak out.  And this is just why Jake Gittes is such an important character.  Rather than looking the other way, he stood up and fought for what he believed was right.