I am a Kubrick virgin no more. Did a little mini-marathon on Saturday of 3 of his films, and ... well...

Eyes Wide Shut - I'm really not sure why we watched this one first but it was a good place to start. It's really jarring seeing modern actors in a film like this where Kubrick shows off his love of static camera shots. While I'm pretty iffy on the plot, the cinematography was as strong as I'd been told. It was worth a view, but I'm not sure I'd watch it again. Minus the weird stuff, it felt like a more engaging version of Lost in Translation. 8/10

The Shining - This was my favorite of the three. I loved the steadycam, I loved the sets, I loved everything. Very few films have me going "oh my God" over and over during the more intense sequences without resorting to shock value of hard cuts and surprises. Being familiar with the intensity of the shooting schedule and Kubrick's infamous psychological torture of Shelley Duvall definitely highlighted the tension. And, as always, props to Jack Nicholson. The man knows crazy. Highly recommended for the 10 people on this board who haven't seen it yet. 10/10

2001: A Space Odyssey - Loved the cinematography. It's the most visually stunning film I've ever seen, even before the Jupiter sequence. That said, I didn't get the film. If I'd paid for it in the sixties, I definitely would have walked out. Sorry, folks. I can't even give it a rating. There's a LOT to love, but ... really, it's more an experience than a film. Hope that makes sense. Doing the whole Echoes synch with the Jupiter sequence probably helped... there was one jump in the vinyl we used that made up for human error shortly in. If you haven't done it before, it's great. Seriously. Do it.

All that said, it was definitely worth the time. I'm still thinking about it two days later, and that's worth something... right?

^I'll be back, 2001. I'm not done with you.