7 Favorite Stanley Kubrick Films

[vers la flamme]

Came home from work today to find my wife watching 2001, so this is a coincidence! I do love that film, and Kubrick is a fascinating director, but Barry Lyndon, for me, is something else. Wonderful film.

My favorite as well. Just watched it again the other day.

[ritter]

I must confess I am immune to the charms of Mr. Kubrick's art... 

[LKB]

Came home from work today to find my wife watching 2001, so this is a coincidence! I do love that film, and Kubrick is a fascinating director, but Barry Lyndon, for me, is something else. Wonderful film.

Barry Lyndon, which I've never seen, has been something I've become more interested in since reading Mr. Benson's exceptional account of 2001's genesis.

Kubrick needed a means to shoot with only candlelight as the main lighting source. Benson goes " off-topic " at one point, and recounts Kubrick's use of ultra-fast Zeiss f/.07 lenses, which had been developed for NASA. The three lenses remain the fastest ever used in film photography.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Zeiss_Planar_50mm_f/0.7

Once again, tools developed for space exploration had proved essential to the creation of a Kubrick film.

[LKB]

I must confess I am immune to the charms of Mr. Kubrick's art... 

I was similarly immune to Shostakovich for years, despite having performed his First Symphony. He's now a favorite of mine, more so than Mozart actually.

Don't be surprised if Stanley sneak's up on you at some point in the future, as Dmitri did with me. 

[atardecer]

I find his movies are brilliant visually and also often brilliant in terms of the concepts and ideas he explores. Everything else - story, dialogue, characters and his use of sound I find underwhelming.

So I have mixed feelings about his films. Can't say I have any favorites.

This said I've only seen:

2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
Barry Lyndon
The Shining (I think he ruined the ending of The Shining)
Eyes Wide Shut

[Todd]

The three lenses remain the fastest ever used in film photography.

Wrong.  People have repurposed X-ray lenses for photography for decades.  Some of these lenses have apertures that drop down to F0.5.  No one involved with making the film ever made the false claim you made.  Also, please note the correct aperture of the lens you cite is F0.7, not F.07, which is physically impossible to achieve. 

[relm1]

2001 is not only my favorite Kubrick film, it's the greatest sci-fi film ever made.

[brewski]

Love Kubrick's work, though I haven't seen any of the early films, including Lolita. Favorite is probably 2001, though the ones I've seen are all mesmerizing in different ways. The Shining is quite hypnotic, though I don't find it particularly scary. Barry Lyndon might be the most beautifully photographed film ever made.

Want to see Eyes Wide Shut again, after reading a review that commented on Kubrick's precise use of color (red, green, and blue) which I hadn't noticed the first time.

-Bruce

[Todd]

Barry Lyndon might be the most beautifully photographed film ever made.

That or Days of Heaven. 

[brewski]

That or Days of Heaven.

Yes, a strong contender.

-Bruce

[Iota]

Pressed to choose one favorite (which the thread does not) I think it would have to be Dr Strangelove.

I'd agree with that. And I've never seen Peter Sellers better.

I got to know Stanley a bit in the 80's and stayed at their house in St Albans a few weekends (where I believe he shot some of Full Metal Jacket). He seemed utterly fascinated by music, thought a lot about it, and was interested in what others thought too. The first time I actually ever heard a cd was him putting one on (Brahms PC 1, Ashkenazy/Haitink) and asking me what I thought of it (I was knocked out by the sound).
I was very impressed by 2001: A Space Odyssey, though don't know how much I loved it. I remember when I first saw the scene of spacecrafts docking in space to the music of The Blue Danube, I thought it was the most imaginative use of music I'd ever seen in a film. Such different-world combinations of music and image seem far more commonplace these days.

[LKB]

2001 is not only my favorite Kubrick film, it's the greatest sci-fi film ever made.

Obviously I'm not about to disagree. While the film isn't quite perfect technically, the flaws are few and pass quickly.

[LKB]

I'd agree with that. And I've never seen Peter Sellers better.

I got to know Stanley a bit in the 80's and stayed at their house in St Albans a few weekends (where I believe he shot some of Full Metal Jacket). He seemed utterly fascinated by music, thought a lot about it, and was interested in what others thought too. The first time I actually ever heard a cd was him putting one on (Brahms PC 1, Ashkenazy/Haitink) and asking me what I thought of it (I was knocked out by the sound).
I was very impressed by 2001: A Space Odyssey, though don't know how much I loved it. I remember when I first saw the scene of spacecrafts docking in space to the music of The Blue Danube, I thought it was the most imaginative use of music I'd ever seen in a film. Such different-world combinations of music and image seem far more commonplace these days.

Lucky you! 

Benson addresses the evolution of 2001's music, and it was an interesting process. During production Mahler's Third Symphony was used as a temp track in some scenes, while dailies were viewed. Apparently Kubrick and an assistant listened to excerpts from a large number of LPs, and the usage of Also Sprach Zarathustra for the film's opening was suggested by Kubrick's associate, Jan Harlan.

[LKB]

Wrong.  People have repurposed X-ray lenses for photography for decades.  Some of these lenses have apertures that drop down to F0.5.  No one involved with making the film ever made the false claim you made.  Also, please note the correct aperture of the lens you cite is F0.7, not F.07, which is physically impossible to achieve. 

I misspoke, meaning motion picture photography.

The other error is a typo. There is no " false claim ".

[Todd]

I misspoke, meaning motion picture photography.

The other error is a typo. There is no " false claim ".

First, how do you misspeak in written posts?  Second, you made false claims.  The written evidence is there for all to read. 

[Iota]

Lucky you! 

Benson addresses the evolution of 2001's music, and it was an interesting process. During production Mahler's Third Symphony was used as a temp track in some scenes, while dailies were viewed. Apparently Kubrick and an assistant listened to excerpts from a large number of LPs, and the usage of Also Sprach Zarathustra for the film's opening was suggested by Kubrick's associate, Jan Harlan.

Interesting, thanks. Actually I can imagine some of Mahler 3 accompanying the Dawn of Man ape scenes. What an inspired suggestion by Jan Harlan!

[LKB]

Interesting, thanks. Actually I can imagine some of Mahler 3 accompanying the Dawn of Man ape scenes. What an inspired suggestion by Jan Harlan!

Mahler's Third was reportedly " glorious " in at least some shots. One of Kubrick's staff lobbied for its usage during the rendezvous with Space Station 5 ( a prospect which gives me shivers to imagine, even though it was unrealized ), but Kubrick had already decided in favor of the Strauss waltz.

[Spotted Horses]

Wrong.  People have repurposed X-ray lenses for photography for decades.  Some of these lenses have apertures that drop down to F0.5.  No one involved with making the film ever made the false claim you made.  Also, please note the correct aperture of the lens you cite is F0.7, not F.07, which is physically impossible to achieve. 

X-ray lens?

[Todd]

X-ray lens?

Yes, you know what medical X-rays are, right?

[Spotted Horses]

Yes, you know what medical X-rays are, right?

In a medical x-ray machine the body casts a shadow on an x-ray sensitive plate. X-ray lenses are generally used to collimate or focus an x-ray beam, not to create an image.