Michael --

I rented "Eyes Wide Shut" and hit the eject button about 20 minutes into it. What a snore.

Kubrick managed to direct some interesting movies up to about 1972. "Dr. Strangelove" and "Lolita" are genuinely interesting. "2001," "Clockwork Orange," "Paths of Glory and "Spartacus" have their moments. But as far as I'm concerned, he could have been struck by an asteroid at that point and I wouldn't have missed anything. Frankly, other than fondly remembering Nicole Kidman's bottom as she walked away from the camera in a long, flowing dress and high heels, my rememberance is that "Eyes Wide Shut" was laughably bad.

Kubrick, Altman and Woody Allen all seem, on some level, to be of greater interest as cases of how to be a "movie virus" than as artists -- that is, their life stories show how to infect the defense mechanisms of the movie industry and turn them against themselves (like HIV), so that studios helplessly produce their films.

As regards "Y Tu Mama," what I was objecting to was the reductionism. I felt the story was reduced to a political cartoon by the ending. Other than that, it was fun.

Question: What is the proper mix of reality and fantasy in movies? Can you say that the "journalistic" component of a piece of narrative art has ever taught you anything meaningful about life? (I will grant you that meditating on "MacBeth" taught me some practical lessons about growing up in my family, but it has no discernable sense of "real" time or place, unlike, say, "Madame Bovary," which is loaded with "journalism" but which I can't say has had any discernable impact on my life.)

What do you think about this?

Cheers,

Friedrich

"Kubrick, Altman and Woody Allen all seem, on some level, to be of greater interest as cases of how to be a "movie virus" than as artists -- that is, their life stories show how to infect the defense mechanisms of the movie industry and turn them against themselves (like HIV), so that studios helplessly produce their films."

Loved the comment--it could be extended far beyond this setting.

Posted by: Jim Kalb on August 13, 2002 06:44 PM

Kubrick managed to direct some interesting movies up to about 1972. "Dr. Strangelove" and "Lolita" are genuinely interesting. "2001," "Clockwork Orange," "Paths of Glory and "Spartacus" have their moments. But as far as I'm concerned, he could have been struck by an asteroid at that point and I wouldn't have missed anything.

Interesting.

My answer is here.

ACD

Posted by: acdouglas on August 14, 2002 10:33 AM






Post a comment

Name:


Email Address:


URL:


Comments:


Remember your info?