Eyes Wide Shut

[Tycho]

Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in a Stanley Kubrick film.

This one's entertaining so far. It's my first time seeing it however, and I'm not sure if it's something I'd buy for repeat viewings.

It's a good social commentary on sexuality thus far (I'm halfway through it).

Nicole Kidman was hot, hot, hot! I love all the gratuitous shots of her. In her day, she was a heck of a lot more than Katie Holmes will ever be.

That being said, all women age, and I think marriage and fidelity is unnatural, as this movie seems to be pointing out (to me).

Tom Cruise makes at least 4 mistakes that I have counted thus far:

1) Medical emergency or not, he should have gone upstairs with the 2 girls at the party. 9-1-1 is for emergencies anyway. He wasn't on duty and didn't know the situation until he got upstairs in the first place.

2) Once he did get upstairs, he could have taken sloppy seconds with the drugged girl (I'm kidding on this one).

3) He should have stayed with that prostitute. He'd already bought the extra time from his wife. And to pay her, "just because he wanted to," but for no services rendered? It works once in your life to make you feel like "a good person" I suppose. But no one cares in the end, and not even the prostitute would remember. So Cruise might have as well kept his $150. He didn't even get an STD for all his effort.

4) The teenage daughter of the Russian costume store owner would've made a better bonus on the night. It would have classic if he snuck out on the roof of the building with her, while at the same time the cops were busting those older-men / Asian perverts they caught in the window display. (Were they going to have sex in the window display? That tops everything else this movie has presented thus far.)

If Cruise was going to go in costume to play piano for someone's fetish fantasy, he has no garauntee that anyone he's attracted to, or who's even heterosexual, will be employing him. It's a bad move in light of the 4 options listed above. Furthermore, going home to his wife was quite the safer option - however I'll grant him that the same girl over and over again gets boring. Also, if she never finds out about his discretions, he can always come home to her any time he wants. But I've known girls who were a little more psycho or stupid and silly when they were drunk or smoking pot.

Anyway, I took a little break while watching this one (aren't DVDs wonderful?) and perhaps I'll have more to write when we come back after some words from our sponsors.

[Tycho]

"They did a bad, bad thing. They did a bad, bad thing."

Wow. That pagan ritual party was something else! I want to go to a lot of those! (There's this one vampire party every year during Comic Con, but I've lost touch with the girl I used to go to it with - I think in 2000, 2001, and 2002 - and it wasn't quite everything you see in this movie, or in Blade for that matter.)

This movie (1999) was Stanley Kubrick's last piece of work before he died. He was working on this while Lucas was giving us JarJar!

His film also got scary in a deadly sort of way, but really just fed into one's paranoia.

It was nicely done. This one's a keeper and would be fun to watch it with guests that have never seen it before. I didn't really post spoilers - so if you haven't seen Eyes Wide Shut, just watch it. It's pretty good and pretty real.

[2-1B]

This is honestly one of the worst movies I have ever had the misfortune of seeing.

[Tycho]

This is honestly one of the worst movies I have ever had the misfortune of seeing.

Why do you feel that way?

[El Chuxter]

Gratuitous shots of Nicole Kidman?

I may have to watch this at least once, no matter how bad I've always heard it is.

Wait, she's not Kidhuman's mom or aunt or anything is she?

If so, KH, your mom or aunt or whatever is smoking. I hope you don't mind that I plan to watch this film exclusively for gratuitous shots of her, as I understand it blows chunks otherwise.

[JEDIpartner]

I thought it was a terrible film and I generally like Kubrick.

[JetsAndHeels]

How could you stand to watch this movie Tycho?? It has to be one of the biggest pieces of garbage ever made. If you want to watch good Kubrick films, watch Full Metal Jacket or Clockwork Orange.

[El Chuxter]

I'm having second thoughts. If anyone can watch a film with "gratuitous" shots of Nicole Kidman and still call it unwatchable, well, that sounds like we're talking a Highlander 2 class mess of a film.

[Tycho]

I thought it was great, how it led you to believe the cult did lethal things to people (heck, they might actually have) and it was a great exploration of the sexual underworld, which is not as deviant as everyone likes to pretend (hence, probably a lot of doctors and married folks were there under the masks).

Further, the movie was just slow enough to make you suspenseful as things were shown like Nicole sleeping next to the mask, but "Dr. Bill" taking a long, circuitous course to the bedroom - after getting a beer and such - just tantillizing you, making you wonder what would happen next. Why didn't Kubrick just get on with each scene? Instead, the suspense and pacing sort of work - yes it frustrates you - but with purpose. I could read the intent there.

I think the film might be more "artsy" than some of you have regarded it. No, it's not superheroes, car chases, explosions, and other action movie things. But not every movie has to be (just a lot of the really fun ones).

This was fun waiting in suspense. Even if I'm not married, and probably won't be, situations like those in this movie make me thankful I'm not, as well as recollect every time I've escaped being chained to one girl for the rest of my life or my bank account's.

I think the picture is an excellent exploration of human relations - and a lot of the dialogue is frank and honest - especially in the beginning of the picture where Kidman picks a fight with Cruise and demands to know if every man that pays attention to her wants to have sex with her. He responds "Yes." And it's true. I don't think inter-sex relations (other than parent-child), serve any other purpose, if you honestly come down to it.

I've based much of my theories about False-Gays on that as well. Men want buddies they can watch Star Wars or Full Metal Jacket with. Straight men want women for one thing (as to stereotype a bit - many women are not interested in Star Wars or Full Metal Jacket).

Meanwhile, women want men to feed, clothe, and house them while they squirt out babies that are totally dependant on them. The movie shows this in how Kidman handles her daughter. But men are designed to instinctively impregnate as many women as they can. That's been curbed a lot by modern financial necessities, systems of government and religion, etc., so it's been restricted back to just satisfying sexual desires versus actually reproducing (thanks to birth control, abortion, etc.) See for example the girl "turned out" to prostitution by her own father - the costume shop owner) But men will not always be attracted the most to their one mate, but the fear of financial ruin in divorce keeps them careful, and the pretense of religious values gives them high-minded principles to quote as to the reasons they've lost their verility (hence why it would be taboo for everyone under the masks to reveal themselves as the probably social elites - doctors and whatnot - that we all suspect they are).

I think I have a very insightful view upon human nature, and I was surprised to find it so well mirrored in this film which I'd never seen before. Stanley Kubrick was almost as smart as I am.

Anyway, I tried to stay withint the context of the film with this post, but I wonder if I come so close to the truth that my discoveries will be edited for me. I'm a lot like Galileo in that respect. Others will want to cover up what they want to deny or protect even more others from hearing because the truths we find are not always happy endings with Ewoks and happy ghosts thriving in the Force.

Was this movie about the fantasy, or the reality? That is the intrigue in Kubrick's art.

[Jayspawn]

I really liked it. Dont think I would ever buy it but is was very creative and suspenseful. Apparentyl there is an un-cut version I would mind seeing.

Anyway, the ending with the mask on the pillow is a mindjob!