1957 - PATHS OF GLORY, an excellent antiwar film.

 A masterpiece from Stanley Kubrick.  An antiwar film that is actually an antiwar film without resorting to glorified action scenes which in other antiwar films dilute the whole point of an antiwar film which is to be against war. 

 Besides the well written script, the film is an impressive technical achievement considering a lot of it was shot on location.  The film is set in France and based on a true incident.  Needless to say the French government was not happy about the film and managed to have it banned for quite a while

 

The cast is also very impressive with old pros like Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready and the eccentric actor Timothy Carey giving excellent performances.  Douglas's production company has a screen credit and he made it possible for film to get the film made.

The film runs 88 minutes.  The screenplay was by Stanley Kubrick, Calder Willingham and Jim Thompson.

1980 - THE SHINING, on Blu Ray

The Shining looks great on my Blu Ray disc.  The cinematography by John Alcott really comes to life.  Say what you want about this film but Stanley Kubrick's meticulous direction and Jack Nicholson's larger than life performance make watching this film an enjoyable experience if you can call watching a horror film an enjoyable experience I guess.

There was a lot of criticism regarding Kubrick letting Nicholson go over the top so early in the film but Nicholson's performance is very impressive.  Shelley Duvall is also very good and the little kid isn't bad either.

Since I first saw The Shining on it's initial release I was somewhat lukewarm to it but I would have to say the film while no masterpiece like 2001: A Space Odyssey is a very good film.  On a technical level the film is a very impressive piece of craftsmanship.

Nicholson and Kubrick on the set

 144 minutes, screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson.

1968 - 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, is probably as good as it gets for science fiction

Watched the Blu-Ray of this film, probably the first time I've seen it in about 15 years or so.  The Blu-Ray did take out some of the grain which was particularly noticeable in the Discovery One spaceship sequences but overall the film looked very good.  

Stanley Kubrick really brought his "A" game to this film.  He wanted to make the best science fiction film possible and he wasn't fooling around.  The special effects still look very sharp and clear.  Kubrick pushed film technology to the limit and it paid off,  the space scenes have an powerful look  to them which no other science fiction film has been able to duplicate.  The musical selections chosen for the film perfectly complement the film and I am not a big fan of adding classical music to films.

When this film came out it confused a lot of the critics.  The chief complaint was that the story was obscure and difficult to understand.  I've never understood their reaction to this film.  Even in my first viewing of this film it was clear that 2001: A Space Odyssey was about evolution and man's encounter with extraterrestrial life.

I have seen a lot of science fiction films and I am of the opinion that 2001: A Space Odyssey is still the best film in the science fiction genre. 

142 minutes, screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clark.

1999 - EYES WIDE SHUT, Kubrick;'s final film.

Rummaged through my collection and pulled out Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick's last film. I viewed the film in 30 minute pieces while on the treadmill, so it allowed me to think about it each day. I doubt this was the viewing experience Kubrick had in mind when he made it, but hey you go with what works.

 

This film is about SEX. It has major stars in it, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Since it was directed by a male director, guess which star gets to take her clothes off, a lot. But this is in an odd way a very anti sex film. Apparently all of the critics are in agreement that the movie kicks into gear with the confession by the wife to her husband of a sexual fantasy. This freaks the husband out and sets him off on a night of supposed sexual debauchery which he never fulfills. 

The night reaches a climax in a high class orgy where men and women run abound in cloaks and masks. Correction, the women run around with no clothes on while the men run get to wear their clothes. After this scene we still have another half an hour of red herrings.  It seems that Kubrick was trying to build some suspense but it just seemed to add length to an unfocused story. The movie ends with the husband confessing his wild night to his wife (or lack of it) and the implication is that they will have a stronger marriage. There's no place like home I guess

 

 Kubrick was in his 70's when he made this, but it's no masterpiece. As an older filmmaker was this his attitude towards relationships at the end of his life?  Is he just a voyeur sending the Tom Cruise character through a series of weird sexual situations staring at lots of naked young women, only to have him running to his wife at the end of the film? So what, what's the point? Maybe the point is Kubrick gets to film "neeked" women.

Kubrick kind of lost his way after 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. It seems to me that his later films lacked a clear structure. I like Barry Lyndon, but Barry Lyndon is pretty slow moving. His films were always very well made, but somehow they always seem to be lacking something. I can't put my finger on it yet. He has been described as a cold filmmaker. The films are fun to watch for their technique but it's really only on a movie nerd level that a film like this can be appreciated.

159 minutes, screenplay Frederick Raphael and Stanley Kubrick.