Criterion has a nice feature on directors and their favorite films, and while it’s hard to do one on Stanley Kubrick, considering he’s both (a) reclusive and (b) dead, Criterion writer Josh Warren claims to have compiled a list based on “interviews with Kubrick’s family, friends and colleagues.” You can check out the Criterion films Kubrick loved over there, which include Tarkovsky’s Solaris, Silence of the Lambs, Rosemary’s Baby, The Bank Dick, Henry V, and others. But this being FilmDrunk, I thought the non-Criterion Collection titles on the list were even more interesting.
Eraserhead
Citizen Kane
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Godfather
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Dog Day Afternoon
City Lights
La Notte
Roxie Hart
Hell’s Angels
An American Werewolf in London
Metropolis
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Abigail’s Party
Roger & Me
White Men Can’t Jump
Modern Romance
The Jerk
Yep, White Men Can’t Jump and The Jerk. I’ll admit being surprised by White Men Can’t Jump, but not by the fact that Kubrick liked comedy. He is, after all, the guy who discovered R. Lee Ermey and basically stuck him in Full Metal Jacket and let him say whatever he wanted. Thereby producing one my top ten comedic performances ever, easily. Also, between this and Grantland’s Oral History of White Men Can’t Jump a few months back, could it be that we’re experiencing a renaissance of White Men Can’t Jump? Who could’ve guessed what the future would pull from the junk heap of 1992? Frankly, I had my money on Captain Ron, or 3 Ninjas.
[hat tip: Vanity Fair]