Two pieces of sabbatical news before my Kubrick review continues. First, I went to court for my civil disobedience back in September. One charge dismissed. Other charges will be dismissed after 28 hours of community service. So that’s good news! The other bit of news is I’m visiting my family in Pennsylvania now. So nice to be here!

Now, on to Kubrick! I did watch this movie, Barry Lyndon (1975) once before, long ago. It was on TV and my father was watching, so I watched it too. I was a teenager. I knew who Ryan O’Neal was, but the name “Stanley Kubrick” didn’t really mean anything to me then. I remember liking it, but thinking it was kind of slow.

I just watched again it the day before yesterday. What a great movie! This has got to be Kubrick’s most underrated film, or least appreciated. I almost never hear anyone talk about this movie, which is strange. It’s one of those movies that you watch and think, “I really want to read the novel!” There’s just so much there.

Ryan O’Neal is perfectly cast in the role, really. He comes across as bright but overly driven by passion and opportunism. As always in a Kubrick film, the music adds a lot. And it’s true; the movie does have a plodding feel — but it feels intentional, and somehow adds to the story of the title character’s life. Somehow the story has shades of Don Quixote for me, but it’s also quite different. I know that doesn’t make sense, but go with it! I highly recommend this film.

My sabbatical from First Church Unitarian officially started today, and will end May 19. I’m going to carry on with my Stanley Kubrick review, but a few other posts might come in between Kubrick posts. We’ll see!

This, A Clockwork Orange (1971) was the film I was most dreading. I watched this once before in my life, when I was about 20 years old. At that time, I hated this movie. I loathed the main character, Alex DeLarge, and I didn’t care what happened to him. I thought he deserved whatever he got! So rewatching this film, in some sense, I learned more about how I’ve changed in the last 35 years than anything else.

Watching it now, I see the movie’s brilliance. It’s still not fun to watch. And there is much to loathe about Alex DeLarge, but now my worldview is softer and nuanced enough that I do care what happens to him, and I now am able to take in the main points of the film. It’s very visually stylized in a way that is very Kubrick, but it still feels like a comedown to me after 2001: A Space Odyssey, which I enjoyed so much more.

I just watched Stanley Kubrick’s eighth feature film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, continuing my deep-dive into Kubrick’s films. This is a film I have watched many times before, but it had been quite a while since the last time. It came out in 1968 (the year of my birth, as it happens). It lasts 2 1/2 hours. It’s a classic for a reason; it’s hard to imagine a more compelling movie, really. And the music! Such perfect use of dramatic classical pieces!

A few things really struck me this time around. First, what incredible special effects for 1968! I dare say these were the best special effects set in space up to that point by a wide margin. (Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977 took the next big leap, in my opinion.) Impressive and creative technical filmmaking in 2001 for sure.

I also appreciated the opening scenes more this time around. The first time I watched this movie (in the late 80s, when I was in college), the scenes with the apes in the beginning struck me as boring and ridiculous. For some reason, it didn’t hit me that way at all this viewing. I appreciated the whole monolith storyline that Arthur C. Clarke came up with much more this time. The mimes/actors in the ape suits actually did a great job.

I also appreciated the film-craft of Kubrick more on this viewing. So many great shots… I loved how much ambiguity he left in a key spots, like when Dr. Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) is alone in the aliens’ strange home for him at the end — when Kubrick shows the passage of time in a very clever way. I also appreciated the intensity and acting of Dullea and wish he had been in more films. (Apparently he has mostly worked in theater.)

And yes, the part with HAL is incredibly memorable and strangely chilling. Hopefully it’s not prophetic.

Kubrick’s seventh feature film was Dr. Strangelove, 1964. I just watched this for the very first time last night. It’s another anti-warm film, but this time it’s a (dark) comedy. It seems to me that this was a very brave and very original film for its time. I was highly entertained for the approximately 90 minutes that the film runs. Peter Sellers plays a few different characters and is brilliant. I also thought George C. Scott was amazing. It’s fun to see a super-young James Earl Jones too, though it’s a small part.

Certainly the paydirt and most memorable part is the last 10 minutes or so. It’s the sort of thing that’s iconic for a reason; once you see it, you’ll never forget it.

It’s a great take on the Cold War. It made me wish that Kubrick had lived long enough to make a film about post-9/11 USA.