Stanley Kubrick praise resurfaces: the “most imaginative and brilliant” movie he ever saw
stanley kubrick is back at the center of a fast-moving conversation after renewed attention landed on one of his rare, on-the-record bursts of admiration for another filmmaker’s work. The focus is Arthur Lipsett’s 1961 short Very Nice, Very Nice, a seven-minute collage film that earned an Oscar nomination for Best Live-Action Short Film. As of 3: 00 p. m. ET, the spotlight is on a single, striking line: Kubrick called it “the most imaginative and brilliant uses of the movie screen and soundtrack that I have ever seen. ”
What Kubrick praised, and why it stands out
The moment matters because stanley kubrick was not known for “bigging up” movies, whether they were his or anyone else’s. The pattern described by people who spoke about his tastes is that praise came rarely, and when it did, it tended to be for specific pictures rather than broad statements about cinema.
In this case, Kubrick’s words were unusually emphatic, and they were directed at a work far shorter than a feature: Lipsett’s Very Nice, Very Nice runs seven minutes and uses collage to ponder the meaning of day-to-day life. The film also asks whether modern living is better than it was three decades earlier, using images to build its argument rather than relying on conventional storytelling.
Immediate reactions: attention on Arthur Lipsett and Canada’s Unit B
Interest in Lipsett’s work is also tied to the platform that helped him make it. Lipsett was a Canadian filmmaker working in the avant-garde, supported by the National Film Board of Canada’s Unit B, an offshoot founded to sponsor new, daring, culturally relevant shorts from aspiring auteurs with unimpeded freedom.
Another notable reaction to Lipsett’s work comes from filmmaker George Lucas, who described Lipsett’s 1963 short 21-97 as “the kind of movie I wanted to make; a very off-the-wall, abstract kind of film. ” Lucas’s comment underscores the way Lipsett’s experimental approach resonated with major figures, even if the projects Lucas ultimately made took a different direction after THX 1138.
Quick context: how Kubrick’s tastes were often pieced together
Much of what is publicly understood about Kubrick’s favorite films has historically relied on comments from people close to him rather than frequent, direct endorsements from Kubrick himself. The record described includes remarks shared by his daughter, and statements attributed to Jan Harlan, along with friends and family who spoke about unexpected favorites.
Only once did Kubrick submit a list of his ten favorite movies, and that was in 1963. After that point, he became increasingly selective with praise, making the Lipsett endorsement an outlier that continues to draw attention when it resurfaces.
What’s next: renewed focus on a rare Kubrick superlative
With the quote circulating again as of 3: 00 p. m. ET, the immediate next development to watch is whether the renewed interest leads to broader re-examination of Lipsett’s short films and the creative environment fostered by the National Film Board of Canada’s Unit B. The significance is straightforward and anchored in the record: for a filmmaker described as sparing with superlatives, stanley kubrick offered one of his highest compliments to a seven-minute Oscar-nominated experiment that, in his words, represented the most imaginative and brilliant use of the movie screen and soundtrack he had ever seen.
