6. Killer's Kiss (Stanley Kubrick)
2001 A Space Odyssey. Dr. Strangelove. The Shining. Full Metal Jacket. Genre is irrelevant when it comes to Stanley Kubrick's films, he could make a great movie out of a melodrama starring Ryan O'Neal in tights (oh wait, he did with Barry Lyndon). Like an extreme version of Paul Thomas Anderson, Kubrick was incredibly selective and meticulous when it came to making films, that's why he only released a total of 13 narrative films from 1953 to 1959. Fear and Desire was his first in 1953, a psychological war film in which the central characters also played the unnamed "enemy." Kubrick tried to have this film locked away in a vault, but it recently came out on DVD and Blu Ray. While it is certainly interesting, and it includes Kubrick's photographic style, it comes off as the work of an (immensely talented) film student. The Killing, Kubrick's 1956 film noir starring Sterling Hayden was the director's first foray into studio pictures, and he ran away with his career after tha And while The Killing is a great film, its predecessor Killer's Kiss is a marvel in its own right. A film noir starring Jamie Smith as a boxer with potential and Irene Kane as his dance-hall love interest, Kubrick made Killer's Kiss a brief and punchy thriller, clocking in at a slight 67 minutes. But every one of those minutes is important here as the film jumps from Smith peering through his window to get a look at his neighbor across the way (played by Kane) to a frenetic boxing match that calls to mind Scorsese's 1980 film Raging Bull. The film also has some clever conceits: as Irene details her ballerina sister's life we see a flashback of her solo performance, one that pirouettes to the tune of the story. Kubrick's fascination with the mixture of high and low culture (boxing and ballet) is displayed here and he develops his chilling thriller style as well. The climactic fight takes place in a mannequin factory, Kubrick's black and white photography is particularly chilling when the disembodied arms dangle above the head of the protagonist, seemingly trying to get hold of him and take him to his doom. The ending of the film feels tacked on (there are rumors that it was forced on Kubrick by the distributors) but the last thirty seconds can't undo the brilliance of the rest of the picture.