New DVDs???

[Pozer]

mine tastes the same.

[The Sheriff]

Mmmmmm... Mine smells like it was freshly baked out of Kubrick's 1.85:1 oven.

mine tastes the same.

look, look everyone... cinevores.

[MacGuffin]

IGN DVD's review:

http://dvd.ign.com/articles/833/833058p1.html

[MacGuffin]

The New Box Set claims to have a never-before-seen featurette for Full Metal Jacket. Does anyone know if this is the long-anticipated, never-before-seen footage that vivian kubrick shot on set? Some of this footage can be seen in the Jan Harlan doc. I believe she shot it for an intended BBC special, as she did for The Shining. If that doc is on the disc, its worth the purchase alone.

anyone have any info on this?....

It's not.

[Pubrick]

these DVDs are one disappointment after another.

the fact that barry lyndon isn't included and won't even be anamorphic when it's re-released shoulda been a dead give-away. warners doesn't know SHIT about kubrick or what his fans want. they treat it as just another dip, "here, we got all this junk lying around from A Life in Pictures, let's tack it onto the films and pretend it's worth watching."

they make me sick to my ass.

i won't even consider getting this new set until i get a HD/blu-ray player and an amazing TV. the improved picture quality is really the only reason to get them.

[Fernando]

Couldn't agree more, that FMJ doesn't inlcude Vivian's doc is a HUGE bummer, I still don't regret buying it because before this set the only SK film I had on dvd was (is*) Killer's Kiss.


* I still need to go the states to pick this new set. 

[tpfkabi]

they'll probably put it on another FMJ stand alone version - though, there is a new release of Full Metal Jacket on DVD with a 2007 copyright - i don't think it even has these newer extras though.

i noticed them reusing interviews over and over. i guess they gave different people the same pool of footage to draw from for their featurettes.

all in all, only $4 a disc is a good investment, especially for me, considering I only had The Shining and 2001 on DVD.

so far i've watched through all of the EWS disc, Life in Pictures, The Shining extras, FMJ and it's extras. haven't listened to the FMJ commentary yet.

i had very little knowledge on Aryan Papers and had no idea it was that recent to feature the boy from Jurassic Park.

here's one thing i've been wondering - had Kubrick told Spielberg about his plans to do a Holocaust film and then Spielberg shafted him by doing Shindler's List?

[mogwai]

fuck warner hoes.

[Ravi]

I too am disappointed that Barry Lyndon and Lolita didn't get the new treatment, especially because I haven't seen it yet.  Even though the extras are lacking on FMJ this box set will tide me over until they're finally done right, since I skipped the first two REALLY shitty Kubrick box sets.  Like bigideas said, the price (at Family Video, anyways) was too good to pass up. 

I've only watched 2001 so far but it looks pretty good.

When's MGM going to do the SE treatment for Killer's Kiss, The Killing, and Paths of Glory?

[Gold Trumpet]

here's one thing i've been wondering - had Kubrick told Spielberg about his plans to do a Holocaust film and then Spielberg shafted him by doing Shindler's List?

No one fucked over anyone. Both had their projects in development for a while. Kubrick backed out because he feared his film would be underscored to Schindler's List like Full Metal Jacket was to Platoon. He also realized he couldn't put everything he wanted to about World War II into one film and fictionalizing a story around an event like the Holocaust seemed impossible. The ramifications of the Holocaust was too devastating.

[MacGuffin]

Those Close to Kubrick
IGN chats with Kubrick's long-time friend and assistant.

In honor of the release of The Stanley Kubrick Collection in both standard and high-definition, we were able to sit down with the director's longtime friend and assistant, Jan Harlan. For those of you interested in discovering a few new tidbits about the illusive and enormously talented director, see below!


IGN: Formatting Kubrick's films for video and DVD has always been a subject of debate for his fans. How did you decide for each film (especially Full Metal Jacket, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut) what would be the format (aspect ratio, etc.) and why?

HARLAN: The tendency to wider formats started years ago with multiplex cinemas and wider TV sets. Stanley Kubrick didn't particularly like this trend but had to go along. In each case a decision was reached to find the best compromise taking into account the market and the wish of viewers to fill the screens of their new TV sets.

IGN: How was it decided who would record commentaries for each of the films? For example, why didn't co-writer Frederic Raphael record a commentary for Eyes Wide Shut?

HARLAN: I personally don't like commentaries. Stanley never explained his films but some people do benefit from this and the executives at Warner Home Video. take great care to do this well. After all, to listen to these commentaries is a choice. There is no commentary available for "Eyes Wide Shut" and I am glad. Mr. Raphael would have been particularly unsuited for this as was proven by the book he wrote immediately after Stanley's death. Mr. Raphael may have felt hurt by the fact that Stanley returned to a close approximation of the original story by Arthur Schnitzler, and this was his prerogative. You may be interested to know that Stanley had worked on and off on this story for almost thirty years - he loved it and he was completely satisfied with his film. The fact that it was set in New York today and not in Vienna of the '20s is irrelevant. What fascinated Stanley was the part that is universal and timeless - everybody is an expert on jealousy and sexual fantasy.

IGN: How much access did you want to grant to Warner Home Video in the process of producing bonus materials, etc. for these DVDs? Kubrick was extremely protective of his work - how tough was it to know where to draw the line (if it was necessary at all)?

HARLAN: It was not tough at all. The guideline was whether Stanley would have approved the use of the material or not. There were no indiscretions and no outtakes from his films were ever used. But art-department material, drawings and production records that he had kept in trunks for safekeeping going back to the '60s were used. I am sure many people will be fascinated seeing alternative art-department concepts for 2001: A Space Odyssey, for example. I am deeply moved by the interest young people show when going through THE STANLEY KUBRICK EXHIBITION, a large display of conceptual drawings and drafts, photographs, documents, equipment etc. Right now the exhibition is in Rome and has drawn close to 10,000 visitors in the first week.

IGN: Notwithstanding the digital onlookers who obscure the sex scenes, there is a perception that Kubrick might have made additional edits or changes to Eyes Wide Shut prior to releasing it in theaters. Is that realistic or accurate? How was it decided if this DVD version would or would not include the unedited cut of the film?

HARLAN: Stanley would have cut more to Tom Cruise walking through this modern hell and to the voyeurs in order to get the R rating. This clearly would have been better than what we had to do and, after all, it is the voyeurs who are in the center of this scene and not what they buy for their own gratification. The explosion of pornography is evident in our society and Schnitzler foresaw this in the '20s when pornography was still considered scandalous.

IGN: Which of the films was most difficult to return to in terms of bonus features or even remastering? Was there anything you tried to do but were unable because of actor or footage availability?

HARLAN: I had nothing interesting to offer on "Barry Lyndon" and outtakes would have been out of the question even if these had been available. I have since received a copy of a very interesting conversation between Stanley and Michel Ciment, but it is too late now.

IGN: Alex North recorded a score for 2001 that was never used but was later released on CD. Similarly, Wendy Carlos recorded music for The Shining that was only released later in a collection of unreleased film music. Was there any talk of adding alternate audio tracks to either of these DVDs (or any of them), or how did you want to treat the scores/ soundtracks since they are all so essential to his films?

HARLAN: I have wanted for years to have a double or triple CD set of all the music in Stanley's films. I started working on this with Leon Vitali in 2001, but it never happened. Financial and marketing reasons prevented this and the fact that Warner Bros. sold the whole music part to an independent company may also have contributed to the delay. But I understand that a comprehensive CD set is finally in the pipeline. Most of all, I want the music included that was used in Stanley's films; I am much less interested in the music that was rejected. There would be no end to this, otherwise. The stark and barren tune by Ligeti in "Eyes Wide Shut" for example, was a very late replacement for another tune, the piano accompaniment for a song by Wagner called "In the Greenhouse". Stanley decided finally against this because it felt too lyrical, and he preferred the biting quality of the Ligeti.

IGN: Kubrick was famous for shooting so many takes of each scene. Why do you think he found this to be an effective tool as a director? Is there any footage from his films that maybe indicates how he helped actors through that process find different nuances they might not ordinarily discover?

HARLAN: Film, developing and printing dailies is a minor item in the cost summary of a shooting day. Stanley liked filming the rehearsals, the red light imposed a certain discipline one does not get otherwise. He often ended up using earlier takes, or parts of them, it in the final edit; he was not one to be quickly satisfied and liked to exhaust all options and possibilities.

IGN: There isn't a lot of footage of Kubrick at work, save for a few documentaries - in particular the making of The Shining. Do you think that material accurately represents his technique and personality?

HARLAN: Vivian Kubrick's excellent film shows a particular slice of the way he worked, but it is impossible to get a comprehensive impression of such a complex person and artist by being a fly on the wall. Stanley did not like to talk about his films - he sometimes had to, but he never enjoyed the process. If he had something important to say about the subject he put it into the script.

IGN: Kubrick was obviously a pioneer of filmmaking technique, using low-light cameras for Barry Lyndon and essentially immortalizing the steadicam on The Shining. How do you think he would respond to the rise of high-definition formats, both as a filmmaking device and as a format for presenting his existing films?

HARLAN: He would have been delighted with High Definition and big plasma screens compared to the mediocre quality of video-tapes and the old style TV sets. Above all, he wanted his audience watch his films in a cinema on a large screen without distraction or interruption.

IGN: Is there any possibility that fans will ever see a proper release of any of Kubrick's early films on DVD, in particular Fear and Desire?

HARLAN: "Fear and Desire"? No - simply because Stanley didn't want this film to be shown. I like the film and I can list a number of reasons why it should be shown, but my opinion is of no consequence in the face of his clear wish. The shorts can be seen from time to time on TV or at a Cinematheque and may be released as a DVD extra.

IGN: Because of Kubrick's isolation during the later years of his life, there was much speculation about his personality and behavior. If there is one thing about him that you feel like was never accurately represented in reports or stories, what would that be?

HARLAN: His personality? He was a brilliant and highly intelligent man, well-read, well informed, impatient and demanding, but mostly demanding of himself. I worked with him for thirty years and for good reasons.

His behavior? There is nothing special about his "behavior", unless you consider his wish not to chat about his films and life on radio and TV as "odd". Journalists called him a recluse because he didn't talk to them easily and did not wish to explain his films. I think you would agree that this is not the standard definition of "recluse".

Sometimes a journalist may have taken revenge on Stanley's inaccessibility and come up with weird or nasty stories about him. I remember an incident when I was very upset about an article. I stormed into his office and told him that I would write to the paper and complain. His response was merely: "Under no circumstances must you do that --- you'll never get rid of them."

[tpfkabi]

here's one thing i've been wondering - had Kubrick told Spielberg about his plans to do a Holocaust film and then Spielberg shafted him by doing Shindler's List?

No one fucked over anyone. Both had their projects in development for a while. Kubrick backed out because he feared his film would be underscored to Schindler's List like Full Metal Jacket was to Platoon. He also realized he couldn't put everything he wanted to about World War II into one film and fictionalizing a story around an event like the Holocaust seemed impossible. The ramifications of the Holocaust was too devastating.

ok.
i can't remember Spielberg talking about EWS in any of the interviews, so i didn't know if the reason could be that there may have been a riff because of that. i know they talked about A.I. obviously, but you can be good friends with someone and still have subjects that you avoid.

i remember us having a thread about a Napoleon script book, but i haven't heard about that in ages. i guess i'll hunt that down now.

[Pubrick]

the illusive and enormously talented director,

i think they meant ELusive.

IGN: How was it decided who would record commentaries for each of the films? For example, why didn't co-writer Frederic Raphael record a commentary for Eyes Wide Shut?

what a STUPID question! do they know anything??? how could you ask that, it's like saying.. "gee mister, why didn't you graciously invite someone who HATES KUBRICK to have the last word on his legacy? wouldn't that have been a GREAT IDEA???" my god. unacceptable.

HARLAN: Stanley would have cut more to Tom Cruise walking through this modern hell and to the voyeurs in order to get the R rating. This clearly would have been better than what we had to do and, after all, it is the voyeurs who are in the center of this scene and not what they buy for their own gratification. The explosion of pornography is evident in our society and Schnitzler foresaw this in the '20s when pornography was still considered scandalous.

IGN douche bag doesn't deserve this eloquent response... "this modern hell"... "buy for their own gratification".. oddly descriptive things to say for such a straightforward question. 

HARLAN: I had nothing interesting to offer on "Barry Lyndon"

i find that hard to believe. it's true, maybe ryan o'neal and marissa berenson might not wanna talk about it, but what about ken adams -- too old? milena canonero is still making the same costumes and getting oscars for them (marie antoinette). and of course leon vitali.  a visual explanation of the cameras would have been excellent but who the hell apart from like 4 ppl on this board would want to see that?  i guess that's not really much.

The stark and barren tune by Ligeti in "Eyes Wide Shut" for example, was a very late replacement for another tune, the piano accompaniment for a song by Wagner called "In the Greenhouse".

stealing it now.

and the nfinal anecdote is great too.

[Fernando]

IGN: How was it decided who would record commentaries for each of the films? For example, why didn't co-writer Frederic Raphael record a commentary for Eyes Wide Shut?

what a STUPID question! do they know anything??? how could you ask that, it's like saying.. "gee mister, why didn't you graciously invite someone who HATES KUBRICK to have the last word on his legacy? wouldn't that have been a GREAT IDEA???" my god. unacceptable.

How can these idiots get this kind of job? Don't they prepare for this? They should at least send someone with a little knowledge to interview someone like Harlan.

The stark and barren tune by Ligeti in "Eyes Wide Shut" for example, was a very late replacement for another tune, the piano accompaniment for a song by Wagner called "In the Greenhouse".

stealing it now.

and the nfinal anecdote is great too.

What a great piece of information Harlan gave, I bet this idiot didn't even realize.

Did you find it? I haven't yet. 

[MacGuffin]

these DVDs are one disappointment after another.

What's disappointing is the caliber of filmmakers they interviewed and could have interviewed. Spielberg, Lucas, Friedkin, Pollack; all fine and understandable. But, seriously, the cinematographers/directors of Bulletproof and End of Days? Seems wrong when you talk about great filmmakers and filmmaking and don't talk to Scorsese.