First off, for those of you not in my club, the question was "*what film
directed by Stanley Kubrick (other than "Eyes Wide Shut"!)** do you feel is
the WORST he ever made".*
**
I eliminated EWS because I assumed it would win in a landslide! I also
eliminated the pre-Killer's Kiss movies because nobody (except Kirby and
Phil, maybe) has ever seen them.
So that only left the following (I have put the number of votes each
received):
Barry Lyndon (1975) 43
A Clockwork Orange (1971) 25
Full Metal Jacket (1987) 20
The Shining (1980) 16
Killer's Kiss (1955) 13
Spartacus (1960) 12
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 9
Lolita (1962) 6
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
4
Paths of Glory (1957) 3
The Killing 0
Now I personally didn't agree with Barry Lyndon "winning" but what SHOULD
have won instead?
Here were my comments:
I was personally not surprised that Barry Lyndon "won " this poll, even
though I personally thought it was quite an interesting movie. It clearly is
*NOT* for many people, and the pacing of the movie alternates between "on
the slow side" and "glacial"! But I was able to put that aside and get into
the sheer visual beauty of the cinematography, although I must admit I have
not seen it since it first came out, and don't really have a strong desire
to see it again.
I also was not surprised by the large number of votes placed for A
Clockwork Orange, given the repellant nature of the entire movie, and the
ultra-disturbing rape scene (and of course the repellant subject matter of
Lolita likely gave that otherwise fine movie the votes it received). I
thought that The Shining was very disappointing (I had read the book first
and liked it) and I liked the first half of Eyes Wide Shut, but did not care
for the rest. I had similar feelings about 2001, although I liked a greater
percentage of it. And of course, Spartacus was an epic, and kind of
"bloated", but I am surprised it received 12 votes.
I really don't see how people voted for Dr. Strangelove or Paths of
Glory. To me, both are masterpieces! I was glad that no one voted for The
Killing. That is really a wonderful movie (I can't say it is better than The
Asphalt Jungle, but it is its equal) and if you like film noir, or
suspenseful "perfect crime" movies, and you somehow haven't seen either or
both of these, do yourself a big favor and add them to your "must-see"
list!
Of course I realize that many of you would have avoided those movies of
Kubrick's which you heard are not very good, so therefore you were voting
for the "worst" of the ones you *HAVE* seen, which may be entirely different
from his actual worst movies (and may account for some fine movies getting
some votes)!
I found it very interesting to read the comments left this week, and I
want everyone to go now to
http://www.emovieposter.com/club/club_comments.php to see what everyone had
to say on this subject (there were *78* comments left, and I urge you all to
read them). Remember that the goal in these polls is to stimulate
conversation and to help expose club members to great movies they have not
seen before (or in the case of this poll, to help them avoid ones they
probably don't want to see!), and I feel this week's poll certainly achieved
both those goals!
Bruce
On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 8:11 PM, Phil Edwards <p...@cinemarts.com> wrote:
> Kubrick loved to sign. I have a few stills that his PA at Hawk Films got
> for me in the mid-70s as the bookshop I was working for (The Cinema Bookshop
> in Great Russell Street, London) was where he got his film books.
>
> She explained that few people asked him to sign because of his reputation
> for NOT signing, but he was always extmely flattered when asked... but NEVER
> on the set,
>
> In fact, Kubrick, while a strong director and perfectionist, was well-known
> as a warm and caring family man.
>
> The PA also told me that he insisted on packing all his own parcels,
> including mine.... because he didn't trust anyone else to do it. An
> impeccable job, too which I have since slavishly followed. So when people
> ask me who taught me to pack, I can say "well, it was Stanely Kubrick,
> actually."
>
> Much misunderstood as a person and film maker, he left a relatively small
> body of work, but everyone a meticulously crafted and multi-faceted gem.
>
> Phil
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "McDaniel Kirby" <ki...@movieart.net>
> To: <MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU>
> Sent: Monday, March 16, 2009 11:22 AM
> Subject: Re: [MOPO] Speaking of Kubrick
>
>
> That opinion is RIDICULOUS. In the sense of deserving and inspiring
>> ridicule.
>> BARRY LYNDON is a wonderful film. Deliberate doesn't always mean slow.
>> Gorgeous
>> it is, and there is no better self-evident example of the moralism that
>> Kubrick represented.
>>
>> I first saw it on Christmas night, 1975 at the Wilshire Theater in Dallas,
>> Texas. The folks
>> from Warners had been there to tune their system to perfection for the
>> Dallas market.
>>
>> Thanks to a generous friend of a member of this list, who worked with
>> Kubrick, I was
>> able to have him sign a one sheet for the film for me.
>>
>> Kirby
>> www.movieart.net
>>
>>
>> On Mar 15, 2009, at 6:30 PM, Roger Kim wrote:
>>
>> I was just reading Bruce's latest club email, and I was appalled to learn
>>> that Barry Lyndon was voted Kubrick's worst film. That is a great movie!!!
>>> What is the world coming to??!!!
>>>
>>> -rk
>>>
>>> Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
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>>
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