OUR SOURCE WAS THE NEW

OUR SOURCE WAS THE NEW YORK TIMES: Actually, a reader tipped us to this–The Times has a semi-regular column where they get a director to watch a classic film and comment on it. This time, it’s Barry Sonnenfeld, the director of the Men In Black films, watching the legendary Dr. Strangelove. In many ways, especially compared to his later films, Strangelove seems to be Kubrick’s most effortless film–but that’s only because so much preproduction and preparation went into it. When I watched this month with ‘Group Capt. Mandrake’, I said to him, “I don’t know if this is the best script ever written, but it’s right up there. This is incredible writing.”

And incredible directing as well. Speaking of Sonnenfeld, when we saw Black Hawk Down last weekend, we saw one the first trailers for MIB II. If the trailer is any indication (and we all know often they’re not), It looks hilarious–with Tommy Lee Jones beginning the film as a Cliff Claven-like postal worker, complete with navy blue shorts and nobby, hairy knees, since Will Smith has zapped his memory at the end of the first MIB.

And speaking of Kubrick, on February 22, Nichole Kidman watched and commented on The Shining for the Times. At the moment, it’s still available to read online. Good thing too, as Kidman’s insights into how Kubrick directed The Shining are even more insightful than Sonnenfeld’s into Strangelove.