Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut. such a beautiful film ….
I only recently pulled BARRY LYNDON off the stack of “bought at Big Lots cuz it was cheap but haven’t watched yet” pile & finally caught up with it. It is a beautiful film, but I don’t think it’s my favorite.
2001 will probably always be in the #1 spot, but after initially hating it, I’ve watched Eyes Wide Shut 3 or 4 times over the past year (always meant to give it another chance, but the praise on these boards finally prompted me to do so) & I like it even more evrey time I watch it.
But 2001 has a message of cosmic hope that I find irresistable … and very few Kubrick film end on any kind of uplifting note.
it took me most of the day to read it but
here
is an epic, stupefying, and altogether amazing analysis of the shining
highly recommended if you’re a fan
1. Barry Lyndon
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey
3. The Shining
4. Eyes Wide Shut
5. The Killing
6. Paths of Glory
7. Dr. Strangelove
8. Full Metal Jacket
9. A Clockwork Orange
Amazing filmmaker.
Eyes Wide Shut for me
1. The Shining & Dr. Strangelove
Hated Eyes Wide Shut. Kubrick can’t summon human warmth, which is both his weakness and his strength.
In a way, I would have to say that THE SHINING is my favorite Kubrick film, especially because Stephen King disliked it so much. I love Stephen King but I also love a director who can take a work and adapt it in a way that makes it entirely their own.
I also love THE KILLING. It’s an underrated noir that set the standards for non linear story telling without making it a “trick” to keep a boring story interesting. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE is brilliant and the first half of FULL METAL JACKET is a brutal, cathartic experience in itself.
@YROC I basically agree with everything you said.
King is a really good writer, but he has no cinematic sense whatsoever.
@KATE
Have you ever read King’s Entertainment Weekly articles? He really has poor taste in pop culture, especially music. As a writer, King is a master of suspense and literary horror but I would hate to be the producer who backs his first directorial effort(if that were to ever happen…)
I almost forgot about KILLER’S KISS, another early effort from Kubrick. 2001 is also, possibly, the greatest sci-fi film of all time and yields so many multiple views.
2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY
His is other films are only as good, almost as good, but never better.
2001 and The Shining.
Dr. Strangelove!!!
I’m with Eastyboy – The Shining and 2001.
I’m just a person who would say Stanley Kubrick and not choose. His films are just unique and important to me.
I would probably rank them something like:
2001: A Space Odyssey
Barry Lyndon
The Shining
Eyes Wide Shut
A Clockwork Orange
Full Metal Jacket
and the rest…
Honorable mention for A.I., as well, which I feel often goes unappreciated.
This article serves to highlight why 2001 is one of my very favorites:
http://www.alchemylab.com/alchemical_kubrick.htm
“I would hate to be the producer who backs (Stephen King’s) first directorial effort(if that were to ever happen…)”
It did already happen, in 1986, a little forgotten flick called MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, where cars take over the world.
Over the past year I’d update my 2 picks to
Barry Lyndon still reigning supreme (and I can’t wait for the BD release)
and followed by Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
I’d give a slight edge to 2001, but Barry Lyndon is just so damn beautiful to look at. This would be followed by Strangelove and the Shining.
Lolita
A Clockwork Orange or Paths of Glory
Both strangely life-affirming in that distanced, observant Kubrickian manner.
Eyes Wide Shut.
But I love them all. I consider Kubrick the second greatest director, surpassed only by Hitchcock.
In this order: “Lolita,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “The Shining,” “Eyes Wide Shut,” “Dr. Strangelove.”. I’ve always considered “2001” incredibly overrated.
I kinda feel that way about Clockwork, but I love 2001 and the others you mention, especially EWS which may be his best film. Strangelove is so right about its subject, and so funny, and so full of wonderful performances.
But there’s also Paths of Glory, which vies for his best, and Barry Lyndon, which is one of the most beautifully filmed movies I’ve seen.
Before I discovered world cinema, Kubrick was my unabashed favorite director. Now I don’t have a favorite, but dozens that I love, and possibly hundreds more left to discover. Actually that might be an understatement.
Still love Kubrick, tho.
McMurphy
1. Barry Lyndon
2. Full Metal Jacket