Do You Know Jack? Trivia Quiz

Randle McMurphy thought he had a plan. A convicted felon, he decided it would be easier to spend time in a mental institution than a work farm, so he pretended to be mentally ill. What he found was a place filled with people who showed signs of a variety of mental illnesses; they were repressed and even bullied by Head Nurse Ratched.

The two frequently butted heads as McMurphy tried to find ways to give the patients a better level of existence. What McMurphy didn't realize was that Ratched had the power to subject him to a longer stay at the facility than what he had anticipated, and she could influence the doctors to try different treatments, such as electroconvulsive therapy and lobotomy, on him.

Lobotomies were a popular form of behavior modification in the 1940s and 1950s for those unfortunates who were diagnosed with psychological or neurological disorders. Instruments similar to ice picks were inserted in the skull in order to alter or sever nerve fibers. While lobotomies were said to mitigate the symptoms of some, many had horrifying results.

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) won all five major Academy Awards, including a Best Actor for Nicholson, along with numerous other honors, including BAFTA and Golden Globe awards. In 2007 the movie was ranked #33 on the American Film Institute's 10th Anniversary List of "100 Years... 100 Movies".

At first viewing it all seemed pretty straightforward. An unsuccessful writer, who was a recovering alcoholic with past anger issues, Jack Torrance took a winter job as a caretaker of an old hotel in 1970s Colorado. His wife and telepathically talented "shining" son came along with him. Little by little the isolation of the hotel and his inability to get rid of his writer's block drove Jack insane; his wife and son were forced to flee for their lives. That's what I gathered, until the ending, of course. The group picture dated 1921 with Jack featured in in the middle front provoked more thought.

So, was "The Shining" (1980) more about Jack Torrance's insanity or his son's telepathic ability to shine? Or does the hotel "shine" due to its past experiences? I picked up more clues during my second viewing of the movie. Did Jack's son's shining ability unleash the spirits at the hotel somehow? Or was Jack the reincarnation of the past caretaker, as insinuated by his conversation with the hotel's ghostly butler, Grady? A hundred different questions produced hundreds of theories and answers.

It has long been written that Stephen King wrote the book upon which "The Shining" (1973) was based after experiencing a nightmare while staying at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado. The picture shows one of the hotel's hallways. In reality, the exterior of the Overlook Hotel was provided by Timberline Lodge in Oregon. A studio set provided the shots made of its interior.

As a boy Bobby Dupea was a piano prodigy living in a well-to-do musically talented family; as a man he worked a blue collar job in a Texas oil field and listened to his girlfriend sing Tammy Wynette songs. When Dupea, who felt that he was the only failure in his family, heard that his father was terminally ill, he traveled home to the island where he was raised to try and reconnect. After failing in his effort, Dupea took off to places unknown.

While the title of "Five Easy Pieces" (1970) might suggest something else to some, it could really be either a reference to a learn how to book for beginning pianists or the five classical piano pieces heard in the movie. Did it lead anyone else to introspective thoughts about their life work or family ties? The film earned several Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations, but did not win any of those prestigious awards. It was, however, inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2000.

Base Commander Colonel Nathan Jessep was a man with a secret. One of his men at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba was dead and two others were accused of committing his murder. They claimed that they had been ordered to carry out a code red - a disciplinary action performed by the men at the base against one of their own who made a mistake or didn't perform according to expectations.

Jessep made it clear to the JAG lawyers who questioned him about the incident that he was the one who decided what the policies were at his base, but never came out and admitted to ordering the code red. Not until, that is, he was confronted in the courtroom. Jessep finally admitted what he had done - not because he felt bad about what happened, but because he was angry that his orders were being questioned.

"A Few Good Men" (1992) featured an All-Star cast and was nominated for Academy Awards, Golden Globes, MTV Movie Awards, and numerous others in several different categories. Nicholson won the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor and the National Board of Review Award in the same category. The movie won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture.

Melvin Udall, a successful romance novelist, had OCD. His routine each day was unaltered over time. The same ritual was completed with switches and locks, each bar of soap was used just once before being thrown away, and he ate breakfast at the same diner, sitting at the same table, and being served by the same waitress - Carol - every day. None of the other waitresses would tolerate his antics, and, if someone else was sitting at his table, he would ramp up the rude behavior until they left.

Melvin's life changed when his neighbor needed help in taking care of his dog. While he didn't really want to help, Melvin became attached to the dog, which also meant that he saw more than he wanted of his neighbor. And, when Carol decided to take a job closer to home to take care her ailing son, Melvin offered to financially take care of her son's expenses so that she could continue to wait on him at the diner. These interactions brought about a change in Melvin. He eventually revealed that he had been taking medication because Carol made him "want to be a better man".

Both Helen Hunt (Carol) and Nicholson earned Best Actress/Actor Academy Awards for "As Good As It Gets" (1997). Although Baltimore was the setting of the restaurant in the movie, the movie was actually filmed in Seal Beach, California, using Khoury's Restaurant.

Harry Sanborn was a much older wealthy owner of a record company who only dated younger women. His current girl, Marin, planned to entertain him at her mother's beach house in the Hamptons when her mother, famous playwright Erica Berry, arrived unexpectedly. After Harry suffered a heart attack there the doctor suggested that he needed to stay close by in the Hamptons for a few days. Marin left him in the care of her mother.

In spite of the fact that the two developed feelings for each other, it took them both a while to admit it. Harry continued to date younger women and Erica wrote a play about their relationship. Finally, they were able to reconnect and admit their love for one another.

Nicholson's "Something's Gotta Give" (2003) co-star, Diane Keaton, was the one who received more accolades for her performance, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Film critic Roger Ebert commented in his review that it seemed as if Keaton and Nicholson were actually playing themselves in the movie.

The setting of the movie was 1880 Montana, in the region where several small streams run into the Missouri River. Nicholson was Tom Logan, a rustler who had used money from a train robbery to buy the ranch next to David Braxton's after he murdered one of Logan's friends. When Logan retaliated by killing Braxton's foreman, he hired a sharpshooting regular, Robert E. Lee Clayton (Brando), to protect his ranch from the cattle rustlers. One by one Clayton killed the cattle rustlers, but Logan took matters into his own hands, killing both Clayton and Braxton before leaving the Missouri Breaks.

In 1976 Nicholson took advantage of the opportunity to star in "The Missouri Breaks" (1976) with Marlon Brando, as he said that Brando had greatly influenced him as a young man. He stated, however, that he found Brando's use of cue cards extremely distracting. Highly anticipated, with both actors coming off recent Academy Award winning performances - "The Godfather" (1972) and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975) - many critics felt that the movie missed its mark and was a huge disappointment.

George Hanson was a supporting character in "Easy Rider" (1969), a movie that has come to symbolize the drug and counter-culture of the 1960s. It was about two California drug dealers, Wyatt and Billy, who made an especially lucrative deal. They decided to buy motorcycles with some of their haul, and take the rest of their drugs and money, hidden in the gas tank of one of the bikes, across the U.S. to resettle in Florida.

George met them in New Mexico after they were thrown in jail with him. They were arrested for "parading without a permit", but George, a lawyer, was there for public drunkenness. He helped them get out of jail and decided to go east with them to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras celebration, in spite of the fact that he does not share their lifestyle. Wyatt and Billy made it to New Orleans, but George did not. The trio's appearance of nonconformity attracted violence wherever they went.

Considered to be Nicholson's break out role, "Easy Rider" (1969) earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Four Harley-Davidson choppers were customized and used for the filming; one was destroyed in the movie's final scene and the others were stolen.

Two men from different walks of life met when each found they were terminally ill with lung cancer. Billionaire Edward Cole (Nicholson) convinced Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) to go along with him on an all-expense trip to visit locations that were on their bucket lists, the things they wanted to do before they died. Along with Matthew, Cole's assistant, they traveled to the Great Wall of China, the Great Pyramid in Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India, Mt. Everest, and a variety of other spots. As the two traveled, they engaged in deep conversations which allowed them to think about their past life choices and how they might be able to spend their remaining time on earth.

Chambers passed away first, but Cole went into remission, giving him time to make amends with his daughter for past failings and meet his granddaughter for the first time. After Cole died, Matthew took cans with both men's ashes back to Mt. Everest.

The release of "The Bucket List" (2007) was met with mixed reviews. While some believed the movie took the idea of a "bromance" a bit too far, others thought it made light of a cancer diagnosis. It was chosen, however, by National Board of Review for its Top Ten Films of 2007 list.

Nicholson played two roles on "Mars Attacks!" (1996) - he was U.S. President James Dale and Las Vegas casino owner Art Land. Earth was invaded by flying saucers from Mars that landed in Las Vegas. While the Martians sent a message that they came in peace, they fired into the crowd, turning many into skeletons. President Dale believed that there was some kind of misunderstanding, however, the Martians proved that he was incorrect when they launched a full scale invasion of Earth.

Art Land died when his casino was destroyed, and President Dale was forced to flee to his emergency bunker after his wife was killed when Martians overran the White House. Still hoping to defuse the situation with diplomacy, President Dale was killed while trying to shake the Martian leader's hand. The humans finally discovered that the only way to force the Martians to leave Earth was to play "Indian Love Call". Earth was safe at last.

Now one might wonder why Nicholson and the movie's all-star cast agreed to make such a silly film. Nicholson said that he had enjoyed working with director Tim Burton on "Batman" (1989), and wanted to do so again. He had even hoped that Burton would decide to let him play more characters; at one time Nicholson suggested to his friend that he should play all of them. He reportedly signed a contract for the movie without even reading the script.