"wtf, Ann-Margret is great in CK."
I don't remember Ann-Margret. Jack and Candace and Art are the laughably cast ones! They're all pushing 40 and pretending to play college students!
― Alex in SF, Saturday, 21 March 2009 14:05 (4 years ago) Permalink
His Terms of Endearment part is small, but he's so great in it!! But yeah, damn, this is really hard.
― lolling through my bagel (Pancakes Hackman), Saturday, 21 March 2009 14:20 (4 years ago) Permalink
the shining = jack nicholson as Godfather 2 = Al Pacino in terms of where self-parody began...
― JtM Is Ruled By A Black Man (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Saturday, 21 March 2009 14:38 (4 years ago) Permalink
But Pacino doesn't yell much in GF2! The self-parody begins with Scarface, and maybe those other early eighties performances in films no one has much seen.
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 21 March 2009 14:52 (4 years ago) Permalink
Jack was 33 or 34 at time of CK, his hairline was just receding... when you have characters aging from 21 to 45 in a film, you have to pick an age, and hope your audience can suspend some belief. That's like ppl complaining about Stewart and Wayne being too old in Liberty Valance -- bullshit.
Also, A-M doesn't appear til after the college sequence in Carnal Knowledge.
― Past a Diving Jeter (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 21 March 2009 14:57 (4 years ago) Permalink
Jack's self-parody began w/ Cuckoo's Nest. But he does takes breaks from it, as in The Border and The Pledge.
Also, he's even funnier in Mars Attacks than Pacino is in Dick Tracy.
― Past a Diving Jeter (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 21 March 2009 15:01 (4 years ago) Permalink
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, March 21, 2009 10:52 AM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
^^^ Watch the "In my BEDROOM" sequence and get back to me.
― JtM Is Ruled By A Black Man (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Saturday, 21 March 2009 15:02 (4 years ago) Permalink
"Jack was 33 or 34 at time of CK, his hairline was just receding"
He's an old looking 33. They should have cast someone in their early to mid-twenties and aged him for 41 sequences (which are a smaller part of the movie anyway.)
― Alex in SF, Saturday, 21 March 2009 15:25 (4 years ago) Permalink
I couldn't suspend disbelief. I found it incredibly distracting.
― Alex in SF, Saturday, 21 March 2009 15:26 (4 years ago) Permalink
pity then. CK w/ Ryan O'Neal, DNW.
― Past a Diving Jeter (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 21 March 2009 15:30 (4 years ago) Permalink
I don't know -- I guess! But that's like arguing that the scene in Sophie's Choice where Streep has to choose b/w her kids sewed the seeds for self-parody.
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 21 March 2009 15:32 (4 years ago) Permalink
it's weird to realize that i saw 4 of his last 7 movies in the theater - wtf is wrong with me
― dom sued (some dude), Saturday, 21 March 2009 15:38 (4 years ago) Permalink
the pledge is great, it was on tv the other day
― rip dom passantino 3/5/09 never forget (max), Saturday, 21 March 2009 15:47 (4 years ago) Permalink
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, March 21, 2009 11:32 AM (18 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban
It did!
― JtM Is Ruled By A Black Man (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Saturday, 21 March 2009 15:52 (4 years ago) Permalink
Looking over this list, I account The Shining as the film that ruined Nicholson's career as an actor. It taught him how easy it was to ham it up and persuade audiences to accept it as good acting. He never looked back. Boy howdy, has he been gawdawful the past couple of decades!
btw, I voted Missouri Breaks, just to be contrarian. Chinatown is clearly the strongest horse in this field.
btw, I'm white.
― Aimless, Saturday, 21 March 2009 16:56 (4 years ago) Permalink
yelling in GF2 (or Panic in Needle Park) is not same as Robot Pacino Yelling
― Past a Diving Jeter (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 21 March 2009 18:10 (4 years ago) Permalink
voted easy rider because it's my favorite movie up there, but chinatown will (and prob should) win
― k3vin k., Saturday, 21 March 2009 18:15 (4 years ago) Permalink
I account The Shining as the film that ruined Nicholson's career as an actor. - I see your point, but just because TS birthed the "crazy Jack is gonna snap" schtick that, yeah, got old really quick, doesn't mean that his performance in that film, taken on its own, should be held accountable for The Witches of Eastwick or whatever. To use the Pacino analogy,Glengarry Glen Ross should not be blamed for The Devil's Advocate, even though his lawyer/Satan was essentially a hyper-stylized Ricky Roma.
I'm probably biased, being a horror buff, but I've always thought of the Jack Torrence character as one of cinema's great psychopaths, not necessarily for the cackling and clowning of the film's final third, but for the sinister undertone boiling up between the point when he hurts his son & later starts interacting with ghosts/hallucinations, hitting full stride in the uber-creepy dialog between Jack and the previous caretaker in the washroom. The "here's Johnny" sequence is what people typically associate with the character, but it is that bathroom exchange which best exemplifies the strength of his performance.
Sorry for the lengthy post. I just like The Shining a lot, flawed though it may be.
― 2 ears + 1 ❤ (Pillbox), Saturday, 21 March 2009 19:16 (4 years ago) Permalink
i just watched Louis Theroux in some kind of self-help-hypnosis world and have to say: DON'T APOLOGIZE. that was a good post :)
― Ludo, Saturday, 21 March 2009 20:52 (4 years ago) Permalink
i'm not a good judge of what makes quality acting, but the movie of these i have enjoyed the most is prob. five easy pieces.
― ian, Saturday, 21 March 2009 21:19 (4 years ago) Permalink
xpost: thanks. I feel a little self-conscious when I'm the only dude on a thread with a long post, which tends to be often, just cuz I'm such a flowery bastard. I wasn't apologizing for my love of TS, but it is a flawed film. The third act just can't support the masterful tone of the first two (but at least it didn't end with an attack of giant hedge bunnies, as King would have preferred).
At first, while voting in polls, I was conflicted about whether I should vote for the objectively "best" thing, or the thing I just happen to like the most. In keeping with the (variably)anti-canonical spirit of ILX, I decided to just go with the latter. So yeah, objectively, Chinatown 9 times out of 10, but I'm voting for the first two-thirds of The Shinning (sic)
― 2 ears + 1 ❤ (Pillbox), Saturday, 21 March 2009 21:47 (4 years ago) Permalink
i want you to hold this poll between your knees
― Past a Diving Jeter (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 21 March 2009 21:54 (4 years ago) Permalink
oh yeah, well I won't stand for your smartness and sarcasm.
― 2 ears + 1 ❤ (Pillbox), Saturday, 21 March 2009 22:07 (4 years ago) Permalink
can you read THIS sign???
― Past a Diving Jeter (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 21 March 2009 22:22 (4 years ago) Permalink
has anyone here seen Woooooooolf? it's pretty great.
― droling lapdogs (hmmmm), Saturday, 21 March 2009 22:47 (4 years ago) Permalink
i voted the shining in spite of the hamminess; it's just such an indelible movie for me. i could have easily voted for any of his other classic roles.
― battlestar elastica (get bent), Saturday, 21 March 2009 22:52 (4 years ago) Permalink
i'd love to have a film festival of some of those lesser-known/underrated nicholson movies. i've never seen marvin gardens.
― battlestar elastica (get bent), Saturday, 21 March 2009 22:54 (4 years ago) Permalink
Anyone wanna make an argument for The Trip?
― 2 ears + 1 ❤ (Pillbox), Saturday, 21 March 2009 23:14 (4 years ago) Permalink
Actually, I think he directed that one. I can't remember if he appeared in it or not.
― 2 ears + 1 ❤ (Pillbox), Saturday, 21 March 2009 23:20 (4 years ago) Permalink
The Pledge is a fantastic novel (I got the Penguin w/Jack Nicholson's face on the cover). Glad to see the film is rated well by some here!
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 21 March 2009 23:24 (4 years ago) Permalink
He was good in these films that I did not dig:
Carnal Knowledge (1971)Terms Of Endearment (1983)Hoffa (1992)The Departed (2006)
He could do nothing to make me watch these films again:
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)The Witches Of Eastwick (1987)Batman (1989)Anger Management (2003)About Schmidt (2003)
― Pete Scholtes, Sunday, 22 March 2009 18:14 (4 years ago) Permalink
Chinatown easy. The Pledge is good.
― chap, Sunday, 22 March 2009 18:18 (4 years ago) Permalink
Remake of Postman is awful.
― Alex in SF, Sunday, 22 March 2009 18:32 (4 years ago) Permalink
gotta be the passenger for me. one of my favorite movies.
― ryan, Sunday, 22 March 2009 18:50 (4 years ago) Permalink
The Witches of Eastwick is fun -- my favorite of his hambone performances.
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 22 March 2009 19:21 (4 years ago) Permalink
I'm going for Chinatown on this one, definitely. Has there ever been a thread on favourite director cameos? I adore Polanski in this.
I enjoyed that film a lot, but I don't think Nicholson was in it as an actor. Saw it too long ago to make a proper argument for it as a good film, but it was definitely fun.
― emil.y, Sunday, 22 March 2009 19:59 (4 years ago) Permalink
the trip is the russ meyer one w/ peter fonda right? saw it recently...no jack. think he (co?)wrote it
― johnny crunch, Sunday, 22 March 2009 20:02 (4 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, it was Peter Fonda. Corman was the director, not sure if Meyer had anything to do with it. It's kind of Meyer-esque in places, I guess.
― emil.y, Sunday, 22 March 2009 20:21 (4 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, I just checked on IMDB & Nicholson wrote it. I'm not sure why I associated him so closely with the film. Was he in another, similar, film about the LSD experience?
― 2 ears + 1 ❤ (Pillbox), Monday, 23 March 2009 00:57 (4 years ago) Permalink
Psych-Out? Or even Easy Rider?!
― emil.y, Monday, 23 March 2009 01:04 (4 years ago) Permalink
vote for easy rider so i'm not the only one
― abe being busy (k3vin k.), Monday, 23 March 2009 01:41 (4 years ago) Permalink
i prefer Wolf to The Shining and Blood & Wine and Batman to The Departed.
― Past a Diving Jeter (Dr Morbius), Monday, 23 March 2009 01:45 (4 years ago) Permalink
xxpost: Sure, ES is pretty psychedelic, but I'm thinking of something where the depiction of the "trip" is the central premise. I'm guessing Psych-Out is the one I'm (not really) remembering or, at least, so the title would indicate.
― 2 ears + 1 ❤ (Pillbox), Monday, 23 March 2009 01:47 (4 years ago) Permalink
Also wrote Head, the Monkees movie, but not in it so far as I remember...
― Pete Scholtes, Monday, 23 March 2009 02:29 (4 years ago) Permalink
he is, for 5-10 seconds.
Poll also doesnt have the film where he played Peter Lorre's son.
― Past a Diving Jeter (Dr Morbius), Monday, 23 March 2009 02:34 (4 years ago) Permalink
I don't know anyone in charge of making movies, but I wish they would start making more movies like Hells Angels on Wheels.
Get on a motorcycleGo to carnivalGet drunk and stonedPaint Naked Womenrepeat then have fight that goes wrong...
That is a movie. The end is pretty classic as Nicholson has a total 'what the hell just happened' look on his face.
― earlnash, Monday, 23 March 2009 05:52 (4 years ago) Permalink
Voted for The Passenger... Tremendous movie and gets overlooked a lot. The Shooting is my #2 pick
― Chris Barrus (Elvis Telecom), Monday, 23 March 2009 07:07 (4 years ago) Permalink
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Saturday, 28 March 2009 00:01 (4 years ago) Permalink
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Sunday, 29 March 2009 00:01 (4 years ago) Permalink
Ironweed got a vote?!
― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 29 March 2009 00:05 (4 years ago) Permalink
watched both the border & the passenger today -- similar disconnected vibe in both, but hes consistently compelling to watch in p much every scene of each, think i actually preferred the border a little
― johnny crunch, Saturday, 4 May 2013 23:30 (2 weeks ago) Permalink
the border's really good.
a few good men was on tv the other day so i watched it, jack's great in the 'i eat breakfast' scene. horrible score
― turds (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, 5 May 2013 00:09 (1 week ago) Permalink
it's nicely subtle in that nicholsons character isnt the boy scout cop caricature outraged @ his corrupt colleagues &/or w/ a crusading woody for mistreated brown ppl but more i think that he just realizes that even going along w/ it, getting $ & w/e would only mean his wife would buy more worthless furniture & whatnot so y not do the "right" thing~
― johnny crunch, Sunday, 5 May 2013 01:09 (1 week ago) Permalink
otm
― Ask The Answer Man (sexyDancer), Sunday, 5 May 2013 04:34 (1 week ago) Permalink
don't think I've seen it since '82 so it's time I spose
― Pope Rusty I (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 5 May 2013 13:56 (1 week ago) Permalink
his best from that dark post-Cuckoo's Nest pre-Reds period.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 May 2013 14:04 (1 week ago) Permalink
Just to be thoroughly annoying, The Border came out after Reds...I've never seen it (meant to at the time); better than The Shining?
― clemenza, Sunday, 5 May 2013 14:07 (1 week ago) Permalink
You're right!
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 May 2013 14:09 (1 week ago) Permalink
His performance? Yeah. Whether the movie is better than The Shining I'll leave for the Kubrickiphiliacs.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 May 2013 14:10 (1 week ago) Permalink
I think you know my answer....
Does anyone like Goin' South? Never saw that one. In an alternate reality he could've been a comedic stalwart, as in The Fortune (or the Little Shop cameo).
― Pope Rusty I (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 5 May 2013 14:28 (1 week ago) Permalink
I walked out on The Border after the first 50 minutes or so, ages ago, when I saw it in a theater back when it was released. I don't recall Nicholson's performance as being the main problem so much as the script and direction. I felt I was being intensely manipulated and I didn't like it. Still, it makes me wonder at all the favorable remarks that film gets on this thread. I couldn't stand it.
― Aimless, Sunday, 5 May 2013 20:36 (1 week ago) Permalink
well it's been 21 years, Aim.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 May 2013 20:36 (1 week ago) Permalink
incidentally his commentary track for The Passenger, which I praised here years ago, is still one of my favorites -- one of the few actors who understood exactly what the director wanted him to do as well as having perfect insight into the director's methods, period.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 May 2013 20:38 (1 week ago) Permalink
in the as good as it gets commentary nicholson doesn't say much for a while and then there's a shot out a window of some boats and he makes a HRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM foghorn noise. best part of as good as it gets, obviously.
― the white queen and her caustic judgments (difficult listening hour), Sunday, 5 May 2013 20:46 (1 week ago) Permalink
xps hated goin' south so much! not just an early showcase for all his worst tendencies as an actor, but just excruciatingly unfunny & irritating. I mean I don't really rate his comedy performance in the shining either, but he does at least make me lol in that.
― just dude intonation (wins), Sunday, 5 May 2013 20:47 (1 week ago) Permalink
― the white queen and her caustic judgments (difficult listening hour), Sunday, May 5, 2013 4:46 PM (33 seconds ago) Bookmark
lmao
― turds (Hungry4Ass), Sunday, 5 May 2013 20:47 (1 week ago) Permalink
Looking over his filmography, I don't see Reds as any kind of demarcation point the way Alfred does. The point at which he starts imitating himself--sometime slyly, sometimes clunkily--and his films don't seem like such a big deal anymore, that seems to come a few years later. I'm not sure exactly when--I haven't seen everything in question--but maybe sometime in the mid/late-'80s? I would agree that Cuckoo's Nest ends his great period.
― clemenza, Sunday, 5 May 2013 20:54 (1 week ago) Permalink
The point at which he starts imitating himself is Cuckoo's Nest. Though he doesn't always.
― Pope Rusty I (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 5 May 2013 21:10 (1 week ago) Permalink
Gotta disagree there. Every actor has mannerisms--he's already doing Jack stuff in Easy Rider--but McMurphy is a fully realized character.
― clemenza, Sunday, 5 May 2013 21:26 (1 week ago) Permalink
I only mentioned Reds as his first Academy-recognized Good Performance since Cuckoo's Nest, and for once the Academy is right: that 1976-1982 period is dismal.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 May 2013 21:38 (1 week ago) Permalink
*mentioned Reds BECAUSE it was
he was awful and miscast in The Postman Always Rings Twice and - well, I won't say much about The Shining.
― A deeper shade of lol (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 May 2013 21:39 (1 week ago) Permalink
agreed on postman, from that post-cuckoo pre-reds period i am very fond of the missouri breaks.
― balls, Sunday, 5 May 2013 23:06 (1 week ago) Permalink