Director Stanley Kubrick, age 24, shooting “Fear and Desire.”
“Fear and Desire” (1953) directed, produced and edited by a then barely known talent, a 24 year-old filmmaker named Stanley Kubrick, comes to Blu-ray and DVD this week. Kubrick, of course, would go on to direct such films as “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968), “A Clockwork Orange” (1971), “Barry Lyndon” (1975), “The Shining” (1980), and others.
Kubrick, then an unproven commodity, did not have a large budget for “Fear and Desire.” He smartly chose a story that would conform well to his low budget aesthetic. The story of “Fear and Desire” involves a group of American soldiers, one of whom is played by a very young Paul Mazursky (director and actor), trapped behind enemy lines during World War II. All that was needed were some actors in uniform out in the woods and minimal indoor sets. Read the rest of this entry
Ryan O’Neal and Marisa Berenson in Stanley Kubrick’s 1975 masterpiece “Barry Lyndon”
On June 22, 25 and 27 at 12:15, the Film Society of Lincoln Center will present a digitally restored showing of Stanley Kubrick’s 1975 film “Barry Lyndon.” The presentation will be in DCP (Digital Cinema Package) which is becoming the industry standard for projection of new and classic films. DCP uses cutting-edge technology to scan 35mm film negatives into digital files and then plays them back, from a computer hard drive, at stunning 2K or 4K resolution. The result is sound and image that rivals or surpasses even the best quality 35mm prints.
I am often asked to name my favorite movie, a formidable question considering how many movies I have seen. I always come up with the same answer, “Barry Lyndon.” I first saw “Barry Lyndon” at the age of 13 when my parents took me to see it during its opening week at the Ziegfeld Theatre in Manhattan. The Ziegfeld, along with the Paris, and thankfully the Film Society’s Walter Reade Theatre, is one of the last of the city’s great single screen movie theatres. I had never seen a movie like “Barry Lyndon” before and I certainly had never seen a movie theatre like the Ziegfeld. If you have not seen a movie there, go. Read the rest of this entry
A 24-year-old Stanley Kubrick shooting "Fear and Desire."
From March 21 – April 1 the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art will present the 41st annual “New Directors/New Films” series. The festival is dedicated to showcasing emerging filmmaking talent on an international scale. This year’s festival will screen 29 feature length films (24 narratives, five documentaries), as well as 12 short films, representing a total of 28 countries. Read the rest of this entry
Ryan O'Neal and Marisa Berenson in "Barry Lyndon."
On December 30 at 7:00 and January 1 at 6:00 the Museum of the Moving Image, in Astoria, will present a restored 35mm print of Stanley Kubrick’s 1975 film “Barry Lyndon.” The presentation is part of “See it Big,” the museum’s screening series of movies meant to be seen on a big screen. (more…)
Director Alexander Payne
On October 15 the New York Film Festival presented “On Cinema: Alexander Payne,” in which the director (“Election,” “About Schmidt,” “Sideways” and the soon to be released “The Descendants”) talked about influential films in his life. The event was sponsored by HBO, moderated by NYFF Selection Committee Chairman Richard Pena and took place in the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater.
Payne proved to be an affable, frank and intelligent subject who frequently turned Pena’s questions around, playfully shooting them back at his interviewer. Interspersed throughout the talk, Payne showed clips from four influential films: Anthony Mann’s “The Naked Spur,” Michelangelo Antonioni’s “La Notte,” Martin Scorsese’s “Casino” and Akira Kurosawa’s “Red Beard.” Payne also brought a 16m print of an early film by director Carroll Ballard, “The Perils of Priscilla,” a lively, imaginative short which showed the world from the point of view of an abandoned house cat. Payne said it was one of the best movies ever made. Read the rest of this entry
