Filmworker
Kubrick’s Right AND Left Hand Man
Official Site | Trailers & Mo
Not Rated | 94 min

Leon Vitali was once an actor on the up and up.  He was the prissy Lord Bullingdon in Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon, and after working with the director, he wanted to work for him, and did, FOR LIFE!  AND BEYOND KUBRICK’S LIFE!!! 

Most people would give their left testicle to have worked with Stanley, and Vitali did (and gave up acting to do so), and he also gave his right testicle and every other appendage to be his right hand man from The Shining til Eyes Wide Shut, and everything in between – including all the unrealized projects, and minutia that came from Kubrick’s direct demanding demeanor  

Sounds like the most amazing job of all time, right?  Amazing, if you don’t like having a life, or a moment to sleep, or yourself.  Such was and IS Vitali’s life – that of a Filmworker, the title of the doc by Tony Zierra that is a BEYOND MUST SEE for anyone that’s a fan of Kubrick and his work (which I would assume is 100% of people who have ever seen a motion picture)

Besides the wonderful reflections and insight from Vitali himself, we get a lot of great additional tidbits from those who worked with both Leon and Stanley (and watched Leon suffer for Stanley and his art), from the UK Warner Bros staff, to Lyndon co-star Ryan O’Neal, the rarely seen or interviewed Danny from The Shining, Full Metal Jacket‘s Matthew Modine, newly dearly departed R. Lee Ermey, and the poor guy who had Ermey’s drill sergeant role before losing it to him - Tim Colceri (HEARTBREAKING!!!).  Not sure what the point of interviewing Phil Rosenthal was or the other people who didn’t seem to have a connection were, but lets just assume Zierra couldn’t get Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Tom Cruise or Nicole Kidman to sit down with him and chat

Kubrick didn’t make it to the 21st century, but his legacy lives on and his presence STILL looms large thanks to Leon Vitali.  No one outside of his family knew him and his work better than perhaps Vitali did.  When one of Stan’s films need to be restored or re-released, Leon’s the guy they call on, cause that’s the guy Kubrick called on.  Vitali = vital, like this doc

Also, had ZERO idea he was the dude in the red cloak with that awesomely scratchy voice in Eyes Wide Shut (along with the 2833128238 other jobs he had on and off set)!!!  EYES WIDE OPEN!!!

Verdictgo: Breast In Show

Filmworker works it in limited release – SEE IT!!!

and until next thyme the balcony is clothed…

Pat Heavin’s photos on the set of Barry Lyndon, Waterford, Ireland October 1973

CBS Sunday Morning is the #1 show on TV ever (sorry Twin Peaks), and as for 2011…

1. Dan Le Batard Is Highly Questionable (ESPN)

It’s father’s day, every day, on the funniest show on TV, and it isn’t even a comedy.  Take a look above and tell we that that’s something you don’t want to watch DAILY.  Papi for presidente!!

2. Breaking Bad (AMC)

Every time you think things can’t get more f#%cked up, things goes beyonds more f#%cked up, and it’s f#%cking RAWsome!!!

3. Misfits (E4, England)

Losing Robert Sheehan would seem like a nail in the Misfits coffin, but that was not even close to the case with Joseph Gilgun getting mad rude as Rudy.  Each episode feels like its own season, and that’s a GREAT THING

4. Homeland (Showtime)

It’s everything 24 wasn’t – believable terrorism stuff happening on our shores, and it was all more tense than a KOA campground!!  Damian Lewis deserves to win every award he would be eligible for… and the supporting trio of Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin and Morena Baccarin is third to none

5. American Horror Story (FX)

It broke every TV show rule, and a lot of bones AND boners.  Don’t even know how they’re gonna be able to top this debut season, but we can’t wait to see how they do it

6. Beavis & Butt-head (MTV)

Why did B&B ever go away?

7. Life’s Too Short (BBC2/HBO)

Warwick Davis plays himself, but channels show creator and co-star Ricky Gervais (think how people play the Woody Allen role in Woody Allen movies) in more cringe-inducing situations than Larry David could ever imagine… for dwarves

8. Episodes (Showtime)

They made Matt LeBlanc funny.  A feat and feast that must be seen

9. Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

If you know what goes on in the pic above, you know the show hasn’t gathered even a speck of moss in its 8th, New York-centric, season

10. Ebert Presents At The Movies (PBS)

Honestly, it doesn’t matter who’s in the chair and which direction their thumbs go, it juss matters that there are chairs being sat in and thumbs being moved in a direction.  Never leave, although that may not be the case

11. Children’s Hospital (Cartoon Network)

Name a better 11 minute show on TV… ever?

12. Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

MOTHER LOVE THIS SHOW!

13. Ryan and Tatum: The O’Neals (OWN)

You can keep yer Krapdashians, and we’ll stick with the O’Neals

13. The Office (NBC)

Michael Scott left us and Dunder Mifflin on the best possible terms (the Holly proposal even rivals the early Jim & Pam courtship stuff), and the addition of James Spader has helped to soften the blow of his departure.  It all still works, even if it isn’t eggzactly the same

 

other solid forms of entertainments: An Idiot Abroad (we’re a year behind on this one!) Roseanne’s Nuts (who knew she’s the same off-screen as she was on it!!!), Hung (came into its own this season, only to prematurely ejaculate), Rock Center with Brian Williams (it ROCKS!), Kendra (lockout with yer cock out), Sports Show with Norm Macdonald (unjustly cancelled), Game of Thrones (even though we have zero idea what happened on the show), Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel (thoughts are endlessly provoked), Making & Selling Jeans In America (so long Rasta Monsta), Bored To Death (rarely boring), Enlightened (enlightened we), Louie (although everyone on twitter makes we want to hate it), Modern Family (it’s funnier than Louie), Gossip Girl (we gave up on it 2 years ago, returned, and it’s like we never missed an ep… cause nothing new ever happens, but who cares!), The Big C (Hugh Dancy dancyied like no one was watching), Web Therapy (Kudrow!), Shameless (the kids steal the show from H Macy), and Skins (UK, as in not the US version, obvi)

 

+ bone-yes moments

how does THIS get cancelled?

- Ricky Gervais should host everything.  Franco & Hathaway should only host diseases

– Todd Haynes’ Mildred Pierce was Mildred FIERCE!!!

– the list may be wrong, but 50 Documentaries To See Before You Die was 260 well worth watched minutes to debate!

– US Skins was meh, but Rachel Thevenard is not!!!

– don’t remember one minute of Too Big To Fail.  does that make it a too small and failed?

– kinda pissed that Miranda Otto & Sarah Bolger show never became a show

- Cinema Verite proved that reality bites, even at the very beginning

–  Elizabeth Hurley sexes up Gossip Girl, but Kaylee DeFer is the sexiest!!!

– Ron Swanson aside, Parks & Rec is not funny, despite what your brain and internets has been telling you

– Ken Burns’ Prohibition was bob-tastic

– wait, Oscar was orange?

– Addison Timlin made Californication semi-watchable

– Colin Hanks single-handedly stinks up an entire season Dexter, and juss stinks in general

- Whatever You Want,Think Belmont! FINALLYYYY!!!

- Entourage thankfully ends, but unthankfully with a wimper, but honestly, who cares, as shlong as it’s gone, 9ever

& fair thee well Colonel Sherman T Potter & Sherwood and of course

perv-iously

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