Cinemascope

Now, where did you hear that!

The Major and the Minor was directed by Billy Wilder, not W.S. Van Dyke.

Personally I kind of doubt that there is.

I don't believe there is any evidence that this is what he was saying. And nothing that Kubrick ever did is nearly as disturbing as some David Lynch or Peter Greenaway movies, IMHO.

Me too!

Ah, good to know it's playing there.

Indeed, that movie has already been released on DVD in Europe!

I think there's a few factors to be considered, such as the overall level of violence and alienation, the borderline torture eventually imposed on the Malcolm McDowell character, and yes the nudity.

Well I didn't find either scene to be funny in any way.

It's sad to hear his life ended under such tragic circumstances.

That may be what Kyle was trying to say. And I don't think there should be double-standards. However a lot of what passes for "humor" in some lesser comedies is nothing more than thinly veiled homophobia. I think it is the suggestion that a man getting raped is bad not because of the rape, but because it's a same-sex rape among men. But still, it doesn't change that a very graphic scene where a woman is gang-raped in her own house is something that most people would probably never find funny by any stretch of the imagination.

I like it a lot, great cast! btw I think it's a 1938 release

Yes, that is the scene, and I agree it is absolutely horrifying. I don't think any reasonable person could find anything remotely funny about that. It was a scene that (as many by Kubrick) was supposed to highlight the theme of dehumanization, a recurring one throughout much of his career. And I also don't think that comparing it to silly scenes from comedies that are all about innuendo does in any way lessen the shock and horror of finding out that there are people in this day and age who would find such gang-rape scenes to be "funny".

I take musicals seriously because it's my favorite genre. But when I mean I take them seriously it means I care a lot about them. And as for deep examination, I don't think anyone here has advocated exactly that.

Do I understand why someone would be offended by the actions in A Clockwork Orange? Definitely. But I can't take their outrage seriously if they ever found the scene in Deliverance something to laugh about OK, so why the comment about not taking someone's outrage seriously if they found the Deliverance scene something "to laugh about"? I don't think anyone on this thread has expressed outrage about one but found the other one "something to laugh about". And I certainly think that a male can experience just as much psychological suffering due to rape as a woman can. For males it carries an added stigma if they identify as straight, I suppose. But it's definitely just as painful for either gender, I would imagine.

And just who found the scene in Deliverance to be "something to laugh about"? This isn't about "cheap shots". It's about the fact that I'm genuinely puzzled as to the point (if any) you are trying to make. To me it seems like you're comparing apples and oranges. And the thing that kubrickbuff referred to specifically isn't remotely funny by any stretch of the imagination. Imagine the woman you care for the most in the whole world getting gang-raped and tell me how you'd feel if other people were watching and laughing hysterically at that sight.

Wonder if it might happen again with the high-def formats.

So does anybody know of cities beside NY getting the Ennio Morricone film retrospective?

I can't wait to see Three Little Words again.

So what are you saying? That you also think scenes like the one in Clockwork Orange are funny? There's a huge difference between the insinuation or suggestion about the possibility of something happening (usually to unwilling males) and the actual depiction of rape in graphic detail. I'm sure the difference is not lost on you. Look at the scene from A Clockwork Orange and imagine the same thing happening to a woman you know... Now do you understand why someone would have reason to be offended by the suggestion that this could in any way shape or form be "funny"? The ultimate irony is that Kubrick was depicting the very dehumanization that would allow people to commit such acts so casually -- and here we are in these boards in the 21st century, witnessing that very same dehumanization.

You aren't hurting my feelings, you are simply suggesting a degree of callousness I never thought was possible.

I don't think that rape is funny, but in the movie it is. No, it isn't funny... a scene like that can *never* be funny. If you think it is funny then you really are sick in the head.

The suggestion that it could happen to a guy in prison has been played for laughs, however cheap (usually has more to do with homophobic anxiety than with the act itself). But when it actually happens it isn't a comedy. Remember Deliverance?

By BRYAN REESMAN Published: March 4, 2007 AMONG the glories of the rising tide of DVD sales was the wave of discs that revived lost or overlooked works by filmmakers like David Lynch, Werner Herzog, Dario Argento, Jess Franco and Takashi Miike. Now some of the companies that brought those movies into homes are getting pulled under and may take future releases down with them. Full story at: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/movies/homevideo/04rees.html?ref=movies

It's been a few years since I last watched Topkapi but I'd sure like to watch it again soon.