Eyes Wide Shut

Rating:
Summary: Modern Classic
Review: Kubrick's final movie is a testiment to the detail he demanded of his materpieces. The sets were beautful, and the directing even more so. Both Nicole and Tom Cruise portraied their charcters perfectly. A must see for any Kubrick fan. But, for those who like nice family movies, be aware.

Rating:
Summary: one of the best of the year
Review: Tom cruise and Nicole Kidman are wonderful in this last movie of Kubrick. The subject is particular but passionnate. It's a classic! It's one of my favorite drama of the year!

Rating:
Summary: You need no imagination
Review: The sex in this was toooo much. I will not recommend this movie to anyone. It had far to much sex and not a lot of content. I was really. upset at the ending! IT WAS STUPID!

Rating:
Summary: Long, Boring, Overacted but Looks Great
Review: Vastly disappointing from a director like Kubrick. I don't know what he saw in this script that he wanted to do it after such a hiatus but it did not transfer to screen.

First, the opening scene of the ball is far too long and boring. It lasts 40 minutes and contributes nothing to the plot of merit.

The impetus for the plot - an "almost" affair by Kidman is ridiculous. Cruise goes on two nights of underground sex because she would have but didn't have an affair. Right.

Then you have the woman whose father died wanting him on the spot with the man's body a few feet away. Right.

Then you have an almost doctor, now a piano player, being invited to these high class orgies of the super rich. Right.

Then you have Cruise stupid enough to take a taxi to this orgy. Right.

And the ending is so stupid. The one word that Nicole says is what I said after the movie ended.

The only plus is the photography and atmosphere the movie is set in. It does keep the eye if the brain is turned off.

Rating:
Summary: Its a Kubrick film
Review: Its a Kubrick film. How many times must it happen. People hate it when its first released, then years later grow to appreciate it. Its because Kubrick films have more to offer with every viewing. I've seen 2001 dozens of times and I still haven't seen enough of it. I've seen Eyes Wide Shut in the theatres and now I've bought it on dvd and can't wait to peer deeper into the many layers of HIS last film.

Rating:
Summary: Eyes Wide Shut
Review: It is not just important to understand this film because it was Kubrick's last film but because it was his strongest in terms of the world in which it takes place. The film may be set in New York but it is not New York (and not just because it was mostly shot in England.) In the DVD interview with Speilberg he comments on Kubricks ability to have never made the same movie twice. How each film exists in it's own world. Some being grander than others while some feel stangly familiar. Still, his last world I feel is the most fleshed out. He spent three years creating this world in which these chacters inhabit and the patience and dedication to that world is just amazing. Along with the film's initial importance it is neccessary to point out the DVD key features and why, even though limited, are great: Right off the bat is the full screen negative "as Kubrck intended it" took me a minute to get altogether. For I had seen EWS in the theater and in my mind's eye I can remember the film being at full screen length (2:33 aspect ratio.) But this means that the film was infact framed at 1:85 and as mearly cut off at the top and bottom. I slowly began to see it there and did feel better about the whole thing. Athough many DVD collectors may consider the fullscreen negative a downside like most of the Kubrick Collection it is infact a privillage to see it the way it was shot more than how it was shown. Sadly, there is only one other key feature outside of the usual bios and trailers: The interviews with Cruise, Kidman, and Spielberg when you first think about it might be at least interesting, but in fact are some of the greatest interviews I have ever seen filmed. I couldn't believe how vulnerable Tom and Nichole were during thier interviews. How honest they were in there emotion. This was not acting and it was not emotion brought on by the craft of acting, this was general recolection and sorrow for the man they gave three years of their life to. Almost greater in value to their interviews is Spielbergs thoughts on his friend and confidant that he lost. I would have given anything for there to have been somewhere a commentary track recorded by Kubrick. Doesn't matter what film but it would have been an honor to listen to him talk as it has been to look into his worlds.

Rating:
Summary: An Essential DVD for any Kubrick fan...
Review: After having seen the film twice in theatres, I was anxious for the DVD to become available. As all Kubrick fans know - multiple viewings are essential to become aware of all of the craft that he built into each project.

Amazon.com supplied the DVD at the right price, and shipped it very quickly. I have already had the chance to enjoy the film again - and I would recommend Eyes Wide Shut to anyone who has ever enjoyed a previous Kubrick film.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Haunting
Review: Kubrick's last film, Eyes Wide Shut, is by far the year's best. It is a chilling last testament of a director who happened to be a genius.

Rating:
Summary: uncenserd
Review: Love the movie. But i don't like that it's the edited version on the DVD. I saw it first in the US then home in Sweden uncenserd. The uncenserd is better and more powerfull.

I don't understand the doubble morals of the US (I'am an us citizen but don't live there).

But you still need to buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Kubrick's Last Laugh
Review: There was a brilliant article in the magazine Brill's Content a few months after "Eyes Wide Shut" was released which explained what happened to the marketing of the film before it was released. What it boils down to is the fact that Kubrick only let one person see the film before it was released and that person worked for Time magazine and he saw it 72 hours before the film was scheduled to be released in July. But since film magazines and other avenues of the mainstream media have production cycles that have deadlines months in advance, before you knew it rumour was being compounded on top of rumour until it completely snowballed out of control.

Obviously no member of the press actually went to the trouble to actually read the novel that Kubrick based the film on, they were more interested in repeating whatever rumour sounded like it would sell magazines. At one point I remember hearing that the film was about two psychoanalysts who are married to each other and each of them starts to have an affair with their respective patients and then they decide to swing with them. Whoa. Says a lot more about the person who thought up the rumour than it does about the film itself. Of course, Kubrick played it to the hilt by just refusing to comment and letting the rumours get out of control until you have lapdog rags plastering their cover with things like "The sexiest film ever?" Can you say "Pavlov"?

The public really was conned into thinking that this film was going to have THE most erotically charged orgy ever filmed by what is considered one of the, if not THE, greatest director of all time. So you wonder why everyone said it bombed? Because they were swindled into thinking that it was supposed to be like the rumours and when it was finally released it was revealed to be just like any other Kubrick film: I.E. a sensitive and very analytical piece that is essentially an art house film that will be discussed for decades. No wonder Kubrick kept his mouth shut: he got his last film, an art house film with, as such, a very limited audience, into the minds of everyone passing a news stand and got them into the theatre thanks to their blind faith in the lies and rumours that the mainstream media publish before they realized that it was, sure, a movie about sex, but not an erotic movie at all. Kubrick made a film which analyzes the difference between sex and love (something the United States doesn't realize there's a difference between) and shows both sex and love in ways that are not erotic at all. Those who were disappointed by this film were those expecting a movie with sex in it to be erotic, which basically reveals just how shallow this culture is. It's actually the warmest film Kubrick ever made. If you can think about sex without getting aroused, you'll love this film. If you can't think about sex without getting aroused, perhaps you're better off with Russ Meyers films.