Friday 3 June 2016

MY DVD COLLECTION 20



Stanley Kubrick 1928 - 1999
 There can be little doubt about the importance of Stanley Kubrick but his films still cause controversy. I certainly count myself among his fans and find his movies powerful, albeit somewhat "cold" despite the passionate emotions often contained therein - 2001; A SPACE ODYSSEY and BARRY LYNDON are often cited as examples of this but this seems to have been intentional on the director's part. I can't say for certain which was my first experience of a Kubrick film but it was either PATHS OF GLORY on television or SPARTACUS at the cinema but about 1963 I came into contact with the man himself when, prior to the premiere of DR.STRANGELOVE, he took a temporary office in Columbia Pictures London office in Wardour Street. He was often visited there by Strangelove author, Peter George, who, sadly committed suicide in 1966. I found George a charming man but Kubrick seemed very unpleasant. Writing this I have begun a reassessment of Kubrick's films. My favourite Kubricks are THE KILLING and BARRY LYNDON followed by 2001; A SPACE ODYSSEY. For the record I hate THE CLOCKWORK ORANGE and refuse to have it in my collection even for the sake of completeness. At the time of writing I have not yet seen EYES WIDE SHUT although I recently purchased a copy. THE KILLING (1956) PATHS OF GLORY (1957) SPARTACUS (1960) LOLITA (1962) DR. STRANGELOVE OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964) 2001A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)  BARRY LYNDON (1975) THE SHINING (1980) FULL METAL JACKET (1987) EYES WIDE SHUT (1999).

Steven Spielberg's A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE was intended as a Kubrick film and taken over by Spielberg at the time of Kubrick's death.

1 comment:

Cerpts said...

Never been much of a Kubrick fan . . .my favourite film of his is THE KILLING . . .although recently I've come to appreciate him more.

The Kubrick films in my OWN DVD collection: KILLER'S KISS, THE KILLING, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and THE SHINING.