Critical Analysis: Stanley Kubrick

Let's talk about one of the greats.

A few of his films:

Full Metal Jacket
2011: A Space Odyssey
Dr. Strangelove
A Clockwork Orange
The Shining
Eyes Wide Shut

 

For me this has to be one of the best scenes ever.

 

Love Kubrick. I think Lolita being the exception, all his films are great. However, to give Kubrick the benefit of the doubt, the censors of the time did not allow the Lolita adaptation be anywhere near the source material.

 

Did anyone else know that while collabing on 2001:ASO Arthur Clarke and Kubrick imagined/predicted the basic idea of the internet as early (maybe earlier) as the 50's or 60's? And that the movie was made before the first moon landing and detailed images of Jupiter? So the surface of the moon and the up-close shots of jupiter were all imagined and probably based on just raw data and theoretical info, no actual photos (I couldn't find anything about there being detailed photos of jupiter before the 70's). Also the movie shows ipads/tablets! Dave and the other astronaut guy were watching TV on them at the beginning of the Jupiter mission part of the movie (and whether it is a TV broadcast or media streaming online is ambiguous).

 

A Clockwork Orange is one of my favourites. I got really bored with The Shining and for some reason I still haven't seen Strangelove or 2001.

 

I purchased Barry Lyndon a few years back but still need to watch it.

 

Your list of movies to watch is getting larger, my friend

Strangelove is easily my favorite of the Kubrick films I've seen. 2001 is outdated. Ha.

 

There's so many on my list, haha.

 

The Shining is my favorite

 

Don't worry, same here, haha

 

I used to really like The Shining until I read he book and realized just how superior it is in every way. The movie takes out all the depths from pretty much every character.

Dr. Strangelove though.... That's a movie

 

I own the BD set. Have not yet watched Eyes Wide Shut, Barry Lyndon or Lolita. The rest of his films are some of the best ever created

 

I recommend checking out the NowPlaying podcast for some great Kubrick insight. I'm pretty sure they've reviewed all of his films extensively.

 

I found Kubrick's The Shining to purposefully drift from the book in order to make a commentary. Ive read a lot of articles about their separate artistic directions for a paper I had to write in this goofy film class I once took. But yeah really cool stuff you should definitely give it another chance!!!

 

Have you watched the film "Room 237"? Some really interesting theories on The Shining. I watched it awhile back on Netflix.

 

I need to get a copy of that.

 

The Shining is one of the greatest horror movies ever made. Yeah yeah, it doesn't follow the book. Thanks for pointing that out, here's a cookie for your troubles. That said, it is a true study of building tension and fear throughout a movie. Jack's performance is the stuff of legends, truly being unsettling but not to a point that alienates the audience. If anything, you take that descent of madness with him as he falls apart in the movie and you love it.

 

Honestly though, he doesn't really descend in to madness in the film. He starts off seemingly already pretty unhinged. I get its one of the greatest horror films ever made. I would disputes that it's the greatest, The Exorcist is much better. The issue I have is that he could have accomolished the exact same thing by keeping he actual characters from the book in tact. And if he didn't want to do that, he should have written his own story than adapting an existing one. What's the point of adapting something if you don't seem to even like the source material?

That said, Dr Strangelove and 2001 are two of my all time favorite movies, so I do love some Kubrick films. A big issue with me, and this isn't to anyone's fault but my own, my friend is overly obsessed with Kibrick to the point he is kind of ruined for me.

 

Let's be real, Texas Chainsaw is the greatest horror movie ever made

 

It's not really supposed to be about the descent into madness though. It's supposed to be about the past's effect on the present. There's a lot of white male supremacy / patriarchal family subtext throughout the film.

Yeah I watched Room 237 but it frustrated me. Apparently when Kubrick first watched it, he laughed till about halfway through, got annoyed, and turned it off

 

Eyes Wide Shut is so underrated.

 

Have you guys ever heard of that Eraserhead (dir. by David Lynch) was Kubrick's favorite movie of all time? I just thought that was interesting when i heard it

 

It's good, but I would say Suspiria is equally as good if not better

 

To be fair, they did make a version that was faithful to the book. In my personal opinion, I think it is quite bad but if you desire a film that follows the book, go watch that.

 

Eh Suspiria is a beautifully shot film but it had nowhere near the impact or the legacy that TCM has in not just horror but in cinema as well. Besides, Fulci did what Argento did but much better.