Retro Recap “Favre’s First Comeback”

In a new feature here at the blogolumn, I will be doing one of those fancy running diaries. However, it won’t be for a current sports event or draft; it will be for an NFL regular season game from September 20, 1992. It features the Cincinnati Bengals hosted by the Green Bay Packers. It is noteable for (SPOILER ALERT!) being Favre’s first comeback. In light of recent events, it feels quite appropriate to look back at the start of the Favre-era in Green Bay. On a side note, I didn’t see this game when it first aired despite already being a fan of the Packers, since I was out of market. All I saw where the updates of Majkowski getting injured and the TD to end the game.

A little background info before starting. The Bengals were a team that did quite well in the 80’s, making 2 Super Bowls appearances. In 1990, they made the playoffs but lost to Bo Jackson’s Raiders in the conference semi-finals. In 1991, they went 3-13 and fired their coach, Sam Wyche. Their search for a new head coach came down to Dave Shula and Bill Cowher. They hired Shula and went to have one of the worst decades in sports history. They did however start the Shula-era 2-0 in 1992.

The Packers coming into 1992 had only made the playoffs twice in the last 24 seasons, only winning one playoff game in that span (during a strike shorten season, no less). They had just hired a new coach, Mike Holmgren, and GM, Ron Wolf.  They came into this game 0-2 and were destroyed the previous week by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

And here is the opening kickoff:

Calling the game is boxing’s Jim Lampley and NBA Inside Stuff’s Ahmad Rashad. Its on NBC, who I am now very glad eventually lost their NFL coverage rights to FOX if they were seriously using a boxing announcer and Claire Huckstable’s real life husband to call games.

Bengals rip off a big run to start after a touchback on the kickoff. Bengals start some rookie named Carl Pickens at WR.  Ahmad notes that Boomer Esiason is “the best faking QB in the NFL”. I guess the term “play action” wasn’t a household term yet. 

The Packers D features no significant stars, but does feature a young safety named Leroy Butler, and another safety named Chuck Cecil, who was infamous for cheap shots and getting fined for said cheap shots.

Last week the Packer’s D apparently made “Vinny Testaverde look like Sammy Baugh”. Talk about an outdated reference even for 1992.

Bengals were chewing up chunks of yardage until Harold Green fumbled rather easily on your basic tackle. Should have at least had a field goal out of that drive.

Pack takes over. They start a RT named Tootie Robbins. Awesome. They start a former Pro Bowl QB named Majkowski, aka “The Magic Man”, a RB named Workman (more on him later), a FB named Buford (nothing more on him later), Sterling Sharpe at WR, another WR named Sonjay (maybe the weirdest collection of names on one offense ever? Tootie, Buford, Sterling, Sanjay), and TE Ed “The Tool Box” West. Buford is starting for Harry Sidney, which sounds about right based on my Tecmo Super Bowl roster knowledge.

Of the Bengals D, the only name I recognize is Tim Krumrie. He is apparently from Wisconsin, and Ahmad can’t pronounce his name.

First play for the Pack, sweep left and Workman is almost murdered on the tackle. 3 and out for the Pack, and here comes there punter who is nicknamed “Hang Time”. He punts it into the endzone.

Unfortunately, since this game is a replay on NFL Network, we get regular modern day commercials (starting with Bowflex), rather than some retro 1992 commercials which is what they really should include.

AND WE’RE BACK with a look at first round pick Terrell Buckley. He was the last first round pick to sign according to Lampley.  First down and some more great faking from Boomer. We get a glimpse at some in progress scores from around the league in 1992. Meanwhile, Johnny Holland horse collar tackles Harold Green, back when horse collar tackles didn’t have a name and weren’t penalized. Packers drop an easy interception that could have gone back for a TD. Time to punt and Buckley gets onto the field for the first time in his career. He has nicknamed himself the ‘new Jim Thorpe’. He gets a few yards and then gets blasted, not so Thorpe-esque there Terrell.

The Magic Man not looking comfortable in the new west coast offense, then he gets sacked and Tim Krumrie lands on his ankle. He is hurt, and Tim Krumrie deserves an honorary Super Bowl ring from 1996, because here comes Brett Favre. Well, after they get the ball back he will make an appearance, because its fourth down and that means here comes “Hang Time”. From now on, I am calling 4th down “Hang Time”.

Johnny Holland picks off a tipped Boomer pass. He actually fumbled it while being tackled but no instant replay means here comes Favre. Smartly, he does what the Magic Man couldn’t figure out, throw the ball to Sterling Sharpe. Farve was already being called a ‘gunslinger’ by Ahmad. Workman has a couple nice runs, and lets discuss this guy. He was the most appropriately named RB in league history. He could get you 1000 yards in a season, but in 16 games that’s less than 70 yards per game, which is not that great. If there was a hole, he would find it and get you a few yards, but lacked breakaway speed and seemed to always get tackled by the first guy with a clean shot at him. He seemed like a good RB to have, until you replaced him with someone else and realized that he wasn’t anything more than an average workman type player. Right on cue, Krumie strips Workman to stall out the promising drive. Onto to try the FG from 32 yards from the right hash is Jacke and he misses it wide left by a mile. Still tied at 0.

A holding penalty negates a huge play, and on the next play Boomer throws in directly to Johnny Holland. That’s three turnovers for the Bengals, two picks by Holland, and one forced fumbled by Holland.

Favre takes a shot at the end zone that sails 20 yards over Sharpe’s head. Sharpe stops before the ball even hits the ground to complain about being held by the defender (is he the one who started that?). Favre fumbles the snap on the next play and Krumie recovers. So, at the end of the 1st quarter our score: Bengals 0, Packers 0, Krumrie 3 (two forced fumbles and one QB’s career ended), Holland 3 (see above).

Ahmad’s words of wisdom - “There are few quarterbacks in the league where interceptions don’t bother them at all. And that’s the way you gotta be. You throw an interception, you have to come right back and throw it again.”

Lampley thinks the reason for the Packers bad record at home in the 6 years leading upto this game is that they get use to playing at Lambeau while it is special for opposing teams. I think its because their team was mostly awful, and the fact that they had a 20 game win streak in Lambeau during the mid-90’s proves my hypothesis.

Bengals cruise down the field again, we find out they call their offense when they bring in big backup RB Derrick Fenner, “Hammer Time”. Hammer Time fails to get the ball into the end zone on 3 carries inside the 5 yard line. So, Bengal’s kicker Jim Breach tries his best to miss a 20 yard field goal, but it squeezes through. Bengals take a 3-0 lead.

Robert Brooks makes an appearance on the kick return. Favre opens the drive by throwing to Sterling in triple coverage. Shockingly incomplete. Workman is getting ‘overworked’ according to Ahmad, so the Pack bring in Edgar Bennett and it seems like their entire Super Bowl team was on the bench to start the 92 season. Hang time is on to punt, and Pickens takes the return from the 6 and makes one of the best punt returns you will ever see. He went right, broke three tackles, cut all the way across the field, slowed down to let one tackler almost catch up with him and then tauntingly hit the speed burst button to cruise into the end zone. WOW! Bengals 10 Packers 0.

Packers slowly moving the ball, convert a 4th and 1 on the Bengals 40, but then go backwards and here comes Hang Time. Bengals decide they don’t want a 10 point half time lead, and rough the kicker. Favre gets booed after he tries to call a timeout that he is not allowed to call and then gets back up under center, almost trips on the exchange, and fires the ball out of the back of the endzone on 3rd down. Jacke hits the field goal to follow. Bengals 10 Packers 3.

Jacke follows that up by kicking the ball out of bounds to give the Bengals the ball at the 35 with 36 seconds and 3 timeouts. They pick up 10 yards on 1st down and call a quick timeout. Then for some reason they decide to hand the ball off again. No gain. Then they let the clock expire rather than try to gain 20 yards to get in range for a long field goal. Curious.

Half time. Bengals 10 Packers 3.

We are back, and we learn that Majkowski hasn’t been able to stay healthy since 1989. A fact I know all to well from many failed Tecmo simulated seasons that were destroyed by him getting injured and Anthony Dilweg taking over to lead the team to a 7-9 finish.  3 and 7 on the first drive and Favre shows us a glimpse of his future. He spins of a unblocked passrusher and throws across his body to the fullback for a 1st down. Sonjay Beach stalls out the drive due to not being able to jump to catch a would-be touchdown, and yes his name was seriously Sonjay Beach. Jacke misses another field goal, this time wide right.

Boomer throws what should have been another interception, but it hit Terrell “The New Jim Thorpe” Buckley right in the hands and he can’t hold on.

They bust out a quick comparison graphic between Esiason and Favre so far. Not so good Boomer when a guy seeing his first significant action and is throwing the ball over everyone’s head is outplaying you by a large margain. On the plus side, Boomer’s flowing blonde locks are looking glorious today.

In motivation news, we find out Krumrie was passed up by his homestate Packers in the 10th round of draft in favor of a basketball player named Tim Thomas.

(Not this Tim Thomas: ) 

After a Bengals punt, Favre get shelled on a blitz and the Bengals have the ball inside the Packer’s 30 as we near the end of a not-so-eventful 3rd quarter. Boomer throws a nice pass for a 19 yard TD, which Ahmad informs us is his longest completion of the year (not a good sign for your season in the long run when your longest completion through 3 weeks is 19 yards). Bengals 17 Packers 3.

Favre fumbles twice more on the next drive, but the Packers recover both and we get another visit from Hang Time to start the 4th quarter, and another punt into the end zone. Next drive doesn’t go anywhere for the Bengals because their scheme of trying to send their slow, white, possession WR deep on Buckley who’s main asset is speed somehow ends in an incompletion. That leads to a Buckley 58 yard punt return TD in which he held the ball in one hand over his head and high stepped for the last 30 yards. Bengals 17 Packers 10.

Apparently, David Shula’s strength is “organization skills” which is nice because we know now that coaching wasn’t. Tony Bennett spears Boomer in the chest and he is layed out.

(Again, not this Tony Bennett:

Unfortunately for the Bengals they don’t have a Brett Favre on the bench, they have a Don Hollas and legendary draft bust David Klingler. For that reason, Boomer comes back in after one play out.  There is a shot of a ballboy wearing green and gold zubaz, and I continue to wait for the return of zubaz. I assume its imminent as I saw someone rockin’ a flat top earlier this week.

Bengals end up deep in Packers territory with a 7 point lead almost halfway through the 4th quarter. On 4th and 1, Shula makes the smart decision and takes the field goal. Bengals 20 Packers 10 (remember those 10 came on a punt return TD and a field goal set up by a roughing the punter penalty) 8 minutes left.

Favre leads a quick drive right back down the field, capped off by Sharpe carrying 3 Bengals into the endzone for a TD. Bengals 20 Packers 17 with 4 minutes remaining.

Bengals end up punting. Of note on the drive, Danny Noonan makes his debut for the Packers (Not the famous Bushwood caddy who helped Ty Wood and Al Czervik defeat Judge Smails), and LeRoy Butler almost murders one of the Bengals on one of those swing passes to the fullback that never works. Buckley tries to make something happen on the return and gets stripped. Bengals recover inside the Packers 35 with 3 minutes left and the Packers with only 2 timeouts remaining.

Bengals pick up a first down and get both timeouts from the Packers in the process. 2:53 remaining. Two more runs and 5 more yards for Hammer Time Derrick Fenners has us at the 2 minute warning.  3rd and 5 for cincy on the Packers’ 20. Hand off to the right in another shockingly smart call from Shula. Breach misses a huge field goal, but gets bailed out on a false start call, so Breach gets a mulligan and makes it. Bengals 23 Packers 17 with 67 seconds remaining.

Bengals try to kick the ball out of bounds on the kickoff to help the Packers out, but rookie Robert Brooks decides to catch the ball while going out of bounds at the 7 yard line. They need to go 93 yards in 67 seconds with no timeouts.  After a small gain, the Bengals, using a cover 2 defense with the CB turning Sharpe loose and the safety arriving late, let Sharpe lose down the sideline in their secondary for a HUGE gain. Another quick pass to Workman takes them inside the Bengals 40 with 19 seconds left and Sharpe is seriously hurt. Kitrick Taylor replaces him and promptly receives a rocket throw from Favre for the game tying TD. Basically, the same exact play that the used to get down the field on the pass to Sharpe. Jacke hits the PAT and Favre is running around with his helmet off like its the Super Bowl. Bengals 23 Packers 24 with 13 seconds remaining.

Game ends as Boomer fails to get a hail mary to the end zone, and the Favre-era begins. Who better than the Bengals to kickstart a legendary career.

Long time, no blog

The first new blogolumn in months and months, due to a combination of being busy and being lazy. This will cover a hodgepodge of topics that are connected in no way other than being thoughts that are bouncing around in my head.

Firstly, my list of the Top 10 movies of 2007:

1. There Will Be Blood
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Zodiac
4. Lars and the Real Girl
5. Juno
6. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
7. Eastern Promises
8. Michael Clayton
9. The Lookout
10. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

If you haven’t seen some of those, go see them now, and we can argue endlessly about the merits of them.

Also, I want to throw in a mini-review/plug for The Strangers. In one word, ‘intense’. I felt it was one of the best horror movies of the past decade. It is non-stop suspense from beginning to end. I have heard some say it is influenced by the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but I feel it is influenced much more by the original Halloween. Visually it looks a lot like Halloween, from the muted colors to the use of steadicam to duplicating the ‘Michael Myers appears out of the darkness shot’ to the use of many of Carpenter’s cinematography techniques.

I plan on starting to learn Spanish (or re-learn, if you count the class I had in 9th grade which I have forgotten all but about 20 words from, one of those words being biblioteca or library for the gringos reading this). In fact, I will now use an online translator to translate ’I plan on learning Spanish’: Planeo aprender el español. Now I will translate ‘Mike Myers new movie look awful’: Mike Myers nueva película parece horrible.

With TV on a summer vacation of its own, meaning there are very few quality shows to watch or Tivo (other than Gangland on History channel, Deadliest Catch on Discovery, and AWA reruns from 1988 on ESPNClassic). I have found myself watching Family Feud on GSN once in a while. Which brings me to my next list. Ranking the hosts of Family Feud:

1.  Richard Dawson - not only is he the original host, but it is my understanding that he was borderline drunk every episode. Also, he kissed EVERY lady on the show, no matter how homely she was, or if her father, brother, or husband was standing right there.

2. Ray Combs - legitimately funny at times. Don’t really want to make fun of him as he ended up killing himself a few years after he was done hosting.

3. John O’Hurley - you probably know him as Peterman of Seinfeld-fame. Since everytime I hear his voice I think, “Hey, that’s Peterman”, I have no problems with him as a host.

4. Richard Karn - aka Al Borland from Home Improvement. Blah.

5. Louis Anderson - why did we ever find this guy funny?

 

Some crazy host lady on Headline News just blamed Juno and Knocked Up for teen pregnancy. Just thought everyone needed to know that.

Now I must wrap this up so I can go watch some old Family Feud clips on youtube. I first need to plug a few awesome sports related websites:

http://www.firejoemorgan.com/    Site that pokes fun at awful sports journalism, specifically that of ESPN Baseball color commentator Joe Morgan.

http://www.vegaswatch.net/    Analysis of gambling odds, especially stuff like “will Chipper Jones hit .400″ (Hint: he won’t)

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/   The address should give you a good idea of what they poke fun at.

 

In conclusion, comments encouraged

Lars and the Real Girl review

Lar and the Real Girl - stars Ryan Gosling, you might know him from Fracture or The Notebook, but you should know him from Half Nelson (made my top movies of 2006 list) and United States of Leland (think Donnie Darko without the weird timetravel stuff). Much like in the previous three movies I have seen of his, he was very very good in this. He is making his way onto the short list of best actors going.

The real gem in this movie is the performance by Paul Schneider. I hadn’t seen any of his previous work, but he is hilarious. His delivery in this is priceless. (If you go see this or have seen it, he is Lars’ brother).

The story, which under the control of different actors may have been corny, leads to tons of laugh out louds moments and still had heart as well. It walked the comedy/drama line very nicely.

Not much else can be said about the movie that wouldn’t ruin the plot. Another highly recommended movie.

Rating: 8.0/10

Cloverfield (review)

Cloverfield - I didn’t expect much from this movie, as I thought it would be nothing more than a typical popcorn action flick. I was completely wrong. It’s soooo much more than that. They really stuck to the vision of the film. That being a handheld account of an event that at the time was mysterious and incredibly destructive. The camera work stuck to the idea of being handheld and actually what the camera would be looking at during any point of that event. I figured at somepoint they would stray from that to show you overhead angles or shots of the monster or information of what is going on, but they didn’t. I have to credit JJ Abrams (of Lost fame) as I believe without him being attached to this movie, the studio would have not allowed it to be shot the way it was.

The camera work is being compared to the Blair Witch Project, while I agree its similar, this movie was far more entertaining as it uses the shakycam not only to make you feel like you are there experiencing what the characters are, but also to up the level of chaos.

The movie is also very short, clocking in at 84 minutes or so. Despite that it almost felt like it was in real time, so kudos to the editor on that.  

If you like action movies, go see this. It might be higher concept than most action movies, but its worth it. You will feel like you were just in New York while a monster attacked the city.

Rating: 8.0/10

There Will Be Blood review (hint: I loved this movie)

There Will Be Blood - directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, of Boogie Nights fame, and starring Daniel Day-Lewis. This is only the 3rd movie Daniel Day-Lewis has done in the last decade (Gangs of New York and a movie you have never heard of, seriously I haven’t even heard of it and I have a nonsexual mancrush on Mr. Day-Lewis), and he just might be the best actor alive right now (I know Pacino and Deniro are still alive but there careers have peaked long ago and neither are showing any signs of a career resurgence). In fact, I am crowning him the best actor. There I did it. Daniel Day-Lewis is the best actor alive. This performance only reinforced that. The movie also stars Paul Dano, of the kid who took the vow of silence in Little Miss Sunshine fame, and he is shockingly good in a far more serious and larger role than he had in Little Miss.

Onto the movie, while it is quite long and very slowly paced, it didn’t seem long or slow to me. It just felt epic. It reminded me a lot of Giant, the epic about a family’s oil business starring James Dean. Also, I really enjoyed the subplot about oil (money) versus religion (morality).

From what I hear, because I have only seen one other PT Anderson movie (Boogie Nights) and saw that over a decade ago, this movie doesn’t look or act anything like his other movies. So, for those out there worried because it was directed by PT Anderson, don’t worry. It’s very restrained and beautifully shot.

This movie was technically released theatrically in 2007, although it was, and to a certain extent, still is in limited release. Basically, it is…(had to take a break there as the commercial for There Will Be was on and it got all re-excited to see the movie again, and yes what the commercial is saying about it being a great ending, is totally correct, the ending was amazing)…the leader in the clubhouse for best movie of 2007. It’s up for best picture and the only thing I can think of (and have seen) that has a legit argument as a better movie last year would be No Country For Old Men. Still There Will Be just felt grander and epic-er (new word I just made up) and featured the more entertaining ending.

Rating: 9.5/10

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street Review

This will be a super quick review, mostly because I am in no way an expert on musicals.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street- this isn’t the first adaptation of the musical into movie form, there was one from the 80s starring Ben Kingsley (aka Gandhi). I haven’t scene it, and nobody has acknowledged it exists, so it couldn’t have been that great. There are probably others, but I am too lazy at this moment to go check imdb. This adaptation features another collaboration between Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. If you like Johnny Depp, and at this point who doesn’t, you will probably enjoy this movie. It is actually a very cool story, and features some plot twists that I found amazing, even though its pretty easy to see them coming.

Being a Burton movie, obviously it looks insanely good and is a unique vision of a world that is completely and fully realized. As for the songs, I will admit I have a problem with most musicals. I can’t suspend my disbelief when someone just bursts into song for no reason. Also, I find most songs that are burst into are pointless, annoying, and do nothing to advance the story. I felt that way about almost all of the songs in this, and would have enjoyed this more if they could have somehow taken out the musical aspect, although that might not have been possible. I did enjoy the “I will have vengeance” song that was sung by Depp. I found it catchy.

One other thing I enjoyed, the casting of Alan Rickman (of Hans from Die Hard fame, HAAAAANNNS!). He is one of my villainous actors, yet he seems to be stuck on the Harry Potter movies which I refuse to see.

Rating - 7.5/10 (Probably lower than most because of my anti-musical bias)

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead review

Before the Devil Knows Your Dead - for those not familiar, this is the latest Philip Seymour Hoffman movie. He stars along with Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, and Albert Finney. It was directed by the legendary Sidney Lumet (Network, Dog Day Afternoon, and Serpico).

The acting, as you would assume from a movie with Hoffman, Tomei, and Finney, is outstanding. Hoffman, in my opinion, is one of the best actors going today. He is amazing with emotion, and when he is given a character with depth, he becomes that character. Marisa Tomei is 43 years old, according to imdb. I can’t believe that after seeing this movie. She looked absolutely stunning, and was shockingly very topless in multiple scenes. Albert Finney, who was also almost topless in one scene, brought exactly what I expected from him, that being some classicness (which is a word I just made up to describe Albert Finney being Albert Finney). Also, this was the best performance I have seen out of Ethan Hawke, however I have only seen a handful of his other performances and wasn’t as into Training Day as everyone else seemed to be.

The story, not to give too much away, involves a robbery of a jewelery story that doesn’t go quite as planned, which leads to a tragic chain of events. The story is told in a non-linear fashion that reminded me quite a bit of the way 21 Grams was presented. Also, it lead to the use of the uber-cool and unique cuts from one part of the story to another. Its hard to acually describe the cuts that lead to flashbacks or flashfowards, but if you see the movie you will know exactly what I am talking about.

This movie isn’t in wide release as far as I know. So, you might have to search around to find where it is playing, or wait for the dvd release. Either way, I highly recommend seeing it the first chance you get. One of the best films I have seen this year.

Rating: 8.5/10

I am Legend review

I saw I am Legend on its opening night. Here is my review:

I am sure everyone knows it stars Will Smith. I have never been a huge fan of his. I did enjoy Independence Day, but never got into the Bad Boys series. He and everyone attached to Wild Wild West should never be forgiven for that movie. I have yet to see Ali, so I haven’t really seen what would be considered his ‘best’ work. That said, I thought his performance was above average in this movie. He showed decent range. I didn’t necessarily laugh at most of the jokes, but I don’t blame him; I think it was the script’s fault for that.

The movie did contain about 4 legitimately good scares, which come out of nowhere and almost have you jumping out of your seat. There were a few really great shots in the movie as well. Specifically, there is the shot a bunch of spotlights are turned onto what I will call for the purposes of not spoiling anything ‘the evil creatures’ and you just see the shadows, which are extremely enlarged due to the angle of the lights. This shot is in the trailer, and is one of the coolest things I have seen on the big screen this year. One more thing I really enjoyed, the pacing during the first half of the movie. Very slow pacing used to build up to the action sequences.

However, I did have some problems with the movie. There is a deal with the evil creatures that I feel wasn’t explained very well. I won’t say what as to avoid spoiling anything. Also, I didn’t like the look of the evil creatures. It was far too CGI-rific for me. I could have done without the religious undertones, which went from subtle to extremely in-your-face.

Overall it wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t as great. If you are a fan of Will Smith, you will probably really dig it. If you don’t have any problem with a movie that is 85% CGI than you will probably dig it. If neither of those applies to you, than you will probably still be ok with the movie; you won’t hate it, but you won’t love it.

Rating: 6/10

American Gangster review

Recently saw American Gangster, here is my quick review:

I must admit I am not big on Denzel, or as big as everyone else in the world seems to be. I really liked him in Glory and Philadelphia, and I didn’t find any other performances of his too special. However, I am a huge fan of Crowe. I really liked his performances in Master & Commander, The Insider, 3:10 to Yuma, Cinderella Man, and LA Confidential. In my opinion, he has can best be described as tremendous screen presence. Anyways, they were both brought solid performances to this movie. The supporting cast was very good with James Brolin, Ted Levine, RZA, and others (others includes a small role for Cuba Gooding Jr who somehow picked the script of a good movie for the first time in nearly a decade).

The movie takes place in the 70’s. It also fealt very much like a 70’s movie with its muted tones and realistic tendencies. I enjoyed it, and don’t really have much else to say about it. The ending seemed a bit convenient. Still overall it was quality.

Rating: 7/10

A Clockwork of Kubrick

Since I just rewatched Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, and have now seen 9 of his final 10 movies, I have decided to rank my top 8 favorite Kubrick films. These are just based on my enjoyment of them, not really ranking them based on their merit as films or historical importance or what-have-you. Why a top 8? Because I have enjoyed 8 or the 9 Kubrick movies I have seen, so really its more of a ranking of how much I enjoyed each Kubrick movie I have seen. Keep in mind, I haven’t seen his any of his first 6 movies, and that I was not really a fan of the softcore porn known as Eyes Wide Shut. If I am going to watch porn, I would prefer Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman aren’t in it, and it doesn’t involve crazy parties with elaborate masks. Anyways, onto the list:

1. Dr. Strangelove of How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

2. The Shining

3. A Clockwork Orange

4. 2001 A Space Odyssey

5. Full Metal Jacket

6. Spartacus

7. Paths of Glory

8. Barry Lyndon

As always, comments encouraged.