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Stop Loss
A lot of good actors, but very disturbing to someone like me who has a son on the Army now, a son who was wounded in Iraq and will never be the same, and another son who was in Somalia during the Black Hawk Down episode. I do not need to see that stuff, ever.
Easy Rider (1969) - I rate it 8.5/10
Okay, Nicholson's role is too small for this to be a 'Jack Nicholson film'. Anyway, watching this film for the second time, I don't remember it being shot so beautifully. There's a great deal of art in the framing of so many of the scenes. The music is a pleasure in the way it marks the film by its 1969 date, imbuing it with a feel of its time. It's now a period piece in many ways. There's not much of a plot, but it doesn't need one.
Early, the dialogue-less scenes on the road are spectacular and really work in a simple narrative sense, while the interactions of the characters in between riding aren't particularly interesting. In Texas, the Jack Nicholson character joins Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda, and the film picks up a vague semblance of a plot that is somewhat engaging. Later, a visit to a brothel and then a cemetery in New Orleans is another exercise in creative cinematography, with quick edits, washed-out color, and interesting juxtapositions. The effects of the climactic end don't work all that well, though, but I love the long aerial fadeaway to end the film.
Ultimately, Easy Rider is an art film, brimming with metaphors, more interested in symbolism and general themes than any particular story.
"Oh, yeah, they're gonna talk to you, and talk to you, and talk to you about individual freedom. But they see a free individual, it's gonna scare 'em."
--Jack Nicholson's Georoge Hanson
Five Easy Pieces (1970) - I rate it 9 out of 10
This is a very different film from Easy Rider. It's entirely a character study of Bobby Dupea, and this is the first film in which Nicholson demonstrates his brilliance as an actor, carrying scenes through his sheer creative power. Some of the supporting cast is forgettable, but Susan Anspach's Catherine Van Oost is terrific.
Five Easy Pieces is famous for the chicken sandwich scene, but it barely makes the film's top five. There's a hilarious situation in a traffic jam on I-5 outside of Bakersfield (below) and Anspach's speech about the nature of Bobby. There's Bobby confessing that nature to his mute father in a scene that few could pull off at all, but Nicholson does effortlessly. And there's the final, mournful scene where Bobby returns to his ways of flight.
Carnal Knowledge (1971) - I rate it 6.5 out of 10
I went back and read Roger Ebert's review of this film from the time of its release, because I usually like what he liked. He gave Carnal Knowledge four stars. I only found it mildly interesting.
Jonathon (Nicholson) and Sandy (Art Garfunkel) are two men who want different things in women - Sandy wants a woman he can talk to, while Jonathon wants T & A. Both find what they wanted, to no satisfaction. It's a non-judgmental look at these experiences and that's fine. Nicholson's acting is very good, and Garfunkel is surprisingly good, too, as are Candace Bergen and Ann-Margaret. But I had a hard time caring much about any of them - Sandy's too thin, Jonathon too obnoxious.
Mike Nichols did do some interesting things as director, though. He uses some engaging framing of shots, and in dialogue he often has the character talk directly at the camera, which substitutes for the other conversationalist. This felt a little odd but, as I said, it was interesting.
Sisters. The movie had some movie moments I will admit. I was a little annoyed though at 40 something siblings that thought nothing of totally trashing there parents home because they were angry at there parents. This really bothered me
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