Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Rafael Jaramillo An excellent examination of an excellent artist, but also, an honest one. "A life in pictures" depicts every essential moment in Stanley Kubrick's life, not leaving aside any detail, just as he used to do at the moment of making a film. It is true, he was an odd person and different from others, some hated him and others loved him; at the end, he wasn't praised for being an example of human being, he was praised for the quality of filmmaker and artist he was.The film has the testimony of people who knew him, from schoolmates to actors. This gives you a more wide perspective of who he was as a person, and as a filmmaker. It will prove a challenge to label him as a person, especially when you see his relationship with Shelley Duvall, but his work as a director is miraculous. One thing that I found amusing was the fact that he shared one specific characteristic with Alfred Hitchcock: he assumed complete control of his movies. That's what made his movies, well, HIS MOVIES! Gloriously detailed work from the life of undeniably, the best movie director of all time.FINAL CONSENSUS: From birth to death, from personal footage to actual interviews, A Life in Pictures portrays in an excellent manner both the man and artist that worked behind the lens.

grantss Great documentary on a great film-maker. Not perfect: you're expected to know instinctively who the interviewees are - there are no captions. Tom Cruise's voice didn't have the gravitas necessary for the narration. Some of the interviews mostly consist of platitudes, but not much detail.However, the detail is amazing. Whether you are familiar with Kubrick's history, or not, the information is very interesting. Despite the platitudes, the overall insight provided by the interviews and the observations of the narrator give you an excellent understanding of what made Stanley Kubrick a genius.

radpix I find the fact Tom Cruise being chosen to do the narration was a terrible idea. Tom Cruise definitely did not help Kubrick's health with his awful acting in Eyes Wide Shut. Malcolm MCDowell would have been the best choice by far.... I mean come on. I found the documentary decent but anything on Kubrick I will watch with an open heart. I will miss his movies. Not many directors make a movie exclusively for sake of art, and the love of directing in general. A lot of people who I know have never seen Paths of Glory, which is a must see. The topic of war was really something that must of weighed strongly with Kubrick, given he made 4 movies about it. Sparticus would be another except for the fact Kubrick did it to save Kirk Douglas's production.

Mathieu Lefebvre Stanley Kubrick is one of cinema's greatest enigmas. His filming methods were unique, nobody had visions like his own ones and his personal behavior was legendary. This documentary, directed by Kubrick's longtime collaborator (and brother-in-law) Jan Harlan and narrated by Tom Cruise, is a very complete one and it allows us to discover a vision of Stanley Kubrick that is not the one we had in mind.It all starts with Stanley's birth in New York City in 1928. His relationship with his younger sister and his poor school results are the first signs that Stanley wasn't an ordinary human being.Then, it shifts to Stanley's years working as a photographer for "Look" magazine and it quickly moves to Kubrick's first cinematic work, "Day of the Fight". However, I was a little bit deceived because we never know why and how Stanley became attracted to video cameras. We just know that he shot a movie about his favorite sport (boxing, that is) and that's all.One by one, every movie that Kubrick made (and never made) is presented and analyzed by different people who worked with him and also who didn't (such as Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen). The movies are presented as follows: "Fear and Desire" (the only film that Kubrick didn't like), "Killer's Kiss", "The Killing", "Paths of Glory", "Spartacus", "Lolita", "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb", "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Napoleon" (a never-shot movie), "A Clockwork Orange", "Barry Lyndon", "The Shining", "Full Metal Jacket", "Aryan Papers" (which he didn't shot because of the release of "Schindler's List"), "A.I." (which was put on delay because of technical impossibilities) and "Eyes Wide Shut".Stanley Kubrick was a very mysterious person because people rarely saw what he looked like. This documentary should satisfy them because there are many pictures of him, along with his crew members, the actors and his family.And as far as I can remember, it's the very first time that I actually hear Stanley's voice. It begins with a 1958 interview at the CBS radio, after the release of "Paths of Glory". There are scenes with his family, which make us discover what kind of father he was. There also are scenes on the filming set and some of them are very memorable. The legendary rumors of Kubrick's bitter relationship with Shelley Duvall on the "Shining" set are materialized, among others.There are numerous people appearing in this documentary and they comment on Kubrick's visions, his filming habits and so on. Among them, there are Sir Peter Ustinov from "Spartacus"; Arthur C. Clarke, Douglas Trumbull and Keir Dullea from "2001"; Malcolm McDowell from "Clockwork Orange"; Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall from "The Shining"; Matthew Modine from "Full Metal Jacket"; Steven Spielberg, who directed Kubrick's project "A.I." and Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Sydney Pollack from "Eyes Wide Shut". It's very interesting to watch and listen to these people sharing their memories of Stanley Kubrick and helping us to see Kubrick from another eye. These people were directly implied with Kubrick so they can't be wrong.Some people always thought that Stanley Kubrick was a very reclusive, obsessive and bitter character but the documentary shows us a different kind of person. He's got a very good sense of humor, he was generous, he was open-minded and he was passionated with what he was doing. He was also a very intelligent man and his passion for chess is well-specified.There are no other works that look like this documentary. It's the ultimate document to watch in order to get the most complete and comprehensive look at Stanley Kubrick's life and career. And while it's not an outstanding documentary, it's worth watching for every Kubrick fan. Those who don't like Kubrick or are just indifferent might not find that interesting.