Paths of Glory (1957)

Starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Stanley Kubrick, this war film with a twist follows a French Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) and his men during World War I. He is ordered to take part in a suicide mission by a general and everything soon goes awry. After they unsuccessfully go through with the mission , three of Dax's men find themselves being court martialed as examples for supposed cowardliness. Despite a defense by Dax in court, the three men are found guilty and later executed by firing squad. This and other events cause Dax to openly question the decisions of his superiors. In a very touching final scene there seems to be a questioning of the inhumanity of war. In one of his earlier films Kubrick delivers a poignant piece.

4/5 Stars

The Killing (1956) - Updated

Stanley Kubrick is one of the most acclaimed directors of all time and The Killing is his first great film. The main focus of the action takes place at a racetrack, but a great deal of the story takes place in other places before and after the job is pulled.  Recently released Johnny (Sterling Hayden) is the mastermind behind a intricately planned job. It's a whole complex jigsaw puzzle involving a few "Average Joes" and a couple professionals. When you put it together it all adds up to the perfect heist.

Marvin is a friend of Johnny's and a fatherly figure who is backing the deal. George (Elisha Cook Jr.) is the paranoid window teller banking on the job so he can hold onto his shallow wife. Randy is the policemen who is set to pick up the plunder. Then, Mike is the bartender who is supposed to help with the distraction. Johnny lines up the brawn Maurice to start a fight at the race track with Mike. He gets a sharpshooter named Nickki to bump off a horse and it's all set. All their plans revole around the Seventh Race and they have it planned out to the minute. The beauty of the Killing is that it all but works like clockwork. The horse is shot, the brawl does its job, the vault is cleaned out and the money gets picked up. Only a few small problems crop up.

After the job is another matter as the perfect timetable begins to break down. In a matter of  seconds things blow up thanks to George's backstabbing wife (Marie Windsor). Soon the carnage is strewn all over the floor. Johnny holds onto the money as previously decided since things go awry and he makes the getaway. His girl (Coleen Gray) is waiting at the airport and it looks to be smooth sailing from here on out.

Thanks to a yippy dog and a precarious perch the money laden suitcase takes a tumble and the contents flies off. All too soon its raining money and there's nothing Johnny can do about it. He leaves the terminal with Fay, but with no taxi to be had, he gets nabbed and there is no chance to escape. After everything lining up so perfectly for him, in a cruel turn everything that could go wrong did. He was not going to be so lucky.

The title of this film always struck me as ambiguous, whether it meant the amount of money being taken or the deaths that take place I'm not sure. However, I do know that The Killing is tautly constructed. The non-linear and sometimes overlapping narrative is held together by the narrator. He seems fit for a newsreel but he complements the straightforward procedure of the film with time stamps included.

Because of the lead performance of Sterling Hayden and the main plot element of a heist, this film can sometimes be confused with John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (1950). However, I enjoy this story line more because the heist is not the issue. It is the aftermath and all the problems happen so rapidly.

It is a wonderful unraveling of the entire story and although we do not see Johnny arrested, he might as well be because there are two men with pistols drawn walking right towards him. The Killing was not a big payoff for him, but it certainly is for the audience.

4.5/5 Stars

Dr. Strangelove... (1964)

Living up to its name, this satire directed by Stanley Kubrick is quite peculiar to say the  least. The nation is on the edge of nuclear war because of a lunatic general (Sterling Hayden) who made the decision to override the authority of the president (Peter Sellers). Tempers flare in the war room as the leaders decide what to do. Will the Doomsday device be unleashed as Dr. Strangelove (Sellers again) supposes or will the bomb be stopped in time? One of the obvious highlights of this film would have to be Peter Seller's performances as three distinct characters. George C. Scott also delivers a very respectable performance as a general advising the president. Then, there is Slim Pickens who is often remembered for the famous bomb riding scene. This film is good but in my mind it is not great. However, it does depict an era of tremendous fear brought on by the Cold War, thus making it historically important.

4.5/5 Stars

Spartacus (1960)

In this epic film starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Stanley Kubrick, a slave turned gladiator leads a revolt against the Roman empire. Spartacus leads his fellow plebeians in a sacking and burning of the countryside while slowly gaining followers. Along the way he is reunited with his love (Jean Simmons). However, soon all hope of triumph or escape is gone and Spartacus must face the Roman legions in one final battle. Utterly overwhelmed by the other forces, his followers are slaughtered and taken prisoner. With all hope gone he must kill his friend (Tony Curtis) and then face death himself by crucifixion. But all is not lost because his wife and child do get away allowing his legacy to remain. Overall this film is good but it does have flaws, one of them being the casting of Tony Curtis with his New York accent. Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, and Peter Ustinov all have important roles in this film as well.

5/5 Stars

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

I have to admit that this sci-fi film directed by Stanley Kubrick left me feeling let down. The movie itself is split up into four parts, the first beginning in the prehistoric era with a group of apes. Over time a mysterious structure appears and the apes learn how to make tools. From there it cuts to the exploration of space where man goes to Jupiter and beyond with the help of HAL 9000, a skilled but dangerous computer. The classical score is quite good working with the visual but sometimes it seems the movie is lacking in other areas. There is minimal dialogue, it seems that there could be better editing aside from the famous jump cut near the beginning, and the plot jumps all over the place. What I take away from it is the progression of man over time. The fact that there is really no memorable character except the non-human computer is also interesting. Finally, this film was made before the moon landing so in a way it was ahead of its time. That being said it still was not my favorite film.

4/5 Stars

The Killing (1956) - Film-Noir

Directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Sterling Hayden, the film follows a group of crooks and everyday race track workers who carry out an intricate robbery. In the planning stages they have everything figured out completely with one small disturbance. When the day arrives, the plan begins as expected. Each man takes his place in order to do his part. Perfectly coordinated with a disruption in the race and a planned riot. Hayden grabs all the money he can and drops it to an accomplice with hardly a snag. While waiting to split the heist there is finally a wrench in the plans that turns fatal. Hayden catches wind of it and splits as was decided beforehand. With his money and his girl he gets ready to leave the trouble behind him. In a final cruel twist of fate his plan is accidentally uncovered. The shock takes all the fight out of him. This film is wonderfully constructed with its different point of views all hinging on race #7 and the subsequent "killing."

4.5/5 Stars