Was interrupted about three minutes from the end of the program and almost didn't return to it. Glad I did though because I thought that Gareth's comment about many of these films being ones that you admire rather than warm to rang very true for me. There is a significant difference films you admire and films you love (what Gareth once described as 'comfort films').

Haven't seen The Shining for a long time and as a young adult it never really disturbed me, I just admired the atmospherics. After your comments I'm now wondering that if I return to it now it'll completely freak me out!

Regarding aspect ratio: it's worth pointing out the era in which Kubrick made his films and the formats that were prominent. With this in mind, 1.66 was and is the dominant European aspect ratio, which is somewhere in between 1.85 (or 16x9 if you prefer, though not exactly) and the Academy ratio of 1.37 (or full frame), a format which was more or less defunct in practical purposes by the time 1960 came around. Though most of his films - save the cinemascope epics - have the full frame intact (with or without unintentional objects) as would have been natural, he certainly knew how they would be seen in theaters which, contrary to Warner Bros' questionable post-mortem DVD proclamations, is the ultimate goal of the filmmaker in an era void of home video formats.

Do you remember how fast those Kubrick box sets came out after his death? It wasn't months. It was weeks. Could it be said that, in the favor of the quick and dirty box set (void of great transfers by the way), that speed was substituted for diligence, content and research? I submit that the aspect ratio question could possibly have been answered the same way. Don't get me wrong: the photographic eye is there no matter how you crop it. Just sayin'...

Consider, say, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. It has the full frame intact on the prints, but could arguably have been made with a British audience in mind considering the cast and source material. Most likely meant to be seen in 1.66... Counter that with EYES WIDE SHUT, consider its cast, setting and target celebrity-obsessed audience and the fact that no cinema (save ones like us) don't even have an Academy lens in their booths much less a 1.66, and you can successfully argue that Kubrick knew that the vast majority of his audience would see the film in the 1.85 aspect ratio.

So, flubs? Great for a studio with a big question on their hands who just wants to rush a product out there: just scan the negative, dont worry about cropping it and just get it out there.

Just saying...don't know...just saying

I agree that Eyes Wide Shut would have been assumed to be exhibited in a wide-screen format. But on the DVD, (at least the I viewed), there was a message saying it was full frame 'as Kubrick intended'; thus the 'camera shadows'!

ah well, I still like the idea that it was a homage to Lee Friedlander! ;)

Funny, 'cos my campus cinema is doing a season of Stanley Kubrick films. Tonight is Lolita. I rather liked 'Paths of Glory'.

I feel now like I should rewatch all the pics - maybe Lolita and A Clockwork Orange will become my favorites!

Have a look at this scene from Lolita
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKMoRDiU5ZY
-Shelly Winters' attempts at being sophisticated throughout her pushy sales pitch are hilarious -"that's where we eat our infarmal meals", "Wolla!".
Then we have that "my cherry pie" bit. Lovely, comic, nuanced scene.

You missed _another_ actor who appeared in more than one Kubrick movie -Philip Stone. He played Delbert Grady in The Shining (cut from the non-US shorter version) and Alex's father in A Clockwork Orange *and* had a quieter role in Barry Lyndon as the accountant, Graham.

The first time I saw ACO I too found it disturbing (as Gareth does), but as with most Kubrick films, the movie changes dramatically depending on your viewpoint -ie. how you approach it/ your frame of mind.
More than any other of his films, I would argue that ACO is capable of delivering an almost 180 degree shift in mood/tone... certainly by the third time I saw it I realised I was laughing non-stop the whole way through. I now consider it Kubrick's funniest out & out _comedy_. All of it is hilarious -possibly in the way Todd Solodnz's Happiness is hilarious (which is a film I actually DESPISED first time I saw it, but eventually returned to, to discover the masterpiece -and Comedy- that I had missed due to my 'incorrect' perspective -or perhaps which a hindsight knowledge of the film gave me.)

Reared on a diet of Heroic protagonists, it can be hard for most of us to break from that mould and bear witness to the detached, non-goading, non-leading, non-apologist story-telling that I think is the true mark of greatness. Only in these tales are we free to decide for ourselves what we think of a character's actions or thoughts.
In a movie like Happiness -or anything by Kubrick- we are most definitely *not* being strapped to the chair to participate in an audio/visual one-track roller-coaster ride, devoid of free-will or freedom of thought. We are given complete vistas that are not designed to be appreciated in a single sitting or in a single frame of mind.
These films *must* be seen multiple times -and are very different every time. I'd be very interested to hear what the 'now older' Jett would think of A Clockwork Orange, having seen (what I would argue is) the "teenage view" of ACO so many times. It's a hilarious comedy I tells ya -see it again and tell me I'm wrong.

Also, I used to be of the view that Lolita is a bit of an icky, don't-wanna-go-there, ok-but-not-for-me, kitchen-sink UK B&W drama, but after I watched it for the first time in years a while back I (again) realised how funny and nuanced it all is. Definitely worth more viewings.

Well done on the show. I always enjoy talks & discussions about Kubrick and his films. :)

Ok, you've convinced me - will see A Clockwork Orange again.

I didn't listen yet, but how come Barry Lyndon isn't listed in the films reviewed this week? I can only assume you're doing this one separately in a show of its own?
OK I'll listen and get back -but if my question isn't answered in the podcast and its not a typo/omission I'll be mighty miffed.

Typo. We select one scene per Kubrick film to analyse = my fav. in Barry Lyndon is... well, you'll just have to listen!