Ken Kesey Movies
A well-known writer who turned the literary world on its ear with his searing condemnation of authority in his 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and inspired Tom Wolfe's legendary novel The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, author Ken Kesey later rallied against director Milos Forman's Academy award-winning film version of Cuckoo for taking away the unique perspective of a schizophrenic Native American named Chief Bromden. Born in La Junta, CA, the son of dairy farmers attended the University of Oregon's School of Journalism while also dabbling in acting. After a short stint in Hollywood as a bit player, the aspiring writer enrolled in the writing program at Stanford in the late '50s. His volunteering for LSD experimentation at the Menlo Park, CA, psychiatric hospital which he worked at in 1959 served as the influence for Cuckoo, and Kesey later expanded on his mind-altering endeavors when he embarked on a cross-country LSD-fueled bus trip with his Merry Pranksters that defined the psychedelic era. Though he continued his passion for writing by penning two more major novels (including Notion, which was also developed into a film), short stories, articles, and children's books, it was Cuckoo that the majority of the literary public most closely associated him with. Kesey returned to the University of Oregon in 1990 to teach writing. Diagnosed with diabetes in 1992, Kesey was later hospitalized in 1997 after suffering a stroke. Hospitalized in October of 2001 for surgery to remove nearly half of his liver due to cancer, the writer died the following month due to failing health. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Documentary filmmaker Ron Mann joined Hollywood actor/hemp activist Woody Harrelson as the thespian traveled up the West Coast preaching the merits of natural, organic living, the result of which is Mann's 2003 film, Go Further. In 2001, Harrelson and a group of friends and other like-minded individuals hopped on bicycles -- accompanied by a psychedelically decorated bus converted to run on hemp-seed oil -- and thus created the SOL (Simple Organic Living) Tour. Along the way, the actor made many stops which ranged from speaking at college campuses to meeting up with 1960s counter-culture guru Ken Kesey (who died not long after). The SOL group encountered a number of people that also lead pro-ecological ways of life, as well as some other folks that were just as skeptical or hostile toward the neo-hippies. Go Further premiered at the 2003 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Woody Harrelson, Ken Kesey, (more)
Author, educator, and philosopher Dr. Timothy Leary was wildly controversial throughout his life, so it came as no surprise he would also choose a controversial way to die. Timothy Leary's Last Trip documents Leary's life and career, from his days at West Point through his years as an LSD guru (he coined the phrase "Tune in, turn on, drop out") to his final days as he prepared for his death by broadcasting his last days over the internet. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This program pays tribute to distance runner Steve "Pre" Prefontaine in this video that charts the runner's career until the auto accident that killed him at age 24. By the time of his death "Pre" had broken every American record for distance racing between 2,000 and 10,000 meters and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated while still a college freshman. The video contains commentary from friends and fellow athletes and includes his failed bid for a medal in the 1972 Munich Olympics, where he competed in the 5,000 meters. The race inspired him for the next Olympics, which he never attended due to the car crash. ~ Michael McGrath, All Movie Guide
Writer/director Gus Van Sant's early bid for big-time commercial success -- a success he didn't manage to achieve until Good Will Hunting -- is based on Tom Robbins' 1976 feminist bestseller. Uma Thurman plays Sissy Hankshaw, a woman born with very large thumbs. After her parents (Grace Zabriskie and Ken Kesey) take her to a doctor (Buck Henry), who offers her parents no remedy for their daughter's condition, the film races ahead to the 1970s. Sissy is now a popular feminine hygiene spray model for a product called Yoni Yum, the product of a company owned by The Countess (John Hurt in drag). Sissy travels to the Rubber Rose beauty ranch, also owned by The Countess, to shoot a Yoni Yum commercial. At the ranch, she makes the acquaintance of the inscrutable Chink (Pat Morita) and Bonanza Jellybean (Rain Phoenix). But under the nose of The Countess, the cowgirls on the ranch are talking mutiny, with the women trying to liberate the Rubber Rose Ranch from the chains of patriarchal oppression. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Uma Thurman, John Hurt, (more)
- 1993
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In 1955, poet Allen Ginsberg summed up the greatest fears of his generation in a landmark poem appropriately titled "Howl." As a result of that defining piece of prose, Ginsberg would become an icon of the Beat Generation. Inspired by Ginsberg's powerful personality and captivating charisma as a performer, filmmaker Jerry Aronson procured every film clip of the poet that he could find and compiled it into a comprehensive documentary tracing the life and times of the man who never backed down from his beliefs. From Ginsberg's early experiences alongside such American icons as Jack Kerouac, Timothy Leary, and William Burroughs to his historical clash with William F. Buckley, and his tense confrontation with police during the 1968 Democratic Convention, Aronson's film doesn't miss a beat. Back to back readings of "Howl" from 1955 and 1992 show precisely how the poem continued to resonate decades after it was originally written, and by exploring Ginsberg's political and spiritual beliefs Aronson offers compelling insight into the mind of a counter culture legend. Originally released in 1993, The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg was updated to cover the events surrounding the subject's untimely death in 1997 and to provide a final, fitting epitaph for the controversial author.
The deluxe two-disc DVD release includes over six hours of bonus materials, including a "making-of" documentary, footage of Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac's grave, William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg in a 1994 appearance at Naropa University, selected readings by Ginsberg, Neal Cassady and Ginsberg at a 1965 City Lights Bookstore appearance, the making of the music video for "A Ballad of Skeletons", a guided tour of a Ginsberg photographic exhibition hosted by the writer himself, excerpts from Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit, footage from Ginsberg's New York City memorial, photo galleries, and trailers. Additional interviews with subjects ranging from Joan Baez to Johnny Depp, Yoko Ono, Hunter S. Thompson, and Ken Kesey show just what an expansive influence Ginsberg truly had as an artist. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
The deluxe two-disc DVD release includes over six hours of bonus materials, including a "making-of" documentary, footage of Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac's grave, William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg in a 1994 appearance at Naropa University, selected readings by Ginsberg, Neal Cassady and Ginsberg at a 1965 City Lights Bookstore appearance, the making of the music video for "A Ballad of Skeletons", a guided tour of a Ginsberg photographic exhibition hosted by the writer himself, excerpts from Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit, footage from Ginsberg's New York City memorial, photo galleries, and trailers. Additional interviews with subjects ranging from Joan Baez to Johnny Depp, Yoko Ono, Hunter S. Thompson, and Ken Kesey show just what an expansive influence Ginsberg truly had as an artist. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, (more)
- 1988
This 1988 documentary describes the tumultuous process involved in bringing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to the screen. After having his script confiscated by Czech authorities in the early '60s, Milos Foreman would have to wait nearly ten years before Kirk and Michael Douglas could secure funding for the counterculture classic. Documentarian Charles Kiselyak revisits many of the people and places involved in the film, including the Oregon State Mental Hospital, which has since fallen into squalid disrepair. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- 1978
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Shot December 31, 1978, The Grateful Dead: The Closing of Winterland is a concert film featuring the seminal jam band performing a six-plus hour show to mark the last night of San Francisco's legendary Winterland Arena. In front of an audience that included such celebrity guests as Dan Aykroyd, John Cippolina and Ken Kesey, the Grateful Dead performed 27 songs, including "Fire on the Mountain," "Thank You, Uncle Bobo," "From the Heart of Me," "Playing in the Band," "Dark Star," "Good Lovin'," and "The Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band There Ever Was." ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- The Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, (more)
- 1975
- R
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With an insane asylum standing in for everyday society, Milos Forman's 1975 film adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel is a comically sharp indictment of the Establishment urge to conform. Playing crazy to avoid prison work detail, manic free spirit Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is sent to the state mental hospital for evaluation. There he encounters a motley crew of mostly voluntary inmates, including cowed mama's boy Billy (Brad Dourif) and silent Native American Chief Bromden (Will Sampson), presided over by the icy Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). Ratched and McMurphy recognize that each is the other's worst enemy: an authority figure who equates sanity with correct behavior, and a misfit who is charismatic enough to dismantle the system simply by living as he pleases. McMurphy proceeds to instigate group insurrections large and small, ranging from a restorative basketball game to an unfettered afternoon boat trip and a tragic after-hours party with hookers and booze. Nurse Ratched, however, has the machinery of power on her side to ensure that McMurphy will not defeat her. Still, McMurphy's message to live free or die is ultimately not lost on one inmate, revealing that escape is still possible even from the most oppressive conditions. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, (more)
- 1971
- PG
Also known as Never Give an Inch, this film was based on a novel by Ken Kesey. Paul Newman (who also directed) stars as Hank Stamper, the oldest son of an Oregon logging family headed by Henry (Henry Fonda). Hank's half-brother, Leeland (Michael Sarrazin), embittered over Henry's treatment of his late mother, returns after a ten-year absence to work in the family business. Leeland's presence causes friction with Henry, who resents his prodigal son's hippie mindset, and Hank, who perceives Leeland as a threat to his own position in the family structure. Hank has good reason to feel resentful: before long, his wife, Viv (Lee Remick), has entered into an affair with Leeland. Meanwhile, Henry wages an ongoing battle with the unionized loggers in the region, who threaten reprisals should Henry attempt to continue his business without union help. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Henry Fonda, (more)
- 1964
This program is the second installment in a montage of film clips from the 1960s psychedelic bus tour of Ken Kesey and his Merry Band of Pranksters. The aggregation of friends set out on the open road to discover America. In the process, they learned a lot about themselves, each other, and what really mattered in the world view of the countercultural, anti-war era. Archival film footage highlights the personality and artistry of Neal Cassady, perhaps the most far-out Merry Prankster of them all. Commentary by Kesey and his friends provides insight into the dynamics of this group that exemplified the spirit of the revolutionary 1960s. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
- 1964
One of the most famous road trips in American history is that of author Ken Kesey and his friends. The Merry Band of Pranksters set out on their psychedelic bus tour in 1964. Their travels brought adventures, insights, and joy into the lives of those on the bus and the friends they made. The whole trip was documented with the idea of making it into a movie. Decades later, this program distills visions of those heady days, with archival film clips from the tour. Counter-culture youth went in search of America and re-invented themselves and their social values. Personal recollections by Kesey and his contemporaries provide colorful commentary on the revolutionary 1960s. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
