Eyes Wide Shut

In Eyes Wide Shut (1999), Tom Cruise gives us a complete, devastatingly accurate catalog of the crumbling defensive postures that a nude or semi-nude man can take while trying to retain a tone of "level-headed" condescension during a boudoir argument with their partner or spouse. pic.twitter.com/VQ3DBvYorz

— ℑ 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔅𝔩𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔜𝔬𝔲 (@NickPinkerton) September 7, 2019

rethinking some of the plot elements now that we've revived the thread yet again

I'm not sure Dr. Bill's sexual jealousy is as much about the fear of his wife's infidelity as much as it is a realization he's incapable of imagining his own sexual fantasy scenarios. Alice's is both visceral and straightforward. He stumbles into this effete circle of elites who have concocted an elaborate ritual that has the trappings of eroticism but ends in what Morbs correctly described as mechanical, non-erotic sex

there's a sideline in the current HBO series Succession about people who are born moneyed being unable to participate in, or at least find joy in, a myriad of human experiences -- but they try to compensate by spending lots of money or going off script

if they could just buy an ice cream cone and have it mean something

buying an ice cream company and feeling a half second of ennui

I assume this movie is just on a loop at Morbz' house

Give up your inquiries which are completely useless, and consider
these words a second warning. We hope, for your own good, that
this will be sufficient.

the irritation in "which are completely useless" is palpable

orgies plausibly run by Trump

Shakey, it's at best my 6th-favorite Kubrick film, ya doof

*bangs staff*

this would make a great double feature with Three Days of the Condor

Interesting that it seems to have had some critical rehab in these last few years

https://filmschoolrejects.com/best-movies-1990s/9/

it's been several years since I've seen it, but does EWS ever get compared to Vanilla Sky (itself an adaptation of a 1997 film called open Your Eyes)?

I was going to rewatch that the other night, was one of my favorites as a kid. yeah, I never thought about it really but there's tons of stuff in common: the mask, male insecurity/impotence, an ordinary powerful man in extraordinary circumstances, marital/spousal anxiety, forces beyond our control/out of sight, mysterious organizations...

I was somewhat enthusiastic about that movie for a moment when it was released, but once you get past the surface it's Cameron Crowe doing the same shit about relationship dynamics, who gets to be trustworthy in what ways, with his record collection playing a little too loudly over the sountrack

it's been several years since I've seen it, but does EWS ever get compared to Vanilla Sky (itself an adaptation of a 1997 film called open Your Eyes)?

at the time quite a lot, iirc.

Shakey, it's at best my 6th-favorite Kubrick film, ya doof

Who's calling whom the doof here?

well i know you dont like Strangelove cuz it's funny, honeybunch

Given that and 2001 aren't allowed to NOT be in the top 5, that still leaves three whole slots and aside from Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining and Barry Lyndon, what else is there?

Nothing, that's what.

Paths of Glory and The Killing, wisenheimer

there's a reason Welles said Kubrick was "a giant" in the early '60s

I'm glad we all agree that this is Kubrick's shittiest movie

you have always been the caretaker, Mr Collier

this is prob my favorite kubrick movie bc i'm a dumbass. barry lyndon #2

my boring opinion is that kubrick's films are all at least good

i mean, even fear and desire isn't really that bad for what it is

I’m with Brad

'fraid so

infilitrating one of those eyes wide shut secret masked sex parties but just for the music

— ▀▀▀▀▀▀ (@immolations) October 17, 2019

lol "no you don't understand, I only go to those parties to see Nick Nightingale play"

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EJMW4WFXkAAxqrZ?format=jpg&name=large

Paths of Glory and The Killing, wisenheimer

― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Monday, September 9, 2019 2:52 PM (two months ago)

Posted just barely too early for "OK Boomer."

A recent meme:

Here are some photos of the Buttigieg fundraiser in Napa -- with the famous wine cave and the chandelier with 1,500 Swarovski crystals -- hosted by a for-profit HMO billionaire. pic.twitter.com/JZhoMgtJHL

— Kompromatthew (@MattTheGweat) December 16, 2019

ok that is actually funny

Some intriguing points of intersection with another Frederic Raphael-written film about a floundering marriage: Two for the Road with Finney and Hepburn. For starters, its last dialogue is

"Bitch." "Bastard."

i thought this was a good point:
https://www.screenslate.com/features/298

Among Eyes Wide Shut’s strangest effects is that it feels like a video game: its dialogue is clumsily literal, repetitive, and expository; its plot is linear and structured like a quest; its protagonist encounters almost exclusively non-player characters, simple ciphers with no purpose beyond helping or obstructing him. Its simulacrum New York recalls the game-worlds traversed by Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh in eXistenZ (from the same year), where the plot stalls if the players don’t use the correct phrases.

Really tempted to see the new year in watching this but not sure my wife would be up for it.

Somehow I only saw this film for the first time this year. I think I'd have enjoyed it more if it'd gone all Mulholland Drive in the last 20 minutes, instead of finishing on a total damp squib of a shopping trip.

that video game theory is p cool, eyes wide shut does kind of have an fmv horror game feeling about it

same Alba

the whole simulacrum thing is just kubrick 101 post-lolita. there is a quote by him about how film is not a photograph of reality, but a photograph of a photograph of a reality.

when your circle small but yall crazy pic.twitter.com/r7bgWFG0sJ

— catarina camargo (@catarinacmrg) July 26, 2020

That was the first (failed) attempt to use the heart attack gun on Stanley.

Finally found out why Harvey Keitel got fired by Kubrick while making Eyes Wide Shut.
Gary Oldman on the specific reason here & the general principle of it for Mr Keitel underneath. pic.twitter.com/RilIs25sMT

— Tom Reagan’s Hat (@RufusTSuperfly) May 13, 2022

keitel otm, another dumb and bad film, sorry anthony, sorry morbs kubrick only made one good film and this isn't it

wrong!!!!!

keitel was otm. telling an actor he can't walk through a door properly after 68 takes is disrespectful in the extreme. and fucking crazy, too.

mark s should specify which kubrick film he thinks is the one good one, so everyone who likes just one kubrick film can see if they agree which one is the good one

keitel otm, another dumb and bad film, sorry anthony, sorry morbs kubrick only made one good film and this isn't it

it's a strongly worded opinion. like most of yours.

i’m sure ol’ stan was a frustrating guy to work for at times but “i had to walk through a doorway a bunch of times” is not exactly a chilling tale of directorial tyranny run rampant

for some reason i thought this was the kubrick film mark s thought was good!

barry lyndon is the one that IS good (implausibly good)