Since this eBay thread has been effectively hijacked what do y'all think about Kubrick's use of The Chieftans music in the glorious Barry Lyndon? Very DADGAD-ish, very nice.

CC, I must admit Barry Lyndon was the first Kubrick movie that I had trouble with. The trouble started with casting Ryan O'Neal in the lead and went from there. I seem to recall laughing through a repeated scene where Kubrick is showing travel on a map with what looks like the equivalent of a jerkily moving magnetic carriage. The music might have been wonderful, but I suspect I wasn't taking the film seriously enough to remember it (my loss, no doubt).

Now you want to talk Kubrick, let's remember Dr. Strangelove (one of the greatest movies ever, and on so many levels) and also Paths of Glory. Say what you will about There Will be Blood, Kirk Douglas' acting in PofG was unfrickenreal. And then there was Lolita....well, better not to go there Kubrick was an incredible Auteur, and amazingly, he was known for bringing his films in under budget.

Next week, we disect the films of Godard

TomF, you mention Kubrick. Kirk Douglas. Paths of Glory. But not Spartacus? Tsk, tsk. Non sequitur. Barry Lyndon bears a reviewing. It is, as several of my friends agree, the most visually beautiful film we have seen. It's set in Oirland. O'Neil. Get it? Goddard? Why not Herzog? Aguirre, The Wrath of God. Brilliant.

I get the feeling that Elambo is about to give you and me pink slips.

Auteur, raconteur, horse manure: it's a slippery slope. Just spare me Juliet of the Spirits. If we must do foreign film, let's do Catherine Deneuve. Please.

quote:

let's do Catherine Deneuve. Please.

I got the feeling long ago that you wanted to do Cathy all along. I'll stick with Olivia. Merci.

quote:

Originally posted by collingscowboy:
TomF, you mention Kubrick. Kirk Douglas. Paths of Glory. But not Spartacus? Tsk, tsk. Non sequitur. Barry Lyndon bears a reviewing. It is, as several of my friends agree, the most visually beautiful film we have seen. It's set in Oirland. O'Neil. Get it? Goddard? Why not Herzog? Aguirre, The Wrath of God. Brilliant.

I get the feeling that Elambo is about to give you and me pink slips.

I say this not because it's convenient for this topic, but because it's true: my three favorite things in life just happen to be music, films, and Kubrick. This thread is custom tailored for me. But it HAS gone way off course. So... what to do...

How about another Kubrick fact while I think about it.

Maybe Spartacus wasn't mentioned because it's an exception for Kubrick in that it wasn't his project. That's very rare for him, as one of the most controlling directors in history. It was essentially Kirk's film and Kubrick was brought on as a 2nd director after filming had already begun with another director, who was fired by Kirk. Kirk didn't get along with Kubrick either, but he he knew better than to throw him off the film.

Barry Lyndon had some scenes in particular that were never before possible and those are the ones that are the most beautiful and the most memorable. It's not a secret that he tricked Panavision into selling him two cameras that were priceless (so old and rare that the company's keeper-of-cameras didn't realize what they really were when he agreed to a sell them) and they were the only cameras capable of filming those dark scenes lit merely with candles. Even so, Kubrick still had to have alternate lenses attached in order to capture the scene as he wanted them, and by doing so the cameras were ruined for any other purpose, but he went ahead with the retrofit. Those scenes at the gaming table are what he was after, and probably well worth his trouble. Today those cameras might be worth a half a Mil each, but they're ruined now. See the movie to judge for yourself if it was worth it. I think so.

So do we steer this thread back on course? I can think of 3 reasons not to - music, film, Kubrick - but I'm a poor judge of logic in the midst of this topic

CC and S'Man, how about a young Jacqueline Bisset in Truffaut's Day for Night. Or Brigitte Bardot in Godard's Contempt. On the other end of the spectrum, there's Bridget Fonda as the bubble gum poppin surfer girl in Tarantino's Jackie Brown.

Now what was the original post about? Oh well...we now return to our orignally scheduled programming...frickin great guitars! I think I'll go play the Bourgeois Blues. Elambo...Here's Johnny

PS: Elambo, I never heard that story about the cameras in Barry Lyndon. I've got to go back and watch that one again after all those years. And CC, I'll defintely give the music the attention it deserves. I know those stories were off topic, but thanks for sharing.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom F.:
...Bridget Fonda as the bubble gum poppin surfer girl in Tarantino's Jackie Brown.

...

Elambo...Here's Johnny

B. Fonda compared to these other cult icons??? She would be honored.

If we want to get this thread back on track you shouldn't tempt me with The Shining.

OK, one last one from me (really, I mean it) on this thread, just cause Kubrick is too good to pass on (WARNING: If your not a Kubrick fan, skip the rest).

Kubrick could do "atmospheric" as good or better than anyone. There are some scenes in The Shining where the sense of dread is most definitely tangible and oppressive. Of course, then we go to Full Metal Jacket, where at times the visual tension is just suffocating.

One of the great things about cinema is that with the great ones, you can suspend your disbelief, and the director can bring you to places that you couldn't even imagine in your dreams, or nightmares. There are some scenes in Full Metal Jacket where Kubrick conveys evil as good (pardon the pun) as its been done. The Shining as well.

Many of the directors today have learned much from Kubrick, but when he passed, he could never be equalled, let alone replaced, for what he did. A great artist indeed. Elambo, think back to 2001 (the movie). Can you think of a better use of silence to convey.....Space.....then contrasted with the musical sections. The voice of HAL! The bone gets thrown up in the air and turns into the space station!! The Monolithe, with the sound escalating before the team dies!!! There are so many great scenes and shots from 2001 that I don't care if the ending can be viewed in a sense as a cop out.

And Clockwork Orange, Elambo....., I drove into Manhatten the week it opened, and ended up seeing it twice! There are shots from that movie that I can still clearly visualize. The Drooggies entering the tunnel where the wino is singing. The record store scene where Alex meets up with the two girls, followed by the fast action (so to speak) scene at home. And the indoctrination scenes while Alex is forced to watch the horrific images, all for the good of the State.

Kubrick was indeed a master of the art of the cinema.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom F.:
Can you think of a better use of silence to convey.....Space.....then contrasted with the musical sections. The voice of HAL! The bone gets thrown up in the air and turns into the space station!! The Monolithe, with the sound escalating before the team dies!!! There are so many great scenes and shots from 2001 that I don't care if the ending can be viewed in a sense as a cop out.

I don't see the ending as a cop out at all, it's just the ending of a chapter in the life of the Monolith and you're not allowed to see the rest. That response might sound like a cop out, but this is no place for an explanation of that theory.

fwiw - I own several frames from Kubrick's personal copy of 2001, the copy he kept for himself. The frames are from the end of the film, showing the pod outside the spacecraft as it's trying to get back in, but being denied by HAL. It was one of those scenes you referred to where the silence is intense.

Elambo, yes those cameras and the dimly lit gaming table are brilliant as are the severe faces whitened with Blanchete, or wheat flour, with a touch of rouge.

You mention destruction of cameras but did not talk of the destruction of several expensive Panaflex cameras by Kubrick when he threw them out of the window to capture the right feeling of Little Alex jumping out the window in Clockwork.

Fwiw, in December'88 I spent a day with Arthur C. Clarke at his home in Sri Lanka and of course he had stories of Kubrick. Clarke insisted on showing me his all time favourite film....are you ready?......The Princess Bride!!!!!!!!

Buttercup! And Andre the Giant should have won best supporting actor!! One of my all time favorite comedy films.