The Best Movie I Never Want to See Again

Rating: 8/10 (30 September 2005)

I used to think "2001: A Space Odyssey" was a Great Movie, but now I'm not so sure. Now that I've seen it a few times, I feel like I've gotten all there is to be gotten from it, and the thought of sitting down to watch it again triggers my brain to begin thinking of all the other things I could be doing with my time. Is that the sign of a great movie? Shouldn't we be able to revisit great movies again and again and find something fresh about them years after they initially hit the screens? I don't know.
Anyway, "2001" is at least a terrific movie and an important one. No science fiction film made since can deny the influence of this movie's vision of space. Many of the special effects look more realistic than the computer generated effects of today. And while I defy anyone to truly explain the meaning of this film with confidence (I wonder if even Kubrick could have), it certainly makes you feel *something,* even if you're not sure what that something is.
On the first viewing, the pacing of the film seemed stately and fitting for a film about drifting through the cold depths of space; now it just seems ponderous. It's even more pronounced now how little the human actors register in this film, and how HAL (which is just a voice, really) steals the show. And when I was younger and more eager to accept the opinions of film scholars and other purported know-it-alls, I thought the ending was profound and full of meaning; now it seems pretty obtuse and vague.
But when it comes right down to it, Kubrick's worst movie is anyone else's masterpiece. His movies never feel comfortable with human emotions, so the fact that this movie could almost exist without humans at all comes as little surprise. His style has always been slow, but it comes as a welcome change from all the frenetic, hyper crap being produced now. And at least this movie makes you think, even if it doesn't provide any answers, which again is more than I can say for most of the movies playing in theatres this weekend.
So I may not rate "2001" as highly as I once would have, but I fully support its place as one of the most audacious and significant films of all time.
Grade: A