Paths of Glory

I keep not writing this post because I'm pretty distracted by a bunch of things right now. Had some fun going out and looking at cars today, and now it's really hard to stay on this tab instead of flipping around and reading about the car I really liked. I thought I'd make it to bed before like, 4am, today but that's not looking like a reality. I shake my fist at myself for making myself so tired.

After being out all day, I came home and started today's movie - Paths of Glory, directed by Stanley Kubrick in 1957. I never really heard of this movie, which seems sort of surprising. I guess I just assumed that all Kubrick movies are well known. Maybe this is well known and I'm just real dumb...always a possibility. Either way, I was excited to watch it for the first time. It was pretty great. It was fantastic at capturing how awful and nightmarish war can be, and I loved how hard and cold it felt. It was a really well-directed movie, and I'm so happy that I was able to see it - I don't think I ever would have thought about it if it wasn't for this project.

Dr. Strangelove

When my parents brought  home a 62" inch DLP TV, and got a DVR for the first time, I had mixed emotions. It was so large. My friend stood back and saluted the TV, saying, "Welcome to our lives, you big behemoth." Later, I sat down and looked through the free on demand movies. I found Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film Dr. Strangelove, and it was the first thing I ever watched on the giant screen. To be honest, I don't remember if I had ever seen it before then. I just remember being in awe - this shockingly funny and beautiful black and white movie taking up half of my basement, while I sat huddled up and small in the corner of the couch. I think it was a perfect way to watch a movie like this. Not because you need a big TV, but a sense of wonder. I was pretty astonished at how funny it was and how great the acting was. I remember laughing at General Turgidson chewing endless amounts of gum, the antics of Dr. Strangelove's gloved hand. I was skeptical of the TV at first. "Why would anyone need something so large?" For movies like Dr. Stranglelove. For masterpieces. Now, watching a Blu-ray of the movie, I'm happy to have access to the TV, to be able to watch this and all the other films of Ebert's books in full high definition.

2001: A Space Odyssey

I'm still working out what I want my format to be for these blogs, so please bear with me for the first few days as I straggle about trying to make sense of what I am doing. I know this much - I'll watch the film myself, and then I'll read Ebert's essay on it, to deepen my thoughts about what I saw, not influence them. I will probably write about these films with spoilers, since it's hard to talk about them without bringing some up. So, with that in mind, the first film I watched was Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

I've seen this movie before, but a while ago. I have been, for the last four years, confronted by images of it, stills of every scene in the film in all of my film textbooks. I love it, and after watching it again, I still love it. Kubrick shows such beautiful restraint, and even after over 40 years, HAL is still just as creepy and sinister. I love how effortlessly he shows his power over everyone, killing the entire crew with no melodrama or spectacle. All things I have loved about this film since the first time I saw it.