Stanley Kubrick Was Much More Than A Filmmaker...

I haven't blogged for a while, but when I saw this treasure trove of Kubrick's photography work from before he was a filmmaker I knew I found the right topic to start up again with. Kubrick is by far my favorite film director, it is not really close. I adore all of his movies, and I love each of them for very different reasons. The subtle touches and unique watermarks that Kubrick leaves on all of his work make his films stand out. I identified these touches very early on and they made me fall in love with his work. But he didn't start making films until his early 20s... so what was he doing before that? Well, starting at the ripe ole age of 16 Stanley was a professional (ie: PAID) photographer that worked mostly for LOOK Magazine (the leading competitor for Life Magazine back then). He loved life photography, or photographing people participating in everyday activities. The grittiness and realness of the photos is what makes them great, and if you look at the various sets on file over at The Museum of the City of New York's website there are some fantastic looks into NYC of the past. The one set that really caught my attention was the set that took place on the subway. What a great look into the past, and how different the trains were back then! As a native New Yorker I love these pics, and as a uber-fan of Kubrick I can see his markings all over these. The man was truly a genius!!! Click the above link for even more wonderful pics from Kubrick's other career, and click after the jump to see more of the subway series of pics that I enjoyed so much....

Thanks to Gary for the link!

The Movies Of Stanley Kubrick

Of all of these, my favorites are Dr. Strangelove and the first half of Full Metal Jacket.  I have to admit that I have never seen The Shining and got through about ten minutes of Eyes Wide Shut. Clockwork Orange freaks the hell out of me still but so did the novel it's based on. Barry Lyndon did nothing for me because I always have hated Ryan O'Neil. 2001? I hate to say I needed to see 2010 to fully get what was going on which made A Space Odyssey so much more enjoyable to watch the second or third time around.

Stanley Kubrick: An Animated Tribute by Deadly Puppies

I don't know where the animation team Deadly Puppies came up with their name, but boy is their work fantastic. Their name not so much... but their work, priceless. In their latest incarnation they tried to take on the mastery of Stanley Kubrick and his iconic filmography. Kubrick is my favorite film director by a long shot, and seeing his movies being brought to life by the unique style of the Deadly Puppies is a thing of beauty. My favorite had to be the use of Dr. Strangelove... done quite perfectly. This one is short and sweet, so give us two minutes of your time and honor the greatness that is Stanley Kubrick after the jump...



 

The Shining by Fro Design

There is no hiding the fact that I am a huge Stanley Kubrick fanboy. I love all of his movies, especially his collaborations with my favorite actor Peter Sellers. But one of my favorite films of his has to be his foray into the horror genre with his adaption of Stephen King's The Shining. The creepiness of the forest location in the movie is just such a huge part of the why the film is so dark & ominous, so it is no real surprise that Fro Designs chose The Overlook Hotel as the centerpiece for their newest poster. There are only 150 of these being printed, and they run a mere 45.00 dollars. Click here to grab one of them right away, cause once they are gone, they are gone. A great new poster for and old classic movie! Click after the jump to see the poster in all its glory....

CCD Links It Up Vol #15

It is that time again folks... time to see all the other great work people around the Net are doing! I do spend a lot of MY free time creating the CCD experience, but I spend an inordinate amount of time perusing the intrawebs & intranets for some cool stories. Today you can check out some Pokemon noir in comic form (for all you Poke kids who are all grown up now!), take a look at how the Evil Dead remake just gained further approval from horror fans everywhere, get the Ipad/Iphone app that will truly bring you inside the world of Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, check out our weekly hooties via The Chive, and buy some horror themed winter hats... all after the jump!!!!



1) Pokemon has been around for quite some time, but it is taking on a whole new life with an excellent web comic entitled Pokecenter by Ray Bruwelheide that takes a darker, more adult twist to the magical monster tale. It is very noir and looks pretty violent, and it is promised to continue... so get in on the ground floor now!!!  

2) The Evil Dead remake is looking pretty fucking fantastic, and it is restoring faith to horror fans that some of the classics could be remade with some success after snoozers like Friday the 13th & the Elm St reboots. One of the reasons has to be the involvement of Sam Raimi as a producer, and him pushing the director & writer to amp up the violence factor. Well I guess they did their jobs, because /Film is reporting that the film has received an NC-17 rating for its first cut... which is awesome!!!! That means they included a bunch of nasty stuff in there to intentionally get cut and give us a nice hard R rating, which is a great start.

3)  Matthew Modine, aka Private Joker, wrote a book about the grueling experience of shooting Full metal Jacket for screen legend Stanley Kubrick. It is one of my favorite movies and Modine gave a career defining performance in the film. Well he teamed up with app developer Rackoff & some funding from Kickstarter and turned his Full Metal Jacket Diary into a complete interactive app for the Iphone/Ipad. It is 9.99, and I am going to be busy for the next few weeks...

4) Oh Chive, thank you for being you. Today's hottie gallery on The Chive comes in the form of the girls of the Redhead Rebellion. Good lord, these gingers are bringing the heat... and not just in the crotch area!!! How unbelievable is #40 (pic below)? A great gallery of chicks....

5) Even though you think it is starting to approach spring, winter is still in full effect. So if you are a horror fan like me, why not go ahead and order yourself a few horror movie themed winter hats from Inked Up Merch's Etsy shop for a mere 12.00 bucks a piece? Stay warm and retro sheek at the same damn time!!! 

Evolution Of... by Jeff Victor

Jeff Victor is a terrific artists who obviously loves movies. He is trying to figure out a way to portray some of his favorite film characters in an interesting and original light, so he decided to go with a timeline format for some of our favorite actors & actresses. This allows him to draw someone like Tom Hanks in a plethora of characters that he has portrayed over the years. I think this is a cool idea, and shows us just how much a characters roles have varied over the years. You can see a ton of his timeline pieces and other fantastic art that he has to offer by clicking over to his page, or you can continue after the jump and see my faves in his 'Evolution Of...' series...

Evolution of Guillermo Del Torro

Evolution of Johnny Depp

Evolution of Sigourney Weaver

Eolution of Rick Moranis

Evolution of Tom Hanks

Evolution of Michael Jackson

Evolution of Stanley Kubrick

Room 237: A Peak Into The Hidden Meanings From Kubrick's 'The Shining'

I have been hearing about this documentary 'Room 237' for almost 2 years. It doesn't take much to get me to watch a film in general, but with as exciting a premise that this film has there is NO WAY I could possibly resist. The film delves into the mysteries & hidden meanings of Kubrick's The Shining, promising to change the way you view the classic film forever. The trailer doesn't offer much in the way of footage, but it certainly does build the tension by using Kubrick-esque music and the signature carpet from The Overlook hotel. Even though this film faced some complications in therms of getting a release, it is now scheduled for a 2013 release. I will be on the lookout, that is for sure... check out the trailer after the jump...

The Overlook Hotel by Mark Maddox

Here is a great piece of fan art from an artist by the name of Mark Maddox. He portrays Jack Torrence (as played by Jack Nicholson) from the Kubrick classic The Shining. This is one of my all time favorite films and probably one of the spookiest. The key images from the film are burned into the mind of any person who has seen the film. Yet somehow Maddox brings us a fresh take on the films many character and makes him even spookier. Wow... just wow. You can see the full size piece after the jump...

Stanley Kubrick - The One Point Perspective

The one point perspective is a film technique in which a director focuses on one point in the background of a shot, no matter how busy the action in the scene may be. It picks out a destination and focuses on that point, and the actors & actresses seem to play off of that spot. I am a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick, yet I must admit that I had never realized just how much he employs the one point perspective technique. This video by Kogonada shows just how often Kubrick has employed this technique over the years, and when you see these familiar scenes once again you will see them in a whole new light. Check out the video after the jump...

CCD Links It Up Vol #2

Click after the jump to see more of whats happening around the Internet. These stories are all cool as hell in their own way, but couldn't make up a whole post here on CCD on their own. Enjoy....

1) The gang at Topless Robot picks out their Top 20 pieces of art from the Crazy 4 Cult NYC artshow. We attended the show and posted our pics here, but I like most of the selections that TR featured in their list and some of them are from the side of the gallery that we could not get to cause it was blocked off. I will be going back this Wednesday, so hopefully I will have some better pictures for you guys.

2) Great article over at /Film about a Stanley Kubrick Retrospective that is taking place out in LA. Just another reason why I hate my west coast peeps who get to enjoy wonderful events like these while we here in NYC get shut out. KMG, get over to this and check it out!!!!

3) My new go to site for hot chicks in very little clothing is Beer Mug Sports. This week I am currently entralled with their 'Mug Shots' of the stunning creature known as Sidoni Biermont. I don't know what her nationality is, but all I know is that Sidoni must mean 'Creature I want to ride for hours' in her native language!!!!

4)  Check out this 'Introduction to Judge Dredd' video from Yahoo to get you ready for the upcoming Dredd 3-D featuring Karl Urban. The article also features a ringing endorsement from the creator of the character itself, John Wagner, and he is as outspoken as they come. If it's good enough for him, it will probably be fine by me...

5) Shawn S. Lealos publishes a really cool article over at 411mania about who owns the film rights to which Marvel properties. It is very in depth and full of cool tidbits, but left me with only one question. Why the fuck is 411mania's website such a fucking mess, all disorganized and looking like shit? This is a site that has sponsorship from major chains like Kohl's, yet it features a shitty white backdrop and it's content is arranged like an absolute horror show. get your shit together 411mania...

'2001: A Space Odyssey' As A Modern Summer Blockbuster

2001: A space Odyssey is one of my all time favorite films from my all time favorite director, Stanley Kubrick. 2001 is the grandfather of modern sci-fi movies, basically mapping out just how to make a science fiction movie for the next few generations of filmmakers. But what if the masterpiece itself was made today and was one of the summer blockbusters that emulate it so well? The trailer might look a bit like this. Thanks to my main man Jeff Bond for the find on this one...

In Other News, Malcolm McDowell Just Don't Give A F@#K...

Malcolm McDowell is one of my favorite actors. He is one of those guys that has always caught my eye in every film he is in. I first remember seeing him in Time After Time, and then as a teen I discovered him in A Clockwork Orange & Caligula. And more recently I loved him in the Rob Zombie Halloween films as well as Gangster #1, which is one of the greatest gangster films ever made. I always loved Mr. McDowell, because the dude just brings it in every film.... but he also old now, and that means he just doesn't give a fuck about speaking candidly anymore! When people get old, they just seem to care less and less about being politically correct and what other people care about. While he sat down at the Hero Complex Film Festival with an LA Times writer at the 40th Anniversary screening for A Clockwork Orange for 15 minutes he went on to: Tell a story about Peter Sellers doing dope, talk about how he was unimpressed with Kubrick's genius, bashed The Avengers and other modern action movies, abused the Star Trek franchise and said just how much of favor he did Trekkies by killing Captain Kirk, abused Professor X's life, meeting Gene Kelly and just how fun the rape scene to Singing In The Rain was, and lamented the fact that he will never watch A Clockwork Orange again. All that in 15 minutes!!! I really love old people for the fact that they give way less than a fuck... and they are not afraid to tell you about it! Great interview all around. Click after the jump to see the full interview...

'The Shining' Sculptures May Be Creepy Than The Original People In The Movie... Maybe!!!

The Shining is one of the creepiest movies ever created, a pure horror classic from the genius mind of Stanley Kubrick. It is one of the first horror movies to cross over to the mainstream and is always on the top of peoples 'Greatest Horror Movies...' lists. One of the things that makes it so spooky for me has to be the look of the characters. When the film starts the three members of the Torrance family seem to be pretty normal... and way I say normal I mean in appearance as well as mental state. But as they spend more and more time at the Overlook Hotel the family begins to unravel in both of those aspects. By the end of   the film the characters look horrific and make it even harder for us to ignore the traumatic experiences they have just gone through... Enter sculpture Clare Monaghan and her ability to recreate this haggard look of the Torrances from the end of the film in her busts. These are just so detailed and weird. Great find by the gang over at Super Punch. You can see detailed pictures of each individual bust after the jump...

She even gets Shelley Duvall's terrible mouth full of teeth correct... insane!!!!