What classics did you see last week, Sept 19 to Sept 25?

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

A lazy free-spirit slums in a mental institution and butts heads with the tyrannical head nurse.

This superlative 70s landmark film ranks in my Top 20 favorite movies of all time and deserved to sweep all the major Oscars, including Best Picture. Many people would probably say Jaws should have won, but in the end Cuckoo's Nest was the right choice.

Jack Nicholson was born to play the rebellious Randle McMurphy, and very deserving of his Best Actor Oscar. I would say Nicholson understood the character so well that it would have been a piece of cake for him to put in much of the improvisation that was done. And of course Louise Fletcher was a powerhouse as Nurse Ratched, and she also deserved her Oscar win. It was a performance that made her so icy cold that you could just sense the evil behind her deadpan eyes. It's a shame Fletcher didn't go on to have a better acting career.

This was a major achievement for Milos Forman. His naturalistic directing gave many scenes a seemingly authentic and realistic feel to them.