Author Topic: EP Review: Classics - Dr. Strangelove  (Read 11045 times)


stePH

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Reply #1 on: March 31, 2008, 08:19:56 PM
Great review, Dr. Sullivan.  For my money this is easily Kubrick's best film , and perhaps the only one worthy of the directors vastly overinflated reputation.

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Subneutrino

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Reply #2 on: April 02, 2008, 04:53:45 AM
I've never seen this movie, but from the review, it looks like a gaping hole in my cinematic repetoire.  I'll have to rent it.

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Reply #3 on: April 02, 2008, 06:07:18 AM
I've never seen this movie, but from the review, it looks like a gaping hole in my cinematic repetoire.

On the one hand, yup - it is.  I won't go into why, the podreview already covered that just fine.

On the other hand, going into it expecting the holy grail of all cinema is a great way to be disappointed.  Watch it, expect a few good laughs.  Anything else is a bonus.



Tango Alpha Delta

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Reply #4 on: April 07, 2008, 02:55:12 AM
I've never seen this movie, but from the review, it looks like a gaping hole in my cinematic repetoire.

On the one hand, yup - it is.  I won't go into why, the podreview already covered that just fine.

On the other hand, going into it expecting the holy grail of all cinema is a great way to be disappointed.  Watch it, expect a few good laughs.  Anything else is a bonus.

I'll second that; I think this is the third time in as many weeks I've felt a need to use the "don't build it up too much, and you'll probably like it" logic!  Does one of these smiley-emoticon's have a "hat trick" feature?

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gelee

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Reply #5 on: April 07, 2008, 08:37:09 PM
I've never seen this movie, but from the review, it looks like a gaping hole in my cinematic repetoire.

On the one hand, yup - it is.  I won't go into why, the podreview already covered that just fine.

On the other hand, going into it expecting the holy grail of all cinema is a great way to be disappointed.  Watch it, expect a few good laughs.  Anything else is a bonus.
Yes, but on the grasping hand...(hah!  I've been waiting for months to say that!)...Knowing what you're in for can make all the difference.  The first time I tried to watch this film, I just couldn't sit through it.  After half an hour, I changed the chanel to a Mythbusters re-run.  I just couldn't get past the goofiness.  I could tell that Kubrik was trying to make a serious point, but the silly names and bad accents were just too much.  Now, knowing what to expect, I may try it again.



jodymonster

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Reply #6 on: April 09, 2008, 11:46:04 PM
This is an old favorite of mine.  Thanks for reminding me I needed to see it again. 
I so want a poster or T-shirt that says "Peace is our Profession"
Or maybe just, "Mien Furor! I can walk!"

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Reply #7 on: April 10, 2008, 10:03:28 PM
This is an old favorite of mine.  Thanks for reminding me I needed to see it again. 
I so want a poster or T-shirt that says "Peace is our Profession"
Or maybe just, "Mien Furor! I can walk!"

I found this on http://airminded.org/category/art/ 
(moderators, please feel free to reduce the size; I don't see anything that would let me control that.)

Untangle that site, the symbol and the movie and you get irony so thick you can cut it with a knife...
« Last Edit: April 10, 2008, 10:05:22 PM by Windup »

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jodymonster

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Reply #8 on: April 11, 2008, 03:16:49 AM
ha ha... that's awesome.  I want a t-shirt with that. 

"If you're going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you're going to be locked up." -Hunter S. Thompson


Windup

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Reply #9 on: April 12, 2008, 01:22:22 AM

I found this on http://airminded.org/category/art/ 
(moderators, please feel free to reduce the size; I don't see anything that would let me control that.)


A couple notes for Russel Nash (Rationality Be Upon Him), who seems into this sort of thing:

The B-52 depicted appears to be an "H" model, as evidenced by the turbofan (rather than turbojet) engines with the expanded cowlings, the small tailgun (camera-controlled, rather than a live gunner back there with the gatling cannon), and elongated horizontal stabilizer. 

I think those things under the wings between the engines and the fuselage are supposed to be AGM-69 Short-Range Attack Missiles (SRAM).  The shape is right, but they're too big, and ought to be mounted on two under-wing pylons with six each, rather than hanging singly. Might have just been too hard to draw.  Fuel tank/stabilizers (to reduce the BUFF's infamous "flap") are out near the end. The outboard engine pods are covered by the circle.

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sirana

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Reply #10 on: April 15, 2008, 05:21:16 PM
Great review, Dr. Sullivan.  For my money this is easily Kubrick's best film , and perhaps the only one worthy of the directors vastly overinflated reputation.
Really? I would say that his reputation is properly reflected by Spartacus, Lolita, 2001, Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket. While I aggree that Dr. Strangelove is his best film I'd say that by far it isn't his only great one.



stePH

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Reply #11 on: April 15, 2008, 05:54:57 PM
Great review, Dr. Sullivan.  For my money this is easily Kubrick's best film , and perhaps the only one worthy of the directors vastly overinflated reputation.
Really? I would say that his reputation is properly reflected by Spartacus, Lolita, 2001, Clockwork Orange, The Shining and Full Metal Jacket. While I aggree that Dr. Strangelove is his best film I'd say that by far it isn't his only great one.

Haven't seen Spartacus or Lolita, my opinion of 2001 is already on record (pretentious toss), and The Shining is not a patch on the original novel (and is almost as incoherent as 2001.)  A Clockwork Orange is good but not a masterpiece, and I only like the first half of Full Metal Jacket.

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Reply #12 on: April 16, 2008, 12:01:28 AM
Haven't seen Spartacus or Lolita, my opinion of 2001 is already on record (pretentious toss), and The Shining is not a patch on the original novel (and is almost as incoherent as 2001.)  A Clockwork Orange is good but not a masterpiece, and I only like the first half of Full Metal Jacket.

Wow. You are NOT going to like my reviews of  2001 or Orange:-\

Sullydog

Moderator: fixed quoting
« Last Edit: April 16, 2008, 08:56:17 AM by Russell Nash »



stePH

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Reply #13 on: April 16, 2008, 12:52:06 AM
Wow. You are NOT going to like my reviews of  2001 or Orange:-\

Sullydog

It would be a dull forum if we all agreed on everything, wouldn't it?  :)  I'll still listen to your reviews.  And actually, the only real flaw I see in A Clockwork Orange is that it follows the original U.S. printing of the novel, i.e., it omits the final chapter.  Otherwise I'll admit it's a fine adaptation, and McDowell's performance is excellent.

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Sullydog

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Reply #14 on: April 16, 2008, 01:22:44 AM
Wow. You are NOT going to like my reviews of  2001 or Orange:-\

Sullydog

It would be a dull forum if we all agreed on everything, wouldn't it?  :)  I'll still listen to your reviews.  And actually, the only real flaw I see in A Clockwork Orange is that it follows the original U.S. printing of the novel, i.e., it omits the final chapter.  Otherwise I'll admit it's a fine adaptation, and McDowell's performance is excellent.

Well, yeah, it's hard to argue that Burgess' novel was not more powerful in the original UK version. I think that version would have been more relevant and biting--but would also be more opaque. IOW, I'm afraid people wouldn't get it. And Kubrick may have feared that as well. (I've never checked, but I have to assume he was familiar with different versions of the novel.) Still, I have to agree with you on that point.

As to The Shining, I'm afraid I'm more than two standard devs from the mean on my opinion of that one. I won't be reviewing it, so I'll just say right here that I think it's one of the creepiest movies ever made, and that I think it's an excellent adaptation. The best adaptation. There. That should start some fur flying.

But you're right--it's differences in opinion that spice up the forum. Not to mention the thoughtful posters. Thanks, StePH, and everyone else, for the feedback!



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Reply #15 on: April 16, 2008, 03:09:05 AM

As to The Shining, I'm afraid I'm more than two standard devs from the mean on my opinion of that one. I won't be reviewing it, so I'll just say right here that I think it's one of the creepiest movies ever made, and that I think it's an excellent adaptation. The best adaptation. There. That should start some fur flying.

But you're right--it's differences in opinion that spice up the forum. Not to mention the thoughtful posters. Thanks, StePH, and everyone else, for the feedback!


To quote myself:
And don't start me on the Shining...  the "dramatic tension" created by what seemed like a full 10 minutes of a kid on a Big Wheel (tm) riding through the hotel bracketed by the terrifying words "Tuesday" and "Wednesday"... Jack Nicholson growing increasingly angry that Shelly Duvall can't act... Scatman Caruthers getting "axed" a lot of questions by an overly-cute "Eight is Enough" reject...

But that's just my opinion... I could be wrong. ;)

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that it's the Shelley Duvall factor that really took me out of that one.  That, and I was watching it in the middle of a hot June afternoon in Phoenix while on summer break.  (I wasn't allowed to swim alone, and no one was home.)  I don't know... maybe I'll try it again if it ends up in the ol' EPMC.

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Reply #16 on: March 02, 2010, 06:19:03 PM
Never seen this movie, but now I'm definitely interested.

Oddly, I don't think I've seen any of Kubrik's movies, though most of them are on my "MUST SEE YESTERDAY" list.

Regarding The Shining, I tried reading the novel for the first time last year and couldn't make it through it.  The entire thing is based on a monumentally stupid decision to stay in the hotel in the first place.  For another couple, I could understand the mistake, but the father is clearly on the edge of his rope already, he's nearly killed their son once already.  He's doing it all so that he can finish his novel, but even that is flawed--if he still has writer's block that's only going to make him flip out even faster.  The only one I could relate to was the kid, and I related to him well enough that I just didn't care to see him put through all that because of the decisions of his supposedly well-meaning parents.

I liked The Shining remake that was a miniseries a few years back, but the bits and pieces of the original I didn't care for.  Probably because I've yet to like Jack Nicholson in any role ever.