The Immaculate Magic of the World of Barry Lyndon

The eighth entry in my series, Stanley Kubrick – A Year of Masterpieces. Barry Lyndon is one of Stanley Kubrick’s most overlooked films. Cinephiles and casual fans alike are quick to list a dozen other Kubrick films as a favorite before even considering this film – if they even care for it at all. But, … Read more

“A Clockwork Orange” and the Scary Defense of Free Will

In A Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick means to make you uncomfortable.  The magic of the film is that it can show terrible things and then making us care about the mind of the man responsible for them.  Kubrick accomplishes this titanic task through three main techniques, each of which will be detailed in this piece:  … Read more

“2001: a Space Odyssey”: The Eye-Opening Beauty of Powerful Cinema

Introduction It is a sin to write this.  Mr. Stanley Kubrick told me so: 2001 is a nonverbal experience; out of two hours and 19 minutes of film, there are only a little less than 40 minutes of dialog. I tried to create a visual experience, one that bypasses verbalized pigeonholing and directly penetrates the … Read more

“Dr. Strangelove” and the Absurdity of the Politically Powerful

A Year of Masterpieces: The Filmography of Stanley Kubrick Introduction Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a satirical masterpiece.  In this piece, we will discuss the germination of the great film and then detail how the director combines a serious camera (Part I), genuine but … Read more

The Time Has Come to Make a Choice: The Strong Volition of “The Matrix”

The Matrix is replete with allusions to classic philosophical ideas.  The plot references Plato’s Cave and the world of forms, Descartes’ First Meditation and the evil demon, and Hilary Putnam’s “brain in a vat” scenario – all ruminations on the nature of reality and the possibility that we only perceive an illusion.  The film also … Read more

Clarice, Meet Dr. Lecter: How to Craft a Masterful Intro Scene

One of the most enthralling sequences in The Silence of the Lambs is the first meeting between Clarice Starling and Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and it is a masterclass in visual storytelling.  This piece will analyze this entire sequence shot-by-shot,  explaining the cinematic techniques that director Jonathan Demme and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto use to tell this … Read more

Stanley Kubrick’s “Lolita” – a Most Ambitious Fantasy

The fourth entry in Plot and Theme’s year-long look at the filmography of Stanley Kubrick.  Check out all entries here. Introduction In 1962, Stanley Kubrick adapted the Vladimir Nabokov novel Lolita for his sixth feature film.  Though published only 7 years earlier, Nabokov’s novel was already reaching the status of a classic work due to … Read more

The Devastating Power of Information in “United 93”

Paul Greengrass’s United 93 is more than a harrowing dramatization of the events of September 11th, 2001.  It’s also a profound treatise on the significance of information, and how ignorance leads to irrationality, uncertainty, and fear.  This piece will look at three aspects of the film and how each is intimately tied to the availability … Read more

“Spartacus”: the Three-Headed Triumph of Douglas, Trumbo, and Kubrick

The third essay in a year-long analysis of the films of Stanley Kubrick.  Check out the schedule and explanation here, where you can also find links to all the completed pieces. Introduction Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus, starring Kirk Douglas and written by Dalton Trumbo, may be the best Swords-and-Sandals story ever put to film.  The film … Read more

Stanley Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory”, the Politically Powerful, and the Absurdity of War

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow’r,And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,Awaits alike th’ inevitable hour.The paths of glory lead but to the grave. -Thomas Grey, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,1751 Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory is often celebrated as the director’s first true masterwork.  Adapting a novel of the … Read more