Revisiting Match Cut Directors Consensus - Stanley Kubrick

[Spinal]

I think it's a bit of a stretch to treat the movie as if it were a documentary about their actual relationship.

Not really. If you read Frederic Raphael's book, Eyes Wide Open, you'll learn that Kubrick wanted a big-time Hollywood couple for reasons similar to those Russ referenced.

[Milky Joe]

Paths of Glory - 9.5
Dr. Strangelove - 9
2001: A Space Odyssey - 10
A Clockwork Orange - 8.5
Barry Lyndon - 10
The Shining - 7
Full Metal Jacket - 7.5
Eyes Wide Shut - 10

[Qrazy]

It's the low scores for Spartacus that are killing me.

As with the Frankenheimer thread, I will only be contributing scores to the films that I feel need the help:

Spartacus - 8.5
Lolita - 8
Barry Lyndon - 10

Agreed, so it's not his best film. It's still one of the best sword and sandal epics imo.

[Sven]

Agreed, so it's not his best film. It's still one of the best sword and sandal epics imo.

Yes.

[Rowland]

Watched Paths of Glory tonight. Fantastic stuff.

I've had a great track record lately, best run I've had in a long while. Here's to catching up with great movies and revisiting old favorites that hold up.

[trotchky]

Lolita - 7
Dr. Strangelove - 10
2001: A Space Odyssey - 10
A Clockwork Orange - 10
Barry Lyndon - 10
The Shining - 10
Full Metal Jacket - 10
Eyes Wide Shut - 10

[Gizmo]

Killer's Kiss - 6
The Killing - 7
Paths of Glory - 9
Spartacus - 9
Lolita - 8.5
Dr. Strangelove - 7
2001: A Space Odyssey - 10
A Clockwork Orange - 9.5
Barry Lyndon - 9.5
The Shining - 9.5
Full Metal Jacket - 9
Eyes Wide Shut - 8.5


Curse you Fear and Desire!

[B-side]

The low Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut scores are giving me a rash.

[MadMan]

Watched Paths of Glory tonight. Fantastic stuff.

Yes, yes it is. Kirk Douglas is magnificent in the role of Col. Dax.

[transmogrifier]

The low Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut scores are giving me a rash.

And I for one am amazed that the scores for the latter are so high.

No matter how long I live, I'll never understand why it is Kubrick who was chosen as the epitome of the quality auteur. Is it because he was smart and eccentric?

[trotchky]

more likely it's because he was a quality auteur.

[BuffaloWilder]

And I for one am amazed that the scores for the latter are so high.

No matter how long I live, I'll never understand why it is Kubrick who was chosen as the epitome of the quality auteur. Is it because he was smart and eccentric?

You'll have to explain. I, for one, am interested in your extended opinion of the man's work.

[transmogrifier]

more likely it's because he was a quality auteur.

7 straight 10/10 films? Not a chance.

He made two great films and a hell of a lot of muddled, middling ones. Not the worst director, not the best, possibly upper-middle somewhere.

[transmogrifier]

You'll have to explain. I, for one, am interested in your extended opinion of the man's work.

I have no extended opinion. Please see the post above.

[BuffaloWilder]

I have no extended opinion. Please see the post above.

Oh.


Well, that opinion sucks.

[B-side]

And I for one am amazed that the scores for the latter are so high.

No matter how long I live, I'll never understand why it is Kubrick who was chosen as the epitome of the quality auteur. Is it because he was smart and eccentric?

Eyes Wide Shut is better than your favorite movie.

[

Show Spoiler

Maybe.

]

[transmogrifier]

Oh.


Well, that opinion sucks.

Well, I could sugarcoat it for you, if it helps to go down better.

Seriously, I'm kind of sick of talking about the guy. To me, most of his films are a study in dispassionate obviousness (he was smart, but I never learnt a thing from his films - he has nothing much personal to say, it is all mid-range missives on obvious human character quirks) mixed with the odd errors in judgement regarding the shape or tone of the film (e.g. Nicholson being a loon right from the start of The Shining).

[It also amuses me that trotchky has a go at Zach Snyder for not doing original material when all Kubrick did was adaptations, but that is neither here nor there when it comes to my criticism of Kubrick, as I don't think a director needs to be working with original stories to be labelled great. Just an interesting insight into how we hold double standards in how we criticise those responsible for those movies we don't like. I'm sure I do it too]

EDIT: It appears trotchky never criticised Snyder for that, and Buffalowilder only did tangentially, so disregard the above. I'll leave it there though, because I'm sure someone has before, and I'm sure that same someone is also a poor deluded Kubrick fan, so my point still stands. Kind of.

[transmogrifier]

Eyes Wide Shut is better than your favorite movie.

[

Show Spoiler

Maybe.

]

I'm pretty sure you would think that.

You would be wrong.

I like Eyes Wide Shut on a scene-by-scene basis, but I think it is a crock as an entire film. The "sex" journey Cruise goes on is so boring and ham-fisted in had to be purposeful, which means that there is absolutely nothing to be gained from the end of the film. Does he break down because the one orgy he finally managed to wrangle his way in on was full of dull robots? I think the orgy scene by itself is quite creepy, by the way.

EDIT: I'll stop here, because this is a ratings thread and I could go on and on.

[B-side]

I'm pretty sure you would think that.

You would be wrong.

I like Eyes Wide Shut on a scene-by-scene basis, but I think it is a crock as an entire film. The "sex" journey Cruise goes on is so boring and ham-fisted in had to be purposeful, which means that there is absolutely nothing to be gained from the end of the film. Does he break down because the one orgy he finally managed to wrangle his way in on was full of dull robots? I think the orgy scene by itself is quite creepy, by the way.

EDIT: I'll stop here, because this is a ratings thread and I could go on and on.

It's OK, we all fail at something. You just happen to fail at Eyes Wide Shut. We don't hate you any more than usual for it.

[BuffaloWilder]

[It also amuses me that trotchky has a go at Zach Snyder for not doing original material when all Kubrick did was adaptations, but that is neither here nor there when it comes to my criticism of Kubrick, as I don't think a director needs to be working with original stories to be labelled great. Just an interesting insight into how we hold double standards in how we criticise those responsible for those movies we don't like. I'm sure I do it too]

It's not that all he's done is adaptations, it's that two of these adaptations have been from a previously visual medium, and instead of actually, you know, adapting these stories, all he's done is lift those visuals panel-for-panel, tossed in a lot of...oddly done kung-fu fighting, and truncated what made the original stories (well, really only Watchmen, because 300 was pretty terrible as a comic, too) what they were.

And, his Dawn of the Dead remake was enjoyable, but that's about it.

[transmogrifier]

It's not that all he's done is adaptations, it's that two of these adaptations have been from a previously visual medium, and instead of actually, you know, adapting these stories, all he's done is lift those visuals panel-for-panel, tossed in a lot of...oddly done kung-fu fighting, and truncated what made the original stories (well, really only Watchmen, because 300 was pretty terrible as a comic, too) what they were.

And, his Dawn of the Dead remake was enjoyable, but that's about it.

Fair enough, and I'll be fair and say I probably rank Kubrick higher than Snyder in the great scheme of things.

[Qrazy]

7 straight 10/10 films? Not a chance.

He made two great films and a hell of a lot of muddled, middling ones. Not the worst director, not the best, possibly upper-middle somewhere.

Who's the best?

[Qrazy]

Well, I could sugarcoat it for you, if it helps to go down better.

Seriously, I'm kind of sick of talking about the guy. To me, most of his films are a study in dispassionate obviousness (he was smart, but I never learnt a thing from his films - he has nothing much personal to say, it is all mid-range missives on obvious human character quirks) mixed with the odd errors in judgement regarding the shape or tone of the film (e.g. Nicholson being a loon right from the start of The Shining).

[It also amuses me that trotchky has a go at Zach Snyder for not doing original material when all Kubrick did was adaptations, but that is neither here nor there when it comes to my criticism of Kubrick, as I don't think a director needs to be working with original stories to be labelled great. Just an interesting insight into how we hold double standards in how we criticise those responsible for those movies we don't like. I'm sure I do it too]

EDIT: It appears trotchky never criticised Snyder for that, and Buffalowilder only did tangentially, so disregard the above. I'll leave it there though, because I'm sure someone has before, and I'm sure that same someone is also a poor deluded Kubrick fan, so my point still stands. Kind of.

What an awful, awful amendment.

[trotchky]

i don't like bergman or godard, but i'm not about to call them middling or compare them to zach snyder. sorry you don't get kubrick, homie. (sike, i'm not sorry at all, and couldn't care less if you like the dude or hate him )

[transmogrifier]

Who's the best?

Dunno. Altman probably. But I don't have a set list.