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7 14

Today would be the 94th birthday of our greatest ever filmmaker, Stanley Kubrick. He was an atheist, which is another reason he's my favorite. When asked if there was an unseen cosmic intelligence or god behind the events in 2001, he replied: "The whole idea of god is absurd. If anything, 2001 shows that what some people call 'god' is simply an acceptable term for their ignorance." Sadly the perception by lame brain theists may be the only flaw in the film. Happy Birthday Stanley Kubrick!

barjoe 9 July 27
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1

This is copied from a [facebook.com] article.

Kirk Douglas, whose company Bryna Productions was producing the film "Spartacus" (1960), removed original director Anthony Mann after the first week of shooting. Stanley Kubrick, with whom Douglas had worked before on "Paths of Glory" (1957), was brought on board to take over direction. It was the only film directed by Kubrick where he did not have complete artistic control.
Disputes broke out during the filming. Cinematographer Russell Metty, a veteran with experience working in big pictures such as Orson Welles' "The Stranger" (1946) and "Touch of Evil" (1958) and Howard Hawks's "Bringing Up Baby" (1938), complained about Kubrick's unusually precise and detailed instructions for the film's camerawork and disagreed with Kubrick's use of light. On one occasion he threatened to quit to Ed Muhl, to which Kubrick told him: "You can do your job by sitting in your chair and shutting up. I'll be the director of photography." Metty later muted his criticisms after winning the Oscar for Best Cinematography.
Kubrick wanted to shoot at a slow pace of two camera set-ups a day, but the studio insisted that he do 32; a compromise of eight had to be made.Kubrick and screenwriter Dalton Trumbo fought constantly over the screenplay. Kubrick complained that the character of Spartacus had no faults or quirks.
Despite the film being a huge box office success, gaining four Oscars, and being considered to rank among the very best of historical epics, Kubrick later distanced himself from it.
The idea for the film's restoration came about after the American Cinematheque asked Universal Pictures for a print of "Spartacus" following their then-recent tribute to Douglas. They were later informed that the original negatives had been cut twice and the colors were badly faded. Steven Spielberg gave his backing to the restoration effort and recommended that Kubrick be informed of the project. Kubrick, who as previously stated had disowned the film, gave his approval to the effort and participated by providing detailed instructions through long-distance communication via phone and fax machine from London. Kubrick's print of the film, which was donated to the Museum of Modern Art, could not be used for the restoration because it was considered archival. The original studio black-and-white separation prints, used as a backup in 1960, were used, though the processing lab had to develop a new lens capable of printing the Technirama frame without losing fidelity. The restoration cost about $1 million.
A team of 30 archivists restored several violent battle sequences that had been left out because of the negative reaction of preview audiences. Among the deleted footage was a bath scene in which the Roman patrician and general Crassus attempts to seduce his slave Antoninus, speaking about the analogy of "eating oysters" and "eating snails" to express his opinion that sexual preference is a matter of taste rather than morality. The four-minute scene had been removed following an objection by the National Legion of Decency. When the film was restored (two years after Olivier's death), the original dialogue recording of this scene was missing; it had to be re-dubbed. Tony Curtis, by then 66, was able to re-record his part, but Crassus's voice was an impersonation of Olivier by Anthony Hopkins, who had been suggested by Olivier's widow, Joan Plowright. (Wikipedia)

1

I was fortunate to see a Stanley Kubrick exhibition in London a couple of years ago.

Props from his major movies were on display and other items were used to walk the participants through the creation of his films. Stanley was clearly a perfectionist in his craft.

An excellent, enjoyable day out and I gained a deep appreciation of his talent.

1

As I recall Stephen King was not fond of where Kubrick went with The Shining. But in the midst of the production of A.I. Kubrick croaks and Steven Spielberg comes along and drops a turd in the punchbowl as far as some Kubrick fanbois are concerned. Did Spielberg achieve vicarious payback for King?

I kinda like much of what Kubrick did. Dr Strangelove was great, but mostly on the merits of Peter Sellers chameleon versatility. 2001 was OK. Full Metal Jacket had its moments especially in the boot camp scenes with the immortal R. Lee Ermey. Clockwork Orange was bizarre. I actually liked AI though more Spielberg at the end product. Eyes Wide Shut was weird and Tom Cruise himself offputting in that movie.

2

Kubric is truly great! Let's se if I can ID the films in the photo montage: left to right, we have Eyes Wide Shut, Paths of Glory, Killer's Kiss, The Shining, Barry Lyndon, A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, Full Metal Jacket, The Killing, Taxi Driver, and Spartacus. How did I do?

Excellent job!

2

I think Kubrick was a great artist that ceated spectacular visual images. However, I don't think hw was all that talented at creating good story flow in his films. I have always been left wanting when watching his films, because the story is seldom clear enough to follow completely. He did create some of the vest film images ever though. It is just that stunning imnages is not enough for good story telling.

I disagree with your assessment and I feel his films were more than just imagery.

@barjoe Depends on the film. 2010 was (obviously in my opinion) better than 2001 as a story because it actually told us what 2001 was about. The nuclear problem. 2001 was much better visually and had a better soundtrack. The Shining, Clockwork Orange, and Spartacus were better at story development but it would have been very hard to avoid it. Dr Strangelove was really more a comedy and nobody was better at it than Peter Sellers (who made the movie a classic) but news-reel visuals was great Direction. Those movies unmentioned I haven't seen. I lived through Vietnam so really don't need movies telling me about it.

3

My congratulations to Mr. Kubrick. May God give him good health.

Too late for that. He's been dead for 23 years. Your stupid fictitious "God" falls short again you dumb fuck!

2

This is true. In my mind there is no logical reason to believe in gods. Having once been Christian, this seems true to me if I look at the ideas of how and when we got the bible as we know it today. The time frame of this alone and how far removed from Jesus it was shows religion as a fraud.

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