Kubrick

[Tyler]

Made a Kurosawa thread so I thought I'd make another thread about a great director whose last name begins with K: Stanley Kubrick. He didn't make a lot of movies but they certainly are some of the best, especially later in his career.

Fear and Desire (1953)
Killer's Kiss (1955)
The Killing (1956)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Spartacus (1960)
Lolita (1962)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
The Shining (1980)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

I find myself watching Clockwork Orange a lot, but I think his best film is Full Metal Jacket. All of his films say a lot about people, but I think that one says the most. I thought his other war film Paths of Glory was really good too. It's weird because normally I don't really like war movies.

I've yet to see Fear and Desire simply because it isn't on DVD yet. I wish Criterion would release it with his short films (Day of the Fight, Flying Padre and The Seafarers) as features. I think they were shown on TCM a while back but I missed it.

So love him, hate him, simply indifferent?

[Malchik]

I love the guy. The man knew how to make a film an instant pop-culture hit.

[Hellspawn28]

He is pretty much my #1 favorite director. I like all of his films and 2001 is pretty much my #1 favorite film of all time.

[Ethan]

I haven't watched some of his early films in their entirety. However, everything from Lolita to Eyes Wide Shut is PERFECT. The Shining is among the best horror has to offer (from any country mind you). And Barry Lyndon is (I can say this with a straight face) the best period film ever, sometimes it doens't even feel like a period film. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there's something immaculate and sacred about his films.

So yes, love him.

[DaikaijuSokogeki!]

Only films of his I haven't seen are Eyes Wide Shut (trying to make sure I get my hands on the unrated cut, the cut Kubrick wanted) and Fear and Desire (but that'll never happen).

I love a majority of his films, with the only one I really don't care for being Killer's Kiss. Out of all of them, I unflinchingly call A Clockwork Orange, Paths of Glory and Dr. Strangelove three of my favorite films ever. The Shining I find somewhat overrated, and Lolita isn't nearly as risque as it should be.

[Jomei]

I've seen an embarrassingly low number of his films (only four I think? FFFF), but he's a true artist. Great stuff!

He has a great way of making his films interact with his audience in a way that enhances their meaning--the Shining and a Clockwork Orange being great examples. It's funny how much he slows down the pace of the latter film, seemingly just to show that he can! lol

[Crocodile]

While I think 2001 is overrated

I ADORE Full Metal Jacket and Dr. Strangelove! This guy was really good.
I've yet to see a Clockwork Orange, but I'd like too.

As for The Shining? Why that's Jack Nicholson's best movie.

Grade A stuff, just grade A stuff.

[KaijuSapian]

Not enough can be said about Kubrick. He was one of the all time great directors. The way blends so many themes, metaphorical or literal, within one movie is nothing short of amazing. He's one of the few story-tellers who could take a pre-existing story, reinterpret it, and actually expand and improve on it. Plus the attention he put into every detail of his films was staggering.

2001 is definitely my favorite of his films. It might not much in terms of narritive flow and character-driven plot, but it's themes and visual metaphors are beautiful.

[quote="DaikaijuSokogeki!"]Only films of his I haven't seen are Eyes Wide Shut (trying to make sure I get my hands on the unrated cut, the cut Kubrick wanted) and Fear and Desire (but that'll never happen).

Don't quote me on this, but I believe that there's a lot of footage that still hasn't been put into the uncut version.

[Hellspawn28]

My perosnal rankings on his films.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
The Shining (1980)
Spartacus (1960)
Paths of Glory (1957)
Eyes Wide Shut (Need to watch it again)

[GotengoXGodzilla]

Out of all of Kubrick's films, I haven't seen Fear And Desire, Killer's Kiss, Spartacus and Eyes Wide Shut.

Kubrick...is and odd director to classify for me. He's certainly not a bad director, far from it. But, I cannot say that he's one of my favorite directors. His films are both human and un-human at the same time. All of his films have the scent of genius, yet I can't help but feel like there's something missing. If I had to guess what that element was, it would be relate-ability. Most of Kubrick's films, if not all of them, don't feel like they're happening on this earth. Like these films happen in an alternate reality, and this new earth learned everything it knows about humans by watching and observing us. I don't want to say they're aliens, but these people are not foreign or unknown, just...different, and not very relatable.

One of the things that I've realized about all of my favorite directors, is that they always some element of relate-ability in their films. Like I've seen these people before, or that I know the world that this takes place in. Filmmakers like Kurosawa, Hitchcock, Chaplin, Wilder and Hawks have something like that in almost all of their films (some more than others). I do not get that any Kubrick film I've seen. I can hardly relate to anything in these films, because the characters are so odd or the settings are just bizarre, to the point where all of Kubrick's films make me feel uneasy. Some people enjoy this about Kubrick, but I really can't get past it. Now, that uneasy feeling does not ruin any of his films by any stretch, but it does mean that I don't feel the need to rewatch the same Kubrick film for quite a long time. And that takes away a bit of the magic for me.

I guess my favorite Kubrick film at the moment is 2001: A Space Odyssey, followed closely by Dr. Strangelove and Full Metal Jacket. I don't particularly care for Paths Of Glory, The Killing or Lolita, but they're not bad films.

[King Caesar]

Kubrick has to be one of my favorite directors. There isn't a movie of his that I have seen and not liked.

[Ethan]

Anyone else thinks The Shining is superior to its source material, and that Stephen King fans should be grateful the novel got such prestigious treatment?

[Hellspawn28]

I never read the book but I love the movie. Who cares if Stephen King did not like the movie, sometimes the movie can be better then the book (Look at Kick-ass for example).

[DeadpoolsbetterThanU]

I'm actually currently reading the novel.
So far I'd say the movie is better, but just because it took almost 200 pages (out of 500) for them to actually get to the hotel for the winter. I can also see why Stephen King doesn't like it. I think it's mostly slight changes in events and most of the backstory taken out. But with the timeframe they had to work with, I'd say so far they did it pretty accurately and true to the story. And I cannot un-see Jack Nicholson when reading.

[GodzillaXGomoraFight]

From the movies I've seen, I like Stanley Kubrick a lot. So far, I've watched 2001: A Space Odyssey and Full Metal Jacket. I loved FMJ for all of the funny dialogue and R.Lee Emery's performance. I liked 2001 as well, and I found myself at the edge of my seat as the main character finally entered Jupiter. HAL is also scary as hell.

[King Caesar]

I'm actually currently reading the novel.
So far I'd say the movie is better, but just because it took almost 200 pages (out of 500) for them to actually get to the hotel for the winter. I can also see why Stephen King doesn't like it. I think it's mostly slight changes in events and most of the backstory taken out. But with the timeframe they had to work with, I'd say so far they did it pretty accurately and true to the story. And I cannot un-see Jack Nicholson when reading.

Its amazing how his role in that movie is so memorable. There are less than a handful of actors who could've pulled off such a psychotic performance.

[Mitchal]

I'm not a HUGE Kubrick fan, but I do love Dr. Strangelove. As well as Full Metal Jacket.

[The H-Man]

I've seen Strangelove, 2001, and The Shining. Anyone who loves the Shining should take a look at the making of that movie (I forget what the documentary is called), lots of interesting stuff including footage of Kubrick chewing out Shelly Duvall during filming a scene when she doesn't open a door on cue. Paths of Glory I've always wanted to see because of my interest in the First World War.

[Gojira-Fan]

Eh, I've only seen 2001. I didn't like it. It was slow, and it seems sort of pretentious.

But the special effects are really good. Better than effects today even.

[g2kmaster]

Not a big fan of Kubrick. He is great, with his films being great in substance. His style is hit and miss with me though, with some touches pressing my buttons better than others. 2001, FULL METAL JACKET, THE SHINING, and BARRY LYNDON are my favorites from him. 2001 is great SF (and while I do agree that the SFX in the film look better than most of the stuff today, I will say that some of the composites are not 100%, but it's good at predicting the iPad and I have a theory as to what the film is a metaphor for), FULL METAL JACKET is funny but deep (might not be as in touch with the more intimate side of the Viet War as Stone's films (since he was a vet), but Kubrick still has some interesting "outsider" observations), THE SHINING has Jack Nicholson and great sound design, and BARRY LYNDON might just have the best direction and story of a Kubrick film.

Though while not his greatest stuff, the work he did with Kirk Douglas are really the best when it comes to acting within Kubrick's repertoire. Also on the same level of goodness was EYES WIDE SHUT, which except for some things which Kubrick's wife said about the message of the film (and the exclusion of Harvey Keitel), took one of the best cracks at a story about sexuality without being pornography.

Lolita was ok. So is A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (not a big fan, mostly because my brother hypes the film like hell). It's ok, I respect and understand the "great" aspects of the film (provocative imagery within the real narrative and in cut always like Alex whipping Jesus) and the debate over the worse of two evils: the individual basis offender (Alex), or the government level offender which doesn't just hurt individual people, but actually deprives it's people of their humanity in the name of peace. I understand that, don't worry.

That said, I did not care for DR. STRANGELOVE. I have been spoiled by Comedy Central and Adult Swim.

Not one of my favorite directors, but I will admit that his stuff is great.