MoeFOH's Movie of the Week... Week #26...

[MoeFOH]

MoeFOH's Movie of the Week 🎥

Each week we're going to spotlight a movie... be it a classic, new release, hidden gem, or outright turd... and open it for discussion: i.e. post up your favourite quotes, clips, memories... or dive deeper and give us a critique on why you think it's great, overrated, or a complete train wreck... And finally score it for us...  

All contributors go into a monthly prize draw for a 3-cigar sampler! 

PM me with suggestions if there's a movie you want to nominate for next week's discussion. 

 

Week #26: 2001: A Space Odyssey

Wiki says:

2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The screenplay was written by Kubrick and science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, and was inspired by Clarke's 1951 short story "The Sentinel" and other short stories by Clarke. Clarke also developed a novelisation of the film, which was released after the film's release, and in part written concurrently with the screenplay. The film stars Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, and Douglas Rain, and follows a voyage to Jupiter with the sentient supercomputer HAL after the discovery of an alien monolith.

The film is noted for its scientifically accurate depiction of space flight, pioneering special effects, and ambiguous imagery. Kubrick avoided conventional cinematic and narrative techniques; dialogue is used sparingly, and there are long sequences accompanied only by music. The soundtrack incorporates numerous works of classical music, by composers including Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss II, Aram Khachaturian, and György Ligeti.

The film received diverse critical responses, ranging from those who saw it as darkly apocalyptic to those who saw it as an optimistic reappraisal of the hopes of humanity. Critics noted its exploration of themes such as human evolution, technology, artificial intelligence, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, winning Kubrick the award for his direction of the visual effects. The film is now widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. In 1991, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry

Over to you...

How do you rate it? Favourite scenes?

Best moments?... etc, and so on... post 'em up!!

Give us your score out of 10!

[MoeFOH]

 

[cgoodrich]

“My God, it’s full of stars!”

Revolutionary in its visual story telling with only music being the narration, from time to time. Builds nicely on the fear of AI gone wrong. Excellent depiction of space travel, wonderful special effects. An outstanding movie. 10/10

[JohnS]

My favourite movie of all time. Two hours and twenty minutes in length and only forty-five minutes of dialogue. Everything in this film moves in circles, including Johan Strauss II's waltz, "The Blue Danube". You now can't unhear Richard Strauss' " Also sprach Zarathustra" and not think of this film. György Ligeti's music is also instumentral in setting up the mood of the film from the beginning. That music depicts great chaos, whilst other pieces highlight harmony and order, just like the creation of life in the universe.

I could go on about this film but I will leave you all this little insight. Traditional films have a Orientation/Conflict/Resolution narrative structure. 2001:A Space Odyssey has always been difficult to understand because it doesn't use this structure in the traditional sense. Rather, try to look at the film again and see that the same conflict and resolution plays out in four different time periods in the film and you will be able to get a better overall sense of the grand theme/s of the film.

Now..."Open the pod bay doors, Hal!"

[MoeFOH]

1 hour ago, JohnS said:

My favourite movie of all time

Wow... excellent, you can perhaps explain it to me one day, John. 😂

[Ken Gargett]

loved the opening.

john, the music is indeed key and helps make so much of it.

some interest with Hal going fruitbat.

but the vast majority is a pompous, portentous, pretentious, persistent puddle of navel gazing. i tried so hard not to fall asleep and that was a mistake. would have been far better off catching a quick nap (or in this case, a very long nap). 

hard to score as there are undoubtedly some very positive things about it but a lot of tosspot rubbish (it is one of those films that is so convoluted that people are scared not to say they love it in case something thinks less of them - feel free to think less of me). 

i guess it comes down to would you watch it again (i am someone who happily watches movies i like numerous times)? the opening scenes, yes, then i'd switch to the test pattern. 

[M1B]

I agree with @Ken Gargett, it definitely has some memorable scenes, but overall a too bit pretentious for my taste. 

[Chibearsv]

I give this movie huge props for its depiction of space travel; especially since the movie was made before the Apollo Program's first flight.  The visuals were great and the classical music was cool to go along with the futuristic movie.  I was able to follow the bouncing ball of the story right up to the last 30 minutes or so and then the bouncing ball went off the cliff.  Sometimes a bad movie is worth waiting for the finish for an "Aha" moment that turns it around.  This was kind of the opposite.  2001 was an amazing visual movie that ended with a WTF? finish and kind of killed it for me.  If you have to explain the art to me, I won't like the art.  

[Wailbait]

This, and An American in Paris, are my two favorite films of all time.  
 

It’s meditative, reflective and just so innovative. 

[Doctorossi]

This is in my top 20. 10/10 all day long. This movie is great with a good bottle of wine, too.

[Neuralpath]

It’s a work of genius on so many levels. As a young kid I saw it in the theater when it came out. Over a lifetime of seeing thousands of movies, few have been as impactful or memorable. Part of it was the spectacle of what being in space could be like that was far beyond anything one had seen in film before. It made space travel look believable. It also has a kind of hallucinatory effect on the viewer, if you let it. Regardless of the plot or the meaning, the experience alone was worth the ride. Also, the tech and details shown in the movie were remarkable. Don’t forget the film was made 54 years ago when there were no personal computers, tablets, voice recognition, etc. For context, rotary phones and black-and-white TVs were still the norm. There’s much to talk about in terms of the plot and the interesting issues the film covers, but you really don’t need any of that to get some sense of beauty, wonder and strangeness. Despite its age, it’s amazing how well it still holds up, and minimally, set a standard for what being in space on film should look like. And how they achieved this with 1968 technology is truly remarkable. And, IMO, who doesn’t love HAL??

[La_Tigre]

6/10 Snorefest “Don’t have any caffeine before watching 2001”

[Chas.Alpha]

I see that most of us have missed the most important part. H+1 = I  A+1 =B  L+1 =M  This movie was a slam on IBM before Apple and MicroSoft even existed! While those may find it pretentious, It was a foretelling into our future reality. Who knows what's out there? I am a BIG fan of WEBB, HUBBLE, CHANDRA  and the host of other space exploration projects that continue. "But these resources could be better used on Earth!"

Sure, look what we've done with them so far...

2001:ASO  9.97

Could have had some more hot beach babes.

[Ken Gargett]

1 minute ago, Chas.Alpha said:

I see that most of us have missed the most important part. H+1 = I  A+1 =B  L+1 =M  This movie was a slam on IBM before Apple and MicroSoft even existed! While those may find it pretentious, It was a foretelling into our future reality. Who knows what's out there? I am a BIG fan of WEBB, HUBBLE, CHANDRA  and the host of other space exploration projects that continue. "But these resources could be better used on Earth!"

Sure, look what we've done with them so far...

2001:ASO  9.97

Could have had some more hot beach babes.

all that is fine and no argument - watched a doco of the history of the moon landings yesterday. love that stuff, even if a lot is beyond me. i am a huge fan of martin luther king but i did not agree with his criticism of the space program - as you say, using the resources on earth. and this does not even bring into the discussion issues about climate change and the potential destruction of the planet, at least as a long term home for humans - and hence the need for space exploration and more. that is perhaps for another day. 

there are a great many films about the potential/alleged dangers of AI, technology, what the future holds (come on down, the terminator!). they don't have to be so pretentious (and yes, i had read of the links with IBM). this was a movie, not a documentary. it sort of fell between the cracks of the two. and surely one of the more important things that a movie should achieve (granted not necessarily the only one) is to entertain. on that basis, the movie is largely a fail for me. but i can understand that those with a much greater scientific bent and understanding might find things in it that appeal to them more than they did to me. 

in the end, my understanding of what moe is doing is having us rate the movies as they apply to each of us. all we can do. i can understand that some people rate this higher than i can. for me, can't add to where i have it. 

[joeypots]

“I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that”

Some films I can’t stop watching. 2001 is one of them. 10/10.