Which Stanley Kubrick Films Have You See?

[Jake Featherston]

Check off each one you've seen in the poll, and then discuss individual films as per your preference.

[jerney]

Only two off that list.. every obnoxious "artsy", "emo", "hispter" or "alternative" person I went to high school or college with would quote either A Clockwork Orange or Dr. Strangelove as one of their favorite movies, so for that reason alone it made me never want to see them.

[Jake Featherston]

Eyes Wide Shut 10/10
Full Metal Jacket 9.5/10
The Shining 8.5/10
Barry Lyndon 9/10
A Clockwork Orange 10/10
2001: A Space Odyssey 10/10
Dr. Strangelove 10/10
Spartacus 10/10
Path of Glory 9/10
The Killing 8/10

I can't quite pick a favorite, but of the five movies I rated a "10," I'd say I love "Eyes Wide Shut" and "Spartacus" a little bit less than the other three...so its basically a three-way tie between "Dr. Strangelove," "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "A Clockwork Orange."

PS: You would be well-advised to do whatever an armed man named Bat Guano instructs you to do.

[Jake Featherston]

Only two off that list..

So, why don't you place little check-marks next to the names of those two films, and press "VOTE," so we'll know which two they are? I mean, uh, please?

[jerney]

I did..

[Jake Featherston]

I did..

The system must not have updated yet when I typed that, for some unspecified technical reason. Thank you for voting (I hate it when people don't vote in poll threads in which they've posted, unless they cite some reason why they can't because of the way the question is phrased, or something).

[Turkey]

I really liked

Paths of glory, strangelove and full metal jacket..

Most his movies a drawn out and boring but paths of glory was quite concise

[rhiannon]

Full Metal Jacket is my favorite. The Marine Drill Sergent makes the entire movie....along with Pyle and Joker:)

Eyes Wide Shut was also very well done, IMO.

[Jake Featherston]

I really liked

Paths of glory, strangelove and full metal jacket..

Most his movies a drawn out and boring but paths of glory was quite concise

I just saw "Paths of Glory" (for the first time, that is) about a month ago, and I was very impressed with it. I had some negative expectations of it in my mind as "an old movie" (probably due to its being in black-and-white), but it was extremely good. As you suggest, the editing is very good, in such a way that every scene is vital, and there's really not any fat left to be trimmed off the film, as it were.

Looking at the preliminary poll results, I'm surprised more people haven't seen "Spartacus." I thought that was one of those classic movies like "The Wizard of Oz," or Casablanca," that everyone had seen. It was probably the third Kubrick film I ever saw, almost 30 years ago.

[Jake Featherston]

I managed to see "Eyes Wide Shut" during its original cinematic release in 1999, whereas my father took me to see "2001" in 1983, when it was re-released for its 15th anniversary. I also saw "The Shining" on a large, projected screen for my "History of Film" class, so although I only saw one of these films in its original release, I've never-the-less been fortunate enough to see three of them "on the big screen."*


*I'm one of those people who insists that films are often much, much better when seen in the theater...and we're correct (although we seem to be a dwindling faction).

[Eldritch]

I've seen all of them except the first two ones -- which, if I'm not mistaken, Kubrick didn't even want included in his CV, being an obsessive perfectionist who was not happy with his earliest efforts.

[Eldritch]

Assigning scores for Kubrick films is a bit difficult, because (almost) all of them are so enormously important, iconic and influential, so it gets a bit hard to separate personal preference from their wider importance. Anyway I'll try:

Eyes Wide Shut: 8/10
Full Metal Jacket 10/10
The Shining 7/10
Barry Lyndon 10/10
A Clockwork Orange 9/10
2001: A Space Odyssey 11/10 (the greatest, most important film ever made)
Dr. Strangelove 10/10
Lolita 9/10
Spartacus 9/10
Paths of Glory 8/10
The Killing 8/10

[Caeruleus]

all of them except Fear and Desire, Killer's Kiss (wich I think are short films)
My favourite is The Shining

Eyes Wide Shut: 8/10
Full Metal Jacket 10/10
The Shining 10/10
Barry Lyndon 8/10
A Clockwork Orange 10/10
2001: A Space Odyssey 10/10
Dr. Strangelove 10/10
Lolita 8/10
Spartacus 9/10
Paths of Glory 8/10
The Killing 9/10

[Osweo]

Only two off that list.. every obnoxious "artsy", "emo", "hispter" or "alternative" person I went to high school or college with would quote either A Clockwork Orange or Dr. Strangelove as one of their favorite movies, so for that reason alone it made me never want to see them.

That's a shame, as Dr. Strangelove is just good fun, never mind the subtler stuff in it. :p

I didn't tick the ones I'd seen only bits of, going in and out of the room while other people were watching it, so for me it's just;

Full Metal Jacket - great entertainment.

Eyes Wide Shut - shite.

Doctor Strangelove - hilarious and terrifying :p

Spartacus - superb classic of the heyday of cinema (I met Peter Ustinov once too :D )

2001 - hmmm..... One of those that I've seen the end of, the beginning of, and bits in the middle. I'd say I've probably seen the whole thing in increments, but I don't know... seemed a bit slow to me. :o

[Turkey]

I just saw "Paths of Glory" (for the first time, that is) about a month ago, and I was very impressed with it. I had some negative expectations of it in my mind as "an old movie" (probably due to its being in black-and-white), but it was extremely good. As you suggest, the editing is very good, in such a way that every scene is vital, and there's really not any fat left to be trimmed off the film, as it were.



I was delighted it ended where it ended. So unexpected from an old movie.

"There's nothing like an execution to exite the men!"-evil old french general

[Jake Featherston]

"There's nothing like an execution to exite the men!"-evil old french general

The funny thing is, the dialogue between Kirk Douglas's character, and the higher-ranking of the the two main French Generals (not Douglas's C.O., who was devoid of any positive traits, but rather that man's C.O.), often reminds me of the dialogue in my own head, between my more cynical aspects, and what I like to think of as my more idealistic fundamental nature. I mean, say what you will about what a bastard that guy was (and he was), his perspective that France simply could not be permitted to lose that war, irrespective of any other considerations, is (from a French perspective, and absent the knowledge of future historical events), quite easy to sympathize with, when seen through the eyes of 1916. And yet never-the-less...

[Logan]

Spartacus, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon, and The Shining. Barry Lyndon would be his best.

[Óttar]

I have seen 7 out of 14 of the films listed. My ex-girlfriend, a basket case, was a big fan of A Clockwork Orange. I didn't see the appeal. A guy who drinks milk, listens to Beethoven, beats homeless people and rapes women. Burgess didn't even mean for the book to be taken seriously, and he got most of his special terminology from Russian. The scene where the main character can't touch a woman without getting violently ill due to being subjected to torture in a British prison, personally made me ill. While the tale is creative to an extent, it is an example of absurdity and the grotesque for absurdity and grotesqueness' own sake, much like Jodorowski's films, which, while they make use of symbolism and old fairy tales and literary themes, are unaesthetic and nauseating. I am reminded of William S. Burrough's Naked Lunch (which on the other hand, doesn't make use of classic themes, and so therefore has little redeeming value) with a cockroach talking out of its asshole. :stop

I liked Eyes Wide Shut, Full Metal Jacket, Barry Lyndon, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. I particularly liked the first two.

[Piparskeggr]

I have to say that (with the discussion prompting memory) I forgot to check off "Paths of Glory" and "The Shining, " along with the ones I did vote for: "A Clockwork Orange," "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Dr. Strangelove," and "Spartacus."

[Wulfhere]

Kubrick is very over rated, and very trendy. Dr Strangelove has some funny lines, but the TV play Fail-Safe is far more scary. Clockwork Orange has some funny lines too, but the best thing about it is the Purcell and Beethoven played on an early '70s synthesiser. Spartacus is probably his best. 2001 is a load of slow-moving pretentious crap.

[Jake Featherston]

I have seen 7 out of 14 of the films listed. My ex-girlfriend, a basket case, was a big fan of A Clockwork Orange. I didn't see the appeal. A guy who drinks milk, listens to Beethoven, beats homeless people and rapes women. Burgess didn't even mean for the book to be taken seriously, and he got most of his special terminology from Russian. The scene where the main character can't touch a woman without getting violently ill due to being subjected to torture in a British prison, personally made me ill. While the tale is creative to an extent, it is an example of absurdity and the grotesque for absurdity and grotesqueness' own sake

No, that is not correct at all; that fim is the very last thing from "absurdity and grotesqueness for its own sake." I can scarcely think of a film of which that description could possibly be more false. That whole movie is basically just a set-up for the last 10-15 minutes; that's the only part that really matters. That's where the message, as it were, of the film truly lies. And a more thorough skewering of the socio-political status quo within the contemporary West, one would be hard-pressed to envision (made all the more impressive by the prescience of its being a 1971 release).

[Jake Featherston]

Kubrick is very over rated, and very trendy. Dr Strangelove has some funny lines, but the TV play Fail-Safe is far more scary.

While they both take place within a nuclear Cold War catastrophe scenario, "Dr. Strangelove" is a comedy, whereas "Fail-Safe" is a heavy drama. You might as well compare "The Shining" to "The Sound of Music," based on the fact they are both set in the mountains.

[Jake Featherston]

"Paths of Glory" is on Turner Classic Movies this Saturday, at 3:30 pm (Eastern time). If you've never seen this magnificent classic, well, there's your chance.

[Kataphraktoi]

I have only seen A Clockwork Orange (I am not much of a film fan), still I think it is one of the few films to be almost better than the book.

[Chip Farley]

After John Milius, Stanley Kubrick is my second favorite director.

'Eyes Wide Shut' was a technical master-piece!

Be sure to read this review from The Occidental Quarterly: TOQ - Eyes Wide Shut (http://www.toqonline.com/blog/eyes-wide-shut/)

[Turkey]

After John Milius, Stanley Kubrick is my second favorite director.

'Eyes Wide Shut' was a technical master-piece!

Be sure to read this review from The Occidental Quarterly: TOQ - Eyes Wide Shut (http://www.toqonline.com/blog/eyes-wide-shut/)

why's that?

[Pallantides]

Full Metal Jacket
The Shining
Barry Lyndon
A Clockwork Orange
Spartacus

[Chip Farley]

why's that?

Why read the review?

Because Yggdrasil (John Gardner) has an interesting take on the movie.

[Magister Eckhart]

I am amazed that Clockwork Orange is actually more watched than The Shining.

[Chip Farley]

I am amazed that Clockwork Orange is actually more watched than The Shining.

A lot of people (myself included) just don't like horror flicks.

[Turkey]

Why would you say that?