Q&A Pt. 1: Sexy Time, Big Scares, Grace Casting, Favorite Kubrick
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 10:00PM 
As an apology for always taking so damn long with these Q & A columns, I'm doing two this week, but shorter just so I can get some questions done. I'm glad the feature is so popular so thanks for your patience when your questions aren't selected or delayed a week. Here we go. You asked. I select eight to answer... for now. Part Two in a day or three.
MARK: Do you think the success of The Help and Bridesmaids will get more female oriented films made, black or white?
Sadly I do not. It's actually not that rare for a female-driven film to become a big success. Everyone in positions of power just has collective amnesia about it the following year or assumes that it's a novelty even though novelty should imply "one off" and not something that occurs pretty much a couple of times a year. ;)
KOKOLO: What is your favorite Kubrick film?
I haven't been a completist about everyone's favorite director but mine. But of those that I've seen my preference is The Shining. I don't like the ending very much but otherwise I love everything about it and I think it's spectacularly creepy. But this could be because I saw it in a spectacularly creepy way for a first time in (wait for it) a cabin in the woods without another house around for miles, surrounded by the pitch black of a forest. I was SO scared. And don't you think that the circumstances in which you first view a movie have a real longlasting impact on you (provided it's a great movie to begin with)?
As for Kubrick in general, I find his films somewhat alienating which I suppose is the point but he's just not a favorite of mine. We're all allowed our off-consensus feelings about "the masters" aren't we? I actively dislike Eyes Wide Shut (1999), hate its faux shocking orgy sequence and cheesy-ass pay cable looking fantasies and the molasses performance beats drive me utterly wild... not in the good way. No, I don't even like Kidman in it very much. I keep meaning to give it a second chance but... every time I see a scene out of context I hate it all over again. I do however worship the opening sequence with Nicole Kidman stripping in front of the mirror.
But because I have never written about Kubrick I will now allow of you to choose one of the following (I skipped ones I didn't feel like writing about) and I will rent and write about whichever one you choose before the end of November. Drum roll... GO!
BIA: Which actresses would you put on a shortlist for this new Grace Kelly movie?
Please god no. We don't need this movie! Unless it's an alternate reality fantasy in which Kelly loses the Oscar to Garland. Hee. But in all seriousness, I did look at my list of actresses in the right age range -- yes I keep age range lists like I'm some casting director! I am an actress nerd. I couldn't come up with anyone suitable - Grace Kelly was 25 at the peak of her movie fame and 27 when she married the prince and retired. [If you're curious some blondes in the 20something age range -- I'm not endorsing them just listing them...
Grace casting, Sexy & Scary movies and more after the jump...
(young side) Margo Robie from Pan Am, Elizabeth Olsen (who you know they'll be considering for every single movie now); (mid 20s) Amber Heard, Dianna Agron, Amanda Seyfried, ScarJo. (late 20s early 30s) Kate Bosworth, Bijou Phillips, Sienna Miller
Grace Kelly | Romola Garai
I couldn't come up with anyone with the right mix of acting chops, beauty, and high-end sophistication (they have to read moneyed, don't they?) but if you put me at gun point right this second I'd go with Romola Garai.
UPDATE: Can i change my answer to Rosamund Pike suggested by squasher in the comments. What a great idea if we must have a Grace bio.
If I were the casting directors I would do a worldwide search and pray for a great unknown. But the reason I choose Garai is that a) she can act and b) like an unknown she doesn't yet have a defined star persona and I personally feel that the practice of using full blown stars to imitate other stars is weird because you want the actor to be in service to the legend and not to have two star personas clashing.
JON: As a Michelle Pfeiffer fan, would you nominate her wonderful performance in Batman Returns? And would you place her in lead or supporting?
I always assume that I would place her in lead and chuck her Love Field performance but this would be a rare time I'd be willing to cheat a bit and call her supporting. I'm not sure. I always think of her as a lead but that might be because I literally only watch her scenes when I watch the movie and have done so for as long as I can remember so it seems to me that her part is even bigger than Michael Keaton's ;)
And yes, I'd want to give her an Oscar for it. I think she should have three Oscars (The Fabulous Baker Boys, Batman Returns and White Oleander) by now.
MANUEL: This may be a first but here it cums: which movie has made you horny?
LOL. Uh... not sure I should answer this one but two college rentals with significant others came to mind. Once after watching The Fabulous Baker Boys with a girlfriend--- uh... NO I CAN'T DO IT! But one of the sexiest things I've ever seen onscreen is that moment when Jeff Bridges slips his hands under Pfeiffer's red dress while rubbing her neck. That whole movie is just wonderfully adult. There was also a certain problem of late fees with Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book for which we must blame Ewan McGregor and all of that body painting and a brand new boyfriend. Those are the first two that come to mind but only because the effect was so, uh, pronounced. This is embarrassing. But obviously any movie works if you're hot for the person you're watching it with, right?
Wait. I retract. Do not take someone you want to f*** to Shame; no happy endings are likely to follow.
Six of the sexiest things I've ever seen onscreen: Ewan McGregor in the 90s, Kathleen Turner toying with William Hurt through a window in Body Heat, "the twins" in Burnt Money, Cheerleader Bello in A History of Violence, Julie Christie post coital in Don't Look Now, and Pfeiffer's back massage in Fabulous Baker Boys
Other super sexy time movies: Any Almodóvar movie but especially Law of Desire and Tie Me Up Tie Me Down!, Any Wong Kar Wai movie but especially In the Mood for Love and 2046, any movie wherein Gene Kelly smiles, Any movie wherein Catherine Deneuve tosses her hair, Also: Body Heat, Burnt Money, A Place in the Sun, Love Songs, Y Tu Mama Tambien, From Here To Eternity, A History of Violence (Viggo & Bello. I could watch them be married in 10 more movies, couldn't you?)
MARIO: Please, give me your top five favorite horror movies from this decade!
My favorites from the past decade are American Psycho (2000) which should've won Christian Bale the Oscar; I loved 28 Days Later (2002) at the time but it spawned so many mindless imitators that I sort of hate it in retrospect. So tired of zombies!; Speaking of... I went to a Halloween party that was showing Dawn of the Dead (2004) in the background (without the sound) and, true story, I was so impressed with the camera-work, editing and staging of that early all hell breaking loose segment that I went out and rented the movie. Zach Snyder's best movie for me and by a huge margin, too; The Descent (2005) is easily the scariest pure horror movie I've seen in theaters that I also respected in the morning; Like most of the world, I thought Let the Right One In (2008) was special.
The Descent (2005) is bloody good
I've been trying a lot harder to appreciate horror this past decade (since so many critics have fondness for the genre) but it's not really for me. A perfect example is Takashi Miike's Audition (1999 but released here in the US in 2001). I saw it solely because people were calling it a masterpiece but it was way way too sadistic and upsetting for me. I felt completely nauseous after sitting through it which is not the feeling I generally associate with my great love, the cinema. I have an easier time with the subgenre of camp comic horror like Grindhouse: Planet Terror (2007) or Drag Me To Hell (2009) which I do usually enjoy if it's inventive and smart.
TOMBEET: Who is your favorite character in Dazed and Confused?
"Darla" for the win. Parker Posey is one of the best things that ever happened in and to the world. The End.
PIVO: If you could cancel an Oscar category and create a new one, what would you do?
I don't object to two sound categories but I sometimes wonder why they get two when some other fields like say production design and set decoration have to share one category (art direction)? The most aggravating for me is probably Best Original Song because writing a good song has so little to do with the craft of moviemaking outside of making original movie musicals which they don't do anymore and never twice in the same year. Plus they have so many strange rules that end up disqualifying the good ones anyway.
I'd ditch that category for sure and add Best Casting. I know a lot of people would like to see Stunts getting an Oscar but I think Casting Directors are the single most important people to the success of movies that can't win an Oscar for their work.
your turn!
- Movies that make you horny?
- Favorite Kubrick?
- Do you like scary movies?
- Is Catwoman lead or supporting in Batman Returns?
- Grace Kelly biopic? Cast Away!
Reader Comments (55)
dr strangelove
Barry Lyndon may be my favorite movie of all time. But I don't necessarily want you to write about it because I am irrational about it and can't view it critically. I just love it; saw it in a theater in seventh grade when it came out and have seen it at least once a year ever since. In fact, I think I am going to watch it right now. But seriously, so many friends have seen it on my recommendation and then told me they turned it off because it was too slow. I had to ditch them as friends. I don't want to ditch this blog, so please don't write about it.
Why no A Clockwork Orange?
1. Clockwork Orange, although Shining is great. Where's Clockwork on the poll? And Dr. Strangelove?
2. An unknown
3. I'm not sure if I would, personally, but she's totally supporting.
4. Y Tu Mama Tambien, probably, but Naomi Watts in Mulholland is the sexiest performance on film. Oh, and the sexiest scene from History of Violence was the stairs scene. Cheerleaders are boring.
5. I can get behind those five choices. But I loved Audition.
6. Don't watch
7. Drop a sound category, without a doubt...I'd pass on creating a new category if we could change the damn foreign film rules.
Lol, I adore Eyes Wide Shut and it's actually my fourth favorite Kubrick (after 2001, The Shining, and Barry Lyndon). And Kidman's confession scene still gives me goosebumps. I wish she were in it more; she steals the movie whenever she's on screen. Also, I pick Barry Lyndon for your write-up.
As for the horny movie question, good call on Almodovar films. Law of Desire is a good one. I also have a soft spot for Age of Innocence and Walk on the Moon, LOL. I'm still looking for a sexy hippie like Viggo to this day, sigh.
Men in suits in real life make me horny--and porn.
Pfeiffer deserved to be taken seriously for "Batman Returns"--there's no reason in the world why Marisa Tomei was even nominated--so many great and ignored supporting and leading performances from women that year. I don't have a strong opinion either way about the category--she doesn't deserve to beat Thompson. I'm generally am not drawn to "natural" acting performances but "Howards End" one of the best pieces of acting.
I'm not a horror movie person. I like watching the ones which we made when I was growing up.
"A Clockwork Orange" is the best Kubrick movie to me.
No Grace Kelly biopic--"The Sandy Dennis Story" would be fun. How could play her? I need more time to research and think about it.
1. Streetcar Named Desire or Splendor in the Grass
2. A Clockwork Orange, followed by 2001
3. Love the thrillers, but cannot stand the violent Saw type movies.
4. Lead, for sure.
5. Can Armie Hammer sing?
I haven't watched nearly as many Kubrick movies as I should have, and I'm not even sure what I think about the few I have watched. I need to rewatch The Shining and I just can't figure out whether I like Eyes Wide Shut or not. I know Nick loves that movie and I like its unique style but I'm not sure I know what it's about. And since the last word in that movie is f**k....
...Movies that make me horny: Well, there are some that coem to mind that I totes don't want to share so one example I recall and that I can share is Fish Tank. I watched it with a girlfriend of mine and when we got out of the theater we were like "What did we just experience? OMGOMGOMGOMG!" The name of the experience was Fassbender.
I'm not happy about anyone pretending to be Grace Kelly, but if it happens... January Jones. Though I know she's not that young.
Nat I'd love to hear your thoughts on Lolita, specifically Shelley Winters in Lolita, because OH MY GOD I LOVE SHELLEY WINTERS IN LOLITA. Okay I love Shlley Winters in pretty much anything, but really and especially in Lolita."Oh you MAN!"
I can't believe you didn't list January Jones as a possible Grace Kelly. I love the pick of Garai much more (although I like JJ more than most) but Jones was the first actress I thought of.
Great list of horror films, Nat. Like you were saying about how your Shining viewing shaped your reaction to the movie, seeing The Descent in the theater by myself was a terrifyingly immersive experience. It's so well filmed it almost felt as if the theater itself became an extension of the caves. I've watched it a dozen times on DVD since but I'm so glad my first time seeing it was that way.
when you say that Michelle Pfeiffer should have an Oscar for Batman Returns (1992) I assume you mean supporting...because if you placed her in lead she would still lose, on my ballot, to Emma Thompson's glowing performance in Howard's End. (don't get me wrong though, I love Pfeiffer's fierce performance as Catwoman). And I believe she should have a fourth for Franke and Johnny. UNDERRATED performance!
//3rtful-Same here. That's why American Psycho was a very confusing movie for me.
* Movies that make you horny?
Straight Time has one of the most erotic love scenes I've ever seen.
* Favorite Kubrick?
2001
* Do you like scary movies?
Not as a general rule, but I loved 28 Days Later.
* Grace Kelly biopic? Cast Away!
Not January Jones.
I just want to second your Best Casting Oscar category. It's a very undervalued part of the filmmaking process, but good Lord, *someone's* bringing those actors together. Oh, sure, a producer/director/writer can attract your leading man/heroine, but I just think about Kathy Lamkin in No Country for Old Men, Nancy Linari in The Social Network, Beth Grant/Michael Shannon/Philip Baker Hall in anything. You know who has a Best Casting category? The Emmys. It turns out cinema *can* learn something from the small screen.
By the way...do you not include Black Swan with your favorite horror flicks of this decade? ;)
FINALLY -- it's not just the skipping about. The Penguin, Max Schreck AND Catwoman ALL have more screentime than Michael Keaton in Batman Returns. The villains are just better, is all.
FINALLY FINALLY -- I know my ex and I once paused Jarhead in the middle....She is a Gyllenhaalic
I think Rosamund Pike could be really great in the Grace Kelly role. Looks-wise though, January Jones is perfect, but I'd rather see Rosamund.
Movies that make me horny? For some reason when I was young and saw Donnie Darko for the first time, there was something so alluring about Donnie. His eccentricity and darkness, and I'm sure the fact that he's Jake Gyllenhaal doesn't hurt. It's one of my favorite films, and I always feel attracted to it in a weird way ever since then.
Something about Mysterious Skin was attractive...maybe because of the risque material and the fact that it dealt with a gay character and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is so cute. IDK.
I like scary movies, but to an extent. I was a Scream fanboy since I was young. Seriously. Like elementary school, come home on a Friday, go to the store with my mom to get jiffypop and we'd watch the Scream trilogy on VHS. Ugh, good times. Haha. Not very into the whole gore/torture porn stuff though.
i consider michelle pfeiffer in batman returns lead. she's given a large backstory, is batman's love interest, and drives most of the plot. that movie was really about her in my mind ;)
so if she's lead in 1992, i don't know how i could choose between her and emma thompson in howards end. completely different performances but so gratifyingly awesome
Kent -- i know. Both performances are total all-time classics. I still to this day vividly recall the way Emma's neck tightens up in her final showdown with Anthony HOpkins. My god Howards End is an incredible movie. I so wanted it to win best picture as it's way superior to Unforgiven.
But the Merchant / Ivory movies were always too "feminine" for the win. Oscar likes it manly. I still don't know quite how Terms of Endearment won the Oscar. would never happen today.
squasher rosamund pike. EEK. why isn't she on my list. what a great choice.
JA i know we've also talked about this but i was totally alone in my theater for THE DESCENT too. At least for the first 1/2 hour or something and someone walked in. jesus i was scared.
/3rtfull do i dare ask you what you mean by that horror movie comment?
Change "we" for "were"--and know you have nothing to worry about.
1) I recently saw Sex, Lies and Videotape, and I thought that was just soo freakishly sexy. God!
2) A Clockwork Orange by a mile.
3) Sometimes. Don't prefer really gruesome things like Saw. I'm actuay sick of outbreak movies as well.
4) Catwoman- lead and should've won. My favourite Pfeiffer performance, and proly my favouroie female performance ever.
5) I like Garai and someone said January Jones, which also makes sense. Maybe they shoud wait for like a decade and cast Elle Fanning.
I SWEAR I saw The Shining in near identical circumstances. I was staying with my dad in a cabin in Wisconsin when I was 15 or so. He rented The Shining for me one night when he had to work in town, and I was in the cabin, by myself, at night, and watching one of the scariest movies ever made. We must be soulmates. ;)
-The movies make me horny: right now I remember Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive, Lust Caution and strangely Dogtooth.
-I really appreciate Stanley Kubrick works. Dr Strangelove and 2001 are my favorite.
-I agree that Terms of Endearment should not win BP Oscar, but 1983 was a week year in general imho.
-I'm quite fond of Horror movie, but hated Slasher genre. Psychology horror and indie horrors (like those from Japan and France) work best for me.
-Yeah, just loved Parker Posey in roughly every films she were in.
1-Cabaret
2-NONE I don't get the guy!!!!
3-LOVE them & "The Decent" is a masterpiece of the genra
4-Don't really care (sorry not a Michelle fan...I know this will probably make me "persona non grata" from this blog...)
5-Kirsten Dunst
I heartfully agree with
"any movie wherein Gene Kelly smiles"
and Viggo & Bello. I could watch them be married in 10 more movies.
My favorite Kubrick-films are A Clockwork Orange and Dr. Strangelove, with The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut following closely behind. I voted for you to write about 2001, because I don't like it and I feel like admitting that is a bit like swearing in church; it is supposed to be such a masterpiece! I'm curious to hear what you make of it.
John Hawkes in Winter's Bone was just so sexy/scary/intense that after seeing that film, I felt all kinds of flushed! I obviously can't wait to see MMMM :)
Patrick Wilson banging Kate Winslet in a laundry room in Little Children. That man's ass is hot. That moment had so much going on. Her character is finally releasing all the pent-up shit she's going through. She's privately one upping all those bitches that speak so condescendly to her at the playground. Not to mention they are sexing it up in a room where everything is supposed to be getting clean...
- Body Heat, Law of Desire, In the Mood for Love
- Full Metal Jacket, Barry Lyndon, The Shining
- No
- Supporting
- Jessica Chastain
PS Don't look at the poll and watch Barry Lyndon.
- Movies that make you horny? - The Hunger is sexy, When the boys from Brockeback go at it they make some serious heat, too. And most neo-noir femme fatales are hot. There is something about a sexy conniving woman you know will be the end of you, but can't help yourself.
It would be interesting to make a homme fatale film.
- Favorite Kubrick? - Barry Lyndon, perfect film. Has such a brilliant flow to it.
- Do you like scary movies? - Yes. I love all movies as long as they are good :p
- Is Catwoman lead or supporting in Batman Returns? - I used to cheat and put her in supporting because that way Sharon Stone would win leading for Basic Instinct, but she is lead.
- Grace Kelly biopic? Cast Away! - January Jones. I know there is a collective eyerole, but look-wise she's perfect. Basically I have no idea.
Romola is a great choice, I haven't seen her listed anywhere! I thought of January, for obvious reasons, but I think Rosamund would be perfect. I think they are casting older though since this biopic is apparently focused on a period when she was 33 or 34.
Favorite Kubrick movie...so many, I'd narrow it down to Clockwork, Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut.
You should write about Kubrick's debated directing of the Apollo space landing, and how many of his films afterwords allegedly harbored some symbolism to that truth.
Eyes Wide Shut is my favorite Kubrick film, followed by 2001 and The Shining. Watching EWS for the first time, with absolutely no expectations (having heard it was 'one of those Kubricks you can skip') on a moonlit Saturday night from 2 to 4:40 am, was one of the most unforgettable film watching experiences of my life. I remember thinking that it started off strong, and then just kept topping itself moment by moment until it seemed almost inevitable that the next scene must be an uninteresting "cooldown scene" to preserve some sort of balance, but no, it just continued morphing into something even more crazy and brilliant. You're right that viewing conditions affect how we think about films -- maybe yours were not optimal at the time?
Films that make me horny? Unbearable Lightness of Being, Irma Vep, To Die For, Swimming Pool and, uh... Goldeneye (I blame Xenia Onatopp for corrupting my childhood).
Favorite Kubrick: 2001, though I think Dr. Strangelove is better.
Pfeiffer as Catwoman: Lead. I think that's the general consensus.
Horror movies: I like anything so long as it's good. Favorite horror (meaning most delightfully scary): Night of the Hunter. Best (meaning outright scariest): Eraserhead.
Movies that get me horny: I'm asexual. So no.
Grace Kelley bio: Don't know, don't care. Darling already did it so well.
I haven't seen it in a while, but against the general consensus I consider Pfeiffer as Catwoman supporting. When there's a superhero film with multiple villains (so 90s), they all are supporting in my book. And as far as I can recall she's the third villain, the best one (obviously) but not even the main villain.
Mikadzuki -- i dunno. my viewing conditions weren't bad. i was excited to see it and it was opening night. i was just really turned off by it's generic sexuality i guess -- maybe the point was totally banal cinemax fantasy but i just... anyway, it made me crazy with boredom and that single piano note made me want to set fire to the negatives. but IRMA VEP good choice for sexytime ;)
I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned 2001 as their favourite Kubrick film; one of the best movies i have ever seen and a purely visceral experience.
As for movies that make me horny, I'm gonna have to go with the love scene from Mulholland Drive; girl-on-girl action usually didn't do anything for me but that scene had me reeling for a cigarette afterwards...and i don't even smoke!
I like Eyes Wide Shut very much. Have you seen the British version that was finally released on DVD in the US, years after Warner Brothers stated they would not release it here? Anyways, it works better for me.
"And don't you think that the circumstances in which you first view a movie have a real longlasting impact on you (provided it's a great movie to begin with)?"
Sometimes its just your general environment: I grew up in Connecticut and our house surrounded by woods. When we came back from seeing The Blair Witch Project (yes, the whole family went together), we realized it was garbage night and someone needed to take the garbage can from our garage to the end of the driveway. Not a single one of us wanted to do it that movie scared us so much.
I'm not a huge fan of Kubrick generally but I like the films of his I've seen. Favorite is Dr. Strangelove by far, but mostly for Peter Sellers. I'm not much of a horror fan, either, but mostly because there are so few that are really good films and not just good scare machines. Favorites from this decade include The Ring, The Others, and The Orphanage. Mood and atmosphere count for more than blood and gore.
I feel weird saying this, but American Psycho totally got me all hot and bothered. Or at least, that sex scene did. GOOD GOD, Christian Bale! Also, A Streetcar Named Desire and Rebel Without A Cause. Oh, young Marlon Brando and James Dean! But yeah, A History of Violence takes the cake I think. I have very fond memories of Viggo and Bello in that one.
Pfeiffer's performance in Batman Returns is the sort of role for which category fraud was invented. She's definitely the leading actress (significant backstory and love interest, plus she's the focus of every scene she's in), but it feels like it should be a supporting role, so that's where it would end up on my ballot. Plus, she'd have a better shot of winning there, as that type of performance just doesn't win Leading Oscars.
Michelle i'd have in supporting so you can have her in both categories,you can never have to much Michelle for your buck!!!
I really wish AMPAS would split costume design into two categories - contemporary and period costume design. I understand your complaint about two sound categories, but costume designers for movies set in modern times never have a chance, and they add so much to so many films (think I Am Love last year).
As for the Grace Kelly biopic, I just hope they don't cast Blake Lively. She seems to be considered for everything these days. I am a major Gossip Girl fan, and I find her to be the weak link in the cast (especially compared with Leighton Meester).
Movies that make you horny?
I have to second Mulholland Drive. Nothing I've seen since has come close to that hotness.
Joey...I know what you mean about that scene from "Little Children!"
As for me, the first "horny" scene which comes to mind is one which scared Nat...the opening scene of "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead." It frightened him...but it made me wish I were Marisa Tomei (for the first and likely last time in my life).
Bill -- ewww. do you really have a thing for PSH?'
poopface & MDA -- that scene is basically the highlight of Mulholland Dr or close to it since there are so many available highlights. "have you ever done this before?" "i don't know" so so hot but in a really absurdly purposeful way with a layer or weirdness to excuse its titillating noir
My favorite sexy moment is in Pal Joey when Frank Sinatra sings "The Lady is a Tramp" to Rita Hayworth from the stage of a divey nightclub and then she gets up at the end and says to him "Come now, beauty" and he follows behind her with a helpless shrug. So freaking hot!
Movies that make me horny: Lust, Caution (I can't believe that I'm only the second person to mention it), and I agree with A History of Violence (the staircase scene for me, though).
I like horror movies, but I'm not that easily scared. So the only movie I was scared watching (in the 00s) was The Ring. At least the scene when Samantha crawls out of the TV was quite creepy. That I was watching the movie while being alone in the dark basement of my parents house and hearing weird noises all the time probably contributed to the effect, though.
I guess I'm usually not really scared by scripted movies because I know that it's only fictional, whereas I'm sometimes genuinely frightened by scenes based on real incidents.
Btw, I haven't seen The Descent yet, but it's now added to my Movies-To-See-List.
Well shoot, the sexy movie that immediately came to mind (after dwelling on Ewan in The Pillow Book) is The Lover. I don't even think it was a great movie and I've never seen either one of the lead "actors" in anything else, but there's something about that white suit, or maybe it was the white car, or maybe all the sweat, or...
As far as Kubrick I not a big fan although I still have to catch up with Lolita & Killer's Kiss but of what I have seen by far my favorite has been Spartacus.
Grace Kelly bio- I like Romola Garai but once I saw the suggestion of Rosamund Pike I can't see anyone else playing her now. She has all the requisite: acting ability, cool ladylike elegance, a sense of humor and great dignity.
1. "Weekend" turned me on by putting me in the room w/ them, the way only a movie so naturalistic could.
2. My fave Kubrick is Peter Sellers. He really makes "Dr. Strangelove" for me, and is the only thing that keep "Lolita" from being a too-literal, spiritless adaptation of my absolute favorite novel. His scenes are so Nabokovian, yet many are not in the novel.
2001: A Space Oddissey, Barry Lyndon and Eyes Wide Shut are the three best movies by Kubrick. Can't choose one. Those three are PERFECT. In fact, almost any Kubrick is amazing. Eyes Wide Shut is one of the most erotic movies in History of Cinema. And not because of the nudity. Both scary and tempting, so provocative. Immense radiography of a marriage, of their fears and secret desires of how important is communication and f**king. And OMG maybe that´s Nicole´s best, and I´m the greatest Nic´s fan on Earth.
I prefer keeping on thinking, everytime I look at your annual favourites, that you are forgetting Kubrick's films instead of accepting the truth.
-Y Tu Mama Tambien is a sexy, sexy movie.
-2001: A Space Odyssey. I think it's his only flat-out masterpiece, though his legions of devoted fans would disagree. To be fair, though, I consider The Shining, Dr. Strangelove, and Barry Lyndon to be near-masterpieces, and that's already more truly great movies than I think most other directors have made.
-Yes, but I'm very picky about them.
-If I had been a studio executive in 1992/early 1993, I would have campaigned her as supporting for strategic purposes, but I think she's a co-lead. The Burton/Schumacher Batman movies focus more on the villains than they do Batman, which is the opposite of how the Nolan series has been. I once even heard someone suggest that Keaton is actually a supporting character in the 1989 Batman, with Nicholson being the lead.
-I can't begin to imagine who could play her.
I think you should definitely add Dr. Strangelove and A Clockwork Orange to your poll. Dr. Strangelove FTW.