The Crier

All Work and No Kubrick Makes Ann Arbor a Dull Town

Stanley Kubrick’s films are going to be back on the big screen for the next nine weeks. Why haven’t you got tickets yet?

John Church · Cultured · Sep 25, 2007

Students, shelve your books. Ann Arborites, turn off the drudgery of that mundane Monday night lineup — it’s time to see some of the classics that made movies great. The films of Stanley Kubrick are back on the big screen at Michigan Theater, as part of a new series being held by the University’s department of screen arts and cultures. The series, which kicked off on September 17th, will present one of Kubrick’s films each Monday until December 17.

No, they have not been poorly re-mastered with Lucas Arts’ special effects. These are the original works from the man who dazzled his fellow directors and humiliated skeptical critics for 40 years.

Whether you missed the organ music at church and have come to repent, or you need a good study break, Kubrick and the Michigan Theater have got you covered.

Housing over 1700 people in its main auditorium, the Michigan Theater gives moviegoers plenty of elbow room, and provides an elegance unparalleled by modern showcase theaters. The Michigan Theater’s classical-style gives the viewer the feeling they are right at the original film premiers. (They even provide a live organ player who performs before the movies begin, giving it just the right old-fashioned touch.) The theatre has also recently added modern state-of-the art sound-systems in both the screening room and main hall, both of which will be used to screen Kubrick’s films, depending on the night.

Whether you missed the organ music at church and have come to repent, or you need a good study break, Kubrick and Michigan Theater has got you covered.

Kubrick, a director known to influence the works of Steven Spielberg (Munich, Jurassic Park) and Martin Scorsese (The Departed, Goodfellas), tended to take very linear plots, and infuse them with some of the most complex characters to appear on the screen, tying them together with strong sexual and psychological overtones.

Kubrick adapted eleven of his movies from novels. Several of his adaptations angered the authors, including Stephen King. But to Kubrick, the writers simply presented canvases for films — and Kubrick was ready to paint them.

Kubrick adapted eleven of his movies from novels. Several of his adaptations angered the authors, including Stephen King. But to Kubrick, the writers simply presented canvases for films — and Kubrick was ready to paint them.

His best known films, Dr. Strangelove, Full Metal Jacket, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange, both thrilled and horrified audiences with edgy portrayals of human behavior and negligence. Many critics labeled Kubrick “too controversial for filmdom,” but these reviews did little to deter his vision.

Two years prior to Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick released a film called Lolita, which created a different kind of controversy. The films lewd sexual content almost earned it one of the first NC-17 ratings for a major motion picture. In the early 70’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was released, awing audiences with its fantastic special effects, and winning the director his first Oscar. He later returned to the war genre, and directed the duel-climactic film Full Metal Jacket to illustrate the horrors of Vietnam. Released only a year after Oliver Stone’s highly acclaimed movie Platoon, many critics still consider Full Metal Jacket the best war film ever made.

Years later, Kubrick brought Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise together in another sordid love affair in Eyes Wide Shut. His fleshy final film left many people perplexed with its strange plot, but sadly Kubrick passed away too soon after the premier to share any commentary. Although the legend is gone, as the film showcase demonstrates, his movies will live on forever. Can you afford to miss this chance to see them on the big screen?