Happy Birthday Jack Nicholson: His Five Best Performances

The icon turns 77 today, which is nuts, because you think about all the great movies he's starred in and so many of those classics (especially from 1970's) haven't aged at all. It's tough to narrow down a list, and before I do I've got to give shout outs to all the ones that could have easily made it on- Easy Rider, Reds, Five Easy Pieces, The Shining, Batman and The Passenger (I know leaving out both The Shining and Batman may be somewhat blasphemous), but here are my five favorite Jack performances out of all the movies he's made:

1) One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Probably the quintessential Jack Nicholson performance and maybe the first one he gave that established that sly, rebel persona that he himself has imitated many times since then. As a guy in a mental hospital who's not crazy, he leads the rebellion against the evil Nurse Ratched, and you can't help but root for him, even though I always think when I watch this movie that all the other patients in this hospital probably should be in there, even if the nurse lady is evil.

2) Chinatown (1974)

This amazing neo-noir sees Jack playing it pretty straight actually, as a PI who uncovers the horrible mystery and secrets that lay among the seedy Los Angeles underbelly. But he's perfect as the man to uncover the truth and the audience is with him right through to the devastating, despairing ending.

3) Terms of Endearment (1983)

This is a role that might have been pretty easy for him to play, as it's another one of his "Jack being Jack" parts, but he's so good in it that it will always be one of my favorites. As drunken former astronaut Garrett Breedlove who brings the uptight Shirley MacLaine out of her shell, his comic timing is perfection and he's so funny, charming and subtle as he exposes just a hint of melancholy in accepting his own flaws, that he more than deserved that second Oscar he won for this movie.

4) Carnal Knowledge (1971)

Definitely one of the darkest characters he ever played, and he really goes all out as the misogynistic sex addict who ruins all the women he comes in contact with, and creates a deeper and more miserable hole within himself as keeps doing it. His performance in this movie is really daring, as he shows a total willingness to go deep into the bowels of misery and depravation, making it a character study that exposes a certain kind of man's feelings of entitlement and self-loathing. It's pretty raw.

5) About Schmidt (2002)

One of the more surprising movies in his later career, because he sheds all the typical Jack mannerisms (this was long after he'd quit being anyone other than himself onscreen) and I honestly didn't see him in this film, but rather the sad, tired old man he was supposed to be. For managing to strip away that devilish twinkle in the eye and turning in a quiet character performance more in line with what he would have tried in his earlier career, I wish he hadn't won his third Oscar for As Good As it Gets and instead gotten it for this. It would have been earned.

Happy Earth Day

To mark the occasion I've got a special recommendation, although it's not exactly a movie. For Earth Day I encourage you to watch Planet Earth, the eleven part documentary series commissioned by the BBC's Natural History Unit. It's an amazing show that takes you to a different part of the planet for each episode, where they look at the habitat, history and wildlife of the area. It aired back in 2006 and was narrated by David Attenborough, although when it was on the Discovery Channel in the U.S., for some reason Sigourney Weaver took over the narration duties (does it really make people want to watch a nature documentary more knowing that a celebrity's voice is talking over it?) It was actually filmed in High Def and now that the complete series is on blu-ray, looks absolutely incredible on your TV. Trust me, if you start one episode, you'll be hooked on the whole thing.

Here's a segment from the series that shows a pride of lions going after an elephant. It's crazy how they managed to obtain that footage at all:

Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "Double Indemnity" (1944)

This was actually released on blu-ray last week, but it's a far better selection than anything that came out today. One of the all time great film noirs with the woman who practically created the femme fatale at the center of it. Billy Wilder wrote and directed this story of a man (Fred MacMurray) who falls prey to the wiles of a dangerous woman (the incomparable Barbara Stanwyck) who gets him to conspire to murder her husband. Everyone knows this story by now (there's also a really good remake of this in 1981's Body Heat), but this is the original and every inch of it is cool, cunning perfection. You owe it to yourself to check it out.

Original 1944 Trailer:

FIRST LOOK: "How to Train Your Dragon 2"

It's a lot more than a first look actually- it's the entire first five minutes of the film. This preview was attached to Rio 2 recently, and so here we can see the opening scene of the highly anticipated sequel. The animation looks great of course, and I can already see that those flying scenes are going to look amazing on the big screen. My only complaint here will probably just be my own personal thing- but does anyone else think it's kinda messed up what they're doing to those sheep? Obviously it's an animated universe and these guys are vikings, but still- tossing those sheep around like that for fun strikes me as kind of weird. I don't know why that bugs me- maybe because sheep are real animals and dragons aren't? But I'm sure it's just me and no one else will even notice.

Movie of the Day: "Easter Parade" (1948)

That's right, I've made a secular choice for Easter Sunday, as this classic musical from the 1940's is basically an excuse to see Fred Astaire and Judy Garland at the height of their careers, and in the only movie they ever made together. Taking place over a year between Easter 1911 and 1912, Fred decides to groom inexperienced chorus girl Judy into becoming his new dance partner, and over the course of this film, a whopping 17 songs are performed. That's a lot of talent on display, and even though the two stars aren't evenly matched as far as the dancing goes (which is why professional tap dancer Ann Miller gets an entire solo number), Judy still does some of her best singing. It's always exciting to simply see the two of them onscreen in the first place, so enjoy your Easter holiday with this completely entertaining and highly enjoyable musical.

Trailer:

BOX OFFICE 4/18-4/20: 'Captain America' Stays Strong, 'Transcendence' Bombs

Captain America held on to the No. 1 spot for the third week in a row, as it coasted with $26 million over the weekend, bringing its total over $200 million, well past the $176 million total of the first movie. Rio 2 came in second with $22 million for a $75 million total for the animated film- turns out the birds aren't so popular their second time out, as it didn't manage to make it a close contest with the First Avenger this time.

In third was another faith-based film, Heaven is Real, with Greg Kinnear of all people starring in it. It brought in $21 million over the weekend, but $28 million since opening on Wednesday, no doubt helped by the holiday, but this has been quite a banner year for faith-based films overall. Interestingly, half the audience on this one was under the age 35. Meanwhile, Johnny Depp's Transcendence completely underwhelmed, coming in fourth place with just $11 million, and this on top of terrible reviews and now a "C+" Cinemascore. Yikes. It's Johnny Depp's third big budget bomb in a row, so I guess it's time to start asking where his "comeback" film is going to come from. Hopefully it won't be another Pirates movie. Rounding out the top five was Haunted House 2, which came in with just $9 million on a $4 million dollar budget, which isn't too bad.

Top 5:

Captain America: The Winter Soldier- $26.6 million
Rio 2- $22.5 million
Heaven is Real- $21.5 million
Transcendence- $11.1 million
Haunted House 2- $9.1 million

Next week it's The Other Woman, from director Nick Cassavetes and starring Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton, but there's really nothing too big on the horizon until The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on May 2nd, so we may be in for a slow couple of weeks at the box office. See you then!

Movie of the Day: "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988)

Of all the Jesus movies out there, this one is my personal favorite. Martin Scorsese's boldly innovative take on the Christ tale has the courage to treat him as a being who struggled between his destiny to fulfill God's purpose and his own desires to live his life as a man. Temptation explores Jesus' anguish and internal struggles through a great performance from Willem Dafoe and some wild directorial flourishes by Scorsese, especially whenever the devil is involved. To me, exploring the Christ figure for who he might have really been and wanted to be is infinitely more interesting than a straight biblical re-telling of the same story everyone's already familiar with, and leaves room for creativity that the other films often lack. And frankly, for all the controversy this movie garnered upon initial release, Scorsese for at least 2/3 of this film does stay fairly close to the biblical story, and as a devoted Catholic himself, treats Jesus with all the reverence he obviously feels. This is an exceptional film about the life of Jesus and every bit as profound, maybe more so, as any of the others ever made.

Trailer:

TRAILER: "The Homesman"

Tommy Lee Jones steps into the director's chair for the second time in what looks to be a kind of pseudo-feminist western starring himself and Hilary Swank. This movie is another Cannes entry this year set to compete for the Palme D'or, and it looks kind of interesting and different, at least for a western. The trailer has a kind of mystical vibe about it somehow. Sorry about the subtitles at the bottom but the international trailer is the only one available at the moment.

TRAILER: "A Most Wanted Man"

One of Philip Seymour Hoffman's last starring roles was in this spy thriller based on the John Le Carre novel, who wrote Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival to moderately positive reviews (it seems the consensus on Le Carre is that his books aren't suited to everyone's tastes), but it has a great cast in Hoffman, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright and Willem Dafoe. Directed by Anton Corbijn, who also made The American and Control, but it looks worth seeing to catch as many movies that Hoffman made as a lead while you can.

Movie of the Day: "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" (1964)

So, with today being Good Friday and Easter coming up on Sunday, we move on from the life of Moses to Jesus in our film selections. Jesus has always been, to say the least, a difficult role for any actor to take on, but Pier Paolo Pasolini's take on the story is one of the most celebrated interpretations of the gospels ever filmed. It is a very effective movie, filmed in a stark neo-realism style with amateur actors, minimal score, and only uses dialogue lifted straight from the gospel. This quasi-documentary approach is powerful image making, and I think it's really everything you would want to see if what you're looking for is the Bible story directly placed on film. Incredibly, famed Italian director Pasolini was an avowed atheist (and marxist of all things), but his reverence and faithfulness to the story as it's relayed in the gospel is pretty remarkable. The simplistic nature of the film leaves a deep impact.

Original 1964 Trailer:

TRAILER: "The Immigrant"

I'll admit that these period piece dramas are really up my alley, so I'm more inclined to like this kind of movie than your average person, I suppose. But it still looks good to me anyway. The Immigrant's been kicking around the festival circuit since last year where it debuted at Cannes, and now it's finally being released on May 16th. From James Gray, who directed We Own the Night and Two Lovers, it has a good cast (Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix and Jeremy Renner) and has gotten positive reviews from those who've see it, which have been quite a lot over the last year.

TRAILER: "Jersey Boys"

Clint Eastwood's long awaited film version of the beloved Broadway musical is coming June 20th. There's nothing too remarkable about the trailer- it seems like a pretty straightforward adaptation, and like the James Brown biopic, this story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons is guaranteed at least one thing in some great music. But we all know Eastwood's a competent director, so I'm sure he did a fine job with this. And having Christopher Walken in your movie is always an asset too.