Yeah, so I'm going to hold my tongue on this (sort of) because I know I haven't seen "The Greats" and at least one of them, The Shining, I'll probably never watch cause I'm an uber-wimp.

I have seen Full Metal Jacket, A Clockword Orange, Paths of Glory, Lolita, and Eyes Wide Shut, and right now, I just don't get it. Maybe I'm just missing all the A caliber movies, which I've heard are 2001, Dr. Strangelove (I've seen parts of but not all the way through like I want to) and Shining? But from what I've seen it feels like overrated.

Full Metal was decent. I would give it a B or B-, and for a war movie that's pretty high for me. Eyes Wide Shut will be what it is, not good, but like Keislowski's Decalogue, done post-mortem so I can't fully hold him accountable. 8) Glory was just meh, and Lolita actually felt pretty bland as far as a film (and compared to the book).

I really disliked Clockwork Orange, and I watched it with two other people and none of us were all too smitten with it. C.

So yeah, to me, I wonder what where the big fanbase comes from. I know I'm missing part of the picture though, so I'd rather hear something from all the 2001 fans out there, etc.

So what do you guys think of Stanley?

I think the thing with Stanley Kubrick is you either like this guy's films or you don't.. His films sort of focus somewhat on the Macabre, but out of all of them, I highly, HIGHLY recommend you rent "The Shining".. EXCELLENT ***** Star Classic and I know, chances are you'll pan it for the simple fact that I gave it a perfect score cause technically, it is and is Jack Nicholson's shining moment in his career.. I mean if you can tolerate "Full Metal Jacket", there's no reason not to tolerate "The Shining"... As for "A Clockwork Orange"?? Yeah, I can understand a female not exactly enjoying this movie with it's scenes of Rape and all and it was disturbing to the point where you practically felt grimy after watching it and needed to shower.. I felt that way after watching the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" in theatres when it 1st came out and at 12 years old, I couldn't believe what I was watching.. So, give "The Shining" a rent and comeback and tell us how you liked it..

I've of course heard excellent things about The Shining.

As far as Clockwork, I don't think it was just cause I was a woman and it had to do with rape. I read the book and was uncomfortable withit, but can say the book was very intelligent and insightful and that rape and violence are becoming increasingly engrained in culture...just read articles about what is going on in the Congo today. Nah, that's not why I didn't like Clockwork, I just fealt that it missed the point. It just felt kind of empty and self-congratulatory.

You didn't like Full Metal? I thought it was alright. I liked it better than alot of the more romanticizing war movies. But like I said, I didn't do recommend it to anyone afterwards either.

I dunno about the Shining rec...it takes me months at a time to work up the nerve to see something even like Scream or Suspiria, it might take me years to build up the courage for Here's Johnnnny.

Hmmmmm....

I thought the 1st half of "Full Metal Jacket" was excellent and disturbing, but the 2nd half disolved into another "Platoon" like movie or like "Hamburger Hill" or any other Vietnam movie.. As for "The Shining"?? Take the plunge Baby and rent it.. It's well worth it and after seeing it, you'll wonder why Stephen King didn't like Kubricks version of it, whether he felt it wasn't close enough to his Novel or not.. King's remake of this was absolutely GODAWFUL so make sure you rent the right version of this..

I am a big fan of Staley Kubrick, but I tok an entire film class devoted to him in college and so I spent alot of time jsut discussing his films and analyzing the way in which he does things.

I would rank his films as follows (my personal preference).

I love these films
Dr. Strangelove
The Killing
Paths of Glory
Full Metal Jacket
A Clockwork Orange
Barry Lyndon

Dr. Strangelove is my all tiem favorite film, I find it hysterical each adn every time I watch it. My favorite black comedy ever.

Best Line: "It is not only possible, it is essential."

The Killing was is based on book that every though couldnot be adapted intol film becuase the story is told from several points of view...their woudl have been films like Pulp FIction without The Killing,as it goes backa dnf orth and shows you the same thing from several points of view...it wa a huge deal to do this at the time and the film holds up well.

Best Line: I don't recallit exactly but Johnny Clay makes a comment to his girl about her being "Not very pretty adn not very bright..." yet is is a declaration of lvoe and them staying together.

Paths of Glory is one of the best war movies I have ever scene. I own the book it is based on, which goes furher into how the select the three men who die, which is one of the faults of the film.

Best Line: If those sweethearts won't face German bullets, they'll take French ones!

Everyone always like the first part of FMJ and nto the second, but the disjoin is intentionable, it is meant to highlight how basic training dose not compare to war. You may learn to fire a weapon, etc...but its not hte same as beign dropped off in aforeign country in the middle of a difficult war that we are losing. War films tend to show a smooth transition from trianing in a closed faciilty to fighting in a war, or we see the one new guy who can;t handle it. In this case, Kubrick jsut jars the whoel audience to put you off kilter.

Best line: "I wanted to visit Vietnam, the crown jewel of Southeast Asia. I wanted to meet people of an exotic and interesting culture and kill them. I want to be the first kid on my block to score a confirmed kill! "

These have a mixed rating from me.
Eyes Wide Shut
2001: A Space Odyssey
Killer's Kiss
The Shining
Lolita
Spartacus

Persoanlly I think The Shining isn't very good, Nicholson is awesome, but Shelley Duvual jsut grates on my nerves and aside from Nichoson being psycho I don;t find it scary. However Kubrick's versionof the Shining is infinitely better then the TV movie Stephen King did.

2001 is a movie I can appreciate more then like.

Killer's Kiss is a goos frist start, it shows alot of promise and has some great camerawork.

Lolita, meh, aside from Peter Sellers I wasn't really impressed but Kubrick was handicapped by the times.

Spartacus is meh.

Eyes Wide Shut is an interesting film, there is some stuff I love about it (cinematography for example), but Iwould need to rewatch it to decide my feelings on it. It left me cold.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the end Kubrick is oen fo my favorite directors, becuase even when I don't like his films all that much I appreciate aspects of them.

Only seena few of his movies and am very indifferent to them .... will have to see more.

I've had Shining lying at my place for months now but just haven't been able to see it. The vcr is in the living room and my parents use the tv there so never get the opportunity to watch it ...

I have three Kubrick films in my top 20. I love the guy.

Like Ripper, I find Dr. Strangelove hysterical. It never gets old...Though, I'm a bit angry that Columbia had to release a 2-disc edition that was just like the single disc, yet, are now charging $25 at a minimum...

I love 2001. It takes a while to get into, and it's very slow as a movie...I like it for the most part because of the soundtrack. Kubrick mixes in classical perfectly with slow moving shots of space...

I agree that the Clockwork Orange book is better, but once again, Kubrick mixes in the classical perfectly (including the plot) and Malcolm McDonald is perfect for the role. Also, you've gotta think about the impact of the film and how shocking it was at teh time...Maybe it wasn't as controversial as "Passion of the Christ", but, still, audiences must've been outraged by the rape sequences...

In my opinion he was a talented director who was too pretentious. He's a good example of someone who would have been better off with more studio intervention and forced edits, not less. His only movie that I would want to watch again was Spartacus, which showed what he was capable of if he could get over his obsession with cheap tricks like excessive use of wide angle lenses and pauses.

However having said that, he's an interesting failure in many of his later movies, he created a few very memorable scenes which is more than most directors can say.

Mhhm. I like a few of his films, which I think are absolute classics. Especially 2001 Mmm the music. But, most of his other films are so-so to me. I love Strangelove.... but others, like Full Metal Jacket and especially Eyes Wide Shut aren't my type of film. They are good, but different.

Dr. Strangelove is the only movie of his I like and that too because of the great Peter Sellers.

To put it in the nicest terms, I never really cared for his vision or style.

Just about anyoen coudl have directed Spartacus, granted watching it you see familar camera angels and other Kubrick trademarks..but the film as a whole is a standard epic, predictable, standard love story with aonly a few compleeling scnes of interest (like the oysters scene).

I disagree, it takes a level of professionalism to do a big project like that well. People tend to attribute director skills just to how they direct actors so the directors of little dramatic artsy movies get all the credit, but it also takes talent, vision, and such to direct big projects. To me, Gore Verbinksi showed more talent in Pirates than Mike Nichols did in Closer but the way we judge movies these days keeps that from being recognized.

One thing I do give Kubrik credit for is taking shot composition seriously. Most hacks don't. I would even say that is one of the main things I look for in a movie as to how well I think of the director is whether they take seriously the composing of shots in the frame.

But Kubrik had a failing that the Coen brothers also sometimes have, which is a sense that he's looking down on his characters, that he even often has contempt for them.

Dolce, with 2001 and Dr. Strangelove, you're missing two of the all-time classics. People have different opinions about 2001, but I'll be very surprised if you find Dr. Strangelove overrated. While 2001 is a revolutionary movie that gets appreciated much more over time, Dr. Strangelove is simply a perfect movie at any time, the best black comedy I've seen. Kubrick's reputation was basically established early on with those two masterpieces. Shining is also great, and I personally enjoy Full Metal Jacket very much. Some of Kubrick's later works are more uneven and given divided opinions, but none of them is close to be a embarrassment to tarnish his reputation.

2001 was like Blade Runner in that they might seem like "what's the big deal?" nowadays but at the time they had a feeling of being way ahead of their time, like a glimpse into the real future. That was the best part of 2001 for a lot of people, not the story per se.

That's funny. those reasons are exactly why I thought it was terrible. It missed the entire main focus of the book, and the only thing it had as far as "imapct" goes, was shock value. Once the underlying narratives are removed (which Kubrick did) all that left is stuff to over. Totally empty movie with such a high violence factor that people assumed it was more profound than it actually was. Its the weakest out of all the movies I've seen of his.

And, as I've noticed from the posts, I have missed the best, so I'll abstain from slapping the official *Overrated* title on him until I see them. As it stands though, none of his movies I've seen have even broken a B/B-.

:? How can you not have seen 2001 by now? You're putting yourself at a great disadvantage. We're not talking about some B-grade movie; this is one of the pillars of 20th century cinema...


Eh, Kubrick is one of my favourite directors, mainly because of a few of the films. 2001, Dr. Strangelove, certainly, as well as The Killing, which is wonderful. Paths of Glory is also very good.

I do not care much for Clockwork Orange, and found Full Metal jacket passably ok. It does not measure up to Apocalypse Now, not even close. The Vietnam War films can be compared to each other because it really is a bona fide sub-genre. That being the case, Apocalypse Now is the defining film among all of them.

Barry Lyndon is gorgeous, and the story is alright, but it is sometimes unbearably slow-paced. It is nice to look at all the images, but it gets to be too much.

He used to be my favourite, but I can't say that now. Miyazaki and Hitchcock are rising in my estimation, and I have to take a closer look at Kurosawa.

That's funny, Hitchcock has been going down a bit in mine of late.

Kubrick is so-so, Eyes Wide Shut was good, brilliant even, but his others arent.

I watch aclockwork of orange cause a freind told me it was good. I felt horrible after watching it. Yes the rapping bothered me but I still found the story interesting.

i actualyl took a whoel class on Vietnam War Films, there is alot written on that sub genre.

Christ, must every movie be scary nowadays??? You actually thought The Shining was weak because of you not being scared of it??? Folks, if you expect to be scared when going into a so called scary or suspensful movie, then chances are, you won't be cause your expecting it too much.. I think it sounds more to me like you felt there was too muchy hype and thus, your expectations were too high on it and that happens I suppose..

Must you put words in my mouth

I am capable of my own coherent thoughts. :wink:

The Shining is a horror film, based on a book in the horror genre..one goal of horror films is to scare you. I would say the film is less horror and more of analysis of one man's psychosis. There are certiainltl scenes in the film meant to illict some scares in the audience. Jack Nicholson with an axe is in general not awarm fuzzy image. However, I didn't find the horror aspects of the film all that effective, which I don't mind. I prefer the film as analysis of Jack Nicholson's character above all else.

I find the The Shining like most classic horror movies that people praise to be rather unscary, but at least they try and bult suspence, most new horror films are just gory, and this is even worse.

Darling, not to nitpick, but the spelling check option for your reply is a must.. :wink:

You'll have to deal without it for today, I'm grading web pages as I type, and they are all horribly ugly and bad *shudder*

Stanley Kubrick is my favorite director. I think his films are some of the greatest ever made.

I'll only mention the main films.

Paths of Glory is one of the best anti-war movies ever made. The cinematography is great. You have the contrast of the mud-filled trenches and the posh interiors of the homes used by the Generals. Some of the shots that have sunlight coming through windows are just breathtaking. They are made even more striking by being in B & W. The tracking shots in the trenches are also very well done. Good story. Good acting. I'm especially fond of Col. Dax's speech at the trial when he talks about the importance of compassion. And the film has a very powerful ending. Watching the German girl sing to the French troops is quite stirring. For those that don't know, that woman became Stanley's wife Christiane.

Dr. Strangelove was the next really important film. Stanley wanted to do a taught nuclear thriller, but the more he tried to fit the story into a film, the more he realized that the subject had to be done as a comedy. How can one accurately do a film that deals with the end of the world as we know it? Can't be done. I do laugh out loud at parts, but don't find it to be a side-splitting type movie. The scenes inside the bomber are excellent. Kubrick gave you a good feel for the plane. The best part of the film is Peter Sellers as the President. His odd, rambling phone calls to the Russian Prime Minister are hilarious. Also, George C. Scott is perfect as the over-eager USAF general.

I can actually see where some people don't like this film. It has a very 60's feel to it and some people can't get past that.

2001 is just out of this world. From a technical standpoint, this film has to be considered one of the best ever. Stanley had groundbreaking special effects. Watch this today and it still holds up. The exterior spaceship shots are amazing. The cut from the bone to the sattelitte is one of the best know transitions in film history. The interior sets seem real. His use of classical music was a perfect choice. We see this done all the time now, but that wasn't the case back then. The acting is very dry, but that was part of the point.

Stanley wanted to make a movie about space that felt real. He figured that it would be one boring place. A bunch of scientists all indoors. Very sterile. Very controlled environment. Star Wars is essentially a cowboy movie set in space. Kubrick wanted to do a film about space. A lot of people don't understand this.

What does the film mean? That is best left for debate. The most important thing is that we see the evolution of man. The growth from ape man to human to the space child. Man grows physically and mentally, and finally travels off Earth. That is when we find the monolith on the Moon. It is a galactic alarm clock. It goes off and draws us to the next phase. The other major point, obviously, is that we aren't alone. Rather than worry about how to deal with aliens, Kubrick leaves us with the thought that it could be alien beings or just forces we can comprehend.


I'll have to come back and cover the rest of the films later.

I would highly reccomend everyone see all of his movies. They are awkward and philosophical, but they make you think. They aren't easily accessible as a viewer. You can't turn your brain off and just enjoy them.