“Can we come to the conclusion that Kubrick makes the best films for rewatches? "
I don’t think I could agree with that statement. I mean, I like rewatching his films but I have to be in a certain mood due to their length and deliberate pacing. I actually might take the position that the films I rewatch the most are not necessarily the greatest films in the history of cinema but rather fun or interesting rides that I like to be taken on. For this, I might actually make the blasphemous statement that Indiana Jones and Jaws are more easily rewatchable. But I am in no way suggesting that Spielberg is a better filmmaker than Kubrick was.
Hmm well I have seen Superbad a gajillion times so your point is valid. Still I feel month to month I find myself constantly rewatching his films. I haven’t seen any Indiana Jones movie since I had a marathon when Crystal Skull came out. I haven’t seen Jaws in longer than that.
Okay, so I finally saw this, but um, yeah I must’ve seen the edited version cause I don’t remember there being an orgy…a bit of sex, yes, but there definitely wasn’t anything worth all that fuss over. weird.
But WOW, just wow, what great filmmaking! I really don’t even know where to begin, but I will say I don’t think anyone does adaptations quite as well as Stanley Kubrick.
I’m usually completely let down by adapted films, even when I haven’t read the book, just because it’s like okay you already have your project from day one, your already taking less of a risk by using something that’s already published, now you better really impress me!
But he just such a storyteller, my God!
It’s like this film, and all his films truly, from the moment they begin, just never lose my attention, never, my thoughts never wander away from the story and that is so rare, so so rare.
And I love these kind of movies that are left open for interpretation, but they don’t run you in so many circles during the film that you have no idea what the hell was going on and then when it’s over your just too exhausted to care. Cause that’s how I feel sometimes (okay always from what I’ve seen so far) with David Lynch and how I felt with Synecdoche, NY (even though that one stuck with me for so long after viewing it and the more I thought about it the more rewarding it did become and I did end up really really admiring it and I should give it another go).
But this is just so solid. I’m gonna go think about it some more now, okay bye.
I’m glad you finally saw it, and liked it!
But umm where did you watch it, because the orgy scene is very important and goes on for a very long time (I am talking about the whole scene, the actual orgy only lasts like 5 minutes)?
Well I saw the scene as Bill is walking through the house and sees different pairs performing different sex acts, but there wasn’t an orgy.
I watched it here, http://tvshack.net/movies/Eyes_Wide_Shut__1999_/
Someone posted the link earlier in this thread and I really didn’t want to watch it off the computer, but then I just was like what the heck, I’m tired of waiting.
i watched it again today, love this film so much.
kubricks best work for me atleast.
Ummm what do you think an orgy is? haha
There is a house filled with a ton of people all having sex with each other. Sure some are doing it one at a time but it still counts as an orgy.
I do agree the film really isn’t that bad at all, and I have never understood why the MPAA and studios flipped out.
Oh okay I guess it does qualify, I just expected it to be like OH MY GOD eafewyofbgowfbefbdhfboewqede it was like okay it’s extravagant, but not really that big of a deal…you don’t even see anything, really, but then again, I just watched The Dreamers a few weeks back and that was completely frontal, and such a big deal was made out of THIS, I still think Requiem for a Dream is by far the most disturbing film I’ve seen, I didn’t even flinch at Clockwork Orange, but I couldn’t finish Requiem.
The difference between EWS and The Dreamers is a film that almost got an R and a film that didn’t come close. Hostel got an R though. Apparently Eva Green naked is going to scar me more than I girl getting her eye chopped off.
You think RfaD is disturbing and you haven’t seen the end? Oh boy.
No, I never saw the end! But I read the spoilers and it sounded nauseating, I turned it off when Jared Leto shot up despite his arm being black, I was like okay I’m 14 this is enough, but maybe I could gut it out now.
I watched Pi and Requiem for a Dream back to back starting at like 11 o’ clock. It was insane. I actually posted this thread right after in my state of confusion.
I’ve only seen the R rated version of Eyes too — but I think it works, since the film is more about imagining sex than actually having it. The unrated seems to only be available on the pricey Kubrick box set.
Justin, You can buy it separately too. Also the thing is the scene is not a big deal at all. It is more about the principal of them changing Kubrick’s film over a little sex.
Leah: I am so glad you were finally able to see this – albeit on the computer – and share your thoughts. I am glad you enjoyed the film, as my own admiration increases with each viewing. My own dvd of it was given to me by a friend who didn’t like it, and knew I was a Kubrick fanatic, so there you go.
Per your OP: It does again bring up the absurdity of any kind of restrictive so-called rating system that denies access to anyone mature enough to see the film. We have a number of young posters on site that are well under 18 that have seen many films rated R or beyond and all are fully capable of interpreting and watching them. Brings up a conversation with my wife recently where she mentioned that at one point in time, no one under 18 (or whatever it was) was allowed to checkout any books at the local library from the adult fiction section. At around 13 to 14, she wanted to read Dostoyevsky and was told she was too young! Her older sister had to check it out for her. Those absurd days for libraries are gone, but apparently not for video stores. Your OP just brings up the absurdity of these restrictions – whether in video stores, movie theatres, or libraries. I oppose all age restrictive constraints to free viewing and reading and damn all the uptight censors everywhere. When one feels old enough to view these films, one should be allowed to do so without feeling like a criminal. Thank goodness for internet access – once again. Sorry for the rant!
I found the unrated sold seperately.
I have the unrated version and it’s barely different—the obviously tacked-on figures standing in front of the sex acts are gone, and what’s left is really no more explicit than the beginning of Before the Devil Knows Your Dead.
But, the MPAA is completely ridiculous, so who knows.
Glad you saw it finally, Leah, and it’s great to hear your reactions. It’s a film that gets better every time you see it—you’ll still be discovering things about it years from now.
Josh, Ya that’s why I said its a matter of principal. It makes little difference but they have no right to censor films.
How ‘bout all the Tom Cruise bashers out there? What did you all think of him in EWS? I’m not a fan of his, but I thought his performance in EWS was adequate. Something any other actor of similar age at the time could have done. I’ve always been curious about Kubrick’s choice of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in the leads. Again, they were both adequate.
@FILMFLAM: “I’ve always been curious about Kubrick’s choice of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in the leads.”
They were certainly a solid choice for a movie about two individuals weathering a marriage strained by societal scrutiny. I think the casting choice totally took their tabloid cache into account.
@Justin: “I’ve only seen the R rated version of Eyes too — but I think it works, since the film is more about imagining sex than actually having it.” I’ve only seen low-quality clips of the unrated material on youtube, and yes, it doesn’t change much drastically…no scene removal or anything, just covering up portions of screen in already existing scenes. BUT I do certainly find it ironic that a movie about an American couple developing marital issues due to a lack of openness about sex in their relationship ends up getting censored because of Hollywood’s and America’s lack of openness about sex. I’m a little surprised that Kubrick compromised or that it took so long for the unrated to become available.
@Leah: don’t trust tvshack. The movie looks WAY too good to watch in World’s Lowest Resolution! You’re missing a ton. I’m not so opposed to watching on computers, but just seek out some better way to rewatch it. It is, for my money, near the top of the list of most immaculately, elegantly lit and shot films of all time.
On Cruise in EWS: I think he works because he is essentially playing himself and the character is essentially an unlikable prick who is way in over his head and getting a comeuppance.
So people who like Cruise can enjoy that he’s in such a wonderful film, and the people who don’t can enjoy “him” wandering around town making a fool of himself.
The unrated version is essential because the whole film revolves around the orgy and with that watered down it is not as effective, as i have seen both versions.
Hoof: Definitely the censored version should be burned and never watched for that one simple reason: it’s not what Kubrick intended.
When I look at the frames side by side I just don’t get it. Nothing is really even shown!
The MPAA is a cult that has WAY too much power over what we get to see in theaters.
You are right Josh, people shouldnt ever tell a master filmaker what is proper and what isnt.
this is kind of a silly question, but is there any way to find out if/when EWS is being screened somewhere (in the US..)? I’d do practically anything to be able to see it in a cinema. AFAIK there aren’t any websites which specialize in keeping you up to date with showings of old movies across the country or anything like that, which is a shame.
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House of Leaves
Fredo: Barry Lyndon is hilarious and unbelievably gorgeous.