The sad truth about kids and movies today is that many members of the 2000’s generation miss out on the classics made before their time. While some youths may pride themselves in their encyclopedic knowledge of old cinema, most teenagers these days never see these films that have influenced pop culture even to this day. Yes, this is a harsh statement to make, that teens are unappreciative of good filmmaking or too obnoxious to acknowledge their quality, but more than often that is the truth of our age. We tend to refine our tastes as we age (and even this is sometimes not true), leaving behind our childhood days spent wallowing in whatever blockbuster was popular at the time. Yet another truth is that most kids do have good taste, a deeper feeling of when something is beautiful that edges us closer to better parts of pop culture. All we need is a slight push in the right direction: A challenge, if you will. Thus, I present to you the Kubrick Challenge, a nudge towards such prominent films that you may find sound familiar.

The Kubrick Challenge consists of what I consider to be Kubrick’s six best flicks: Lolita, Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Full Metal Jacket. It is a way to pay homage to Kubrick via a marathon testing patience, endurance, and taste. I dare you to watch a film or two a day this fall break, or even better, watch all six in one sitting like a mega-fan.

            Start off the challenge with one of Kubrick’s first greats; 1962’s Lolita. The black-and-white sexual drama was based on the novel Lolita by Russian author Vladimir Nabokov, who worked with Kubrick on the screenplay. Lolita begins introducing tragically timid main character Professor Humbert Humbert (James Mason), who leaves for America to teach writing. Humbert soon meets future wife and owner of the boarding house he stays in Charlotte Haze (Shelley Winters) and her 14-year old daughter Dolores Haze, nicknamed Lolita (Sue Lyon in her first role). The film evolves into a clever, dark comedy, riddled with themes of sexuality and deception as Humbert attempts to deal with his attraction to Lolita while she interacts with other men in typical teenage fashion. Peter Sellers appears as something resembling comic relief in a ridiculous role as Clare Quilty, an awfully liberal screenwriter with ties to Lolita and her mother. Serving as a slow start to the challenge, Lolita lures viewers in with overall non-threatening realistic-fiction. Kubrick’s monster rom-com introduces some of his trademarks, like a three-way conflict (Lolita vs. Quilty vs. Humbert), notable bathroom scene, and his tendency to reject and alter scripts written by the creators of the work he’s adapting. Most of these quirks are seen repeated in every one of his movies up to Eyes Wide Shut, which actually is not on the list due to being slightly mediocre.

            Next is Kubrick’s last black-and-white movie, the war-commentating comedy Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. This time around, Peter Sellers is set into three separate roles, each of which he is exceedingly funny in: the President of the U.S. Merkin Muffley, British Captain Lionel Mandrake, and the “ghost-armed” scientist Dr. Strangelove. The story focuses around the actions of General Jack Ripper (Sterling Hayden), who initiates an unplanned air strike out of his own paranoid fears of communists. Based on Peter George’s “Red Alert,” Dr. Strangelove develops into a liberal satire of war and the ignorant or feeble people who cause it. Featuring Slim Pickens as a hilarious Major “King” Kong and George C. Scott in the overacting part of his career as General Buck Turgidson, the fantastic cast makes the film Kubrick’s only real comedy (albeit an extremely dark comedy). More absurd than Lolita but not quite as weird as his other work, Dr. Strangelove serves as a good segue into Kubrick’s more murky and eccentric films.

            Taking the Kubrick Challenge is no easy task, seeing as it takes up half of your day and can frustrate a hasty viewer. By the end, though, I’d hope that listening to the last notes in the Rolling Stones’ “Paint It Black” (the credit song for Full Metal Jacket), you would feel some sense of accomplishment. Whether you do it to honor Stanley, to be entertained, or merely because you’ve never seen any of these movies, enjoy the Kubrick Challenge. Enjoy it like a fascinating man enjoyed making good movies.

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