One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest revolves around a man named Randle P. McMurphey, who has come to the mental institution, pretending to have mental problems, in an attempt to avoid jail time, and the hard labor that goes with it. While in the mental institution, McMurphey befriends the patients and tries to entertain himself by irritating the head nurse, nurse Ratched. His antics are for fun at first, but when the institute becomes more authoritarian via nurse Ratched, he begins to take it upon himself to challenge the authority of the system and pesters nurse Ratched to her breaking point. McMurphey takes the patients through many adventures while in the hospital, leading to the patients getting caught having a late night party in the hospital. The resulting emotional distress brought on by nurse Ratched's threats cause the suicide of a fellow patient and friend and the eventual lobotomy and death of Randle P. McMurphey.

As we are introduced to the characters and the surroundings within the first 10 minutes of the movie, mise en scene shows us lots about them. As we are first introduced to nurse Ratched, we see her walk into the institute, wearing a black over coat and a black hat, contrasting against the white walls and gowns of the patients and her co workers. When she walks down the halls, the security and maintenance people all seem timid when the say “Good morning Mrs. Ratched” and the step back as she passes by (One Flew Over). This gives the viewer the idea that she is some how dark, and sinister, enough to frighten the staff, foreshadowing her actions later in the movie. When nurse Ratchet is walking into the institution, she unlocks and proceeds through several metal doors, and passes under a bright red security light, showing the heavy security that keeps the patients held inside. We get the impression from this that this is not just a mental hospital, but it is a prison, meant to keep the patients locked inside, this shows us that this is not a place people want to be, it is like a prison.

The first shot we see of an animated patient is when one of the guards goes into a small dimly lit room to undo the restraints holding the patient to his bed, as he turns the keys to unlock the harnesses restraining him, the patient stares with a lost look as his hand quivers. These actions give us an idea of the mental state that the patients are in, the fact that the patient is restrained in this manor, and that he is the only person in the room reminds us of solitary confinement such as a where rowdy prisoner would be placed in. As the patients line up to take their medicines, we see more of the lost looks that were seen in the first patient. Every patient stands in line, then with almost the same motion they take their pill and then their juice out of small paper cups, as they take their pills and juice, the camera moves in close to emphasize their expressions, some patients just star blankly, one patient closes his eyes and sticks out his tongue as a nurse places his pill on his tongue, like a mother would do for a child.

Enter McMurphey; he arrives in a grey car, showing us the outside world, McMurphey's black leather jacket, merging with the white walls and gowns of the institute and its patients. McMurphy's attire, a black leather jacket, black knit cap and Jeans, this reminds the viewer of other rebels in our culture like James dean and the Fonz. This attire contrast against the outfits of the patients white gowns, it shows the sharp, literally black and white separation between him and the other patients. He is dressed this way, to show how different from the other patients he is. He is not crazy; he is just as sane as the nurses and other staff of the institute.

This information that we gather from the first segment of the movie can help us to better understand the later parts of the movie. When we see that nurse Ratchet is feared by the security people, we know that is a bad person, so we can keep a close eye on her as the movie progresses. This lets us see through her sometimes calming demeanor to her controlling personality, preparing us for her outrageously cruel behavior towards the later parts of the film. The fact that McMurphey is dressed so much differently than the other patients, and that he is as sane as any of the nurses or staff is so important to the entire story line of the movie. His sanity makes him the leader to the patients, and he makes it his job to rise against nurse Ratchet. We see this when McMurphey takes the group out on a fishing expedition, none of the other patients would have ever thought or attempted to do this, but McMurphey takes the opportunity to give the patients and enjoyable break from the confining walls of the institute and the overbearing nurse Ratched. When Charlie Cheswick starts to make a scene over wanting his cigarettes which nurse Ratched has decided to keep behind the counter. McMurphey takes the situation into his own hands and ends the escalating situation by breaking the glass to the nurse's station and grabs Charlie's cigarettes.

The first moments in this movie help us to get a great understanding for what will happen in the movie. We get to see who the characters are before they really develop, giving us a better chance to fully understand the events that unfold. This preemptive glimpse at the characters makes the movie more understandable and enjoyable to watch.

"The Prestige" -- boasting a heavyweight cast composed of Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine, David Bowie, Piper Perabo, and Andy "Gollum" Serkis -- is a tale of two rival magicians (Bale as Alfred Border and Jackman as Ruper Angier) who plied their trade in London around the turn of the century. Their fierce competition turns increasingly dangerous, prompting Angier's mentor (played by M. Caine) to suspect that Border has real magical powers.

What makes this film interesting is that both Jackman and Bale have recently played comic book heroes: as Wolverine and Batman, respectively. The Prestige, based on a 1995 book bearing the same title, alludes to the residue that remains after a magician has successfully performed his trick.

The same dual dilemma is also evident in "The Departed", which topbills Jack Nicholson as mob boss Frank Costello. A remake of the popular 2002 Hong Kong thriller "Internal Affairs", the movie also features Leonardio DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, etc.

DiCaprio stars as an uncover cop (Billy Costigan) who infiltrates the criminal syndicate headed by Costello, in a parallel move with Matt Damon (Colin Sullivan), a criminal figure who joins the police force as a "mole" for the mob. Both undergo intense stress and fine-tuned tightrope walking as they gather information for their respective sides without divulging their real identities.

Incidentally, this movie also marks the third time that Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorcese have worked together.

Judging from the trailers of both movies, it looks like October is going to be a worthwhile month for moviegoers. The weighty names being bandied about and the high-caliber directors who are crafting these films should be a sufficient magnet for fans of both genres.