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I posted this scene, because I'd like to demonstrate that Kubrick also knew that (both subtle and more excessive) sparkles of oddity and humor can help to retain a viewer's attention and to actually even strengthen the profoundness of the film experience. It's something that certain "serious" directors completely lack and that's why they're often perceived as much more boring by the mainstream public.
Cobpyth's Top 101 Favorite Feature Films
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I'm one of those people you mentioned who aren't fond of musicals. I watched it for the first time a few months ago and absolutely loved it. It's like one of those songs that just puts you in a good mood. How can anyone not love it; too many good feelings there.
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Great movie, I just bought it on blu ray I'll rewatch it soon.
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Don't like musicals. Love Singin' In The Rain. 
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44. Five Easy Pieces (1970)
This film contains all the wonderful elements that I love so much about the general attitude of the late sixties and the early seventies. It's unconventional, it's free-spirited and it shows the typical everyday frustrations and gives it a certain magnitude and gravitas. It projects them onto a bigger picture.
The film doesn't care about sending any positive messages, because that's not the style of that particular era. What this film does care about is transferring human feelings and telling a story about a man's dissatisfaction with this world and particularly with society. Five Easy Pieces is a film I can truly sink into when I'm in the right mood, because there's so much truth and atmosphere in this film.
Jack wants his toast. It's an immortal scene full of meaning and poignant implications...
Because my feelings towards this film are so extremely strong, it's kind of odd for me to talk about its more "technical" sides, but let me just say that it's beautifully made. Everything just works. The acting, the writing, the directing in general, the music, etc... It's all top-notch! Some say it's also Jack Nicholson's best performance of all time and I wouldn't disagree. I think Jack himself could very much identify with this character and that's why it's probably such an amazingly believable performance. He's truly phenomenal in this film.
If you've ever felt lonely even though there were plenty of people that loved you, if you've ever lost the connection between yourself and society, if you've ever done stuff you shouldn't have done because your "weltschmerz" was leading you to a morally despicable path of egocentrism... Well, then this fim could be or become very special for you. Five Easy Pieces brilliantly touches on cores of truth about those specific conditions and if you can relate to the story it's telling, the film can be an incredibly intense and insightful experience that can open certain doors into your own psyche...
While Jack plays a classic bit of Chopin, the camera gently flows through a chamber full of memories...
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This film contains all the wonderful elements that I love so much about the general attitude of the late sixties and the early seventies. It's unconventional, it's free-spirited and it shows the typical everyday frustrations and gives it a certain magnitude and gravitas. It projects them onto a bigger picture.
The film doesn't care about sending any positive messages, because that's not the style of that particular era. What this film does care about is transferring human feelings and telling a story about a man's dissatisfaction with this world and particularly with society. Five Easy Pieces is a film I can truly sink into when I'm in the right mood, because there's so much truth and atmosphere in this film.
Jack wants his toast. It's an immortal scene full of meaning and poignant implications...
Because my feelings towards this film are so extremely strong, it's kind of odd for me to talk about its more "technical" sides, but let me just say that it's beautifully made. Everything just works. The acting, the writing, the directing in general, the music, etc... It's all top-notch! Some say it's also Jack Nicholson's best performance of all time and I wouldn't disagree. I think Jack himself could very much identify with this character and that's why it's probably such an amazingly believable performance. He's truly phenomenal in this film.
If you've ever felt lonely even though there were plenty of people that loved you, if you've ever lost the connection between yourself and society, if you've ever done stuff you shouldn't have done because your "weltschmerz" was leading you to a morally despicable path of egocentrism... Well, then this fim could be or become very special for you. Five Easy Pieces brilliantly touches on cores of truth about those specific conditions and if you can relate to the story it's telling, the film can be an incredibly intense and insightful experience that can open certain doors into your own psyche...
While Jack plays a classic bit of Chopin, the camera gently flows through a chamber full of memories...
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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019
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Five Easy Pieces is a movie that I've watched a few times over the years, and I've never quite loved it the way I wanted to. I haven't watched it since being a member of this forum though. Since I joined this forum I've come to appreciate different qualities in movies that I hadn't before. I'm going to watch it again and see how it goes. Either way, that diner scene is gold.
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Five Easy Pieces has really grown on me since I saw it, to the point where I'd even call it great. Its a very good film and I could see myself revisiting it again, as there is alot of honest truth to it.
Sadly, Five Easy Pieces was a forgettable experience for me. I love Jack Nicholson and I like what the film is about, just not really a fan of its execution, and the ending left me somewhat disappointed, even though it's what probably sums up the film. But I can definitely see why it is loved by some.
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Five Easy Pieces is a masterpiece. As you know by now Cobpyth, my brother originally watched it himself and recorded it for me to see, and I thought it was a great film straight away. Since then I have only thought about it more and more, and I have seen it again since too. It has an odd beauty about it that you don't get in films nowadays, Nicholson's character is brilliant and tragic, and it really is a brilliant character study. Obviously everyone talks about the sandwich scene, but I'm glad you included the 360 camera turn piano scene which might be my favourite, and I absolutely love the ending too.
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Where you saw meaning, I saw the opposite- pointlessness. I really can't stand Five easy Pieces, and I too like the feel of films from the late 60s- early 70s, thank God they're not all as nauseating as Five easy Pieces.
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Well, I thought the meaning was awesomely-powerful entertainment. At least that's what I've been getting out of it for over 40 years. But donnie, I guess I'm like Woody Allen and love nauseousness too.
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43. Carnal Knowledge (1971)
Let's make it a Jack Nicholson double feature!
Carnal Knowledge came out a year after Jack Nicholson's great succes with Five Easy Pieces. The film is directed by one of the most promising young directors of that time, Mike Nichols (who had great succeses with The Graduate and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? before this).
Carnal Knowledge is not as highly regarded as Five Easy Pieces or Mike Nichols' two first feature films these days, but it's still a very respected movie. The reason why it's often overlooked is probably because the film feels less like a fluent "whole". This movie explores a larger time field. We have Jack and Art in college in the beginning and we slowly see them developing into middle-aged men. Another reason could be the "suspension of disbelief" aspect. We're not only asked to imagine Jack Nicholsons and Art Garfunkel as college boys, but we also have to believe that Jack Nicholson is a virgin at the beginning of the film!
Anyway, those minor issues didn't bother me at all. I kind of love them even. It does not stand in the way from enjoying the darkly profound and hugely entertaining story that's being told.
As I already said, the film follows two young guys growing into mature men. Again, very much like Five Easy Pieces, the film is not trying to send some sort of message. The purpose of this film is showing us a cynical observation of certain aspects of the human condition. This film shows us some insightful stuff about the male psyche, about cruel sexual politics, about not being able to fully commit to someone and about the descent to meaningless, Epicurean and immoral behavior, caused by a man's utter frustration with himself and with the opposite sex he completely fails to fully understand.
I'm also a big fan of Mike Nichols' directing. He's always so creative and playful (especially in his earlier days), but at the same time it's obvious that he's in complete control of what he's doing. At his best, he can be a true visual poet and this film definitely has moments that show him at the top of his game.
Besides my love for the visual aspect of this film, I also love the script and of course the brilliant performances. There are four main players in this film and a couple of minor characters and I think they all did a great job.
The two most notable performances are from Jack Nicholson and Ann-Margret (God, I love that woman). Jack simply goes "all-in" and shows off how well (and extreme) he can play the egotistical, screaming douchebag, while Ann-Margret pulls off being vulnerable, seductive, despicable, sweet and absolutely gorgeous all at the same time! They are both fantastic to look at in this film and it's no wonder that the most widely popular scene from this film is an explosive piece of hugely entertaining acting between the two of them in a bedroom.
Acting doesn't get much more entertaining than in this long bedroom scene.
The most important factor of my love for this film, is something completely different, though. It's something that even the most perfectly constructed films very often lack. It's a very peculiar and above all, very personal quality that only a few films really have. The true reason why this film is one of my personal favorites is because I have the feeling that it's telling something sincere, something true. I really connected with this film's story and especially Jack Nicholson's character. I felt like a dark piece of my own mind was being exposed. The film doesn't particularly offer any satisfying answers concerning the character's issues and the different aspects of the human condition that are being observed, but that's not the point of this film anyway. The clever mocking of the issues that are being adressed and the cynical and darkly comical way the film tackles and explores its themes, are more than enough to make this a very enrichening and personal experience for me.
The combination of the self-awareness the story provokes and the sheer enjoyment I have when watching the film, makes for a very intense viewing every time I see it! I passionately LOVE this picture.
Jonathan (Jack), a mysoginistic and rotten character showcases all the so-called female "ballbusters" of his past in a slideshow...
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Let's make it a Jack Nicholson double feature!
Carnal Knowledge came out a year after Jack Nicholson's great succes with Five Easy Pieces. The film is directed by one of the most promising young directors of that time, Mike Nichols (who had great succeses with The Graduate and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? before this).
Carnal Knowledge is not as highly regarded as Five Easy Pieces or Mike Nichols' two first feature films these days, but it's still a very respected movie. The reason why it's often overlooked is probably because the film feels less like a fluent "whole". This movie explores a larger time field. We have Jack and Art in college in the beginning and we slowly see them developing into middle-aged men. Another reason could be the "suspension of disbelief" aspect. We're not only asked to imagine Jack Nicholsons and Art Garfunkel as college boys, but we also have to believe that Jack Nicholson is a virgin at the beginning of the film!
Anyway, those minor issues didn't bother me at all. I kind of love them even. It does not stand in the way from enjoying the darkly profound and hugely entertaining story that's being told.
As I already said, the film follows two young guys growing into mature men. Again, very much like Five Easy Pieces, the film is not trying to send some sort of message. The purpose of this film is showing us a cynical observation of certain aspects of the human condition. This film shows us some insightful stuff about the male psyche, about cruel sexual politics, about not being able to fully commit to someone and about the descent to meaningless, Epicurean and immoral behavior, caused by a man's utter frustration with himself and with the opposite sex he completely fails to fully understand.
I'm also a big fan of Mike Nichols' directing. He's always so creative and playful (especially in his earlier days), but at the same time it's obvious that he's in complete control of what he's doing. At his best, he can be a true visual poet and this film definitely has moments that show him at the top of his game.
Besides my love for the visual aspect of this film, I also love the script and of course the brilliant performances. There are four main players in this film and a couple of minor characters and I think they all did a great job.
The two most notable performances are from Jack Nicholson and Ann-Margret (God, I love that woman). Jack simply goes "all-in" and shows off how well (and extreme) he can play the egotistical, screaming douchebag, while Ann-Margret pulls off being vulnerable, seductive, despicable, sweet and absolutely gorgeous all at the same time! They are both fantastic to look at in this film and it's no wonder that the most widely popular scene from this film is an explosive piece of hugely entertaining acting between the two of them in a bedroom.
Acting doesn't get much more entertaining than in this long bedroom scene.
The most important factor of my love for this film, is something completely different, though. It's something that even the most perfectly constructed films very often lack. It's a very peculiar and above all, very personal quality that only a few films really have. The true reason why this film is one of my personal favorites is because I have the feeling that it's telling something sincere, something true. I really connected with this film's story and especially Jack Nicholson's character. I felt like a dark piece of my own mind was being exposed. The film doesn't particularly offer any satisfying answers concerning the character's issues and the different aspects of the human condition that are being observed, but that's not the point of this film anyway. The clever mocking of the issues that are being adressed and the cynical and darkly comical way the film tackles and explores its themes, are more than enough to make this a very enrichening and personal experience for me.
The combination of the self-awareness the story provokes and the sheer enjoyment I have when watching the film, makes for a very intense viewing every time I see it! I passionately LOVE this picture.
Jonathan (Jack), a mysoginistic and rotten character showcases all the so-called female "ballbusters" of his past in a slideshow...
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Last edited by Cobpyth; 11-28-14 at 09:32 PM.
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I did quite enjoy Carnal Knowledge, but I much preferred Five Easy Pieces. I'm also in the minority of liking The King of Marvin Gardens as well. Easy Rider is probably my least favorite Nicholson during that time, but Nicholson really isn't a central character.
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I liked it quite a lot, and can definitely see why you love it, but I think Five Easy Pieces is much better personally. Your post makes me want to watch it again though 
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I don't really prefer one over the other really. They're equally good, in my opinion. I just HAD to place one over the other for this list, so I decided to put the more "controversial" entry one position higher. 
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Nice choice 
one of my favourites 
one of my favourites
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