Enquiring minds want to know. Mine is probably The Shining, with Clockwork Orange a close second. How about you?
In order:
2001: A Space Odyssey
Barry Lyndon
The Shining
In order
1)Dr. Strangelove
2)The Shining tied with Clockwork Orange
4)Paths to Glory
5)Barry Lyndon tied with The Killing tied with 2001
7)Full Metal Jacket
8)Eyes Wide Shut…although I only saw it once a million years ago and should probably rewatch it.
Anything else I either haven’t watched or forgot about.
Missed edit window…
This list is subject to change depending on my mood. But the top 3 will usually always be in the top 3.
- Full Metal Jacket (the best war movie yet made, IMO)
- Dr. Strangelove
- A Clockwork Orange
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001 and The Shining are closely tied.
Ultimately, I went with The Shining because it played a key role in my learning to appreciate the horror genre whereas 2001 is just one of many sci-fi movies that I like at a similar level.
I’m a little surprised by the number of these movies that I’ve never seen. (Or even heard of. Barry Lyndon? Killer’s Kiss? What rock am I living under?)
2001 followed by Full Metal Jacket. The rest range from several steps to far behind those two.
Dr. Strangelove
Full Metal Jacket
A Clockwork Orange
2001: A Space Odyssey
2001 is my fave, with Dr. Strangelove being a close second.
I hate the OP for making me choose. A great topic for a poll.
I picked Dr. Strangelove but it could have been Clockwork Orange or 2001. Or The Shining. Or…
I’m not a big Kubrick fan. I think “Paths of Glory” was a masterpiece and “A Clockwork Orange” was better still. The rest of his work, I could take or leave.
Except “Eyes Wide Shut,” which was pure crap.
seconded.
Flying Padre
On movie night in Central Repository Mine #114, my favorite film is the documentary detailing the lead-up to our current situation. The casting is a bit unrealistic, though, and they left out a number of details. They didn’t even show the pie fight, which had a significant influence on the post-doomsday political situation.
Dr. Strangelove
A Clockwork Orange
2001
The Shining
I had to pick Dr Strangelove but 2001 and Paths of Glory are both a close second. What is so awesome about Paths of Glory is how totally ‘modern’ a film it is. It was made* in 1957(!)* and yet it could be made today, shot-for-shot and line-for-line and still be acclaimed as a modern masterpiece.
hard to pick just one.
If I could rate 3, I’d say
Shining
Clockwork Orange
Full metal jacket
Probably the Shining. Looking at the list, I’ve only seen about 2/3 of them. I’ve seen everything after Dr. Strangelove, but I missed most of his 50s and 60s work.
When I was 12, I thought Dr. Strangelove was the best movie I had ever seen. It’s not at the top of my list now (I’ve seen many movies), but I still marvel how I could have thought that at that age.
It’s still my favorite Kubrick.
I really love Spartacus, but it’s hard for me to classify it as a “Stanley Kubrick movie” It lacks his characteristic touches – the way he sets up his shots, the way he treats his characters, his attention to music*.
We’ve discussed this before on this Board – there was a lot of direction coming from elsewhere (even though Kirk Douglas chose Kubrick because of his work directing him in Paths of Glory), including screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. I feel that they took the reins out of Kubrick’s hands, and he was surprisingly tolerant of it. It didn’t stop him from putting his own stamp on all his subsequent films.
*The music was by Alex North. Interestingly, North wrote a score for 2001 which was never used – Kubrick decided to use the classical music he’d been using as a “placeholder” in his workprints instead. But the North score has been recorded,. and is commercially available.
A shade off topic, “Stanley Kubrick: A Life In Pictures” is a pretty good doc, even if Tom “Cocktail” Cruise is narrating. Peculiar oddities like home movies of his daughters getting irritated by their dad’s exacting input when they’re at the piano, or Shelly Duvall hamming it up in an outtake at the chilly-looking front entrance of the Overlook/Timberline Hotel.
Clockwork Orange
Lolita
Full Metal Jacket