The Story of Temple Drake (1933)

 A short review.  Based on Faulkner's trashy,  written for a quick-buck,  novel Sanctuary,  Temple Drake is a trashy, made for a quick-buck movie.  Overall, it's not badly acted, Miriam Hopkins is quite good, but several of the supporting players would be more at home in silent pictures. The camera work and direction is unremarkable to say the least.  There's not much else to say.  The story was shocking and risque in the 30s,  and isn't now.  And without the "shocking" sex, there's not much else.  Summary: For Film Historians only.  Released by Criterion for some reason. 

Paths of Glory - Book vs. Movie

 Although Humphry Cobb's 1935 novel been adapted into a Broadway play,  Kubrick's 1957 film was the first  -and only - movie adaption.  I may write in more detail, but for now I'll just summarize the differences as follows:

The Expanded Role of Col Dax  

In the novel, Col Dax is just one of 8 main characters and pretty much disappears after the decision to go ahead with the Court Martial.  He's regular army officer, not a lawyer. Given that his producer and box office star Kirk Douglas was playing the part, Kubrick had to expand the role. So Kubrick and Harris (his co-screenwriter) did the following:

• Movie Dax was changed to a Reserve Office and prewar defense lawyer.  This allows Movie Dax to become the defense lawyer at the Court martial.  The  novel's Captain Etienne is eliminated. 
• Movie Dax leads the attack on the anthill. In the novel, the attack is headed a Major, the Battalion commander. Further,  Movie Dax takes over the roles of several other inferior officers. Douglas orders Roget to go on patrol and receives his report.  Later, Douglas orders Roget to head the firing squad and also tells the sergeant to let them stay in the Cafe for a while. The Regiment seems to be run by Douglas personally. 
• Kubrick adds a subplot related to the general ordering a barrage on his own troops.  The artillery officer gives Movie Dax a written statement saying so.  Douglas then confronts Adolphe Menjou  and demands the men be freed or else.  Later, Menjou offers Douglas a Generalship which Movie Dax turns down in a burst of anger.  None of this is in the novel - which ends with the execution.  Further, in the novel, the artillery officer says nothing, since he never fired on the troops and received no written orders. 

Other Changes

• The film makes the attack seem more dramatic. In the novel, nobody can advance behind the French wire, the Germans' lay down a barrage and machine gun fire and prevent any forward movement.
• The closing café scene is pure Kubrick
• The Characters of General Assolant (Macready) and De Guerville (Menjou) are made more deranged and sinister. In the novel, the attack has been ordered by Joffre and is considered a necessary prerequisite to the upcoming General offensive. An "assault division" is required. so Assolant is given the job.  Assolant protests his Division is tired and understrength but eventually agrees since he's a "fighting General".  The same is true of Col Dax.  He protests, but he's regular army and orders are orders. 
• The General's chit chat with the soldiers was added by Kubrick.  As is the slapping of a soldier for shell shock. 
• Kubrick makes Col Dax into a liberal civilian in uniform,  Movie Dax calls Menjou a "degenerate old man"  and tells Macready "Patriotism is the last refuge of the Scoundrel".  In fact Douglas is so contemptuous of patriotism and the military you wonder why he's in the army.
• Kubrick shows Ralph Meeker as an innocent victim. In the novel, his character tries to shoot Lt. Roget while on patrol
• In the novel, the prisoner who attacks the Priest has his leg broken by the guards. Kubrick changes this to Ralph Meeker hitting the man on the head.  Later, Kubrick shows the Priest comforting a soldier on the way to the execution. I suppose this was soften the attack on the Priest. 

Clockwork Orange (1971)

Writing about Kubrick films is difficult, because while he was obviously a great Director and  produced movies with great scenes ( cf: HAL the computer,  The boot camp with Lee Emerick, the attack on "The anthill" etc.)  his movies are, on the whole, unsatisfying.  The great scenes are usually accompanied with  unengaging characters, simple-simon plots, and a lack of humanity.  Such is the case with Clockwork Orange.

We have *individual* violent or nasty scenes  of great power.

 The gang rape and fight, the singing in the rain rape, the murder using a plastic penis, etc.  The set design is creative and memorable even if it often verges on the pornographic. Yet, everything after Alec's arrest is dull as dishwater. As Ebert says  the last 1/3 of the movie seems like the last 1/2.  Equally dull are every interaction between Alec and his gang or his home life.  

The Shocking Violence - not so shocking anymore

In 1971  many critics were shocked by the violence and found Kubrick's sympathetic portrait of a rapist-killer disturbing.  Now, 50 years later, of course, we've all become so jaded with violence, sex and torture porn (cf: Game of Thrones) that Clockwork Orange seems almost restrained. 

The Leading Character Book vs. The Movie

Kubrick seems to have loved taking famous books, written in first person narrative, and turning them into movies. Lolita, Barry Lyndon, and Clockwork Orange all have "Monsters" narrating their adventures (usually unreliably) and doing so in great literary style.  None of this can be translated to the film. So, Kubrick ends up giving us unengaging lead characters.  We can't sympathize or identify with them, they're objectively awful.  And their actions when translated to film, have to be shown literally. We don't have an author filtering their actions through a lens of irony or humor.  The result? On film - they're either disgusting or dull.  

There's a big hole in middle of Clockwork Orange

We have a unsympathetic lead character that's in every scene, and he's impossible to care about.  We end up observing him - like looking at a bug on glass.  And that can be boring. Nor does the story about his "cure" hold any interest. So what's left?  Just various scenes of violence, rape, and perversion.  Which are well done from a technical standpoint.

Summary:  This was my second viewing of Clockwork Orange and my opinion hasn't improved. Outside of some well done "sex and violence" there was nothing that kept me interested.  All the greatness of the novel has been lost, and the last 1/3 is incredibly dull.  One of Kubrick's biggest misfires. Rating **

The Joker (2019)

 A short review.  Its well acted and the set design (recreating a dingy 70s NY type city)  was quite well done. But  I stopped watching after one hour. Too depressing. Too dark.  Too much mental illness.  And what's the point? This isn't real life. Its a Comic book character!  I watch movies to enjoy myself - not suffer.  For those who do, this might be what they want. Rating **

Blade Runner 2049

 A short review.  Great visuals.  Good world building.  Poor Script.  Dull Characters.  3 Hours of pretty pictures - and not much else. 

Eyes Wide Shut

 Kubrick's last film  Based on the 1926 Arthur Schnitzler novella "Rhapsody" adapted for the Screen by Frederick Raphael.  Its unclear exactly why Kubrick was drawn to this story. But he follows the novella's plot closely - except for moving the story to NYC 1991*. After a fight with his wife, a NYC Doctor visits a prostitute and gets involved in a secret society.  Beautifully photographed with a nude Nicole Kidman, the film is a visual delight and a triumph of set design. 

Unfortunately, the story is dull, the screenplay witless, and the characters unengaging. To offset two unlikable lead characters, Kubrick casts Superstars in the roles.  Who cares if they're self-absorbed,  vulgar, dope-smoking yuppies?  Its Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman!  Other flaws: The film's far too long for the thin story (30 minutes could be cut), and Kubrick compounds the lack of plot by having everyone talk extremely slow and giving us dull filler scenes of  Cruise walking around,  ordering coffee, and knocking on doors.

The Acting

Kubrick was never known for his skill with actors.  Unlike say, Welles or Kazan, its hard to remember a Kubrick movie where the actors have a substantial, memorable dramatic interchange. Kubrick's focus is usually on the action and if there's any verbal fireworks its usually black comedy or a talking computer.  The idea of Kubrick doing Shakespeare in unthinkable.  And this hampers Eyes Wide Shut

For example,  its almost painful to watch the key scene where Cruise's "Friend" Sidney Pollack discloses he's "one of them" and tells Cruise what's "Really going on".  Not only are both mediocre actors,  they talk EXTREMELY slow.  And Pollack is charisma-free and bland**, while Cruise can't overcome his limited vocal range and acting skills.  Like Kirk Douglas, Cruise has only 2 or 3 ways to express an emotion, and that's all he's got. Its obvious that Kubrick did nothing to improve either performance. 

In any case, the story itself isn't worth 2.5 hours.  Schnitzer is relatively unknown in the USA for good reason. His stories are dated and somewhat bland. I suppose Kubrick jumped at the chance to film an orgy scene and do some soft porn. Like war, horror, and SF, sex always sells.  Bookending Cruise's walk on the wild side, is some back and forth between Kidman and Cruise about their sexual desires and marriage. But Kubrick isn't Eli Kazan or Ingmar Bergman and its all rather boring.

Summary:  Like all Kubrick films,  Eyes Wide shut is worth at least one viewing  -if only for the well done cinemaphotography, set design.  Best seen on DVD, where you can FF past the numerous dull parts.  Rating ** 1/2   

Notes

* = its remarkable how closely Kubrick hews to the original story, down to individual scenes and actions. For example, the doctor reads about the prostitutes death in café, the exact same thing happens in the movie. The only real difference is the novella is written from the Doctor's point of view. The movie adds additional stand-alone scenes for Kidman.

** = the enthusiasm for Pollack by some reviewers astounds me.  Pollack's terrible. He's always terrible. That's why he was director! Interestingly enough, Pollack replaced Harvey Keitel, who in turn, was chosen when Kubrick's first choice turned down the role.  His first choice? Woody Allen! 

100 Comedies

1. A New Leaf 
2. A Taxing Woman 
3. After Hours
4. Airplane
5. All About Eve
6. American Graffiti
7. Animal Crackers
8. Austin Powers: International Man
9. Awful Truth
10. Back to the Future
11. Ball of Fire
12. Bank Dick
13. Barcelona
14. Barton Fink
15. Beat the Devil  
16. Best in Show
17. Big Lewbowski
18. Bringing Up Baby
19. Caddyshack 
20. Captain’s Paradise
21. Christmas Carol
22. City Lights
23. Claire's Knee
24. Clerks
25. Dinner at Eight
26. Divorce - Italian Style
27. Donovan's Reef
28. Duck Soup
29. Father of the Bride 
30. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 
31. Fish Called Wanda
32. Flim-Flam Man 
33. General, The
34. Genevieve
35. Great McGinty
36. Groundhog Day 
37. Hail the Conquering Hero
38. Home Alone 
39. Hot Shots 
40. I'm all right jack
41. Importance of Being Earnest
42. It Happened One Night 
43. It's a Gift
44. It's a Mad Mad Mad World
45. Kind Hearts and Coronets
46. Lady Eve
47. Lady Killers
48. Lavender Hill Mob
49. Le Million
50. Libeled Lady 
51. Life of Brian
52. Life with Father
53. Limelight
54. Love and Death
55. Love Finds Andy Hardy 
56. M. Hulots Holiday
57. Man in the White Suit
58. Manhattan
59. Midnight
60. Mon Uncle
61. Monty Python & Holy Grail
62. More the Merrier
63. Muppets take Manhattan
64. Naked Gun
65. National Lampoon's Vacation
66. Never give a Sucker an Even Break
67. Nutty Professor 
68. Pale Face
69. Palm Beach Story
70. Parent Trap
71. Passport to Pimlico
72. Pillow Talk
73. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
74. Princess and the Pirate
75. Quiet Man
76. Repo Man
77. Road to Morocco
78. Road to Utopia 
79. Royal Tenenbaums
80. Sabrina
81. Safety Last
82. Shall We Dance? 
83. Shop around the Corner,
84. Sleeper
85. Some Like It Hot
86. Sons of the Desert
87. Speedy
88. Stardust Memories
89. Sullivan's Travels
90. Sunshine Boys
91. Team America:  World Police 
92. There’s Something About Mary  
93. That Darn Cat!
94. Tootsie
95. Top Secret
96. Trouble in Paradise
97. Twentieth Century
98. Whisky Galore
99. Winne the Pooh & the Blustery day
100. Young Frankenstein