How Stanley Kubrick shot the Apollo 11 Mission

Did men really land on the moon back in 1969? Here is some behind the scenes footage of the Moon Landing of Apollo 11 directed by Stanley Kubrick in 1969. These documents were classified Top Secret since 50 years… until now.  This very effective video was created by Fabrice Mathieu with, we suspect, his tongue as much in his cheek as ever!

Monolith: A Tribute to Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick would have been 85 this month so uberfan Shaun Pitz, who just happens to be a very talented animator, has created this tribute to him.  It is centered around the mysterious monolith which humanity encountered in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Pitz made this as a tribute to the sense of mystery and exploration that Kubrick instilled in him as a child.

If you are a fan of Kubrick and his work then I think you will love this…

Stanley Kubrick – One-Point Perspective

Some items of film direction are very difficult to explain. Unless of course, you have a visually stunning teaching device such as this from kogonada. In one-point perspective a single vanishing point is typically used for roads, railway tracks, hallways, or buildings (interior or exterior)viewed so that the front is directly facing the viewer.

Any objects that are made up of lines either directly parallel with the viewer's line of sight or directly perpendicular can be represented with one-point perspective. Without using any of these words (or any at all for that matter) this marvelous piece of film explains it all.

More than many directors, Kubrick was aware of the emotional and mental effect it has on audiences – it can be somewhat disquieting on film. This reel is a prime example of how disconcerting evenness and proportion can be in motion picture photography. Even when there is no clear and present danger there is something in the balance which unbalances the viewer. They produce a feeling of unease.

Everything appears correctly in place but there is something out of kilter in our minds. This is a wonderful example of how one auteur used it throughout his oeuvre to incredible effect. You will also, hopefully, have great fun movie spotting in this short (it is less than two minutes in length).

Stanley Kubrick - A Filmography

Stanley Kubrick was not a prolific film-maker but those that he did direct are some of the most influential movies ever made. If you are a fan of his work then you will love this. Martin Woutisseth has created an animated filmography (a brilliant idea in the first place but flawlessly executed here) of Kubrick’s films.

It begins with Kubrick’s own somewhat iconic self-portrait, taken in the forties and then visits each of the feature films that he created.  It does omit1953’s Fear and Desire, starting instead with 1955's Killer's Kiss, yet instead of a précis of plot or a video clip of each movie what you get is an alternative poster, sprung from Woutisseth’s imagination. You will then travel through the decades, taking in such classics as Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange, Spartacus and, of course, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

It concludes with a later self-portrait, rounding off the journey extremely well. This is, altogether, a fantastic piece of animation and a wonderful homage to Kubrick.

Spartacus - 1960 Trailer

It is inevitable that the movie Spartacus, starring Kirk Douglas, finds itself in the Christmas TV listings.  It may not be on one of the major channels but you can rest assured that it will be in there somewhere.  What better way is there to spend a few seasonal hours in front of the TV - in fact one of my earliest memories is watching the premiere of the movie on British TV with my family.  I was absolutely agog at the spectacle and overwhelmed by the I am Spartacus humanity of it all.  OK, so I was only around eight years old but the story and the movie in particular still resonates strongly with me, particularly at this time of year.

So, when I discovered this trailer from 1960 on Vimeo, up it had to go on Kuriositas.  Although this is not the original trailer - the fact that it had recently won four Academy Awards is included here - it is still a marvellous piece of movie advertising nostalgia in itself.  As it still is today, a number of Oscars means a box office revival and that was so of Spartacus.  Marketing and advertising budgets in 1960 were not what they are today and as such the movie still had an untapped and vast audience.  The fours Oscars meant that it could read this new audience.

Believe it or not the movie had originally opened to less than rave reviews (despite the hyperbole we see in the trailer).  Bosley Crowther of the New York Times called it a spotty, uneven drama, yet its reputation grew as time went on and in the eyes of movie goers and critics alike it matured like a fine wine.

The standout performances in the movie for me are (after Douglas himself of course) Jean Simmons as Verinia and Charles Laughton as Gracchus (even though his character was an anachronism).  Tony Curtis and Laurence Olivier also gave fine performances - and even at ten I recognised the frisson bewteen their characters.  I was also in awe of John Gavin as Julius Caeasar (he also had a role as Janet Leigh's boyfriend in Pyscho, relaeased the same year) who was suitably heroically chinned and patrician.  Yet my favorite character was Woody Strode as Draba, the Ethiopian gladiator who was trained with Spartacus.  I was gutted (and always am) when he was killed.

Anyway, enjoy the trailer.

Poster Image Credit Wikimedia