1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)

Director: Milos Forman
Writers: Lawrence Hauben (screenplay), Bo Goldman (screenplay),
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and Danny DeVito

Plot: Upon arrival at a mental institution, a brash rebel rallies the patients together to take on the oppressive Nurse Ratched, a woman more a dictator than a nurse.

Storyline:
McMurphy thinks he can get out of doing work while in prison by pretending to be mad. His plan backfires when he is sent to a mental asylum. He tries to liven the place up a bit by playing card games and basketball with his fellow inmates, but the head nurse is after him at every turn.

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2. The Shining(1980)

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Stephen King (novel), Stanley Kubrick (screenplay)
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd

Plot: A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

Storyline: A man, his son and wife become the winter caretakers of an isolated hotel where Danny, the son, sees disturbing visions of the hotel’s past using a telepathic gift known as “The Shining”. The father, Jack Torrance, is underway in a writing project when he slowly slips into insanity as a result of cabin fever and former guests of the hotel’s ghosts. After being convinced by a waiter’s ghost to “correct” the family, Jack goes completely insane. The only thing that can save Danny and his mother is “The Shining”.

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3. As Good as it Gets(1997)

Director: James L. Brooks
Writers: Mark Andrus (story), Mark Andrus (screenplay)
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt and Greg Kinnear

Plot: A single mother/waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship.

Storyline:
New York City. Melvin Udall, a cranky, bigoted, obsessive-compulsive writer, finds his life turned upside down when neighboring gay artist Simon is hospitalized and his dog is entrusted to Melvin. In addition, Carol, the only waitress who will tolerate him, must leave work to care for her sick son, making it impossible for Melvin to eat breakfast.

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4. The Departed(2006)

Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: William Monahan (screenplay), Alan Mak (2002 screenplay Mou gaan dou)
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson

Plot: Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made, and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy’s identities.

Storyline:
In South Boston, the state police force is waging war on Irish-American organized crime. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Frank Costello. While Billy quickly gains Costello’s confidence, Colin Sullivan, a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the state police as an informer for the syndicate, is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit. Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the mob and the police that there’s a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy-and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself. But is either willing to turn on the friends and comrades they’ve made during their long stints undercover?

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5. Chinatown(1974)

Director: Roman Polanski
Writer: Robert Towne
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston

Plot: A private detective investigating an adultery case stumbles on to a scheme of murder that has something to do with water.

Storyline:
JJ ‘Jake’ Gittes is a private detective who seems to specialize in matrimonial cases. He is hired by Evelyn Mulwray when she suspects her husband Hollis, builder of the city’s water supply system, of having an affair. Gittes does what he does best and photographs him with a young girl but in the ensuing scandal, it seems he was hired by an impersonator and not the real Mrs. Mulwray. When Mr. Mulwray is found dead, Jake is plunged into a complex web of deceit involving murder, incest and municipal corruption all related to the city’s water supply.

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6. Anger Management(2003)

Director: Peter Segal
Writer: David Dorfman
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Adam Sandler and Marisa Tomei

Plot: Sandler plays a businessman who is wrongly sentenced to an anger-management program, where he meets an aggressive instructor.

Storyline:
Mild-mannered timid businessman Dave Buznik who works for a pet clothing company out of New York City. He’s got an abrasive boss named Mr. Frank Head who frequently takes credit for his work and steps on him in return. He’s got a loving girlfriend, Linda, whose best friend is her condescending college ex, Andrew. But when a misunderstanding aboard an airplane goes haywire, Dave is ordered by the court to undergo anger management therapy at the hands of specialist Dr. Buddy Rydell, who is an unpredictable, psychopathic character. As the relationship between Dave and Buddy becomes more tense, when the unorthodox treatment wreaks havoc Dave’s life, and Buddy might be the only one who can save him from a problem he recognizes right away in his patient, that could only get worse.

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7. About Schmidt(2002)

Director: Alexander Payne
Writers: Louis Begley (novel), Alexander Payne (screenplay)
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis and Dermot Mulroney

Plot: Warren Schmidt is a man in his 60′s. While trying to run his daughter’s life, he realizes that he wasted his.

Storyline:
Warren Schmidt has led a safe, predictable life working in the insurance industry in Omaha, Nebr. for many years, yet now faces retirement. At the same time he is forced to take a hard look at his wife, his life and his relationship with his estranged daughter. An often hilarious series of events follow as Schmidt embarks on an unpredictable RV journey to attend his daughter’s wedding in Denver.

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8. A Few Good Men(1992)

Director: Rob Reiner
Writers: Aaron Sorkin (play), Aaron Sorkin (screenplay)
Stars: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore

Plot: Neo military lawyer Kaffee defends Marines accused of murder; they contend they were acting under orders.

Storyline:
In this dramatic courtroom thriller, Lt. Daniel Kaffee, a Navy lawyer who has never seen the inside of the courtroom, defends two stubborn Marines who have been accused of murdering a colleague. Kaffee is known as being lazy and had arranged for a plea bargain. Downey’s Aunt Ginny appoints Cmdr. Galloway to represent him. Also on the legal staff is Lt. Sam Weinberg. The team rounds up many facts and Kaffee is discovering that he is really cut out for trial work. The defense is originally based upon the fact that PFC Santiago, the victim, was given a “CODE RED”. Santiago was basically a screw-up. At Gitmo, screw-ups aren’t tolerated. Especially by Col. Nathan Jessup. In Cuba, Jessup and two senior officers try to give all the help they can, but Kaffee knows something’s fishy. In the conclusion of the film, the fireworks are set off by a confrontation between Jessup and Kaffee.

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9. Easy Rider(1969)

Director: Dennis Hopper
Writers: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper
Stars: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper and Jack Nicholson

Plot: Two counterculture bikers travel from Los Angeles to New Orleans in search of America.

Storyline:
Wyatt and Billy are two motorcycle riders (bikers) on their way to Mardis Gras, and encounter hitchhikers, a drunken lawyer, a jail cell, a whorehouse and the death of a friend.

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10. Batman(1989)

Director: Tim Burton
Writers: Bob Kane (Batman characters), Sam Hamm (story)
Stars: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger

Plot: The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being the clownishly homicidal Joker.

Storyline:
Gotham City: dark, dangerous, ‘protected’ only by a mostly corrupt police department. Despite the best efforts of D.A. Harvey Dent and police commissioner Jim Gordon, the city becomes increasingly unsafe…until a Dark Knight arises. We all know criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot…so his disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. He becomes a bat. Enter Vicky Vale, a prize-winning photo journalist who wants to uncover the secret of the mysterious “bat-man”. And enter Jack Napier, one-time enforcer for Boss Grissom, horribly disfigured after a firefight in a chemical factory…who, devoid of the last vestiges of sanity, seizes control of Gotham’s underworld as the psychotic, unpredictable Clown Prince of Crime…the Joker. Gotham’s only hope, it seems, lies in this dark, brooding vigilante. And just how does billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne fit into all of this?

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