Milos Forman

A guy who makes interesting films, who these days likes making biographical ones, who has his own unique vision, usually with some social conscious.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) -- Deserving of all it's many awards, this movie makes you feel just as confined as the patients, and you sort of hope that Jack Nicholson actually kills Nurse Ratched when he tries to strangle her. Populated by, as Beavis would say, "all those guys from Taxi," the cast is excellent, with Christopher Lloyd, Danny DeVito, Brad Dourif, and of course Jack himself. A film that gets all the emotions going.

Hair (1979) -- I might need to see this again to give it a proper review, but I don't really want to see it again, since the first time I watched it I just remember mediocre songs and a bunch of hippies, two things I don't care for much.

Amadeus (1984) -- My favorite Milos Forman movie, I'm always amazed at how two hours and forty minutes seems like no time while watching. Both Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham are perfect (not to mention Jeffrey Jones who went on to be Ferris Bueller's principal) as representations of vulgar genius and jealous mediocrity. Wonderful music.

Valmont (1989) -- A pretty decent version of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, with a certain believability that comes from the seductees being teenage kids. Not a perfect movie, but fun while it's on.

The People Versus Larry Flint (1996) -- Better than I expected it to be, not that there was any reason to suspect it would have been bad. Edward Norton is probably the best part of the movie. The second biography by Forman.

Man on the Moon (1999) -- People say this is a bad movie, which it isn't. They also say that some of it's badness comes from not "getting under the skin" of Andy Kaufmann, which is stupid. The explanation for his behavior is simple: he wanted to be funny, and being conventionally funny wasn't funny at all. It isn't funny at all. Just like Tom Green (whose movie is also hated by critics), Andy Kaufmann realized that true comedy is honest and mean and usually has a victim or two involved, but it also stems from a blend of insecurity and the desire for fame. Comedy is serious stuff. At any rate, this is a good movie and covers Andy's life pretty well, Jim Carrey being the perfect and obvious choice to play him.