Every Thursday, the Techland Screening Room digs deep in an attempt to appreciate one of the 50 most important sci-fi titles of cinema’s first century. When we’re not analyzing the films, we’re announcing the next title in the series. We welcome your thoughts, insights, grumblings and epiphanies. See previous Techland Screening Rooms here.
For how important a film it’s been to my life, it has been quite some time since I really sat down and watched Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey in its entirety.
This was the first movie to ever blow my mind, the first film that sent me scrambling to read reviews, eager to fully process what was going on. It defined for me the potential of not only cinema, but also film criticism and arts journalism. It made me want to be a writer, to live a life obsessed with moving images. And I’m of the opinion that this is not only on the short list of the five best films ever made, but is also one of the very few films that could be considered a brilliant independent work of art. Alongside The Great Gatsby, Jackson Pollock and William Shakespeare resides 2001.
All that hyperbole aside, this also represents one of the boldest and most daring messages of any sci-fi spectacle. At the end of the day, it’s about the next stage of human evolution. I can’t remember the last time I saw another story try to tackle that whopper.
So 2001: A Space Odyssey, that’s the pick for the screening room over the next week. I’ll be back with my appreciation next Thursday, eager to hear your thoughts as well.
More on Techland: Toy Story 3 – The Complete Gallery of New Toys!