It’s a shame Douglas Trumbull and David Larson’s documentary on Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 has been canceled. This (doubtlessly) prospective producer-focused promo makes it look very exciting: Nevertheless, finding 17 minutes of perfect-condition film that Kubrick cut from the film makes what work Trumbull and Larson completed seem worthwhile. Read more about the un-earthing here: :: ... read more »

For years, Stanley Kubrick’s independently financed first feature, Fear and Desire, was a suppressed film, next-to-impossible to see. The man responsible for suppressing it was Kubrick himself, because he considered his youthful effort to be “nothing more than a bumbling amateur film exercise . . . a completely inept oddity, boring and pretentious.” One could ... read more »

No one with eyes and a brain could seriously dispute Nicholas Ray’s role as the primary auteur of Bigger Than Life. All you need to do is watch Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause and Bigger Than Life back-to-back to see that both films are the work of the same filmmaker, sharing a nearly identical approach to performance (pushed ... read more »

Boris Karloff in “The Wurdalak” episode of Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath (1963) This is my ranked list of 31 Essential Horror Films culled from Ed Hardy, Jr.’s 183 Official Nominees for the 31 Flicks That Give You the Willies List. In keeping with the parameters of Ed’s poll, my primary criterion for inclusion and ranking ... read more »

One post leads to another. At GreenCine Daily today, D.W. Hudson posted a link to “Bhob Stewart’s terrific piece on the title (and titles) of North by Northwest.” I concur. It’s a terrific piece and should be read anyone who likes Hitchcock or the genius who designed his most memorable title sequences, Saul Bass. Stewart’s ... read more »

Check out these frames from Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita (1962) with Peter Sellers as hip TV playwright, “Clare Quilty,” and Marianne Stone as his companion, “Vivian Darkbloom” (the name is an anagram of Lolita‘s author, Vladimir Nabokov). Ms. Darkbloom’s look seems directly inspired by the look of Maila Nurmi as Vampira. I have no proof that ... read more »

Much as I actually like Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) and goth women generally, Maila Nurmi (as Vampira, above) was the greatest of them all. More stunningly beautiful than her successors. Funnier. Sexier. And scarier. (That scream…) Bet you didn’t know she was brought to Hollywood by Howard Hawks. Not for her latent goth qualities (she was ... read more »

I saw William Friedkin’s Cruising for the first time in 25 years when it played on IFC recently. Having listened to Friedkin’s DVD audio commentary on Val Lewton’s The Leopard Man, I couldn’t help but notice all the borrowings from Lewton in Cruising (The Exorcist is not the only Friedkin film to be Lewton-influenced), particularly ... read more »

Thanks to Greencine Daily for posting this link to Jamie Stuart’s site where one can watch or download Stanley Kubrick’s 1951 short, “Day of the Fight.” http://mutinycompany.com/dayotfight.html For Kubrick – as for Sam Fuller – combat was a metaphor for virtually all forms of human endeavour. Consequently, Kubrick and Fuller made more good (or great) ... read more »