Director: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Bunch of nobodies
Let me go on the record by saying that Stanley Kubrick is one of the most
overrated directors in the history of cinema. He is credited with directing what
the critics consider the best dark comedy, Dr. Strangelove. He also did The
Shining, A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket. With the
exception of FMJ, all of these movies suck. He is sort of like Mother
Theresa. In Hollywood, you are not supposed to make fun of Kubrick. For years, I
have been fruitlessly sending Leno a joke that starts off, "Kubrick, Mother
Theresa, and Princess Diana walk into a bar." Perhaps no movie is more
raved by critics than 2001: A Space Odyssey. I had the misfortune of
seeing this twice. First time was for my high school Academic Decathlon
competition (yes, I know. I am a dork.). Second time was for a class taught at
Harvard (like I said, I know).
2001: A Space Odyssey continues a story that began with The Planet of
the Apes. You have two groups of apes. One tribe uses bones as weapons. The
other has Charlton Heston. The first tribe is also backed by music from Richard
Strauss. Hard to compete against a monkey faction that marches to the beat of
"Also Sprach Zarathustra." And then there's something about a monolith
and the monkey throws a bone in the air. It was a good throw because, by the
time it comes down, it is the year 2001. In the year 2001, they discover another
monolith on the moon. So it is up to the Pentium-chip driven Hal 2000 to
accompany Dave and his fellow astronauts to explore Jupiter because the monolith
said so. Don't piss off the monolith. Look what happened to the monkeys.
Along the way, we are supposed to believe that monotone Hal 2000 has
artificial intelligence and is looking to sabotage a mission that will lead the
human race into an accelerated evolutionary growth. Kubrick is trying to show
that these monoliths are supposed to symbolize the next big step for mankind. If
you ask me, I think he got a bit carried away during his trip to Stonehedge.
I wanted to give this movie a fair shot. After all, I had to watch it for an
academic competition and for a class. I tried to put this into the historical
context. The movie was made in 1968, a year before Apollo 11 landed on the moon.
Star Wars was a good nine years away. RFK and MLK were murdered. My
parents started dating (thank goodness!). And Kubrick was on LSD. Okay, I don't
know about the last part, but it is quite obvious when you see the last part of
the movie when Dave, the lead astronaut, witnesses a light show for like five
minutes. And, yes, if you were trippin', you would appreciate that scene so much
more.
Perhaps, I hate it because I don't get this movie. But, if I didn't get this
movie, and I am a cinema geek, my guess is that most people didn't
"get" this movie. And since you probably won't "get" this
movie, don't get this movie the next time you are at Blockbuster.
