What I Learned Watching Stanley Kubrick

DISCLAIMER: I am only counting the films that he directed. Any that he only produced/wrote will not count toward this analysis. 

Here I the things I learned from each of Stanley Kubrick’s films:

1. Fear and Desire (1953): sometimes if the feelings of anxiety you are trying to create work, it will overcome any technical flaws your movie may have (look at the budget and look at the movie; you’ll know what I mean). 
2. Killer’s Kiss (1956): sometimes one great scene can make or break a movie (seriously; the mannequin fight at the end of the movie is so good in my opinion).
3. The Killing (1956): if you have mastered basic filmmaking principles, you can elevate a similarly good script (especially if you subvert it, like a heist movie where no one wins except the law...)
4. Paths of Glory (1957): similar to Killer’s Kiss, the final scene often has a profound effect on how the audience’s view the movie (my God, the scene of the captive woman singing practically breaks me). 
5. Spartacus (1960): all you need to create scale is good production design and cinematography working in tandem (just watch all three hours of Spartacus and you will understand what I mean). 
6. Lolita (1962): It’s important not to judge the protagonists or antagonists no matter how abhorrent they are (while I am not necessarily crazy about this movie for this reason, no doubt Kubrick took morality out of the equation when making this movie and it makes the karma worthwhile). 
7. Dr. Strangelove (1964): if you have good satire, you need to have enough good scenes that elevate it (I am personally lukewarm on Dr. Strangelove, but no doubt the satire of the characters causing nuclear war through sheer ignorance really hits if you pay attention to the best scenes). 
8. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968): non-story, non-character films can work if there is something ambitious or visually redeeming about them (no doubt the practical effects of 2001 work regardless of if you are a fan of the movie or not). 
9. A Clockwork Orange (1972): similar to Lolita, taking morality out of the equation can often enliven your story and what you’re trying to say instead of taking away from it (I feel Lolita walked so A Clockwork Orange could run…)
10. Barry Lyndon (1976): sometimes great technical process can elevate bad pacing of a story (no doubt Barry Lyndon had a revolutionary technical process with its lens and use of candles, and it did elevate the movie even if I wasn’t necessarily crazy about the pacing). 
11. The Shining (1980): sometimes the longer a movie is and the better performed it is, the more it can add to the horror and suspense that is conveyed (The Shining definitely delivers on the terror and suspense independent of it’s runtime or acting, but both work very well). 
12. Full Metal Jacket (1987): don’t save your best material for the first half; make sure both halves of the movies are equally good (this is more of an example of what not to do; Full Metal Jacket has a great first half but a solid last half and feels uneven as a result, in my opinion). 
13. Eyes Wide Shut (1999): if you’ve gained enough clout in the industry, whoever you are chances are there are some things your audience just won’t be ready for (this is how I feel about the strangeness of Eyes Wide Shut; whether or not it resonates with me [which it is] there is something about it that can turn people off). 

And that is everything I learned from watching Stanley Kubrick.