In his G File today, Jonah Goldberg made the following, very regrettable, statement:
Stanley Kubrick was overrated as a director, IMHO...
As the Free Beacon's resident Kubrick snob my reaction was something like
But then he backtracked slightly on Twitter:
@SonnyBunch Shining, Paths to Glory, first half of FMJ, Dr. Strangelove were great. EWS, B Lyndon, 2001 overrated.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) June 13, 2014
So I calmed down a bit.
As I noted, even by Jonah's own (incorrect) opinion, Stanley Kubrick made four (or, I guess, 3.5) "great" films. How many other directors are responsible for four four star films? And, if we're being totally honest, I think this undersells things: A Clockwork Orange and The Killing are both great and 2001: A Space Odyssey is considered a classic by all men of taste. See it in 70mm on the big screen if you can; it's a totally different film. Barry Lyndon is an acquired taste, I'll grant that. But Martin Scorsese has named it his favorite of Kubrick's films for a reason: The shot compositions in that film are glorious.
I've made this point before, but one of Kubrick's strengths is that he was so versatile: He is responsible for one of the 10 best war films (Full Metal Jacket), one of the 10 best sci-fi films (2001), one of the 10 best horror films (The Shining), and one of the 10 best comedies/satires (Dr. Strangelove). I can't think of too many other directors with that kind of range.*
Can a director with that kind of resume really be "overrated"? It seems to me that he is properly rated: He is considered to be one of the all time great directors, and rightly so. As a result, I have no choice but to call on all good and righteous people to denounce the heretic Jonah Goldberg until he repents for his blasphemy.
*Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, maybe a couple others.