Kubrick was always ahead of everyone, I think that’s why his films didn’t get the praise they deserved on first release. I saw Eyes Wide Shut on its first release and really didn’t care for it; I’ve seen it numerous times since, it’s absolutely a masterpiece.
Eyes Wide Shut is like most Stanley Kubrick movies. It was released at a time where his movies didn’t get tons of love. Today, Eyes Wide Shut and many of his other movies are now recognized and beloved as cinematic masterpieces.
Wow, you're a moron who obviously wasn't around in 1999. Kubrick was REVERED in 1999, you jackass. Why do stupid people pretend to know things? The movie is not that great, that's the reason why it "did not get love". (The fact you can't come up with your own way of talking reveals why you're so obviously ignorant. Why don't you use your brain rather than be lazy? I saw "Eyes Wide Shut" TWICE the day it opened, both to packed houses. It was a total event. The movie fizzled because it kinda sucks! You haven't figured that out, yet?
Exactly! Not to mention the Movie Eyes Wide Shut called out all of those award member voters. It was a movie about them. It's a no brainer why the movie bombed
What really strikes me about this flick is how faithful it is to its source material. Apart from the setting change from 20s Vienna to 90s New York, it's almost seemlessly and frame by frame translated from the book. Plus, Kubrik's whimsical style was always the perfect match for the novella's dreamlike atmosphere.
that's hard to say, the faithful part. the book is heavily about a jewish character most of the subtext has to do with that. Kubrick cut it quickly, he did love the book and spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to adapt it. personally it feels like a big change,
It really didn’t do that well with critics. It was pretty divisive with critics in fact. And only a handful of critics really loved it and thought it was one of the few best films of the 99. Because of its sexual nature and pacing it wasn’t that awards friendly. It was a summer release. And many who even liked the film thought Cruise wasn’t very good in it. So, it not being embraced at the awards ceremonies wasn’t surprising. People are way more friendly towards it in retrospect. I probably liked it more back then than I do now. But I do consider it a top 10 movie from that year.
This all aligns with my thoughts also. It was probably underappreciated at the time, but I feel the retrospective praise has swung too far the other way. If it had been made by a less revered filmmaker it would now be viewed as an interesting but worth checking out curiosity imo.
It was a thi king man's film. It also had some of the most unsexy sexual scenes imaginable. Cruise's sleep walking acting was also something I've wondered about. A lot of mystery in the film. 😮
Love this movie….. I think some 90s Academy members probably were at some of those late night parties, they felt exposed, hit too close to home…. Fidelio 🤫
Love your videos! I was thinking, have you ventured into videos about "Oscar bait"? I'm sure there could be some interesting videos there, both for screenplay, acting and best picture through the years - both of those who failed and those who won/got nominated!
Call me unpatriotic but I sometimes think the American palate doesn't necessarily agree with movies that are less surface level and more of a deep dive. In fact I would say in 1999 American Pie was way bigger in the states than this masterpiece. And that is tragic. There seems to be a dumbing down of American society in particular that started somewhere in the 90's and has continued and has certainly picked up substantial speed in recent years. IMO of course.
Did eyes wide shut do better outside of america? Because It’s not hard to realize why Hollywood wouldn’t want this movie to gain traction when all the movie does is air their secrets.
I agree with you Brian. Like many of Kubrick’s films, you aren’t given all the answers and gain more by watching the film time and time again. So it is with Eyes Wide Shut. Kidman is amazing and the folklore of the now infamous shoot has inevitably become linked to her subsequent split from Cruise. The creepy soundtrack is compelling as are the New York street scenes created on an English back lot.
I thought it was a masterpiece when I saw it on opening night, and I still think so today. Top three Kubrick for me, next to Paths Of Glory and 2001. Just an absolutely incredible movie. I remember being surprised at how critically divisive it was when it came out, I mean a LOT of critics panned it. So glad to see its fortunes have turned around in the last two and a half decades, to the point where it's almost universally regarded as one of his best.
I think this film was stylish and atmospheric in its art direction and cinematography, but I disagree it was well-acted. Cruise and Kidman seemed self-conscious and almost amateurish. The scene where they argue while high was wooden and lacked realism. The material suited neither of them.
I kinda agree. The 'argument' scene is fine, but nothing special script, direction or acting wise. Most Woody Allen films of the 80's and 90's feature similar scenes which are superior in most aspects and at least as interesting thematically.
Cruise and Kidman were miscast and their terrible performances are the proof. They seemed like they were ad libbing and were only successful in foreshadowing how much Kidman had learned to hate Cruise. Kubrick messed up Frederic Raphael's targeted script by reducing it's mean-spirited assault on the institution of marriage and sexual politics.
Great summary, Brian! I also agree that this movie, like The Shining, only just needed more time for people to truly appreciate it. Probably just a bit too experimental and arthouse for its time, especially involving THE It power couple of the '90s. I think Kidman would have also made an incredible Oscar nominee for 1996 with To Die For, iconic! Can't wait for your Sixth Sense writeup, Brian! ❤
You saw this movie when you were 14? I was 16 when it came out. While my parents were okay with most R-rated movies I saw at that age, they drew the line at me seeing "Eyes Wide Shut". I didn't end up seeing it until 25 years later.
@@G-TV_TheOneManArmy Yes, I saw it on the big screen at my local art house theater’s 1999 retrospective. I could’ve seen it on DVD, but never got around to it after all these years.
@@tyrannosaurusburke damn as far as my existence born 2000 movies made after I was 5 to 10 I say the longest I went w/o seeing a newly wide released movie was maybe 10ish years
They did so because Cruise, a long-time poster boy of the church, began to ignore Scientology head David Miscavige's calls while the actor and Kidman were filming the film 'Eyes Wide Shut' in London in 1997, former high-ranking church officer Mike Rinder writes in the book.'A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology.'
Brian you are so consistent with your content, great speaking voice and you're incredibly knowledgeable on film! You should have 100k subs by now! Manifesting that for you! Love your channel 😊🫶🏾🩷🩷
Actually, Ebert adored this movie. He devoted an entire episode of Siskel & Ebert to a discussion about it with other critics. That episode is on RUclips.
I honestly think the biggest reason--it shined a light on something in society that a lot of people would like to hide. Anytime you get too close to the truth, it will get discredited somehow. Especially when it has anything to do with the rich.
I would give anything to see Kubrick's original unedited film, his true vision. I agree though that the released film is brilliant, I hope that there exists the original film that could eventually be shown.
This is the comment I was looking for. Wondering if it had been released since and I just didn’t know. Missed opportunity from the studio if you ask me. They could still do it.
Love this, thanks for making it. I always considered Eyes Wide Shut a cult classic, which almost by definition is going to get ignored at the box office and in the award season. Like, the way I remember it, the film got a little overshadowed by real and imagined behind the scenes drama surrounding Cruise and Kidman's disintegrating marriage. It wasn't until it was on cable and DVD that I even remember hearing good things about it. And then, naturally, it became one of the go-to movies for RUclips film channels to analyze (along with the rest of Kubrick's post-Paths of Glory filmography)
Love Kubrick's body of work. Eyes Wide Shut blows me away and leaves me feeling fearful and questioning. Such a powerful movie with so many trigger points.
Eyes Wide Shut is a masterpiece. Like all of Kubrick's best movies, it asks the deepest questions about human nature, explores themes of power, exploitation, family, love, and the inmost truths of the psyche.
I watch it every year at Xmas, even if I've already watched it that year. It's strange, because it's not my knee jerk "favorite" of his films, but it IS the one I return to the most. It's so rich and detailed, nuanced and hypnotic. Having never seen myself as "handsome" it's always been difficult for me to relate to Tom Cruise (or other traditional Hollywood leading men). However, in this film, I think both what he does as an actor and how he's directed by Kubrick, I can see myself in Dr. Harford and feel every emotion he goes through and every decision he makes. A really fantastic film.
13:05 Problem is Oscar voters frequently don't watch the films they are supposed to vote for. It's a curious quirk of the Academy rules that actually _watching_ the film is not a requirement _unless_ it's for the Foreign Oscar! There were efforts to change this idiotic rule since forever but AFAIK it's still in place. That's one reason why domestic Oscars are mostly farcical while foreign Oscars are usually quite reasonable.
I can't think of any other movie that has stirred up so much debate as Eyes Wide Shut. Every man and his dog has an opinion on what it's supposed to be about and whether it is metaphorical or literal. Interestingly out of Kubrick's last three movies, The Shining, Full Metal jacket, and Eyes Wide Shut, only FMJ received a vote from the Academy Awards.
American Pie is a masterpiece if your criterion is how to be entertaining to the broadest mass of customers. I am not trying to belittle the film here.
"Eyes Wide Shut" is in my opinion Kubrick's best. Saw it in the Cinemas and absolutely loved it. And 25 years later, I still do. However, 1999 was STACKED! There were so many movies that got snubbed in various categories ("Go!" for Best Original Screenplay, Editing; "The Iron Giant" Best Original Screenplay, "Fight Club" for more or less everything and the "Talented Mr. Ripley" should have deserved more love. "Drop Dead Gorgeous"...don't get me started on that amazing screenplay and the stellar cast. "Girl, Interrupted" being more or less completely overlooked. ). The list is LONG! "The Cider House Rules" didn't work for me, but this year was honestly the best I ever experienced in a Movie Theater. Sure, I was 16 at the time, but this isn't nostalgia speaking. Those are just a few movies that I still can watch over and over and over and over again. "The Cider House Rules" not so much. But it was Weinstein's Oscar bait that year, so... Oh well.
@@Argeaux2 I wouldn’t even put The Hours in her top five best performances, maybe not top 10. It’s not a horrible Oscar win, but it’s not a standout either.
A movie about high society people, involved in promiscuity, pedophilia and secret societies... that's a huge NO from Hollywood and from the elites in general. Another "unpleasant" movie from 1999 was The Ninth Gate... however, things have changed. What was kept under the rug in those days, now they promote almost openly.
When I looked up Eyes Wide Shut on Wikipedia, I seriously thought the section covering the movie's academy awards nomination was on a separate page. Then I realized it didn't get any nominations at all. It's hard to believe because every Kubrick movie since Dr. Strangelove got at least one nomination except The Shining. It's especially odd considering the movie came out after Kubrick died, you'd think it would've gotten a sympathy director nomination for him or at least best cinematography, maybe best adapted screen play. Nope, it got completely shut out.
Films with an open end are never th public's favoritess, especially in the US. That's why the baddies usually get killed in the end - closure. That's why the death penalty is popular - closure. People need final results. Events in retrospect are always discussed and interpreted in light of the results, no matter if it is politics, war or sports. It's just lazy thinking.
Would love to see an Oscar Fiasco about Nine. This was a movie that had a lot of potential, but just fell flat, it got 4 nominations, but on the heels of Chicago this had a lot of buzz that just did not hold up, besides Marion Cotillard’s heart breaking performance, nothing really stands out or withstood the test of time.
The movie mirrored too much of what happens in the industry. They could have given him an oscar for best director even nomonate Tom at least, im amazed he didnt win an oscar before but his co stars did? Doesn't make sense when oscars do that imo. Also shame we will never see the original ending kubrick had
huge Kubrick fan here and I don’t even like all of his movies. Eyes Wide Shut is one of my favorites by him I agree with 98% of everything you say in your videos… I’m a huge movie buff. It would be fun to drink a cup of coffee with you and talk about movies for a couple hours. I’m a 65-year-old monster kid, too… grew up watching horror … I’m glad you like the genre.
Great analysis. You captured both what I loved about this movie as well as why a lot of people didn’t like it. Gonna watch again. Have it in DVD somewhere. 🤓
Not to mention the 22 minutes cut from the film by WB after Stanley’s death. Guess he flew to close to the sun, and got burned for trying to expose these creeps?
Bizarre that most of Kubrick movies weren’t appreciated at the time. Even 2001 got hammered by the press. I believe Paths of Glory and Spartacus were well received but most of the rest seem to take their time to be appreciated
A lot of people love Kubrick but a lot of people also feel he was declining and/or at least becoming a lot more love him or hate him for most of his later career since 2001.
His creative peak had passed long by Eyes Wide Shut. He was one of the great artists in film but '63-'75 was his peak period. Eyes Wide Shut was excellent but it feels like a riskier (more nudity) version of the superior La Notte (one of Kubrick's favourites) to me.
I cannot believe that people do not approve of this film. It is one of my favourites... Maybe the portayal was a bit too realistic to the hollywood elites lifestyle...
I felt the same last year when SALTBURN was snubbed by the Academy. I’m curious if some of the same things that caused EWS to be shut out occured with SALTBURN as well.
Pluto was in the thick of Sidereal Scorpio in the late 90d. Scorpio can show courage and fortitude in tackling the struggles in life like Magnolia. But Scorpio can also show something bizarre, sneakiness, an inordinate fascination with sex, straggling kind of pacing - all the characteristics of the movie Eyes Wide Shut. Normally when two items or events represented by a zodiac sign gets the possibility of showing up in a gala event, only one will succeed. And that year that happens to be Magnolia. This is an astrological phenomenon that is accepted by astrologers using esoteric principles.
EYES WIDE SHUT is one of Stanley Kubrick's best movies . It was treated unfairly with the X or NC-17 rating . After seeing the unedited version I couldn't believe why it got the adult rating . The movie shows a few seconds of a male performer of a sex scene do a few seconds of graphic pelvic thrusting of a simulated sex show .
Every Kubrick movie having to be a masterpiece is auteur theory run a muck (well actually it was kinda that way from the beginning I suppose). Pretty sure plenty of “film bros” do the same thing in regards to Scorsese. It’s ok to be a fan without turning them into a god, if that’s not ok get some help 😂
Eyes Wide Shut is admirable and has some great scenes. It has aged solidly. It’s still not one of the handful of 1999 movies that really standout to me though. When I think of films from that year that deserved way more Oscar love I think of Election, Toy Story 2, Fight Club, The Talented Mr Ripely before Eyes Wide Shut. A directing nod and a Supporting Actress nod for Kidman (especially after the To Die For snub and with how weak Supporting Actress was that year) wouldn’t have been unworthy.
If you saw the original 1960 "Talented Mr Ripely" movie ( Purple Noon) with young Alain Delon you would completely change your opinion on the American remake version. When I watched that 1999 film I thought what a joke!
It’s interesting how everybody is afraid to even acknowledge that American Beauty existed and was extremely popular and critically acclaimed in 1999. Probably the worst-aged movie since Revenge of the Nerds. Videos like these just pretend it didn’t happen. As far as the topic of this video, I remember that year and Eyes Wide Shut was considered a box office flop. There were just way too many other great movies competing for attention that year. If a movie tanks at the box office, it becomes awards show cancer. For a more recent example, see Jobs, that Steve Jobs biopic that critics absolutely loved but no one went to see. It didn’t get any awards.
It’s interesting that the subject matter - ie the sex - may have been too much for the 90s, which was far more progressive than todays audiences in that regard
Full theater of normies groaned at movie, yet you couldn't hear a pin drop the entire film as they were transfixed to the screen. First thing I said leaving theater despite the exiting crowd reaction, "This film is never going away".
I saw Eyes Wide Shut again recently and my opinion of it diminished a little. I still like the film, it probably ahould have bagged a few Oscar nods, but it's Kubrick's weakest film since Killers Kiss.
I love Eyes Wide Shut. Saw it in theaters .however, I will never understand how the dreadful Cider House Rules gets in best picture. Replace that film with Eyes Wide Shut, Election, Magnolia, or Being John Malkovich .
As much as I liked Eyes Wide Shut (but not loved it as much as Brian Rowe did) I think it could have got just the one nomination for Best Original Score and when you said Cuba Gooding, Jr. won an Oscar for Jerry Maguire you meant won and earned the Oscar, right?
That film demonstrated to me how powerful Nicole Kidman was. I imagined she was discarding the Kubrickian direction but finding a way to make her style work for him. She confidently delivered some awkward line deliveries - they had to be to order - and played them like she was reading a book in her mind. Just a brilliant strategy. I have to say tho, as a Kubrick stan, this is my least favorite of his pictures. He was typically a truth teller and the orgy here was so untrue to any possible sex underground it was corny. I would have been up for a more NC-17 leaning picture or something directed by a man who'd participated in orgies rather than fantasizing about the opening night of opera season devolving into an orgy.
I remember when it first came out, and i was really into my movies at the time...to me it was being portrayed as just a bit of an odd,.kinky sex movie....it didnt even seem.to.make much of it being Cruise and Kidman and Kubrick, seemed to disappear under the radar in the UK. When i did get to see it a few years later i thought it had something, but couldnt explain it....now 20+ years later its one of my favourite movies.
Sometimes films don’t get nominations, or win awards, because a certain name is tied to them. Cruise has criticised people for using medication to help with mental health, and has strong ties to Scientology. I think that is why films attached to him get passed over. The same with James Cameron.
Great movie. I wish Cruise and Kidman had actually smoked a joint for the pivotal scene. It's not a very believable performance, for a really important scene.
I disagree. I saw the movie at the cinema in 1999. I thought it was visually stunning, but the plot and many of the scenes made no sense to me. I thought then that it was a confusing mess. And boring, too.
I'm sure you're right about Tom Cruise's "Magnolia" performance overshadowing EWS in general, but it's difficult for me to understand why Nicole Kidman was passed over for a Supporting Actress nomination. Also, it's weird that Kubrick wouldn't have earned one final Best Director nomination...especially since David Lynch, another very distinctive filmmaker, has received Best Director nods for "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive", both of which received no additional nominations! You'd think that the Academy voters would've given Kubrick that recognition one last time.
@@harmodiogonzalez5356 by whom? I see that she was nominated in the "Lead Actress" category by a few different organizations, but I have no idea whether the Academy voters would have nominated her for Lead or Supporting, since she wasn't nominated.
Probably because it came from a book that was made into a Broadway play that was one of the two or three worst plays I ever saw on Broadway in over 50 years of play going. If the book resulted in such a horrible play there probably was little Kubrick could do to save it.
According to Wikipedia Barry Lyndon won three Academy Awards: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design. Now get off my lawn lol.
Just like you, I saw this when it came out at age 14 in the cinema and loved it even then...and then was surprised that it seemed to be dismissed by almost everyone around me. I think the marketing made it seem like a sexy erotic thriller starring two attractive people, so audiences were disappointed that very little sex actually happens in the film. It's honestly a bit of an anti-sexual story. But it should definitely have at least gotten a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Nicole Kidman.
I meant to add my comments here in the general section but accidentally put them in a response to someone else. My apologies. Love it or hate it, Eyes Wide Shut has one fatal flaw, one problem that completely destroys it: Tom Cruise! Oh, he’s not bad in it, he’s just terribly, terribly miscast in every possible way. He’s way too cocky and swaggering to play a man who allows his wife to cuck him with that sailor story. But the biggest problem is the climax, where he’s at the party and brought before the guests to be judged for trespassing. At the very moment the guy in the red cloak and gold mask commands him, “Take your clothes off!” I groaned out loud because I knew his character was perfectly safe. The arrival of the woman to rescue him is the most predictable moment in cinema history. I counted down in my mind 3-2-1, and there she was in cue. Tom Cruise isn’t taking his clothes off nor is he playing a character who will be sexually humiliated because he is Tom Fucking Cruise, Movie Star! Had the part gone to a European actor, the moment would have had us on pins and needles because actors in Europe will do whatever a part calls for but American movie stars leave things like sexual humiliation to character actors like Ned Beaty. Anyone who says that moment had them on edge is either lying or has never seen a movie before and doesn’t know how they work. Beyond that, the movie is an indulgent over-examination of straight male hangups, filmed in London to be passed off as New York and always looking like London. Each scene is impeccably filmed and yet none of it fits together. It feels like a series of vignettes but not in a good way like in Terence Malick’s Days of Heaven, but in a disjointed manner that keeps the audience at arm’s length. Of course it’s the longest shoot of any movie ever made. Every scene is overly-studied! Kubrick needed a studio breathing down his back rushing him a little because he guessed and second guessed and 57th guessed every shot into roadkill. A little less pondering and lot more resolution along with a completely separate leading man would have made this movie the classic we are told it is.
Kubrick was always ahead of everyone, I think that’s why his films didn’t get the praise they deserved on first release. I saw Eyes Wide Shut on its first release and really didn’t care for it; I’ve seen it numerous times since, it’s absolutely a masterpiece.
Or, it is just a terrible film.
@@Argeaux2 you didn’t like it? Fair enough.
I love Kubrick, but I would argue that Full Metal Jacket was actually behind the curve.
@moviedave2001 indeed apocalypse now proves that
@@burgermind802 That it does!
Eyes Wide Shut is like most Stanley Kubrick movies. It was released at a time where his movies didn’t get tons of love.
Today, Eyes Wide Shut and many of his other movies are now recognized and beloved as cinematic masterpieces.
I love it but it was then and now still is very love it or hate it, a lot of people do still hate it and/or think it's just too weird.
Wow, you're a moron who obviously wasn't around in 1999. Kubrick was REVERED in 1999, you jackass. Why do stupid people pretend to know things? The movie is not that great, that's the reason why it "did not get love". (The fact you can't come up with your own way of talking reveals why you're so obviously ignorant. Why don't you use your brain rather than be lazy? I saw "Eyes Wide Shut" TWICE the day it opened, both to packed houses. It was a total event. The movie fizzled because it kinda sucks! You haven't figured that out, yet?
The movie doesn’t hold up critically today to his other 4-5 most loved films. Respectfully, I don’t think it’s aged particularly well.
Boogie Nights’ strong sexual content didn’t completely turn the Academy off, as you well know.
Can we just stop pretending that entertainment awards are the sole measurement of quality and excellence?
Exactly, why? Because the awards are corrupted by the studios ..a consistent history of not giving awards to the best
Exactly!
Not to mention the Movie Eyes Wide Shut called out all of those award member voters. It was a movie about them.
It's a no brainer why the movie bombed
Kubrick never received a "best picture" or "best director" his entire cinematic career. So what does that say about the Academy?
@@buzzcrushtrendkill And… The Shining. 👀
What really strikes me about this flick is how faithful it is to its source material. Apart from the setting change from 20s Vienna to 90s New York, it's almost seemlessly and frame by frame translated from the book. Plus, Kubrik's whimsical style was always the perfect match for the novella's dreamlike atmosphere.
that's hard to say, the faithful part. the book is heavily about a jewish character most of the subtext has to do with that. Kubrick cut it quickly, he did love the book and spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to adapt it. personally it feels like a big change,
It really didn’t do that well with critics. It was pretty divisive with critics in fact. And only a handful of critics really loved it and thought it was one of the few best films of the 99. Because of its sexual nature and pacing it wasn’t that awards friendly. It was a summer release. And many who even liked the film thought Cruise wasn’t very good in it. So, it not being embraced at the awards ceremonies wasn’t surprising. People are way more friendly towards it in retrospect. I probably liked it more back then than I do now. But I do consider it a top 10 movie from that year.
This all aligns with my thoughts also. It was probably underappreciated at the time, but I feel the retrospective praise has swung too far the other way. If it had been made by a less revered filmmaker it would now be viewed as an interesting but worth checking out curiosity imo.
It was a thi king man's film. It also had some of the most unsexy sexual scenes imaginable. Cruise's sleep walking acting was also something I've wondered about. A lot of mystery in the film. 😮
Love this movie….. I think some 90s Academy members probably were at some of those late night parties, they felt exposed, hit too close to home…. Fidelio 🤫
This. So much this.
😂😂😂👏🏽👏🏽
Love your videos!
I was thinking, have you ventured into videos about "Oscar bait"? I'm sure there could be some interesting videos there, both for screenplay, acting and best picture through the years - both of those who failed and those who won/got nominated!
Eyes Wide Shut is my go to Christmas movie
Eyes Wide Shut is an absolute masterpiece
Agreed!
The Party vs the House..
- Was she the woman at the Party? You called it a charade!
* Ziegler didn't. He called the House a charade.
It was too risky and daring for the Oscars.
The reason the Oscars snubbed EWS, it hit too close to the truth of Hollywood underbelly.
Its fiction
@@eduardfonsek9406yeah the truth about hollywood is way worse than the movie
@@venompool1490 Why do people say stuff like this?
The academy didn’t want to show favoritism by giving awards to a movie that looked like their home videos.
AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH
🎯 this got me good 😂
Its fiction
Call me unpatriotic but I sometimes think the American palate doesn't necessarily agree with movies that are less surface level and more of a deep dive. In fact I would say in 1999 American Pie was way bigger in the states than this masterpiece. And that is tragic. There seems to be a dumbing down of American society in particular that started somewhere in the 90's and has continued and has certainly picked up substantial speed in recent years. IMO of course.
Did eyes wide shut do better outside of america? Because It’s not hard to realize why Hollywood wouldn’t want this movie to gain traction when all the movie does is air their secrets.
I agree with you Brian. Like many of Kubrick’s films, you aren’t given all the answers and gain more by watching the film time and time again. So it is with Eyes Wide Shut. Kidman is amazing and the folklore of the now infamous shoot has inevitably become linked to her subsequent split from Cruise. The creepy soundtrack is compelling as are the New York street scenes created on an English back lot.
The Party vs the House..
- Was she the woman at the Party? You called it a charade!
* Ziegler didn't. He called the House a charade.
I thought it was a masterpiece when I saw it on opening night, and I still think so today. Top three Kubrick for me, next to Paths Of Glory and 2001. Just an absolutely incredible movie. I remember being surprised at how critically divisive it was when it came out, I mean a LOT of critics panned it. So glad to see its fortunes have turned around in the last two and a half decades, to the point where it's almost universally regarded as one of his best.
I think this film was stylish and atmospheric in its art direction and cinematography, but I disagree it was well-acted. Cruise and Kidman seemed self-conscious and almost amateurish. The scene where they argue while high was wooden and lacked realism. The material suited neither of them.
I kinda agree. The 'argument' scene is fine, but nothing special script, direction or acting wise. Most Woody Allen films of the 80's and 90's feature similar scenes which are superior in most aspects and at least as interesting thematically.
Cruise and Kidman were miscast and their terrible performances are the proof. They seemed like they were ad libbing and were only successful in foreshadowing how much Kidman had learned to hate Cruise. Kubrick messed up Frederic Raphael's targeted script by reducing it's mean-spirited assault on the institution of marriage and sexual politics.
Real is good, interesting is better.
- Kubrick on acting
Great summary, Brian! I also agree that this movie, like The Shining, only just needed more time for people to truly appreciate it. Probably just a bit too experimental and arthouse for its time, especially involving THE It power couple of the '90s.
I think Kidman would have also made an incredible Oscar nominee for 1996 with To Die For, iconic! Can't wait for your Sixth Sense writeup, Brian! ❤
You saw this movie when you were 14? I was 16 when it came out. While my parents were okay with most R-rated movies I saw at that age, they drew the line at me seeing "Eyes Wide Shut". I didn't end up seeing it until 25 years later.
Damn you now just seeing it in 2024
@@G-TV_TheOneManArmy Yes, I saw it on the big screen at my local art house theater’s 1999 retrospective. I could’ve seen it on DVD, but never got around to it after all these years.
@@tyrannosaurusburke damn as far as my existence born 2000 movies made after I was 5 to 10 I say the longest I went w/o seeing a newly wide released movie was maybe 10ish years
Nicole Kidman allegedly had her telephone tapped by Scientologists during the making of Eyes Wide Shut. The film is a masterpiece.
They did so because Cruise, a long-time poster boy of the church, began to ignore Scientology head David Miscavige's calls while the actor and Kidman were filming the film 'Eyes Wide Shut' in London in 1997, former high-ranking church officer Mike Rinder writes in the book.'A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology.'
Brian you are so consistent with your content, great speaking voice and you're incredibly knowledgeable on film! You should have 100k subs by now! Manifesting that for you! Love your channel 😊🫶🏾🩷🩷
I remember that Ebert and some critics didn’t care for the movie. I remember it having mixed reviews.
The reviews at the time were at best mixed.
Scorsese put it in his list of top 10 movies of the decade.
And Ebert liked it a lot except for resolution.
@@spambertron7434 Ebert gave it 3 and a half stars out of 4
Actually, Ebert adored this movie. He devoted an entire episode of Siskel & Ebert to a discussion about it with other critics. That episode is on RUclips.
This is my favourite Kubrick film. So many layers to it, and truths to it that make it more relevant today than ever.
I honestly think the biggest reason--it shined a light on something in society that a lot of people would like to hide. Anytime you get too close to the truth, it will get discredited somehow. Especially when it has anything to do with the rich.
Yep
I would give anything to see Kubrick's original unedited film, his true vision. I agree though that the released film is brilliant, I hope that there exists the original film that could eventually be shown.
The Party vs the House..
- Was she the woman at the Party? You called it a charade!
* Ziegler didn't. He called the House a charade.
This is the comment I was looking for. Wondering if it had been released since and I just didn’t know. Missed opportunity from the studio if you ask me. They could still do it.
@@simplyrowen I hope so.
Eyes Wide Shut hit a little too close to home for a lot of the weirdos in Hollywood.
Its easy call weirdos people you dont know
Love this, thanks for making it.
I always considered Eyes Wide Shut a cult classic, which almost by definition is going to get ignored at the box office and in the award season.
Like, the way I remember it, the film got a little overshadowed by real and imagined behind the scenes drama surrounding Cruise and Kidman's disintegrating marriage. It wasn't until it was on cable and DVD that I even remember hearing good things about it.
And then, naturally, it became one of the go-to movies for RUclips film channels to analyze (along with the rest of Kubrick's post-Paths of Glory filmography)
Oh, I also love the fun tidbit that the actor who played pianist Nightingale in this went on to direct Tar.
It wasn't ignored at the box office. It did quite well.
Love Kubrick's body of work. Eyes Wide Shut blows me away and leaves me feeling fearful and questioning. Such a powerful movie with so many trigger points.
Eyes Wide Shut is a masterpiece. Like all of Kubrick's best movies, it asks the deepest questions about human nature, explores themes of power, exploitation, family, love, and the inmost truths of the psyche.
Who even remembers or talks about Cider House Rules anyways? Right on point there.
I do think it deserves at least nominations for cinematography and production design and supporting actor Sydney Pollack, probably adapted screenplay.
I watch it every year at Xmas, even if I've already watched it that year. It's strange, because it's not my knee jerk "favorite" of his films, but it IS the one I return to the most. It's so rich and detailed, nuanced and hypnotic. Having never seen myself as "handsome" it's always been difficult for me to relate to Tom Cruise (or other traditional Hollywood leading men). However, in this film, I think both what he does as an actor and how he's directed by Kubrick, I can see myself in Dr. Harford and feel every emotion he goes through and every decision he makes. A really fantastic film.
Eyes Wide Shut was panned upon release. It wasn’t until the early 2010s that critics and audiences warmed up to it
13:05 Problem is Oscar voters frequently don't watch the films they are supposed to vote for. It's a curious quirk of the Academy rules that actually _watching_ the film is not a requirement _unless_ it's for the Foreign Oscar! There were efforts to change this idiotic rule since forever but AFAIK it's still in place. That's one reason why domestic Oscars are mostly farcical while foreign Oscars are usually quite reasonable.
I can't think of any other movie that has stirred up so much debate as Eyes Wide Shut. Every man and his dog has an opinion on what it's supposed to be about and whether it is metaphorical or literal. Interestingly out of Kubrick's last three movies, The Shining, Full Metal jacket, and Eyes Wide Shut, only FMJ received a vote from the Academy Awards.
To me, EWS is a better movie than Magnolia.
I have been going down the eyes wide shut lately. Go is so good. I recommend it all the time. It has a Barry Lyndon and shining vibe.
American Pie is a masterpiece if your criterion is how to be entertaining to the broadest mass of customers. I am not trying to belittle the film here.
"Eyes Wide Shut" is in my opinion Kubrick's best.
Saw it in the Cinemas and absolutely loved it. And 25 years later, I still do.
However, 1999 was STACKED! There were so many movies that got snubbed in various categories ("Go!" for Best Original Screenplay, Editing; "The Iron Giant" Best Original Screenplay, "Fight Club" for more or less everything and the "Talented Mr. Ripley" should have deserved more love. "Drop Dead Gorgeous"...don't get me started on that amazing screenplay and the stellar cast. "Girl, Interrupted" being more or less completely overlooked. ). The list is LONG!
"The Cider House Rules" didn't work for me, but this year was honestly the best I ever experienced in a Movie Theater. Sure, I was 16 at the time, but this isn't nostalgia speaking. Those are just a few movies that I still can watch over and over and over and over again.
"The Cider House Rules" not so much. But it was Weinstein's Oscar bait that year, so... Oh well.
Nicole Kidman should've won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She is MAJESTIC in this film. Best of the year
Her turn in the Hours is so much better.
@@Argeaux2 I wouldn’t even put The Hours in her top five best performances, maybe not top 10. It’s not a horrible Oscar win, but it’s not a standout either.
A movie about high society people, involved in promiscuity, pedophilia and secret societies... that's a huge NO from Hollywood and from the elites in general.
Another "unpleasant" movie from 1999 was The Ninth Gate... however, things have changed.
What was kept under the rug in those days, now they promote almost openly.
When I looked up Eyes Wide Shut on Wikipedia, I seriously thought the section covering the movie's academy awards nomination was on a separate page. Then I realized it didn't get any nominations at all. It's hard to believe because every Kubrick movie since Dr. Strangelove got at least one nomination except The Shining. It's especially odd considering the movie came out after Kubrick died, you'd think it would've gotten a sympathy director nomination for him or at least best cinematography, maybe best adapted screen play. Nope, it got completely shut out.
I haven’t seen it in many years. Will check it out when!
We all know why it was ignored…
Why?
I saw it at the theater when it was released. People left puzzled and disappointed.
Its rep has only gone up over the years.
It's a great film but a little too controversial and otherwise weird and I can see some people would think also open-ended especially the ending.
Films with an open end are never th public's favoritess, especially in the US. That's why the baddies usually get killed in the end - closure. That's why the death penalty is popular - closure. People need final results. Events in retrospect are always discussed and interpreted in light of the results, no matter if it is politics, war or sports. It's just lazy thinking.
Would love to see an Oscar Fiasco about Nine. This was a movie that had a lot of potential, but just fell flat, it got 4 nominations, but on the heels of Chicago this had a lot of buzz that just did not hold up, besides Marion Cotillard’s heart breaking performance, nothing really stands out or withstood the test of time.
Incredible film! One of the best of the 90s
The movie mirrored too much of what happens in the industry. They could have given him an oscar for best director even nomonate Tom at least, im amazed he didnt win an oscar before but his co stars did? Doesn't make sense when oscars do that imo. Also shame we will never see the original ending kubrick had
huge Kubrick fan here and I don’t even like all of his movies. Eyes Wide Shut is one of my favorites by him I agree with 98% of everything you say in your videos… I’m a huge movie buff. It would be fun to drink a cup of coffee with you and talk about movies for a couple hours. I’m a 65-year-old monster kid, too… grew up watching horror … I’m glad you like the genre.
Is it possible to find the uncut version anywhere? Does it exist?
Pretty much everywhere outside USA. But Americans may watch it uncut on Blu-ray and stuff (Unrated Version).
Great analysis. You captured both what I loved about this movie as well as why a lot of people didn’t like it. Gonna watch again. Have it in DVD somewhere. 🤓
The Party vs the House..
- Was she the woman at the Party? You called it a charade!
* Ziegler didn't. He called the House a charade.
You are right Brian, it is so sad Eyes Wide Shut was snubbed at the Oscars.
But bad timing to release
Not to mention the 22 minutes cut from the film by WB after Stanley’s death. Guess he flew to close to the sun, and got burned for trying to expose these creeps?
Bizarre that most of Kubrick movies weren’t appreciated at the time. Even 2001 got hammered by the press.
I believe Paths of Glory and Spartacus were well received but most of the rest seem to take their time to be appreciated
Paths of Glory was a box office flop.
@@Tolstoy111 really! Did it get good critical reviews?
@@jekw23 It did! But it wasn't what people wanted to see at the time. Quite the downer. Why would critics hammer POG?
A lot of people love Kubrick but a lot of people also feel he was declining and/or at least becoming a lot more love him or hate him for most of his later career since 2001.
His creative peak had passed long by Eyes Wide Shut. He was one of the great artists in film but '63-'75 was his peak period. Eyes Wide Shut was excellent but it feels like a riskier (more nudity) version of the superior La Notte (one of Kubrick's favourites) to me.
I cannot believe that people do not approve of this film. It is one of my favourites... Maybe the portayal was a bit too realistic to the hollywood elites lifestyle...
I felt the same last year when SALTBURN was snubbed by the Academy. I’m curious if some of the same things that caused EWS to be shut out occured with SALTBURN as well.
I've never seen this movie, but after watching you video, I'm going to make a point of viewing it.
The movie we saw isn't even the one Kubrick would've put out.. There's a lot of other ppl who got their say-so in the editing room after Kubrick died
Pluto was in the thick of Sidereal Scorpio in the late 90d.
Scorpio can show courage and fortitude in tackling the struggles in life like Magnolia.
But Scorpio can also show something bizarre, sneakiness, an inordinate fascination with sex, straggling kind of pacing - all the characteristics of the movie Eyes Wide Shut.
Normally when two items or events represented by a zodiac sign gets the possibility of showing up in a gala event, only one will succeed. And that year that happens to be Magnolia.
This is an astrological phenomenon that is accepted by astrologers using esoteric principles.
Oh, that crummy Lake Tahoe movie theater!😮😢😂😅❤
You seeing this at 14 a tad wild.
EYES WIDE SHUT is one of Stanley Kubrick's best movies . It was treated unfairly with the X or NC-17 rating . After seeing the unedited version I couldn't believe why it got the adult rating . The movie shows a few seconds of a male performer of a sex scene do a few seconds of graphic pelvic thrusting of a simulated sex show .
Every Kubrick movie having to be a masterpiece is auteur theory run a muck (well actually it was kinda that way from the beginning I suppose).
Pretty sure plenty of “film bros” do the same thing in regards to Scorsese. It’s ok to be a fan without turning them into a god, if that’s not ok get some help 😂
Like jazz, I didn't get it back then but, god, do I get it now.
The more I watch this movie, the more I like it. Still not entirely sure what it's about though
The Party vs the House..
- Was she the woman at the Party? You called it a charade!
* Ziegler didn't. He called the House a charade.
Eyes Wide Shut is admirable and has some great scenes. It has aged solidly. It’s still not one of the handful of 1999 movies that really standout to me though. When I think of films from that year that deserved way more Oscar love I think of Election, Toy Story 2, Fight Club, The Talented Mr Ripely before Eyes Wide Shut. A directing nod and a Supporting Actress nod for Kidman (especially after the To Die For snub and with how weak Supporting Actress was that year) wouldn’t have been unworthy.
Yes, all those movies are great and better than this pile of rubbish. Thank you
If you saw the original 1960 "Talented Mr Ripely" movie ( Purple Noon) with young Alain Delon you would completely change your opinion on the American remake version. When I watched that 1999 film I thought what a joke!
The 99 movie was fantastic regardless of what you compare it to.
Adore this movie❤
So confusing and magnetic.
Fever dream 🔥🔥🔥
The Party vs the House..
- Was she the woman at the Party? You called it a charade!
* Ziegler didn't. He called the House a charade.
It’s interesting how everybody is afraid to even acknowledge that American Beauty existed and was extremely popular and critically acclaimed in 1999. Probably the worst-aged movie since Revenge of the Nerds. Videos like these just pretend it didn’t happen.
As far as the topic of this video, I remember that year and Eyes Wide Shut was considered a box office flop. There were just way too many other great movies competing for attention that year. If a movie tanks at the box office, it becomes awards show cancer. For a more recent example, see Jobs, that Steve Jobs biopic that critics absolutely loved but no one went to see. It didn’t get any awards.
It’s interesting that the subject matter - ie the sex - may have been too much for the 90s, which was far more progressive than todays audiences in that regard
Full theater of normies groaned at movie, yet you couldn't hear a pin drop the entire film as they were transfixed to the screen. First thing I said leaving theater despite the exiting crowd reaction, "This film is never going away".
The Party vs the House..
- Was she the woman at the Party? You called it a charade!
* Ziegler didn't. He called the House a charade.
I saw Eyes Wide Shut again recently and my opinion of it diminished a little. I still like the film, it probably ahould have bagged a few Oscar nods, but it's Kubrick's weakest film since Killers Kiss.
The movie was just too deep and daring for the Oscar crowd.
Go was awesome! So was Three Kings. I did not think Eyes Wide Shut was any good.
I love Eyes Wide Shut. Saw it in theaters .however, I will never understand how the dreadful Cider House Rules gets in best picture. Replace that film with Eyes Wide Shut, Election, Magnolia, or Being John Malkovich .
As much as I liked Eyes Wide Shut (but not loved it as much as Brian Rowe did) I think it could have got just the one nomination for Best Original Score and when you said Cuba Gooding, Jr. won an Oscar for Jerry Maguire you meant won and earned the Oscar, right?
Wasn't most of the score pre-existing music?
That film demonstrated to me how powerful Nicole Kidman was. I imagined she was discarding the Kubrickian direction but finding a way to make her style work for him. She confidently delivered some awkward line deliveries - they had to be to order - and played them like she was reading a book in her mind. Just a brilliant strategy. I have to say tho, as a Kubrick stan, this is my least favorite of his pictures. He was typically a truth teller and the orgy here was so untrue to any possible sex underground it was corny. I would have been up for a more NC-17 leaning picture or something directed by a man who'd participated in orgies rather than fantasizing about the opening night of opera season devolving into an orgy.
Galaxy Quest came out in 1999
I remember when it first came out, and i was really into my movies at the time...to me it was being portrayed as just a bit of an odd,.kinky sex movie....it didnt even seem.to.make much of it being Cruise and Kidman and Kubrick, seemed to disappear under the radar in the UK.
When i did get to see it a few years later i thought it had something, but couldnt explain it....now 20+ years later its one of my favourite movies.
0:44 I'm sorry, but Jim Carrey didn't deserve oscar for "Man on the Moon"
He was playing himself, he wasn't portraying as Andy Kaufman.
Yeah, I do feel like The Truman Show or Eternal Sunshine (as stacked as they year was in Best Actor) were more obvious snubs.
Have you watched the documentary Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond?
@@liteflightify I agree.
I agree.
When I saw Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon, I thought he did a perfect job embodying Andy Kaufman.
Americans are such prudes when it comes to film . Kidman at least deserved a win here , she was outstanding. Great film .
Sometimes films don’t get nominations, or win awards, because a certain name is tied to them.
Cruise has criticised people for using medication to help with mental health, and has strong ties to Scientology.
I think that is why films attached to him get passed over.
The same with James Cameron.
Great movie. I wish Cruise and Kidman had actually smoked a joint for the pivotal scene. It's not a very believable performance, for a really important scene.
One of my most favorite movies!
This is my favorite Kubrick film… and it’s not close
This film requires you to live with it for awhile and demands repeat viewing. It was too soon in a sense. Hindsight is 20/20.
I disagree. I saw the movie at the cinema in 1999. I thought it was visually stunning, but the plot and many of the scenes made no sense to me. I thought then that it was a confusing mess. And boring, too.
“If you only knew……”
I'm sure you're right about Tom Cruise's "Magnolia" performance overshadowing EWS in general, but it's difficult for me to understand why Nicole Kidman was passed over for a Supporting Actress nomination. Also, it's weird that Kubrick wouldn't have earned one final Best Director nomination...especially since David Lynch, another very distinctive filmmaker, has received Best Director nods for "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive", both of which received no additional nominations! You'd think that the Academy voters would've given Kubrick that recognition one last time.
Nicole Kidman was considered Leading for her performance here.
@@harmodiogonzalez5356 by whom? I see that she was nominated in the "Lead Actress" category by a few different organizations, but I have no idea whether the Academy voters would have nominated her for Lead or Supporting, since she wasn't nominated.
Probably because it came from a book that was made into a Broadway play that was one of the two or three worst plays I ever saw on Broadway in over 50 years of play going. If the book resulted in such a horrible play there probably was little Kubrick could do to save it.
That's one of the most convoluted reasons I can imagine.
Can you make a video as to why Stepmom (1998) flopped at the Oscars?
According to Wikipedia Barry Lyndon won three Academy Awards: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design. Now get off my lawn lol.
You should do a top 20 best acting Oscar of all time just an idea but if you did it I would love to see your takes
Prudish Americans. That's why.
Kubrick, Kruise, Kidman.
Make a video on alfred hitchcock and elusive oscar
Good stuff, but it took you 60 percent of the video to get to the point of the video by guy
Just like you, I saw this when it came out at age 14 in the cinema and loved it even then...and then was surprised that it seemed to be dismissed by almost everyone around me. I think the marketing made it seem like a sexy erotic thriller starring two attractive people, so audiences were disappointed that very little sex actually happens in the film. It's honestly a bit of an anti-sexual story. But it should definitely have at least gotten a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Nicole Kidman.
I meant to add my comments here in the general section but accidentally put them in a response to someone else. My apologies.
Love it or hate it, Eyes Wide Shut has one fatal flaw, one problem that completely destroys it: Tom Cruise! Oh, he’s not bad in it, he’s just terribly, terribly miscast in every possible way. He’s way too cocky and swaggering to play a man who allows his wife to cuck him with that sailor story. But the biggest problem is the climax, where he’s at the party and brought before the guests to be judged for trespassing. At the very moment the guy in the red cloak and gold mask commands him, “Take your clothes off!” I groaned out loud because I knew his character was perfectly safe. The arrival of the woman to rescue him is the most predictable moment in cinema history. I counted down in my mind 3-2-1, and there she was in cue. Tom Cruise isn’t taking his clothes off nor is he playing a character who will be sexually humiliated because he is Tom Fucking Cruise, Movie Star! Had the part gone to a European actor, the moment would have had us on pins and needles because actors in Europe will do whatever a part calls for but American movie stars leave things like sexual humiliation to character actors like Ned Beaty. Anyone who says that moment had them on edge is either lying or has never seen a movie before and doesn’t know how they work. Beyond that, the movie is an indulgent over-examination of straight male hangups, filmed in London to be passed off as New York and always looking like London. Each scene is impeccably filmed and yet none of it fits together. It feels like a series of vignettes but not in a good way like in Terence Malick’s Days of Heaven, but in a disjointed manner that keeps the audience at arm’s length. Of course it’s the longest shoot of any movie ever made. Every scene is overly-studied! Kubrick needed a studio breathing down his back rushing him a little because he guessed and second guessed and 57th guessed every shot into roadkill. A little less pondering and lot more resolution along with a completely separate leading man would have made this movie the classic we are told it is.