Stanley Kubrick Companion

by James Howard

Describes Stanley Kubrick's works from "Spartacus" to "Full Metal Jacket," and examines his eccentric personality as reflected in his films.

192 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1999

About the author

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mediocre companion to Kubrick’s repertoire. It is interesting to have a general history of each film, as well as the surrounding cultural context, but too often the author seems to veer off on rambling tangents that are only vaguely interesting. I do, however, appreciate the inclusion of Kubrick’s earliest works, which tend to be skipped in film companions that want to focus only on an artist’s first feature length efforts.

[Raya P Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a bit hard to get into for me at first, because I still needed to watch a few of the earlier Kubrick pictures, and so I felt rushed in watching them.
But once I watched everything, I could relax and enjoy the behind-the-scenes info and author's insight into socio-political climates that might have influenced the film director's choices of books/scripts.
The writer is a passionate Kubrick fan, and it shows through the whole book, sometimes not in a favourable light (like bashing Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs). He also seems to be stuck on the idea that he needs to dis-spell the myth about Kubrick being a tyrant, where, I think, any movie buff would not pay so much attention to what the tabloids are trying to propagate.
Overall, it's a good read for anyone who already appreciates the director and his work.

[Nathan Phillips · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't learn anything from this but it was a pleasant distraction from this shitshow of a week. Written before Eyes Wide Shut was released, it brought forth some memories of all the amusingly fevered internet speculation about that movie in the preceding few years. There are also two barely-related pages of the author complaining about Reservoir Dogs, which I found very humorous. Howard generally seems kind of cantankerous but in a fun British way, and with a lot of the same tiresome-to-my-friends pet peeves I have. The book is shoddily edited.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Encyclopedic survey of Kubrick’s films and visual style. Can be read through or referenced. Profusely illustrated.