The visions of Stanley Kubrick.
1962 - Lolita.
1964 - Dr. Strangelove.
1968 - 2001: A Space Odyssey.
1971 - A Clockwork Orange.
1980 - The Shining.
1987 - Full Metal Jacket.
way more Helter Skelter.



June 13, 1962 - 2022: 60 years of: Lolita.

Lust after Spartacus and before Dr. Strangelove.

Based on the 1955 Vladimir Nabokov self-titled novel, this audacious adaptation is another tour-de-force in the then early Stanley Kubrick career. During the springboard of the liberating 1960s counterculture, Lolita's main-theme is some of the most controversial ever, yet it is also deeply rooted within the bedrock traditions of humanity.

The devilish Dolores Haze AKA Lolita, played by Sue Lyon, is the perfect seductress in her starting role of bold, babe-brat. Aged 14, she unwillingly entangle Professor Humbert, aged mid 40s, into her web. This unlikely union is scrutinized by the dangerously charming Clare Quilty, played by the many faces of legend actor Peter Sellers.

Love, crossing the boundaries of ages, caught between friendship and passion, this forbidden romance caused huge uproar at the release of the film. So much that Kubrick himself has gone on record that knowing these facts beforehand, he wouldn't have made the movie.

In today's millennial sub-culture, the "Lolita" term has taken a life of it's own, in the boundary-pushing adult-industry. Make no mistake about it, this movie has exposed the world to this taboo and with the current Internet-revolution, you just cannot look away.

And yes the almighty Kubrick was already leaving breadcrumbs for generations to follow. Hints of elite societies in closed gated Hollywood mansions, a subject that he would fully re-explore with 1999's Eyes Wide Shut show-stopper.

RIP Peter Sellers CBE AKA Quilty (1925-1980)
RIP James Mason AKA Humbert (1909-1984)
RIP Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)
RIP Shelley Winters AKA Mom (1920-2006)
RIP Sue Lyon AKA Lolita (1946-2019)

*
Lolita = movie trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWScuCN7qCw
Lolita = film score
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Soesl09P0eU&list=PL-jq4DwiS5LQvtveufBD3BnSNEJZXb9Yh
Interview with Sue Lyon in 1962
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bHz-N6bJ3I







January 29, 1964 - 2024: 60 years of: Dr. Strangelove.

Peace is their profession.

When Stanley Kubrick, becomes THE Stanley Kubrick. Sharpening his teeth's with 1962's Lolita, it was there that his first collaboration with actor Peter Sellers would be initiated. Coming back and blooming with this new super-project, Kubrick would now do the unthinkable: laugh at the Government and the U.S. Air-Force.

At the height of the Cold War, in a so close post Cuban Missile Crisis, Kubrick wanted to have fun with this global pissing-contest ...and expose the incompetence / impotence of our East - West World Leaders.

A deranged American General sets-off a chain of events to strike the U.S.S.R. with a nuclear assault. Rapidly the U.S. President reacts and recalls the air-bound B52s ...except for a single non-responsive plane. In tense communication with the Soviets, we learn that a computerized inviolable protocol as been set to react and counter-attack in case of an incoming-death: the Doomsday Machine.

Man -versus- Machine, a fail-safe mechanism that will turn the Earth ...from blue to gray. In correlation with real-life secret U.S. program Operation Paperclip, this influx of 1945 German brains would bring us, the viciously enigmatic super super-villain: Dr. Strangelove ...the man with the answer.

Lust leads to Armageddon.

The darkest comedy, the greatest satire, the big showdown ...as the Word ends. Furthermore, the big showdown for Peter Sellers, who would incarnate three main-characters: the British Captain, the American President and the nazi Doctor. Aesthetically, culturally and historically, the movie was eventually archived at the National Film Registry in 1989.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb.

A tour-de-force, walking the thin line between irony and dire consequences. The first pinnacle for director Stanley Kubrick. The first icon in many, many Kubrick-produced motion-picture game-changers.

Now finally respected by his peers and the industry, Kubrick's next offering would spring out of space ...in full exposed rich colors in the blackest of the Cosmos. One of mankind's most strange, daring, explosive and out of this world cornucopia ever: 1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

"Gentlemen you can't fight in here this is the War-Room !" - The U.S. President.

RIP Peter Sellers CBE AKA Mandrake + President + Strangelove (1925-1980)
RIP Slim Pickens AKA Major Kong (1919-1983)
RIP Peter Bull DSC AKA De Sadeski (1912-1984)
RIP Sterling Hayden AKA Ripper (1916-1986)
RIP Keenan Wynn AKA Guano (1916-1986)
RIP George C. Scott AKA Turgidson (1927-1999)
RIP Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)
RIP Tracy Reed AKA Miss Scott (1942-2012)
RIP Shane Rimmer AKA Owens (1929-2019)

*
Dr. Strangelove = movie trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPU1AYTxwg4







April 3, 1968 - 2023: 55 years of: 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Spatial perfection.

Loosely based on Arthur C. Clarke's 1951 story The Sentinel, Stanley Kubrick is going to send Star Trek back to the drawing board. After the World War apocalypse of 1964's Dr. Strangelove, the vision of the soon to-be eclectic producer would head beyond, beyond ...far beyond Jupiter. All of this madness, a full year before the actual real-life Apollo 11 landing.

From the dawn of mankind intro, to the then futuristic 2001-era, the main storyboard is portrayed as: human versus machine. In the blackest of space, the mission goes well, supervised by the powerful HAL 9000 ...until a glitch is found. Through mind-games and power-struggles, the sinister super-computer will kill four astronauts. The surviving David Bowman will successfully disconnect the antagonist and reach Jupiter ...to face ...life beyond life.

Filmed with cutting-edge Panavision 70mm camera-technology, the slow and lengthy shots juxtaposed with the mesmerizing Johann Strauss "The Blue Danube" grandiose piece ...Kubrick crafted the very first science-fiction opera. Dramatic, not through dialogue, but through tense dead silence and space-helmet heavy breathing. These cold and calculated dreamy sights would become blueprints for the 70s and 80s scifi-adventure cosmos-craze. So magnificent and poetic, that NASA took notice and this eventually later ignited the Moon landing conspiracy theories.

Still revered today as one of the Top 10 Greatest Movie Of All-Time, 55 years later it still puzzles our very own existence. Part-beauty, part-macabre, 2001: A Space Odyssey continues to fuel conversations in regards to the many meanings of the plot and the second and third surface level hidden in plain sight messages.

Who ?
What ?
When ?
Where ?
Why ?
This is the Stanley Kubrick signature, this is Stanley Kubrick's immortal legacy.

The visionary Kubrick would land back on Earth, dissect deep within society and the ugly inner-cities with 1971's highly-controversial Grand Slam: A Clockwork Orange.

"Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye." - HAL 9000

RIP William Sylvester AKA Dr. Heywood Floyd (1922-1995)
RIP Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)
RIP Kenneth Kendall AKA BBC 12 newsman (1924-2012)
RIP Douglas Rain AKA HAL 9000 (1928-2018)

*
2001: A Space Odyssey = movie trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgGCScAV7qU
2001: A Space Odyssey = movie soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSOoM2ih5Is&list=PL69JX3_fW92EwY8WiTX9qlnJTrxTMRsmx







December 19, 1971 - 2021: 50 years of: A Clockwork Orange.

Ready for a bit of the ol' ultra-violence ?

Witty, funny, satiric, musical, exciting, bizarre, political, thrilling, frightening, metaphorical, comic, sardonic, exciting, Beethoven.

More then a mere movie, but an alienting diary of Britain's mid 60s downfall and apocalyptic eco-system. The darkside of the counterculture, the darkside of the inner cities and the darkside of a very dystopian England.

Hop in the Durango '95 and live through Stanley Kubrick's foresight as the lower-class, the middle-class and the upper-class all get dissected under the microscope. From trashy back-alleys to the medical wonders, from political parties to street-gangs, from socialism to communism, all of their agendas are fully exposed and left to rot under the sun.

The entire spectrum of human-senses, from brutal bloody beatings to ecstatic erotic artwork, A Clockwork Orange's mindset is sadly not only akin to The United Kingdom, but to modern society itself. Reverse psychology, operant conditioning and reassignment of reptilian behavior, all of this inner-madness was laid way before the punk craze of the late 70s. Premonition or destiny of the super-nation ...the system doesn't work, for everyone.

From Third Reich horror visions to twisted Europa-union, one cannot disregard the power-hunger totalitarian correlations this clever narration underlines. One chilling line stands tall, where the Minister Of The Interior openly says to the Prison Governor: "The Government can't be concerned any longer with outmoded penological theories. Soon we may be needing all of our prison space for political offenders".

Dire slums and suave space-age sights, A Clockwork Orange is a supernova for both esthetics and architectures. Ice-cold 60s brutalism and ice-cold 60s conservatism, this visual odyssey is a feast of the highest delights. On the audio-front, the atomic architectural assault is led by Walter Carlos. Fully present in the mix, the immortal art of Ludwig Van and maestro Gioachino Rossini are futurized and becomes the unsung hero / villain of this 136min multi-layered avantgarde masterpiece. Kubrick insisted that Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9" and specifically the "Ode To Joy" segment be used for obvious grandiose reasons. See also preceding paragraph.

Written by Anthony Burgess in 1962, his novel was pushed into overdrive with Kubrick behind the lens. It rapidly gained a cult following, that grew from fans to rabid copy-cat fanatics. Random beatings aside, from Halloween costumes to rock-videos and from black and white dichotomy to underground street-slang:

A Clockwork Orange is way beyond mere poetic fantasies and hierarchical-struggles,
A Clockwork Orange is a microcosm within a macrocosm,
A Clockwork Orange is daily,
A Clockwork Orange is us !

A Clockwork Orange is society - society is A Clockwork Orange.

...have another glass !

RIP Basil (1971)
RIP Thomas Farrell AKA tramp (1893-1975)
RIP Michael Bates AKA Chief Officer Barnes (1920-1978)
RIP Patrick Magee AKA Mr. Alexander (1922-1982)
RIP Anthony Sharp AKA Minister (1915-1984)
RIP Michael Gover AKA Prison Governor (1913-1987)
RIP Madge Ryan AKA Dr. Branom (1919-1994)
RIP Sheila Raynor AKA Mum (1906-1998)
RIP Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)
RIP Philip Stone AKA Dad (1924-2003)
RIP Miriam Karlin AKA catlady (1925-2011)
RIP Margaret Tyzack AKA Conspirator (1931-2011)
RIP Warren Clarke AKA Dim (1947-2014)
RIP Aubrey Morris AKA Deltoid (1926-2015)
RIP Adrienne Corri AKA Mrs. Alexander (1931-2016)
RIP Gerald Fox AKA Dr. Brodsky (1923-2018)
RIP David Prowse AKA Julian (1935-2020)
*
A Clockwork Orange = movie trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JIc_1v7i88
Thamesmead: A town for the 21st Century
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov2btkixcAc
On location
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGOA6_hSMJY
On location 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QadgZenqr8U
The best of Chief Officer Barnes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OARVGVv8HdY
Malcolm McDowell on 50 years of A Clockwork Orange
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E10phvyF8Sw
Gene Kelly's Singing In The Rain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ZYhVpdXbQ
some guy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeoJzSq7S00







May 23, 1980 - 2020: 40 years of: The Shining.

Produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick: a masterpiece of modern horror.

A silent massacre.

The most shocking psychological-thriller since 1973's unholy cult-classic: The Exorcist. The original 1977 Stephen King novel came and went, yet Kubrick had other twisted ideas. Later Mr. King went on record for his personal dislike of Kubrick's mad-scientist adaptation. It didn't weight much, as fans and critics of the genre rapidly made The Shining one of the most respected and worshipped horror-movie of all-time.

Monday.

Hours away from civilization, winter-bound and locked-up for 6-months, the Torrance Family are the usual next-door middle-Americans. And as caretaker, having to oversee the humongously quiet Overlook Hotel sounded like a relaxing venture. Yet the true evils in this isolated carnage, slowly, very slowly, suffocate Jack and make's him theirs.

The brutal past lives and repeats itself, thru the hotel and thru the Torrances. Danny-boy has initial doubts, but Wendy is enjoying the place. Through Jack's Faustian-bargain, in the end, the only sane savior would be Tony, Danny's other-self, whom his shining-powers would ultimately manage to bring help from an outside party.

Wednesday.

Perfection in image, perfection in sound, perfection in execution, perfection in pacing and perfection in delivery, The Shining is a long, tense and eerie journey into the mind and souls from within and beyond. Some clever Kubrick-tricks are hidden in plain sight: impossible windows, doors that switch hinges, endless corridors and too many left-turns inside the maze-like hotel messes with your mind and spatial-orientation. Genius, convincing and deadly, just like the ghostly inhabitants of the freezing Overlook.

Saturday.

"Heeeeere's Johnny !" ...is one of the few improvised line actor-legend Jack Nicholson got away with on set. It opens up Nicholson's stellar exhibition and bi-polar mindset in this trendsetting performance. Poor on-screen wife Shelley Duval, gives chills and is left tormented by herself, under the invisible yet palpable dark cloud overhead. 8 year-old boy-hero Danny Lloyd is harmless and lovable, with is mesmerizing grin. The superb supporting-role by real-life jazzman Scatman Crothers, brings a much needed warm earthly feeling into this cold situation.

Music-wise, the score is supplied by keyboard visionary Wendy Carlos. Having already worked for Kubrick on the sociopath-driven 1971 epic A Clockwork Orange, this new collaboration hits another tour-de-force. Other musical cuts includes late-1920s big-band and slow-swing posh music.

Various interpretations and conspiracy-theory aside, the Stanley Kubrick legacy dazzles the mind. Whether it's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange or his last epic offering in Eyes Wide Shut, the Kubrick-signature is forever immortal. Through incredible visual sights and incredible captivating sounds, the human-psyche according to Kubrick has since become one of the most discussed and revered cinematic-repertoire of all-time.

Rated R ...for REDRUM !

RIP Barry Nelson AKA Ullman (1917-2007)
RIP Scatman Crothers AKA Hallorann (1910-1986)
RIP Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)
RIP Philip Stone AKA Grady (1924-2003)
RIP Tony Burton AKA Larry (1937-2016)
RIP Anne Jackson AKA the doctor (1925-2016)
RIP Barry Dennen AKA Watson (1938-2017)
RIP Joe Turkel AKA Lloyd (1927-2022)

*
ABC's TV-movie prequel warning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmZ9D_GiJEI
The Shining = movie trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esaGu1w1K1g
The Shining = movie review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyoKheS5NFQ
The Shining = soundtrack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbtGtE5DssY
The Shining behind the scenes by Vivian Kubrick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o-n6vZvqjQ
The Shining filming location
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5i3Hz4yupM
The Shining explained ?
https://www.youtube.com/user/robag88/search?query=shining
The Shining even more explained ?
https://www.collativelearning.com/the%20shining.html
Everything wrong with...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqzxtaTAfm4







June 26, 1987 - 2022: 35 years of: Full Metal Jacket.

"You little SCUMBAG, I've got your NAME, I've got your ASS !"

There's been many movies about the Viet-Nam war, but there's only one Stanley Kubrick and we all know what this means. Once again based on a novel, this time 1979's The Short-Timers, the Kubrick vision shows us a different side of the architecture of war. The people: from their humble beginning, to their very end.

The training.
One of the most iconic and intense scene on cinema, featuring real-life former Marine drill-instructor R. Lee Ermey. Funny, mad and deadly real ...with today's PC-ness, this speech would've NEVER passed through. Stand in line and keep quiet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHxf17yJsKs
The boys slowly becomes killing machines, dehumanization through brain-washing at best, especially for Pvt. Pyle. Having a hard time following up the pace of his team-mates, things would drastically take a change when spending quality time with Charlene.

The war.
Out in the field, no one is safe, but the war machine keeps rolling on. The unpopular American position in the East is counter-displayed through media-propaganda, and through the Kubrick lens, we now get to see, some cold-hard facts that never made it to US shores. The last gun-fight in the destroyed city of Huê, climaxes with the horrifying truth of conflict: teenagers killing teenagers.

"Marines die, that's what we're here for. But the Marine Corps lives forever. And that means you live forever."

Nihilistic and though provoking, the unconventional producer known for his breath-taking shots and long pans does not disappoint. With 80s technology at hand, the flow still reeks a 70s vibe and is the perfect window into this historic 20th century event.

Rapidly, many Veterans have gone on record to say that Full Metal Jacket is the best presentation of life in the blood and mud, a testament to the sacrifices that occurred. Nominated for many Awards, the movie has since become one of Kubrick's fan-favorite, since it hits so close to home.

"M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E"

RIP Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999)
RIP R. Lee Ermey AKA Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (1944-2018)

*
Full Metal Jacket = movie trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFlm7fFfEmU
Nancy Sinatra, These Boots Are Made For Walkin' = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM1kzbAgo_E
R. Lee Ermey interview in 1987
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjffzVCno84







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