Is "Eyes Wide Shut" a good movie? Was Stanley Kubrick a good director?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Steve Hoffman, Jan 31, 2015.

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  1. Fastnbulbous

    Fastnbulbous Doubleplus Ungood

    Location:
    Washington DC USA
    Glad you liked it. I can't say I was blown away by it at first, but like all Kubrick movies it grew on me. There's always a lot going on in his films, much of which goes unnoticed (consciously at least) on the initial viewing. I agree that the orgy scene was intentionally creepy, not unlike the "party" in The Shining. Also agree about Sidney Pollack - not what I, or even he, would call a great actor, but perfect for the role.
     
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  2. bumbletort

    bumbletort Senior Member

    Location:
    Baltimore, Md, USA
    Wow. Can't improve on this. I have seen all the Kubrick efforts, the really big ones are uniformly great...but Eyes Wide Shut lingers especially in my mind. It is haunting. It may be my favorite.

    Sidebar: I don't care for the 'star shenanigans' of Mr. Cruise, but...he is one courageous actor who has a very impressive resume of 'non-Hollywood' performances, such as Magnolia, Vanilla Sky, Collateral, etc. A real actor. He definitely has my respect.
     
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  3. Siegmund

    Siegmund Vinyl Sceptic

    Location:
    Britain, Europe
    He deserves it. I think the only other film of his I've seen is Rain Man (big in its day, not so much discussed now, possibly because its treatment of autism is felt to be dated) and he was also good in that (again, in the less scene-grabbing of the two main roles). A shame that his private life seems to have overshadowed is work onscreen.
     
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  4. Fastnbulbous

    Fastnbulbous Doubleplus Ungood

    Location:
    Washington DC USA
    I've enjoyed Cruise's work for the most part, particularly EWS and Magnolia, and try not to let an artist's personal foibles affect my appreciation for his/her art. There are a lot of whack jobs out there...
     
  5. Plinko

    Plinko Senior Member

    I realize this film is about several things, notably the story upon which it is based. But this film has become more interesting in the era of Epstein and me too.

    I found this 1999 episode of Charlie Rose with critics interesting. Had it not been years ahead of its time, several elements of this film would have resonated with people far more today, unbeknownst to the critics at the time.

     
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  6. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    Who is Epstein?
     
  7. Fastnbulbous

    Fastnbulbous Doubleplus Ungood

    Location:
    Washington DC USA
  8. citizensmurf

    citizensmurf Ambient postpunk will never die

    Location:
    Calgary
    I'm glad this film is getting some revisiting and re-evaluation. I loved it when I first saw it in the theatre. I recall how it was almost universally panned at the time (something critics are still doing to this day, like collusion of gas prices, they all tend to regurgitate the same opinions). Maybe not Kubrick's best, but certainly a great film that had some flaws. This was probably the last great film Tom Cruise made. I haven't seen it in years, but I still recall many scenes fondly. Worth a serious watch for any film fan, and certainly any fan of Kubrick's.
     
  9. Veni Vidi Vici

    Veni Vidi Vici Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Apropos nothing, the house where the party scenes were filmed was my workplace for seven years.
     
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  10. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    ...and some of the orgy interiors were filmed at Highclere Castle used for Downton Abbey.
     
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2019
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  11. jupiterboy

    jupiterboy Forum Residue

    Location:
    Buffalo, NY
    I got scorched for liking this at the theater. My friends thought I had lost my ming. But here's the thing, the concept is that there is real power in the world built on compromising information. People get killed because of it. I think the casting was inspired and represented a next level step, because the actors actually embodies the personality characteristics required. They didn't even need to act. The idea was to take someone, a dentist if I recall, that had good standing in society and a desire to move up, and pit them against deeply imbedded power structure that would dwarf, by scale, anything they imagined existed. Occult technology is real, and when people rise to a certain level the get targeted, and that includes giving them the rope to hand themselves so they can be owned and controlled in perpetuity. That's the truth.
     
  12. Dr. Funk

    Dr. Funk Vintage Dust

    Location:
    Fort Worth TX
    It's a fascinating flick........anybody else in the director's chair would have rendered it boring.
     
  13. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    I did not like the movie much, but Kubrick is probably my favorite director overall. So, yes, I think he was very good.
     
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  14. GregM

    GregM The expanding man

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    I'm not a fan of this film and think Kubric's work overall is vastly overrated.
     
  15. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    While I do agree that people seem to go a bit overboard with regard to Kubrick's direction, he was doing things at a time that few other directors would dare to approach.
     
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  16. SRC

    SRC That sums up Squatter for me

    Location:
    New York, NY
    I love Kubrick, I think if there's any director worth over-praising (and over-analyzing) it would be him. But Eyes Wide Shut is far from my favorite of his. I think most of it is very engaging and compelling, but I may never get over my first time watching, because I was underwhelmed at the time by the ending of the film; it just seems to run out of steam instead of anything really happening.
     
  17. Fastnbulbous

    Fastnbulbous Doubleplus Ungood

    Location:
    Washington DC USA
    I'd give it another look. As I've said before, Kubrick films reward multiple viewings since there's so much detail. One in particular that hardly anyone gets the first time is the scene where Alice is dreaming and Bill returns from the orgy.
     
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  18. wwaldmanfan

    wwaldmanfan Born In The 50's

    Location:
    NJ
    I'm very conflicted about Tom Cruise. I admire him as one of the hardest-working actors in the business, and he's delivered strong performances in many films. I think his best role was as Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone's, "Born On The Fourth Of July". While I can enjoy his performances, I can never suspend disbelief and forget that I'm watching Tom Cruise act in a movie. Sometimes to the point where I just think he's miscast. "Eyes Wide Shut", "Minority Report", and "Valkyrie" are examples.
     
  19. PNeski@aol.com

    [email protected] Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York
    Kubrick is a one of the greatest directors ,but I am not a fan of this
     
  20. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    What don’t they get?
     
  21. samthesham

    samthesham Forum Resident

    Location:
    Moorhead MN
    Kubrick was a brilliant director in his early career "Paths Of Glory" & "Dr. Strangelove" but in view of that IMO as the 60s changed to the 70s his genius began to slip...

    The last SK movie I really enjoyed was his tale of Viet Nam "Full Metal Jacket" & before that "2001 A Space Oddysey"...

    Frankly from a subjective point The Shining & Eyes Wide Shut are his weakest films & A Clockwork Orange was decent film making...

    I thought Nicholson's Shining performance was way over the top & I have never been an admirer of Cruise or Kidman & in reality Eyes Wide Shut did nothing for me regardless who the actors were.Boring.
     
  22. Tim1954

    Tim1954 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    Brilliant movie. When I first saw it I thought it was okay.

    In recent years I’ve come to recognize its depth, and I certainly think he was very possibly trying to tell us some very heavy things.
     
  23. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    It's been a few years, so I'm gonna watch again soon. So hypnotic and mysterious.

    My favorite Kubrick films are "Eyes Wide Shut" and "The Shining."
     
  24. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
  25. George Co-Stanza

    George Co-Stanza Forum Resident

    Location:
    America
    I find this film fascinating. Every time I catch some of it on TV again, it's interesting enough to hold my interest for a bit, but the story seems ponderous and tedious. And I agree with the posts about it is hard to take Tom Cruise seriously in this role. Seems like Tom Cruise playing Tom Cruise yet again.
     
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