Cinematographer Lucien Ballard’s birthday. Two films in which he was the Director of Photography from my two favorite American directors that span the two most genuinely American film genres: 

327. Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing: Holy shit, I don’t think there’s a woman in a film I hate more than Marie Windsor’s character here. Superb film noir.

328. Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch: Favorite film ever. “Let’s go.” “Why not?”

Well this is a huge deal.

Space:

225. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey: I once saw someone call this “Oscar bait.” Yeah, no. Kubrick did get his only Oscar win here though. For special effects, which still look better than anything I have yet to see.  

226. Peter Hyams’s 2010: The Year We Make Contact: Honestly, it’s pretty decent. Roy Scheider, John Lithgow and Helen Mirren (with Russian accent! rawr!) make a good cast.

In memoriam, thirteen years ago today, Stanley Kubrick:

212. Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon: One of his absolute best contains some the most beautiful and unique cinematography ever put to film. Each frame looks like an 18th century painting. A magnificent work of art.

213. Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut: Incredibly underrated. Between this and Magnolia, Tom Cruise had one hell of a year back in 1999. What’s that? Fuck.