Stanley Kubrick: a big strong chelloveck like us all

[Arthur_Vandelay]

One of the local TV stations has for the past few weeks been screening a "Stanley Kubrick film festival" of sorts, and I thought I'd ask my little droogies on TTF for their thoughts on Kubrick as a filmmaker, and also to list their three favourite Kubrick films. Are there any elements of a Kubrick film that makes it idiosyncratically "Kubrickian"--the "Kubrick stare" comes to mind.

The attached poll is not exhaustive, o my brothers, simply because polls on this site only allow 10 options. A complete filmography is available here (http://www.indelibleinc.com/kubrick/filmog/).

The three films selected by your friend and humble narrator are as follows:

2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
The Shining


"Right, right, right?"

[Barliman Butterbur]

...I thought I'd ask my little droogies on TTF for their thoughts on Kubrick as a filmmaker, and also to list their three favourite Kubrick films....

I'm with you on two of the three: 2001 (just bought the DVD recently), The Shining (Jack Nicholson at his best), and the other: Eyes Wide Shut (those Kidman nude scenes — wahoo!). I've avoided watching Clockwork for years, because I know those kind of films scare the roadapples out of me.

Barley

[Arthur_Vandelay]

I'm with you on two of the three: 2001 (just bought the DVD recently), The Shining (Jack Nicholson at his best), and the other: Eyes Wide Shut (those Kidman nude scenes — wahoo!). I've avoided watching Clockwork for years, because I know those kind of films scare the roadapples out of me.

Barley

I wonder if you'd find it all that frightening watching it these days. The violence is pretty tame in comparison with contemporary fare such as Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, etc.

I remember being unimpressed by Eyes Wide Shut when I saw it back in 1999, but I didn't know a lot about Kubrick back then, and I'm willing to give it another shot.

[Aiwendil2]

I've actually only seen four of Kubrick's movies so far, but based on them alone I consider him one of my favorite directors. 2001 is one of my favorite movies, and Dr. Strangelove isn't far behind.

The other two I've seen are A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket. I think that both are brilliantly directed and both are very powerful films, but I don't consider them masterpieces like the other two. ACO and FMJ seem to me to be perhaps a bit too heavy, too dark, for their own good. Each takes something of an ironic approach to a very dark subject, just as Dr. Strangelove did, but the difference is that here that irony is far too bitter to be humorous.