Different strokes for different folks. I know people that don't "get" his films and I don't hold it against them. Fortunately for the late Stanley Kubrick, the overwhelming consensus is that he was a great film maker. I'm a big fan of David Lean, as well, who's style was much different than Kubrick's. Do you like the films of David Lean? Just curious.
There are two periods in the Kubrick canon. The Pre 2001 era and Post 2001 era. My favs are: Pre 2001 The Killing Dr Strangelove Paths of Glory Lolita Killers Kiss Spartacus Fear and Desire Post 2001 Barry Lyndon 2001 Space Odessy Clockwork Orange The Shining Full Metal Jacket Eyes Wide Shut
I think the only David Lean film I've seen is Lawrence of Arabia. I didn't think it was the all-time great movie that many others consider it to be, but it was good.
Did you ever see The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), which was very different from Lawrence of Arabia? It starred two of my favorite actors, William Holden and Alec Guinness. Here's a list of the awards for the WWII film: Academy Awards: Best Picture of the Year Best Achievement in Directing Best Achievement in Acting (Guinness) Best Supporting Actor (Hayakawa), Nom. Best Screen Adaption Best Cinematography Best Musical Score Best Film Editing If you've missed this one, you have to see it. Be sure that it's the restored version. They did a great job. It's one of the best WWII films ever made, filled with action and superb acting. You can thank me later.
Eyes Wide Shut sort of had the same problem that Greenway movies often have. They have a lot of nudity but are not very sexy. The problems I had with Eyes Wide Shut was that it was a very cold clinical movie, now I understand that was what Kubrick was going for but I don't think it made for a very interesting movie. The characters weren't engaging and I didn't care about them. It didn't strike me so much as an examination of the human condition through a troubled marriage but a stilted and artificial. There were a lot of good ideas in it but as a whole I just didn't think it worked.
Kubrick is my favorite movie director of all-time. When I watch one of his movies, it always makes me think of looking at a great piece of art and one that has a definite time to it (like in Barry Lyndon's case, almost 4 hours long). Kubrick was one of the few movie directors, IMO, that was willing to explore deep into the human psyche and specifically the darkness that everybody feels. Most of his movies (or maybe even all) are very dark and can be described as bleak yet at the same time, his movies contained some of the most beautiful visuals (mainly because Stanley got his start as a photographer and the man knew how he wanted a shot to be set up). I have all of his movies except for Fear and Desire (which is impossible to get since Stanley hated that movie and ordered all the prints to be destroyed) and the documentaries that came before Fear and Desire. I would rank his movies like this (with #1 being my favorite and then on down the line): 1 - Full Metal Jacket 2 - The Shining 3 - Barry Lyndon 4 - A Clockwork Orange 5 - Lolita 6 - The Killing 7 - 2001 8 - Eyes Wide Shut 9 - Paths of Glory 10 - Dr. Strangelove 11 - Spartacus 12 - Killers Kiss A couple of explanations of why I have certain movies in certain spots: Killers Kiss was his 2nd movie and showed promise but it really can't hold up to what came after it. Spartacus was only a Kubrick movie in name only as Kirk Douglas pretty much ran the show (something that Stanley vowed to never let happen again). Dr. Strangelove being #10?? I know, I know - craziness but I just never could get into it. I know it is funny and it is brilliantly written but my brain just can't get into a Kubrick movie being a comedy. After the top 4, I could interchange spots 5 through 9 depending on what mood I am in. Tomorrow, Paths of Glory could be #5 and Lolita could be #9. bobrek, You asked about what was so great about Eyes Wide Shut? Percicles pretty much nailed it but I'll just add that watching that movie was like participating in a dream - a very beautiful dream. It was one of the most visually beautiful movies I have seen. The plot could have been a little better, thus the reason why I have it ranked closer to #10 instead of #1 but compared to what else was out there at the time, it was a pretty damn good movie. Overhyped? Yes but you have to remember it was the first Kubrick movie in 12 years and when your resume includes 2001, A Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove, The Shining, amongst others then any movie the man does even if it is about paint drying was going to get major hype.
What's unbelievable about Kubrick is that the man defied genres. Dr. Strangelove: arguably the greatest comedy, ever 2001: arguably the greatest science fiction film, ever Paths of Glory: the greatest anti-war movie, ever The Killing: great film noir The Shining: great horror film Clockwork Orange: great apocalyptic/dystopian future film Dude had no boundaries. He was, by the end, entirely nuts in his own little OCD world, but he is the greatest filmmaker so far to have walked the earth.
I'm going to add another movie that Kubrick didn't make but at least two thirds was his vision. AI. For at least the first two thirds Spielberg seems to stick to Kubrick's vision of a dystopian world and some very difficult questions about the nature of humanity and moral ambiguity. Spielberg though can't keep a dark uncertain Kubrick ending and has to tack on a happy resolution. Its too bad Kubrick never lived to to actually make that movie which might've been a great movie.
For the people who enjoyed 2001, would you be interested in paying me to watch my can of paint dry? Alternatively, you could watch my grass grow. I kid, I kid. What did you like about it?
Full Metal Jacket - this movie has some of the greatest visuals for a war film. but the second half of this movie is weak compared to the first. The Shining - this movie is overrated. nicholson wasn't right for the part, he overacted his role. it should have been a normal looking actor that went crazy. nicholson looked crazy before he went crazy. Barry Lyndon - excellent film. the ending is kind of weak and wish i could have seen more of what happened to barry but overall its good. A Clockwork Orange - another excellent film, vibe reminds me of the dark knight. heath ledger traced his joker character from the main guy in this movie. Lolita - haven't seen. The Killing - haven't seen 2001 - this movie is so weird, but i did like the inception parts in this movie. way ahead of its time. Eyes Wide Shut - excellent film. wish stanley had his finishing touches on this. Paths of Glory - haven't seen. Dr. Strangelove - want to see it after all the praise here, hopefully it lives up to it. but its black and white, kind of a turn off. Spartacus - haven't seen. Killers Kiss - haven't seen.
According to Spielberg, the ending was all Kubrick's: ""People pretend to think they know Stanley Kubrick, and think they know me, when most of them don't know either of us," Spielberg told film critic Joe Leydon in 2002. "And what's really funny about that is, all the parts of A.I. that people assume were Stanley's were mine. And all the parts of A.I. that people accuse me of sweetening and softening and sentimentalizing were all Stanley's. The teddy bear was Stanley's. The whole last 20 minutes of the movie was completely Stanley's. The whole first 35, 40 minutes of the film – all the stuff in the house – was word for word, from Stanley's screenplay. This was Stanley's vision." "Eighty percent of the critics got it all mixed up. But I could see why. Because, obviously, I've done a lot of movies where people have cried and have been sentimental. And I've been accused of sentimentalizing hard-core material. But in fact it was Stanley who did the sweetest parts of A.I., not me. I'm the guy who did the dark center of the movie, with the Flesh Fair and everything else. That's why he wanted me to make the movie in the first place. He said, 'This is much closer to your sensibilities than my own.'"" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.I._Artificial_Intelligence
Well I just found out recently that O'Shea Jackson aka Ice Cube posts on this board and now I have discovered that Stephen King posts here as well...sweet^2nd power!
What do you mean his "finishing touches"?? Stanley died like a week after it went to the theaters. So, I am pretty sure he had his finishing touches on that. Sounds like you are getting EWS confused with AI. McGrady, Have YOU actually watched a Kubrick movie or are you quoting reviews from someone else who has?
No. If memory serves, Kubrick died after he'd handed in a final cut (one of the few directors who had control over the final cut in his contracts), but after his death and before the release the studio did go back in and add censoring black marks/poorly drawn bikinis onto Kubrick's version. Supposedly, those were the only changes to avoid an NC-17. So, no, he did not die after it went to theaters. His version was censored so it would get an R rating.
Tripped-out visuals at the end. A computer as a living thing that can literally kill people. The mystery of the monolith. The fact that there is only 45 minutes or less of dialogue in a 2.5 hour movie. The musical passages which are now associated with the movie rather than their origin. Kubrick's movies are as great for what they don't reveal as for what they reveal. What is the monolith? Why did the old man in Eyes Wide Shut go from locking those 2 guys up to letting them be with his niece? How did the picture at the end of The Shining (with Jack Nicholson in the class reunion) relate to the rest of the picture? Kubrick's movies allow the viewer to ponder these questions- he leaves a lot of mystery and gaps in his films which challenge the viewer and makes them think. Let's face it- most movies don't cause you to think- they are made to entertain and everything is at face value. There is very little character development, nearly zero implied theories for the viewer to digest, etc. Almost every Kubrick movie leaves you with more questions than answers- which is why many don't like them on first viewing. However, due to their richness and depth, viewers can come back to these over and over.
You're completely right on many of these points, and I completely disagree with you about The Shining (not that it takes a movie critic to understand a film, but you should read Ebert's essay on The Shining and why he categorized it as one of the few Great Movies). Also, if black-and-white is a turn-off, I don't know what to say- those are among the best movies ever made (Touch of Evil, Casablanca, Night of the Hunter). B&W adds an entirely new dimension and perspective to a film- again, leaves more to the imagination, which is the same thing that Kubrick's movies do.
