Stanley Kubrick: Classic or Dud?

Rich or poor, they are all equal now.

Can anybody recommend some online 2001 writing, specifically technical aspects/the making of/etc.? Started showing a roommate this and while she fell asleep halfway through, for me it was bliss and gorgeousness like always. Probably the most beautiful film, at the very least image-wise, that I have ever seen. The compositing in the moon-landing sequences is flawless and breathtaking, giving a tremendous sense of scale to every element in the scene. Often in this film there will be little windows or ledges with tiny people walking around on them, and you hardly notice it at first, it's such a genius technique. There's always so much bombast and BIG PRETTY PICTURES in his films but he's equally adept at putting in little understated touches that help give everything more life. And clearly he is aware of his powers; in this film is contained not only the 'ultimate psychedelic trip' in the starfield light show, but quite possibly the most boring and comedically dry military briefing ever shot.

If they ever make a Kubrick Biopic I reckon Stanley Townsend is the man.

http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/servlet/file/store5/item116701/version1/fileservice28/116701_28_preview.jpg

XP Piers Bizony wrote a book that's pretty great iirc

http://www.amazon.co.uk/2001-Filming-Future-Piers-Bizony/dp/1854107062

I believe Douglas Trumbull is getting his special Oscar Saturday night btw

Nice. Between 2001 and Blade Runner, he's responsible for a whole lot of the look of cinematic sci-fi.

and lately, The Tree of Life

Can anybody recommend some online 2001 writing, specifically technical aspects/the making of/etc.?

Cinefex devoted an entire issue to 2001... worth tracking down a copy.

Also,

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PIZEzX7yL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

^Yes, that book is terrific!

This is pretty cool, someone wrote software to attempt to 'unwrap' the images used in the stargate sequence:

http://seriss.com/people/erco/2001/

i want to EAT this bluray

(barry lyndon)

god it's gorge.

have you masked the screen properly w/ black tape?

Yah just got the Barry Lyndon blu at a big box store for $8. Psyched to watch it again! Watched on dvd a few weeks ago. I can watch it weekly.

been keen on seeing it again after watching Mysteries of Lisbon. not been able to get past the aspect ratio thing, though i obviously should.

I recently watched Barry Lyndon on DVD. The sense of passivity and an all-pervasive void both surrounding and expressing the characters was just as strong as in 2001: A Space Odyssey, which felt very strange, but not very engaging. Kubrick must have had a strong misanthropic streak.

I've never understood that conclusion.

the characters seemed pretty sympathetic and human in Barry Lyndon, at least more so than in Eyes Wide Shut.

felt bad for Baz by the end of it

have you masked the screen properly w/ black tape?

― Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, February 14, 2012 12:21 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol, i'm not sure if that would even work. (i've done it several times shooting movies...) it's not clear if there is extraneous information or missing stuff from the top and bottoms

'barry lyndon' is incredibly warm and sad, and one of his 2-3 best.

sad I can see, warm not so much

I am searching for screens of barry lyndon right now

I love that the whole movie is pushed a stop, why, because the candle light scenes needed to be pushed a stop

considering kubrick's obsession with photography, stills from his movies are always going to be meticulously composed.

the scene where his son dies and the last scene are both pretty devastating to me.

ya, it is really not cold and emotionless, like at all

ppl always think that about movies where the lead isnt 100% likeable

The sense of passivity and an all-pervasive void

Redmond Barry is not passive! He goes out and gets what he thinks he wants after he's sonned by his beautiful cousin. As for the void, well, that's mortality.

Barry Lyndon is kind of like a human interest version of Candide, to me

Redmond Barry is not passive! He goes out and gets what he thinks he wants after he's sonned by his beautiful cousin. As for the void, well, that's mortality.

― Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, February 14, 2012 4:41 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ya, he is a pretty active, if wily and amoral, guy

i guess he might seem passive in the sense that he doesnt seem to really like ENJOY anything

Here's what I found about the aspect ratio:

http://somecamerunning.typepad.com/some_came_running/2011/05/leon-vitali-on-the-barry-lyndon-aspect-ratio-issue.html

Seems like they used the correct one, but there's conflicting information.

You gotta read the Kubrick letter (also on that site)

he doesnt seem to really like ENJOY anything

http://24.media.tumblr.com/yaHE2X1pUqbj7nfdhWixUHUYo1_500.jpg

Bill James: "I loved the first half of Kubrick's career, hated the second half. Spartacus, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove...those are fantastic movies. Everything from 2001 on is pretentious crap. The worst is Barry Lyndon."

He tends to be a little more methodical evaluating baseball players.

well, what an original and daring opinion.

Made me cringe too. But when a genius ventures outside his field of expertise, I'm inclined to cut him/her some slack.

I have my doubts but if the math checks out I'm willing to believe he's right

He should ID the cheap wins and tough losses.

barry lyndon >>>> barry bonds

Cheap win (overrated in its day): A Clockwork Orange. Tough loss (viewed more favorably now than upon release): Lolita. Best Power/Speed Number: The Killing.

Barry Lyndon>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Barry Zito.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/pics/barry_lyons_autograph.jpg

Best Power/Speed Number: The Killing.

No way, this is Killer's Kiss in a walk.

I thought it was pretty good the one time I saw it. But The Killing's like a 40/40 season--for me, it zips along like nothing he ever did. (I seem to remember hearing or reading somewhere that Kubrick was a big Brooklyn Dodgers fan growing up, but I can't seem to find any corroboration.)

look, even Kubrick admitted that Lolita was kind of stunted without explicit eroticism.

wasn't kubrick from the bronx?