Eyes Wide Shut

Rating:
Summary: Enough With the Stupid Inserted People Already!
Review: People will either love Eyes Wide Shut or they will hate it, there is nothing that I can say about the movie that has not been said too often already. As you can tell by my 5-star rating of the movie, I fall into the former category. What is disappointing is that Warner Brothers still won't release the film as it was intended to be seen. It's not that I really want to see more sex in this movie, its that I don't want my intellegence to be insulted by those stupid digitally inserted figures. I think we all know what is going on behind the people in the black robes. It isn't that big of a deal, it just kinda irritates me. The claim that Stanley Kubrick didn't film in widescreen also sound suspicious, but I will give Warner Bros. the benefit of the doubt on that one. The interviews on the DVD should be good.

Rating:
Summary: Eyes Wide Shut: Exploring the depths of the human soul
Review: I think a lot of people were bothered by this film not because of any actual flaws in the filmmaking- far from it, the film is visually stunning, with incredible use of light and color, well-acted and innovative editing and use of sound, and just the right amount of dramatic tension to make the point, which a successful, imperfect, unsaintly yet decent doctor going to the depths of his own psyche, broken yet capable of real healing and renewal of his basic underlying humanity. They were bothered because instead of going to outer space or the depraved streets of a violent, futuristic world, this last opus of remarkable Stanley Kubrick went instead to a previously uncharted territory- that of the human soul. A man who never "sold out", who never bowed to peer pressure to conform, or mold his vision to suit the status-quo expectations of Hollywood, would naturally be drawn to exploring the psyche of a man and his wife whose marriage is in serious danger from forces both within and ouside them. The dramatic tension dissipates only after the young doctor confronts his own demons and opens up to his wife, at the sight of the lost mask on his pillow next to her in the wee morning hours. The dark, sex-centered masquerade debacle at the opulent mansion is no different in principle than the carefree party at the home of one of the masquerade guests' mansion. Casual, meaningless liasons are the order of the night and the host is caught nearly with his pants down with the hapless prostitute who has passed out from the glossed over brutality at the hands of her client. Games are played only with permission in such a world as Kubrick portrays in Eyes Wide Shut, a world peopled with those who use power and money to control the less agressive, and whomsoever wants to play must play their rules, not their own. Kubrick's legacy is that of a man who refused to play by anyone's rules but his own, and whose insight, vision and cinematic genius survived the games and threats. To be your own man in such a world is not something to take for granted, as hard as that may be for some to understand.

Rating:
Summary: What a disapointment!
Review: I've enjoyed all of his other films. But this one is a sure cure for insomnia. In fairness, I only watched the first SLOW 45 minutes. I just couldn't bear the monotony. I tried 4 times, and gave up. I'd rent this one before buying it, that's for sure.

Rating:
Summary: Very impressive
Review: I saw this film last year in France, I find Tom Cruise very impressive in this film. This type of relation sum up very well the evolution of the society

Rating:
Summary: Make an effort to appreciate a movie with important themes.
Review: Eyes Wide Shut is a complicated movie. As with any Kubrick picture, there's much more to it than meets they eye, and if you find yourself thinking it to be pointless and boring, then you're not watching close enough or working hard enough. Yes, this movie requires the viewer to think. I hate to be one of those people who tells you you're stupid for not "understanding" a movie, but a film this important begs to be understood, and if you found it pointless the first time around, give it another shot, but this time with an open mind. You'll be suprised at how much this movie really has to say. This is one film that actually has the guts to portray people as complex individuals, rather than reductive, peurile plot devices. And remember, just because a movie doesn't force-feed you easy answers doesn't mean it lacks a plot or focus.

Rating:
Summary: Colored Lights!
Review: Stanley Kubrick went to great lengths to provide natural, believable light sources for his films as in "Barry Lyndon's" innovative use of NASA/Zeiss lenses to film scenes by candlelight. In "Eyes Wide Shut" he used colored lighting, often from "unnatural" sources, beginning with a lot of yellow (in the ballroom dance scene), then to red & blue (during Doctor Bill's sex odyssey), which ultimately combine to make purple (the color of passion). I fear Kubrick's reasons for deviating from his norm have followed him to Filmmakers' Heaven, but the lighting helps remind the audience that Tom Cruise's character is immersed in a nightmarish fantasy from which he can't pull away. On another point, my sincere hope now is that Warner Brothers will have the courage(?) and decency(!) to release the film as Kubrick left it -- WITHOUT the digitally created characters at the orgy scene. This was Stanley Kubrick's final masterpiece. Let us see it the way he made it. PLEASE!

Rating:
Summary: R-Rated Version Stupidity
Review: I'm giving this DVD just one star, not because it's a bad film -- it's brilliant -- but because the post-production digitized figures obscuring the "nasty" bits in Kubrick's original scenes are more offensive than what they are intended to obscure.

Rating:
Summary: Had some moments, but not much else
Review: There were times when I thought that Kubrick had simply fallen in love with Nicole Kidman's picture-perfect body, especially her buttocks, and had made a movie where he would be able to film it. There were other times that kept my mind working long after I left the theater, asking myself questions about reality and morality, such as the parts with the costume shop owner with his daughter. This movie heightened my belief that Lelee Sobieski (shop owner's daughter) is a real talent with Jodi Foster-like potential, even with only 5 minutes of screen time. It is not Kubrick's best work, not even in the top 5, but a very interesting film.

Rating:
Summary: Bravo, Bravo, Bravo
Review: Eyes Wide Shut was the most breath taking film i have ever seen at the cinema. The Cinematography and Lighting is amazing. The atmosphere and setting of the film is like from another dimension. The plot is not what I expected, but even better. I expected to watch a 3 hour sex romp, with no plot, but is almost the exact oppisite. Stanley Kubrick put accross exactly what he was trying to put accross. All I can say is bravo.

Rating:
Summary: Warner Bros. Screws Up Kubrick DVD, Again!
Review: A great film vandalised by a stupid decision. Why in the world would Warner Bros. fail to release the DVD edition of this last of Kubrick's great films in standadrd 1:33 format? What is the point of DVD if not to provide home viewers with the highest quality version of its theatrical release print? Why not at least give customers the choice of either format, as so many studios do on their discs? It's a crying shame, an idiotic decision, and one can only hope Criterion will pick up this title and do it justice. Warner Bros. remains at the bottom of the heap for DVD competence and quality.