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What's All This Then?
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Stuff About Stanley Kubrick
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Typographic 2001 poster and a load of other great illustration and design work by Richard Perez. Via Bobby Solomon.
Related to the last. It's SK's birthday but I gave myself a present and finally got Antony Hare's beautiful portrait of the man framed today. Antony describes his work as "illustrating the meeting point between portraiture and caricature." It's an apt description for a series of faces that are not "cartoony" in the traditional sense but yet manage to capture the essence of the subject in just a few bold and dramatic strokes.
Happy birthday Mr. Kubrick. Via A Conversation on Cool. Tons of cool to chat about today in our big, messy Stuff About SK archive.
"I directed two of these short form pieces to accompany History Channel's show '1968.' It was fun, they allowed me to choose my own subject so I went with Keir Dullea, star of 2001: A Space Odyssey. He had us to his home and we made this little piece." Director Sean Dunne. Thanks a bunch to Volto von Libro.
"Like all visionaries, he spoke the truth. And no matter how comfortable we think we are with the truth, it always comes as a profound shock when we're forced to meet it face-to-face." Scorsese on Kubrick.
Kubrick concept art and storyboards. Uneven but important collection from various places. Via io9 and Bram.
Abstract: "In Stanley Kubrick's motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey, Heywood Floyd, chairman of the National Council of Astronautics (NCA), orchestrates a false flag alien artifact discovery. The alleged discovery of a black monolith buried 40 feet below the surface of the moon is in fact staged by Dr. Floyd and fellow members of the NCA as justification for the continued support of the NCA's monolith-chasing missions, including the Discovery mission to Jupiter." This is a new one to me, Joe Bisdin's theory on 2001. Also, "Heywood Floyd is an anagram for defy holy wood."
Wave Of Mutilation, The Shining skateboard deck by Kevin Tong. Via Super Punch.
He always had an eye for an interesting composition. Check the photo credit. Via Things.
The elevator of blood from The Shining trailer, recreated with RealFlow & Lightwave. Yowza. Thanks Jonathan.
Toilets in space requires special training. Like many other things, Stanley Kubrick foresaw this in 2001, and passengers are advised to read instructions before use.
"Stanley Kubrick was a friend of mine, insofar as people like Stanley have friends, and as if there are any people like Stanley now. Famously reclusive, as I'm sure you've heard, he was in fact a complete failure as a recluse, unless you believe that a recluse is simply someone who seldom leaves his house." That's the lede from Michael Herr's 1999 Vanity Fair article on SK, which is worth a relink for many reasons, not the least of which is the terrific photo that kicks it off.
Lost (and found) Stanley Kubrick/Jim Thompson treatment will feature Scarlett Johansson, Midget Monkey Girl.
A custom Mego figure, Jack Torrance! Thanks to John at Super Punch.
The Monolith Action Figure. "May cause strange magnetic fields, action figure evolution, seeing things filled with stars, and/or more (or it might just sit on your desk doing nothing)." Thanks Jamie.
"We're not just watching a simulacrum, but a reproduction of a simulacrum, expressing a wish to be with a simulacrum of its own." Not Coming to a Theater Near You examines A.I., and Stanley Kubrick.
Illustrator Robert McCall, whose work embodied and inspired North America's fascination with space travel in the 60s, passed away last Friday. McCall may be familiar to many for his work on 2001: A Space Odyssey. Via Flavorwire
Phineas writes, "Mr Coudal, the internet told me to give this to you."
"Some shots you might need a couple of thousand, and then some CGI. Although I don't think he would have automatically thought, 'Let's CGI everything.'" Vice's interview with Tony Frewin about Kubrick's Napoleon. Thanks Henry.
Youtube clips from great '80s BBC sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, starring Leonard Rossiter. As JC will tell you, Rossiter appears in 2001 and Barry Lyndon.
Every couple months someone sends me a link to a post somewhere about how Stanley Kubrick faked the moon landings. Today, Discovery's Robert Lamb takes up the issue after touching down at our favorite conspiracy essay ever, Secrets of The Shining. Thanks John.
Rob Sharp on Kubrick and Napoleon.
Thus Spake Zarathustra, the music to the title sequence of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey as played by a local school orchestra. Fantastic. Thanks a million to Mr. Dawes.
Related to the last. Video of Anthony Burgess and Malcolm McDowell discussing A Clockwork Orange.
"Spell a thing to the eye, that most crass and obvious of organs, and behold – a revelation." Fueilleton quoting Anthony Burgess from 1972 on how A Clockwork Orange has or has not changed his life.
Henry passes along some insider info on why there's been a delay in releasing an HD version of Barry Lyndon.
Relink. Some great Barry Lyndon ephemera and observations from Little Augery (bookmarked) including a sweet promotional line drawing of a dueling pistol by who knows who for who knows what. Plus, some nice side by side comparisons of film frames and paintings by Hogarth, Thackeray and Watteau. Thanks a bunch to John Coulthart for the link.
"If he had a computer at that time, you wouldn't care, but you know he has been waiting three weeks for this mountain fog or whatever." Kottke quotes Lars von Trier on Barry Lyndon. From the new book Screen Epiphanies.
Related to the last. John Coulthart's Alex in the Chelsea Drug Store.
"Viddy well the stuff of obsessions, O my brothers: Kubrick, cover design and electronic music in one convenient 12-inch package." Lots of links and observations inspired by A Clockwork Orange: The Complete Original Score.
Exhibtion poster for Taming Light: Stanley Kubrick by illustrator Martin Ansin. Here's the site for the exhibtion. Via John Gruber.
JC, in case you missed it, there's a small section in this New Yorker profile of James Cameron about him hanging out with Kubrick, explaining how he'd done the effects in True Lies.
The required texts regarding the making of 2001, this and this.
A look at Taschen's sweet new book, Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon: The Greatest Movie Never Made. (Translate) Here's the publisher's description and forward. More to come.
As predicted. How Stanley Kubrick's editing conveys a horrifying supernatural vision in The Shining, by Adam Polselli.
Think JC might want to use a few of these.
"I could have used a few more superlatives." Updated and expanded, Volto von Libro has collected some great stuff surrounding Stanley Kubrick's interview with Jeremy Bernstein from 1966. First there's the interview itself, roughly 75 minutes of audio. Plus Bernstein's New Yorker profile of SK from November, 1966. An auction sheet offering the text of the profile, marked up by SK and finally a great personal memoir of the time from Bernstein. All mandatory reading and thankfully placed in our Stuff About Stanley Kubrick archives.
"I could have used a few more superlatives." Updated and expanded, Volto von Libro has collected some great stuff surrounding Stanley Kubrick's interview with Jeremy Bernstein from 1966. First there's the interview itself, roughly 75 minutes of audio. Plus Bernstein's New Yorker profile of SK from November, 1966. An auction sheet offering the text of the profile, marked up by SK and finally a great personal memoir of the time from Bernstein. All mandatory reading and thankfully placed in our Stuff About Stanley Kubrick archives.
Jeff Dawson for the Times Online on the greatest movie never made, Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon. Via John Gruber.
"Stanley Kubrick was nothing if not meticulous." Thanks Matt.
"There is no other way to do it. Repeat. No other way." Related to the last. A storyboard from from The Shining annotated by SK and that frame from the film.
Steve writes, "I was trolling through your excellent 'Stuff About Stanley Kubrick' collection and noticed a dead link to Vivian Kubrick's documentary on The Shining. Here's a working link to the film and here's a version with Vivian's commentary track as primary audio." Thanks for that.
Related to The Archive post below, Sean Dunne also directed this short interview with Keir Dullea about working on 2001. "He had us to his home and we made a little piece."
Dueling trailers. A Boy And His Dog versus A Clockwork Orange. Thanks for the tip Andrew.
There is sacrilege and then there is Sacrilege. Jason Aaron's 2001 music video Salivate on my Heart is the latter. JC, definitely don't watch this one.
The opening of 2001 as played by a middle school orchestra. JC, it's probably best if you skip this one.
Dan Park's Stanley Kubrick.
Lots more on EWS at ten by Jamie Stuart.
Ten years on, Todd Raviotta updates his excellent personal essay on Eyes Wide Shut which includes a telling quote from SK, "Critical opinion on my films has always been salvaged by what I would call subsequent critical opinion."
Pavel Klushantsev's 1957 film, Road to the Stars, without which some claim, SK might never have made 2001. I'm not buying the 'shot-for-shot' argument but the film is nothing but awesome.
Short profile of actor Gary Lockwood (2001's Frank Poole) contains some interesting trivia about the film's premiere. I suspect some of it is completely made up.
They Were Collaborators #566.
A 13 minute segment on Kubrick from the Dutch television show "Stardust" full of interesting bits and anecdotes.
"...a film meant to be watched both forwards and backwards. The human mind may find ways of playing it backwards subconsciously. Tricks are used to play with your memory of standard cinema convention."
Long, sprawling essay on physical cosmologies of The Shining.
How did Heywood Floyd's pen come to be floating in mid-air? Answers to that and a slew of questions about 2001 plus The HAL transcripts and lots more from The Underview.
John Gruber has the scoop on Stanley Kubrick: The Napoleon Film, a new book due out this summer.
Sight & Sound's March cover story on Barry Lyndon, From Romance To Ritual. Local note for London, The BFI Kubrick screening schedule.
If you can stand the ads, The FirstPost has a nice "picturebook" of Kubrick images. Thanks Zach.
Relink for Carl. "In late 1963 for the film's finale Director Stanley Kubrick spent almost two weeks shooting a War Room custard-pie fight at Stage B Shepperton but the result was later deleted from the final cut. These stills give us a glimpse of what this 'cut scene' may have looked like." The pie-fight was in Terry Southern's first draft of the script too.
"For his largest Manhattan property -- the Bowery Hotel, in the East Village -- Mr. MacPherson turned to an even more surprising source: Stanley Kubrick's The Shining." Hotel designs With cinematic flavor. Thanks Matt.
Graffiti of the year.
Matthew Modine on Stanley Kubrick and making FMJ.
Heads up Kubrickians. The HAL Project is so great it goes right to the top of our list of things we wish we had thought of. Via Daring Fireball.
Chris at Mentalfloss posts about a set of cool Kubrick remixes and also tosses in a nice link to our obsessional archive of Stuff About SK. Thanks for that.
Rose writes to remind us to sing Happy Birthday to HAL 9000 today. Thanks for that.
The story of Stanley Kubrick's unmade Aryan Papers will be told through an art installation at the BFI. Via Mr. Hudson who has moved from Greencine to IFC's The Daily and we, of course, follow.
Kottke produces Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Chicken Cordon Bleu Danube cut.
If you haven't the patience to watch Stanley Kubrick's Boxes online, the documentary will be shown on the on the Sundance Channel Monday night (Dec. 15) at 8PM Chicago time.
President Merkin Muffley doing a bunch of English accents. (Related: Our political tv spot from the Primary season.)
From a 1963 documentary with Arthur C. Clarke, why Kubrick used "Daisy" for HAL's death in 2001. Plus find lots more trivial and not-so-trivial links in our Stuff About Stanley Kubrick archives.
Google is hosting millions of photographs from the LIFE Magazine and John Gruber did the required first search on "Kubrick," yielding amazing results, like this beauty.
Lined & Unlined on Spaces and Storytelling in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.
"In 1980, Stanley Kubrick came to the Timberline Lodge to film one of the all-time great horror classics, The Shining. In the film, Jack Nicholson slowly loses his grasp on reality and loses himself in a hallucination of a 1920s era ball. Twenty-Eight years later, Nike Sportswear and Fantastic Fest have joined forces to recreate the very same ball at the very same lodge." Come Play With Us.
Ludwig Van Bust By Frank Kozik. Awesome. Thanks for the tip Phineas. Cha-ching.
A short video interview with Ken Adams, designer of the Dr. Strangelove. war room set. Adam's sketch is here, as a part of Cold War Modern, Design 1945-1970, at the V&A. Via John Gruber.
Here's what you're looking for John. In Dr. Strangelove Dr. Strangelove, Kristan Horton imitates the movie with everyday items.
In honor of Richard Wright, the famous syncing of Pink Floyd's Echoes with 2001.
Perhaps a little high falutin' for this early in the day but a little culture never hurt anyone. Stanley Kubrick films and Beethoven Symphonies.
Related to the last. Aren't they an attractive family?
Forever and ever.
The Shining (with robots). Silly, but fun. Thanks Mike.
Typographic Research, a site by a class at Parsons, taught by Rob Giampietro.
Our interview with Armen Antranikian, director of the short film Kubrick, which aired last month as part of Channel 4's Kubrick Season.
The Shining, with robots.
Sean Hannan writes, "Here's a very detailed account by Wendy Carlos of how exactly Kubrick got HAL to sound lobotomized in 2001."
The complete Stanley Kubrick's Boxes. Thanks Roy.
Ten minutes of the BBC documentary Stanley Kubrick's Boxes. Awesome. Thanks Ian and Ryan,
Reader John Pierce is not sure where he found this photo from the set of 2001 but we're sure glad he sent it to us.
Local note for London. During July, The University of the Arts presents selections from their huge archive of Kubrick's personal production and research material. Thanks David.
The Telegraph's Kubrick Files. Via Mr. Fireball, who will also be in Columbus tonight.
"I've spent the past three hours on my knees on the floor working out the enclosed review ad slots. I think they make sense and should look very strong with nice, chunky bold type or its equivalent." From a letter from Stanley Kubrick to an ad executive, about Clockwork promotion.
Browsing our own Stuff About Stanley Kubrick Archives in anticipation for tonight's 70mm screening of 2001 in Columbus.
When Clockwork was released in the USA in 1972, this tabloid newspaper, The Orange Times, was presented to audiences. It would make a fine companion piece to the original cinema program from the 1968 London premiere of 2001.
"Is it possible to get to understand such a man - and his extraordinary working methods - by looking through the hundreds of boxes he left behind?" We'll find out on the 15th with the premiere of Jon Ronson's new documentary, Citizen Kubrick.
Channel 4 recreates The Shining to promote its Kubrick season. Something about this feels sort of creepy. Creepy but good. Thanks LBD.
Road trip anyone? July 10 through August 22, The Wexner Center for the Arts presents a Kubrick Retrospective in Columbus. 2001 will be screened in 70mm. Thanks Andrew.
"By take 50 or 60 you start being in this Zen-like state which is really pleasurable because you have it wired." From a section about shooting The Shining in an interview with Garrett Brown, inventor of the Steadicam.
Director Tony Kaye talks about Stanley Kubrick, from a new short film by Armen Antranikian to debut on the BBC later this month. Here's the trailer for Kubrick.
How Stanley Kubrick's editing conveys a horrifying supernatural vision in The Shining by Adam Polselli.
"Since the light source and the camera lens are precisely aligned on a common axis, the foreground subject exactly 'fits' its own shadow, covering it completely." Front projection tech in 2001, from American Cinematographer.
"...all of a sudden, this mythic work of art became Earthborn. That transition is probably my favorite moment of 2001 now: it's Kubrick deflating the hot air balloon." A perceptive essay by Jamie Stuart on watching 2001 in various formats and under various circumstances.
Mr. Gruber points to this Italian piece on the 50mm f/0,7 lens used by Kubrick on Barry Lyndon. Here's the machine translation and also the definitive American Cinematographer article by Ed DiGiulio on the same subject. More in our SK archives.
HAL9000 desktop wallpaper.
What A Clockwork Orange might have been, including Mick Jagger as Alex.
Brian Eno on Barry Lyndon, his favorite film. Thanks Henry.
Loving montage work, described as a tribute to the greatest filmmaker of all time. Thanks Peter.
For future reference, a nice set of stills from 2001.
The Man Who Would Be Kubrick.
"Exploding diaphanous nebulosities." Douglas Trumbull talks about the special effects and early conceptual artwork for 2001. Via GreenCine Daily.
Portion of a Stanley Kubrick audio interview talking about his early days. Part 1, Part 2. From the 2001 Bluray DVD extras. Mandatory viewing.
Achewood vs. Kubrick.
Jason Kottke, Pablo Ferro, Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick.
Thanks to everyone who wrote in and helped us replenish our Stuff About Stanley Kubrick archives yesterday. Here's one more. In Dr. Strangelove Dr. Strangelove, Kristan Horton imitates the film with everyday items.
"I had to see." Gruber matches the shot to the aforementioned storyboard instructions.
OK, linked long ago, but worth another peek. For the seemingly large area where "graphic designers" and "Kubrick fans" overlap on a Venn diagram. Thanks GP. Prize on the way.
"I know how it is, Baby. Tell you what you do. You just start your countdown, and old Bucky'll be back here before you can say... Blast Off!"
Clockwork newspaper props.
"There is no other way to do it. Repeat. There is no other way." Fabulous find. A Shining storyboard frame with Kubrick's very specific notes. Thanks Anne. Prize on the way. Photo by Nick Poteri.
Main titles from Lolita, sumptuous music by Nelson Riddle.
June, 1968 Popular Science Magazine feature on the making of 2001. Also, Popular Mechanics on the same subject from April of 67.
The 2001 Spacesuit Restoration Project.
29 year old British illustrator Brian Sanders was on the 2001 set in 1966 and he had his sketchbook with him.
New Iconwerk site from Stefan Dziallas. Lovely. Especially "Pretty inspired by..." Via Chris Glass.
"...overhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out." From "The Nine Billion Names of God." Edward Rothstein on faith and Arthur C. Clarke. Thanks William.
Arthur C. Clarke has died at age 90. Here's a bit from his diary, written while working on 2001.
"Dawn of Man" from 2001 in Lego.
A nice compendium of links to various reflections on Stanley Kubrick from people who worked for and with him. Thanks Marshall.
Kubrickonia.
Still related to the last. our best guess is Aldo Novarese's 1952 Microgramma Bold Extended is the primary font in the HAL data screens. Ten years later, Novarese reworked the idea into the more popular Eurostile.
Related to the last, we did an experimental homage to the HAL data screens in a client project. You can see a bit of it at the beginning of our film Close Enough.
The Ministry of Type has some fun with HAL's data screens from 2001. The definitive tech article (Cinefex 85) recounts how they were created. Each individual screen had a corresponding, 16mm projector hidden across from it on the set.
Ten minutes of film-techiness about Barry Lyndon.
Stanley Kubrick: A Life In Pictures. Jan Harlan's documentary in its entirety. Jack Nicholson, "Everybody pretty much acknowledges he's the man, and I still feel that underrates him."
The Seafarers, Stanley Kubrick's third film and first in color. A dry but interesting (at least to SK geeks) work-for-hire effort from 1953. Rarely seen.
"There is a silence. 'Tony,' I say, 'can I look through the boxes?' I've been coming to the Kubrick house a couple of times a month ever since." Citizen Kubrick by Jon Ronson. A relink suggested by Jeevs and also an excuse to link our big Stuff About Stanley Kubrick archive.
A tee for the Kubrick fan, You have a Long Distance Call From HAL Dr. Floyd.
Looks like JC and KG should be making a trip to Rome to see the Stanley Kubrick exhibit at the Palazzo Delle Esposizoni.
Kubrick: A Marketing Odyssey by Mike Kaplan for The Guardian.
Discovered this evening, just in time to see 2001 projected, complete with an intermission.
"Neutral," a poster with notes, by Experimental Jetset. The quote about Kubrick and typography mentioned can be found in this Guardian article.
WNK recommends James Naremore's new book On Kubrick as "masterful." Cha-ching.
Here's what you're looking for Jay. If you went to the original London premiere of 2001: A Space Oddyssey in 1968 you would have been handed this printed program. It's historically significant for Kubrick freaks like ourselves and it's a great piece of design. Make sure to click on "contact sheets" to see the original document.
A few photos from the Clockwork Orange set. Thanks Dean.
"...events and situations that are most meaningful to people are those in which they are actually involved--and I'm convinced that this sense of personal involvement derives in large part from visual perception." Before they met and wrote Strangelove together, Terry Southern interviewed Stanley Kubrick for Esquire in 1962.
Looking through a box of stuff I found my copy of the best, most in-depth article anywhere on the technical aspects of making 2001. It is, unfortunately not online. But, you can still order the back-issue of Cinefex 85 for fifteen dollars. Required reading.
What's cut from the "final" edit of The Shining.
Jamie Stuart writes to confirm that the announced Kubrick DVDs are new HD transfers as Leon Vitali outlined in his interview with Jamie in the Reeler. Also, it's possible that the shorter European edit of The Shining may be included, as it was SK's final edit. Thanks for the info.
Ollie writes, "The most disturbing thing about this new DVD set is that it will be released in the 'original theatrical aspect ratio.' While this sounds like a very good thing, it is not in line with Kubrick's wishes." See this interview with SK's assistant Leon Vitali and also question 11 in the Visual Memory FAQ. A thorny problem.
New Kubrick DVD releases announced. Via Daring Fireball. Arrgh. The packaging is terrible. Where does that typeface for the 2001 come from? More importantly, are these new transfers? Who supervised? From what neg? Sheesh, the 2001 sleeve gives me a bad feeling about the whole thing. Hope I'm wrong. Bet I'm not. (The last "special editions," released in 2001, were a total disaster.)
Tangentially Kubrick related: spent some time today in Estes Park, Colorado at The Stanley Hotel, which was the inspiration for The Shining and was where Stephen King wrote it over a five month period.
Making of Strangelove doc, in five parts. Thanks Cyrus, prize on the way.
Homero montando la bomba atómica. Thanks Jeremy, prize on the way.
The real doomsday machine. Thanks Matthew, prize on the way.
Before Terry Southern got involved there was this script for Strangelove which includes the pie-fight and "is framed as a film within a film, made by extraterrestrials, no less." Thanks Dan, prize on the way.
Strangelove review including a handy "name to sexual connotation or reference chart." Thanks Laura, prize on the way.
Strangelove Slide Rule, a nuclear bomb effects computer. Thanks Sean, prize on the way.
New Scientist on The Real Dr. Strangelove. Thanks David, prize on the way.
"Just tell Stanley that New York does not see anything funny about the end of the world!" Notes from The War Room, screenwriter Terry Southern on Strangelove. Thanks Michael, prize on the way.
Seminal Image #314. Peace is our profession. Thanks Andrew, prize on the way.
Steven Heller on Pablo Ferro's work on the Strangelove title sequence. Thanks Gregory, your prize is on the way.
A detailed technical comparison of the various Strangelove DVD releases. Thanks Scott, your prize is on the way.
Frenetic, long-form Strangelove trailer and/or highlight reel.
Two Special Lenses for Barry Lyndon or "How the stringent demands of a purist-perfectionist film-maker led to the development of two valuable new cinematographic tools." A great first-hand film tech piece.
Scans from Jack Kirby's '70s adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey for Marvel Comics. Via Mefi.
A goofy but admirable re-enactment of a highly profane scene from Full Metal Jacket by Brandon Hardesty. Thanks Hanan.
"...he used to walk around the set with an Arriflex tube and just change lenses, look around, down, up, move away, move around. Once he found his first shot, he knew he could build the scene from that point." Stanley Kubrick actor and associate Leon Vitali looks back on 30 years of Barry Lyndon. in an exclusive interview in The Reeler.
"In six days God created the heaven and the earth. On the seventh day, Stanley Kubrick sent everything back for modifications." Dark Side of the Moon. Exceptionally well-crafted crackpottery parody. From Mr. Huff.
From the "people who like this sort of thing will find this exactly the sort of thing they like" department. 10,000 words on the editing and "missing" trims from 2001, A Taste of Blue Food by Thomas E, Brown and Phil Vendy.
Brendan Dawes describes his Swap Meat Exclusive, The 2001 Cinema Redux Print, as "the entire film, represented in a new visual form, a kind of cinematic DNA."
Underman's explanations of some of the wholly convincing yet baffling scenes from 2001: A Space Odyssey. An excellent read for Kubrick and film-tech geeks alike.
"The machine made no reply. It had nothing to say." Doing research on something imminent, I came across this transcription of a pre-production (1965) script for 2001: A Space Odyssey. Note the presence of a "Narrator" and the long, expository section at the end.
Extended clip from a Channel 4 documentary on 2001: A Space Odyssey. Must find the complete show.
"The revelation was that this enormous work, this celluloid thing, was made up of minutiae, and I could suddenly see it all, as though finally rubbing my fingers across the rough stone tiles of a mosaic I had only previously seen from afar." Michael Koresky on watching 2001, first on VHS and then projected.
Thanks to William N. Kilarjian for joining the list of Executive Producers on our current film project, 72° and also for giving us a heads-up on a new book of essays entitled Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey: New Essays by Robert Kolker. Cha-ching.
Heidi writes of her Cakework Orange, "When Malcolm McDowell attended a film festival in my small town last autumn, I made a dark chocolate cake saturated with cointreau, glazed with dark chocolate and topped with candied orange clockwork gears."
Daring Fireball makes note of The Kubrick Rubric, otherwise known as CRM114. Not content with John scooping us on anything SK-related, I found this illustration.
Filmmaker Mag on an odd mashup of Full Metal Jacket sound bites with a cheezy '80s back-beat. Apparently this comes from a surprising source.
"A voice-over spares you the cumbersome business of telling the necessary facts of the story through expositional dialogue scenes which can become very tiresome and frequently unconvincing?" SK on Barry Lyndon.
Perhaps SK heard this synthesized computer speech demonstration from 1963, especially the section about 30% of the way in. From a 1979 LP, First Philadelphia Computer Music Festival.
One Space Odyssey. Only perfect. Via John, whose wife gave him this most excellent book on the exact same day my wife gave it to me.
Darryl Mason's excellent article from 2000 on Stanley Kubrick's unmade Napoleon. A little effort can still find the incredible screenplay online. Napolean to Tallyrand, "What you are talking about is a gamble on moderation -- when I gamble, I prefer to gamble on force." Yowza.
In Clarke's novel of 2001, the Monolith is waiting on Iapetus, one of Saturn's distant moons. Well it turns out that this is "not one of the normal 'moons' of Saturn -- but is actually a 900-mile-wide, manufactured, ancient world-sized spaceship." Excellent Kubrick related crackpottishness but, of course, not the only example. Via Mefi.
Film of SK at the 1968 premiere of 2001: A Space Oddyssey. I believe this is the same night that a sweet printed program was distributed to the audience.
Oh yeah, Bittercinema's set of various images, promo pix and posters from 2001. How cool is this? Via the Goof.
"What if he's selling all our material to East European science fiction writers?" Ian Watson's Plumbing Stanley Kubrick, the complete memoir, previously excerpted in Playboy.
Apparently SK commissioned a film treatment from noir pulp novelist Jim Thompson in the late 1950s called Lunatic at Large. It may yet be put in front of a camera. [reg req] Thanks Kevin.
"In 1984 Stanley Kubrick placed an ad in Variety requesting audition tapes from unknown actors for his next movie, Full Metal Jacket. This is allegedly one of those tapes." The emphasis is on 'allegedly,' but it's glorious either way. Via Mefi.
Related to the last. A great film-tech interview with John Alcott on SK and Barry Lyndon.
NPR story on the 'Toynbee Tiles' Mystery with a 2001 connection in Philly. If I were investigating, I'd question Gruber first.
Bubblegumfink's Clockwork Orange trading cards. Ha. Here's the pack wrap. Next up, maybe this?
"Even today, people come up to me and tell me how gripping it was when I refused to open the pod-bay doors." Interview with HAL 9000.
"To this day, however, Stanley Kubrick's brilliant work on the Apollo missions remains both unsurpassed and - regrettably - uncredited."
Regarding yesterday's post on 'The Cult of Kubrick,' the man's obsession with detail is not lost on his fans. For example, this quick thread, sparked by a flag hanging in the background of the room where Dr. Floyd addresses the meeting about the situation on Clavius, in 2001.
"By remaining intensely private and secretive on the fringes of an industry built upon public exposure, the notion of Kubrick-as-auteur fostered a 'cult of personality' by his very refusal to exploit the limelight occupied more comfortably by other prominent directors." Long-winded but frequently insightful dissertation on The Cult of Kubrick.
Visiting the Traverse City Film Festival at the end of the month seems like a very good idea. You up for a trip John?
To go along with Day of the Fight, the very early Stanley Kubrick project, recently found online, we also note The Flyng Padre from 1951. Tons more in our Stuff About Stanley Kubrick archive including this Chicago photo assignment, completed just before he started on these films.
Can't post a string of SK links without this. If you went to the original London premiere of 2001: A Space Oddyssey in 1968 you would have been handed this printed program. It's historically significant for Kubrick freaks like ourselves and it's a great piece of design. (Make sure to click on "contact sheets" to see the original document). Let us know if you ever see it on eBay. We won't stop bidding until it is ours.
As opposed to the last, a very unKubrickian trailer for Lolita.
The Trailer.
While we're at it, here's Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, in a short, relatively recent interview about the making of 2001.
The man at the premiere of 2001, talking about other life in the universe. Via GCD.
Kubrick A to Z at Visual Memory, which also houses the holiest of relics, the original cinema program for 2001 from 1968. Via Morning News.
"Will all the Stanley Kubricks please be quiet and eat their lunch." Colour Me Kubrick (trailer doesn't seem to work on the main page, but does on the "Videos" tab). More info, in English, here.
The First Philadelphia Computer Music Festival was held August 25, 1978 as part of the Personal Computing show. Of particular note to SK fans is the very last track, recorded in 1963. Thanks to Mark Simonson.
Gen. Jack D. Ripper was right: Children at Risk From High Fluoride Levels . Via AdFreak.
Shooting script from A Clockwork Orange, a screenplay by Stanley Kubrick. September 7, 1970.
Making the guess that the Pennsylvania Tourism Office is, for some strange, convoluted reason, trying to cash in on that Shining parody edit from a few months back. Either that, or they've just got some interesting ideas for viral vids (either way, it's working, because there's the link, right?)
Saatchi's inside joke targeted towards the seemingly large area where "graphic designers" and "Kubrick fans" overlap on a venn diagram, thanks Kottke and Jamie.
"Stanley not only rigged set-ups; he also cropped his pics to make them more dramatic. His pleasure was the systematic defeat of commonplace expectations..." Frederic Raphael's Guardian review of a new book of Stanley Kubrick's photography, Drama and Shadows. Via GCD.
Continuing with this recent trend of re-edited films, here is Jeff Yorkes' particularly clever "2002", a music vid using "2001" cut to Mellow's "Fantastic." Make sure to also check out the "Citizen Kane" and "Misery" music vids.
Roland writes to tell us about the publication of a book detailing the discarded prologue to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
"One of the most extraordinary collections in film history is coming to London. The extensive archives of Stanley Kubrick, maverick director of 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange, are to be housed at the capital's University of the Arts from next summer."
David finds the Nadsat lexicon from Clockwork. Or, how to chumble like a droog
Kevin relinks Stanley Kubrick's Chicago.
Kevin cites John Malkovich in Colour Me Kubrick.
David points us to Michael Beirut's essay "Stanley Kubrick and the Future of Graphic Design".
John writes, "Just type the magic word "kubrick" into the search field at krusch.com, and be prepared to find out about the many facets of the man mystery kubricks' movies. it includes the remarkable reflections of the 15 year old Margaret Stackhouse on 2001. the entire Krusch FAQ is an asset to any Kubrick maniac." Bill and Leonard both pointed to the Krusch DB too.
Hodaka writes, "Rocked up to Day Two of Rprsnt Design Conference here in Sydney, one of the guest speakers was this guy Pablo Ferro... He's done the titles designs for some of my all-time favourite movies ... Bullit & Dr Strangelove and the list goes on. He also contributed to some of the original trailer promos for A Clockwork Orange."
Fellow Kubrickian John Gruber points us to this fax to The Times by SK, from January 17, 1994.
"Cyberpunk is garage science fiction, so it's not surprising that Pattern Recognition should extend the metaphor to the movies, and posit the existence of a 'Garage Kubrick', a film director turning out cinematic masterpieces somewhere at the other end of an internet link with no more materials than a couple of computers in a curtained room."
We can't do this Kubrick thing without relinking this. Filmbrain has found a link to a PDF of Stanley Kubrick's 1969 Napolean screenplay, including production notes. Napoleon to Tallyrand, "What you are talking about is a gamble on moderation -- when I gamble, I prefer to gamble on force." Sweet Jesus.
JQuinn finds another conspiracy theory, this one involving EWS and the Illuminati and also this link to Wendy Carlos' score for A Clockwork Orange.
Justin points to these hi-res stills, Stanley Kubrick 1929-1999.
Michael, who wrote this piece on The Killing, says, "Subterranean Cinema has scans of the original Mad Magazine parody A Crockwork Lemon. I remember reading this parody as a kid, and it had a lot to do with turning me onto Kubrick!"
Francis wrote this scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey as if it were written by David Mamet and he also sends us a link to this fan-made, theoretical "Kubrick edit" remix of AI.
Jennie writes, "Here's a story written by Ian Watson in 2000 about helping Stanley Kubrick write AI. Fascinating insight into how the man lives and thinks and also a must-bookmark page: each month's TV listings for Kubrick films on cable."
David writes, "I'm willing to bet you've seen this, but who can't benefit from seeing it again: The Shining reenacted in thirty seconds by cartoon bunnies."
Blake writes, "HAL hath no fury."
Jeff points to The greatest movie Stanley Kubrick never made and The Flying Padre.
From Stuart, "During the winter
months of 1983 and 1984, I spent time in London helping Stanley get computerized."
Trevor writes, "Stanley Kubrick involved in the production and direction of the NASA moon landings!?"
There's been a lot of talk about this fun mashup trailer for The Shining. We thought we ought to take a moment to consider perhaps the greatest trailer ever made.
The man himself wasn't much for explaining anything but that didn't stop this crew. Kubrick 2001: The space odyssey explained. Updated and translated. Thanks Brendan.
Zeiss specialty lenses, candlelight and Barry Lyndon. Great filmtech article by Ed DiGiulio from American Cinematographer.
2001. Bill Gibron loves it now and that's all that matters. Via GCD.
The Kubrick Site. Uh huh.
Restored 35mm print of Spartacus tonight at The Siskel.
If you want to be like JC or John Gruber from Daring Fireball, then meet a pretty girl, get married, have some kids and then you might receive this beauty for Father's Day.
The Trib [reg req] on Stanley Kubrick in Chicago taking pictures in 1949. Via Andrew at Gapers Block.
Stop Smiling Q&A with Alison Castle and Anthony Frewin, editor and writer of the just published "The Stanley Kubrick Archives" from Taschen.
Omni Magazine, May 1993. "And when at last, at the end of March 1968, the MGM bosses finally got to see what they'd put their money into - 2001: A Space Odyssey - they couldn't figure out if they were looking at the biggest disaster in MGM's history or at one of the greatest movies ever made."
A famous piece of film history, slowly disappearing. Via Things.
Sheila Johnston talks to Korean director E J Yong about Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. [reg req]
"I flinch at those stories about crazy Stanley." Sean O'Hagan interviews Christiane Kubrick for The Observer.
Great, rambling interview with Terry Southern on co-writing Strangelove and Kubrick. "Stanley's 'writing plan' proved to be a dandy. At five A.M., the car would arrive, a large black Bentley, with a back seat the size of a small train compartment -- two fold-out desk tops, perfect over the-left-shoulder lighting, controlled temperature, dark gray windows. In short, an ideal no-exit writing situation." The result of those sessions.
The sets of "Dr. Strangelove" faithfully recreated using household objects (click through the intro page to get to the features menu). Via Waxy.
Oh boy oh boy oh boy. There goes $200. Taschen's new book on Kubrick. "The first book to explore Stanley Kubrick’s archive" looks gorgeous, with lots of sketches, designs, etc. Via BB.
"All Stanley Kubricks please be quiet and eat their lunch."
Beethoven's birtHDay comes around like clockwork. In honor, Dooby-Doo, a few posters (especially this one), and the script. Plus a longish, fascinating interview with SK by Michel Ciment during which he says "Unless you want a pop score, I don't see any reason not to avail yourself of the great orchestral music of the past and present. This music may be used in its correct form or synthesized, as was done with the Beethoven for some scenes in A Clockwork Orange. But there doesn't seem to be much point in hiring a composer who, however good he may be, is not a Mozart or a Beethoven..."
"August 19. Writing all day. Two thousand words exploring Jupiter's satellites. Dull work." Arthur Clarke's 2001 Diary. "October 1. Stanley phoned with another ending." Great stuff. Thanks Richard.
Nice summary post by Justin Ouellette about the cinematography of Kubrick's Barry Lyndon and the specialty Zeiss lens used in the film. More in an article by Ed DiGiulio from Amercian Cinematographer Magazine. Via JK and Andrew Synowiez.
Glossary of NADSAT Language from A Clockwork Orange. Via Eye of the Goof.
Dr. Seltsam. Found amid tons of good stuff at Kubrick Film Art, part if the comprehensive Kubrick Multimedia Film Guide from Patrick J. Larkin.
Alison Castle previews her forthcoming book, The Stanley Kubrick Archives, from Taschen. Part One of the book is structured as a series of images, "from the opening sequence of Killer’s Kiss to the final frames of Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick’s complete films will be presented chronologically and wordlessly via frame enlargements. A completely nonverbal experience." Oh boy. Via Green Cine Daily.
Japanese Clockwork Orange poster. Spectacular.
We have lots of the same categories as everyone else in our archives, film, science, etc. And then we have Stuff About Stanely Kubrick. That all started with this entry pointing to the printed prgram from the London premeire of 2001 and it's well worth another peek. Make sure to click on 'contact sheets' to see the original document in context.
Quick note on the Kubrick/Napoleon thing. A couple months ago we hooked up Jon Ronson's excellent piece in the Guardian about being let loose among the director's archive of materials, including a cabinet full of 25,000 index cards, each noting a specific incident in Napoleon's life. Ronson writes, "'Who made up the cards?' I ask. 'Stanley,' answers Tony [an employee at the Kubrick Estate] 'With some assistants.' 'How long did it take?' I ask. 'Years,' says Tony. 'The late 1960s.'"
All work stops immediately. Productivity drains to zero. Hit 'Do Not Disturb' on the phone. Close door. Somebody in LaGrange find Kevin Guilfoile and get him to a computer. Now. Deep breath. Filmbrain has found a link to a PDF of Stanley Kubrick's 1969 Napolean screenplay, including production notes and it took me three damn weeks to stumble across it. Napolean to Tallyrand, "What you are talking about is a gamble on moderation -- when I gamble, I prefer to gamble on force." Sweet Jesus.
Some guys might want Roberto Clemente's bat or William Faulkner's notebook. I want this. Thanks Mike.
Full interview with Joe Dunton: camera, lens and grip supplier to Stanley Kubrick. Great for Kubrick geeks and/or film-tech geeks. Thanks for the note Thomas.
"Two years after his death, Jon Ronson was invited to the Kubrick estate and let loose among the fabled archive." Citizen Kubrick from The Guardian. Required reading. Plus, Envisioning Kubrick an exhibition at the Deutsches Filmmuseum in Frankfurt. Thanks M.
The coolest thing I've seen in, like, forever. Via K.
How Douglas Trumbull went about generating the "stargate" scenes in '2001: A Space Odyssey.' Martin Kelly has put together this guide for the more technically- challenged among us. Via Incoming Signals
A script has surfaced for Stanley Kubrick's long-planned but never made film biography of Napoleon. There has periodically been talk of someone making the film but more likely we'll see it as a book first.
2001: A Space Odyssey explained with Flash.
There's a new edition of Stanley Kubrick, A Visual Analysis out, the only book of it's kind to have been written with Kubrick's cooperation. Although the book was first published in 1971, Kubrick, just before his death, permitted the use of illustrations from his original film frames to be made for this edition.
2001: A Lego Odyssey.
Combining two of our obsessions: Kubrick and poster art, here's a cool site with lots of promotional art, both domestic and international, from Kubrick's films.
Essential 2001 resource at palantir.net. Thanks to designbivouac.
Digital Bits has a terrific interview with Leon Vitali, Stanley Kubrick's assistant and Warner Bros.' technical consultant on the new Kubrick DVD collection. Lots of interesting light shed here.
Don't watch TV? You can still see the new AI spots here and here.
The New Stanley Kubrick Collection (which hopes to satisfy us Kubrick geeks who were annoyed by the first attempt) is available for preorder at Amazon. Restored picture, digitally remastered sound in Dolby 5.1, and at least a few of the films are now in widescreen. Eyes Wide Shut is the R-rated American version, though, with the dumb pixelated heads in front of the naughty parts. Complete details and tech here.
A look back through our archives reveals an obsession with the work of Stanley Kubrick and 2001: A Space Odyssey. That obsession was fed this weekend by a revealing look into the making of the film in the current Cinefex magazine. This special effects and modeling work was done before reliable motion-control even existed and some wireframe animations on the Discoveryís control screens were shot using real wire. Unfortunately the text of the piece is not available online, but issue 85 is worth every cent of the $9 that it costs at the newsstand.
As Kubrick week continues for no particular reason, here's a cool site with photos and descriptions of shooting locations in every Kubrick film.
"Please make me a real boy." New AI trailer at countingdown.
Stanley Kubrick fans like us were quite disappointed by the much ballyhooed "Kubrick Collection" on DVD. Warner Brothers claims that it was Kubrick's idea to release all his movies in mono and in full-screen format (as opposed to wide screen). A little hard to swallow, but rumor is there's another, fully remastered collection on its way.
Great design at kubrick.org. (I'm going to link this site every time.)
"His love is real, but he is not." Official AI site.
Tease trailer for AI is up.
The official site for A.I., Steven Spielberg's movie from Stanley Kubrick's treatment of the Brian Aldiss story, Supertoys Last All Day Long. Much anticipated here. Much more info at Corona.
Find a Jobjewelboxing
Our professional-grade, short-run DVD/CD packaging system. Here's a bit from the latest Jewelboxing weblog entry:
"My favorite part about Jewelboxing is how professional and sturdy they are, with neither form nor function sacrificed." Read the entire post.
