A Kubrick Christmas

A Kubrick Christmas kicks off with 2001: A Space Odyssey, the director's 1969 science fiction trip! Opening in prehistoric times, the film jumps from early man’s discovery of a strange monolith and subsequent development of weaponry to hundreds of thousands of years into the future when humanity has mastered space travel. As the rest of their crew rests in hibernation, scientists Dave and Frank lead a mission to Jupiter to retrieve a mysterious ancient artifact, accompanied by sentient computer system HAL 9000. When HAL’s intellect and ego are challenged, the journey takes an ominous turn as the craft races closer to its cryptic destination.

Our Kubrick Christmas series marches along with Paths of Glory, the director's 1957 anti-war drama! The story follows Colonel Dax, portrayed by Kirk Douglas, a principled French officer who is ordered to lead his men in a suicidal assault on an impregnable German position known as the "Anthill." When the attack fails, the enraged generals scapegoat three soldiers, putting them on trial for cowardice to cover up their own incompetence. As Dax defends the men in a farcical court-martial, the film exposes the callous indifference of the military hierarchy and the brutal realities of war.

Up next in our Kubrick Christmas series is Full Metal Jacket, the director's 1987 Vietnam War film! The movie is divided into two distinct parts: the harrowing boot camp experience, where the recruits endure relentless psychological and physical abuse under the brutal drill instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey), and their subsequent deployment to the chaos of Vietnam. At the center is Private Joker (Matthew Modine), whose transformation from a sardonic recruit to a hardened war correspondent reflects the moral ambiguity and psychological toll of combat.

Revisit one of Stanley Kubrick's first features with 1956's The Killing, the next entry in our Kubrick Christmas series. Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.

A Kubrick Christmas continues with Barry Lyndon, a visually stunning period drama that chronicles the rise and fall of an ambitious Irish rogue in 18th-century Europe. The film follows Redmond Barry (Ryan O’Neal), a charming but unscrupulous young man who climbs the social ladder through duels, deception, and a strategic marriage to a wealthy widow, Lady Lyndon (Marisa Berenson). As he ascends to aristocratic privilege, Barry’s greed, vanity, and lack of foresight ultimately lead to his downfall, exposing the fragile nature of wealth and power.

Up next in our Classic Movie Nights series is Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb!

Our Kubrick Christmas and Page to Screen series crossover for A Clockwork Orange, the director's 1971 adaptation of the Anthony Burgess novel! In a near-future Britain, young Alexander DeLarge and his pals get their kicks beating and raping anyone they please. When not destroying the lives of others, Alex swoons to the music of Beethoven. The state, eager to crack down on juvenile crime, gives an incarcerated Alex the option to undergo an invasive procedure that'll rob him of all personal agency. In a time when conscience is a commodity, can Alex change his tune?

Kubrick Christmas winds down with The Shining, the disturbing 1980 adaptation of Stephen King's horror novel. The film follows Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic, who takes a job as the winter caretaker of the remote Overlook Hotel. Along with his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and young son Danny (Danny Lloyd), who possesses psychic abilities called "the shining," Jack hopes to find peace and inspiration for his writing. However, the hotel's malevolent supernatural forces and Jack’s descent into insanity turn their stay into a nightmare. As Danny's visions grow more disturbing and Jack becomes increasingly unhinged, Wendy must fight to protect herself and her son.

Party Like It's 1999 and Kubrick Christmas closes with Eyes Wide Shut, the director's subversive, sexual holiday mystery. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman star as William and Alice, a wealthy New York couple trying to get in the holiday spirit. After Alice admits to William that she once almost — key word being almost — cheated on him, William is suddenly inspired to partake in a nightlong sexual odyssey, finding himself in one strange entanglement after another as the possible indiscretion plays out on a loop in his head. His late night sojourn eventually brings him to a secretive occult group that may offer him more excitement than he's looking for...