Jul 18, 2015 twan truly the goat. i haven't seen Spartacus or Paths of Glory, but you have the other nine in the order i would. on some days, Full Metal Jacket and Barry Lyndon might flip. maybe.
Jul 19, 2015 Just saw this. Def give it a look when you get a chance. It's everything that Kubrick tried to rehash in Full Metal Jacket with a half hour less of that clown Modine, and a lot of less of the coldness that stops the war scenes in FMJ from meaning anything. People overrate FMJ because of the bits with R. Lee Ermey and Vincent D'Onofrio, while forgiving it for being every other Vietnam movie made up until that point. From a thematic POV it's the same thing that Kubrick already worked on with Fear and Desire and eventually grew to master with Paths of Glory, just with more action - action that arguably can't compete with the other Nam films being made around that point. Kind of baffles me why Kubrick made it actually. Maybe a precursor to prepare him for The Aryan Papers film that was talked about in Room 237? @Twan
Jul 19, 2015 Shelley Duvall is awesome in The Shining #HotTake I liked Paths of Glory a lot when I first saw it, but it's definitely due for a revisit. I did rewatch Full Metal Jacket more recently on Blu-Ray and the second half of the movie worked a lot better for me than it did on my first viewing. While I can understand criticisms of it being overly cold or cynical, the heightened, almost farcical nature of the war scenes really resonated with me this time around, perhaps more so than more straightforward, "war is h---" takes like that of Oliver Stone's Platoon. While it may not be a particularly accurate or exhaustive depiction of combat, Kubrick does capture its cruelty and randomness and also aggressively buries any mythologized notions of war. It definitely felt like a major work on my second viewing.
Jul 19, 2015 2001 The Shining FMJ Strangelove Clockwork Orange Paths of Glory Eyes Wide Shut Though, Strangelove is my favorite of these. But 2001 is one of the greatest films of all time.
