the m0vie blog

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This time, Miloš Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

To avoid prison on a statutory rap charge, charming misfit Randle McMurphy secures a transfer to a low-security psychiatric ward for evaluation. What initially seems like a cunning plan to serve out the rest of his sentence in more soothing surroundings quickly evolves into a battle of wits for the hearts and souls of the hospital’s residents.

At time of recording, it was ranked the 16th best movie of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Show notes:

• Recorded 4th November 2017.
• Darren incorrectly states that One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was at one point the highest-grossing movie of all time. While it grossed very highly, it was not even the highest grossing movie of its year, losing out to Jaws. That is what he gets for trusting Jack Nicholson and his number-fudging ways.
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at The Internet Movie Database.
• The IMDB 250 as it appeared at time of recording.
• Edward Helmore at The Observer on Ken Kesey as a revolutionary figure, August 2011.
• James Wolcott at Vanity Fair on the legacy of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, December 2012.
• Michael Douglas and Louise Fletcher talk to The Guardian about making One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, April 2017.
• Paul Whitington at The Irish Independent on the production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, February 2015.
• Louise Fletcher talks to The Independent about working on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, January 2016.
• Sylvia Townsend at World Cinema Paradise on Haskell Wexler, the first cinematographer to work on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, December 2014.
• Ryan Gilbey at The New Statesman on feeling sympathy for Nurse Ratched, April 2017.
• Zach Handlen at The A.V. Club discusses the misogyny of source and adaptation in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, September 2016.
• Listen to Sheryl Sandberg talk to When to Jump about being a woman in the workplace, November 2017.
• Ken Kesey discusses accusations of misogyny in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, May 2001.
• The crew on How Did This Get Made? discuss Jason X, October 2017.
• Jacob Dressler at ScreenGeek discusses the latest inevitable Friday the 13th reboot, September 2017.
• Kirk Johnson at The New York Times on the transformation of Oregon State Hospital into a museum, March 2013.
• Mo Costandi at Science Blogs discusses the history of the frontal lobotomy, July 2007.
• Jon Swaine at The Telegraph on how One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest changed psychiatry, February 2011.
• Drew Ackerman on Sleep with Me discusses A Fistful of Datas, October 2017.
• Follow The 250 on Twitter.
• Subscribe to The 250 on iTunes.
• Subscribe to The 250 on Stitcher.

Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: bond, counterculture, hollywood, jack nicholson, ken kesey, Miloš Forman, one flew over the cuckoo's nest, psychiatric care, star trek |