One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Major problems face the viewer who watches this film in 2021, approaching 50 years after its release. Most prominent among those problems is the distraction factor that comes from having seen a great many of these actors in various other roles. You have to make an active effort to sink yourself into the time and place of this movie. When you lock in, you recognize that one of the key ingredients here is actually subtlety. If this film were made today, the strokes would be much broader; Nurse Ratched would be a Cruella-type villain and McMurphy would be a faultless hero. Neither applies to the presentation here; you can see both sides of this "argument" although ultimately, the movie's moral still comes through in the end. Another impression: it's entirely possible that Jack Nicholson has never played any character other than Jack Nicholson. I'm not sure what to make of that--just bringing it up here. All in all, this is a film worth seeing; not sure I would have made it Best Picture (though I don't have the perspective to compare it to all of its competition from that year), but this film's long-lasting influence has the ultimate say.

Alien: Resurrection

It becomes obvious early on that this flick was made mostly so Sigourney Weaver could have most, if not all, of the good lines. At least this time out she gets to trade in the previous outings' desperation for something more like occasional devilishness. That, and the bulk of this movie, are at least somewhat entertaining, even if at this point everything presented is redundant and derivative. Most interesting about this movie, in hindsight, is who was working behind the camera: Jean-Pierre Jeunet directed, and Joss Whedon wrote the script, both before going on to much bigger things. Say what you will about this franchise--and it's been all over the map--but it has always attracted top talent, even if its every presentation amounts to just a one note, dolled-up haunted house story. In this case, that's not enough to make a classic, but I never wanted to turn it off, either, so I guess that's a draw. Like its signature beastie, the series is a survivor.