It's easy to forget that the famed visionary (and bearded recluse) was once just a nerdy little kid from the Bronx who supplemented his income playing chess for quarters in Washington Square Park. He grew up to be a photographer for Look Magazine before getting involved documentary film making, which eventually developed into perhaps the greatest career in the history of cinema.
Kubrick and Brix Picks fave Jim Thompson put together the screenplay that became The Killing in 1956, and it wasn't too long before he found himself caught up in the difficult production of Spartacus. In 1962 he fed up with Hollywood bullshit and he moved to England.
Lolita; Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb; 2001: A Space Odyssey; A Clockwork Orange; Barry Lyndon; The Shining; and Full Metal Jacket followed his departure from the U.S. And, say what you will, I think Eyes Wide Shut is great.
Kubrick may have lived much of his life overseas, but his unique point of view was always informed by his big city background.
But what do you think?