Stanley Kubrick

We are totally on cinema now… So i decided to talk a little about one of my favorite directors. I talked a bit about auteurs in my other post but this one is about actual direction and Kubrick is probably the most director of all directors. Starts by the way he chooses his stories. Those are not his stories but ones he decided to bring to life on the big screen. Dr. Strangelove, 2001, Clockwork orange, Shinning, Lolita,Spartacus and Barry Lindon among others. Some of the best films ever were done by him. He was a real obsessive and everyone who worked with him says it was really hard. What most don’t know is that he got stuck on his own trap. In the 80’s after Full Metal Jacket he couldn’t find a story he liked to direct. The researchers found a big room like those from psychos movies with thousands of papers written by him searching for ideas. They found out he got really obsessed about this and some say he became a kind of inmate for years. After giving us all those amazing films he still wasn’t done with it. He wanted much more. I know many directors made more movies than him but i’m not talking about quantity. I’m talking about quality. After making those movies he was able to deliver even better things? How to deliver better after Clockwork Orange? I think it’s impossible. Ok…Not better just different. Still it could not be just your everyday subject. The guy was really picky. I guess the question remaining is: Since he died making his last Movie “Eyes wide shut” was that movie we watched on the theaters with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman his final piece??? Or just part of it? The part his team was able to put together? What that his last statement?

Ten films i recommend for everyone

That’s my second list but this time i decided to share my passion with all of you my friends. By choosing these ten films i’m not stating those are the best of all times. I’m just saying they were life changing to me. Also it would be great to see some ideas from you guys. I hope we have some films in common in this list. Just as a note this list is not in order of preference:

1. Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick):
This is a film you gotta try to watch through the lens of time. Shot in the heat of the cold war where armies were dominating our lives this film makes fun of the poor position our society uses to put it self in and how much our lives are depending on the stupidity of people we don’t know.

2. Blade Runner (Ridley scott):
This is the films where i started paying attention on style. From art direction to set design the great tale of the blade runner is dark and yet beautiful and full of passion in every scene. The story of Deckard and the droids searching for life is universal and it was told in a really authorial way which is a hard thing to do in big movies.

3. The godfather 2 (Francis Coppola):
The trilogy changed the way the world sees the italian Mafia. Coppola was able to find a really romantic and strong story with amazing characters. The second is the best one. The construction between the two eras makes this epic a sweet and sad story of the struggle the italians faced when immigrating to america.

4. Apocalipse Now (also Francis Coppola):
Please do not watch the REDUX which is a new version and a publicity stunt but nothing close to the first editing. It was probably one if the most chaotic shootings of all times and this fitted perfectly the emotional tension Joseph Conrad’s story demanded. it’s one of those cases where even if the director tried he would never do it again.

5. Blue Velvet (David Linch):
Against what many say i don’t think David Linch’s mind is twisted. I believe he is a guy that have no fear to dig deep into the weird and ugly of the human nature and a lot of heart is needed for that. I think he is a really sweet guy with a giant brain !!! LOL

6. 2001 (Stanley Kubrick):
It’s almost amazing to see how dated some films get and others seams to be always young. 2001 has this quality of having foreseeing many things stories are talking about today. Relations between computers and men. Evolution and spirituality.

7. The Silence of the Lambs ( Jonathan Demme):
Some films define a whole genre. That was the case with this one. The character played by anthony hopkins will not be forgotten for a long time.

8. 8 1/2 (Federico Fellini):
Fellini was a genius and this was one of his masterpieces. The ability to make really complicated issues sound like easy stuff is a trademark. You end up thinking it was not much of a story but at the same time a very complex one. It’s a paradox i know but that’s Fellini. Besides that just the glimpse of Claudia Cardinale is enough to make it a classic. The soundtrack alone is worth it. Really no downsides in this one.

9. Dogville (Lars von Trier)
A great trip into the cruel human mind and society.

10. Good Fellas (Martin Scorcese)
A kind of moviemaking that gotta be visited from time to time either in Scorcese’s or Spike Lee’s films. The crude feeling their films expose in it’s stories makes us get right into it and the contrast between the clean and pretty society and the dirt it produces underneath are always food for comparison with our reality.

Well… I hope you enjoy the list and give some opinions and tips of yours. Great weekend to you guys!!!