Important, yes. Classic and timeless, no.

Rating: 8/10 (27 February 2019)

I LOVE Kubrick. Strangelove is one of my favorite films of all time. Paths of Glory was incredible. 2001, important in the realm of scifi films, Star Wars probably would not exist if not for this film. But GAWD this film is so cold and excruciating. There is blackness......for a long time. Then shots of trees......for a long time. Finally some action in the form of shrieking primates. They shriek and I shriek for the film to get going. Then a black monolith appears, and, oh goody, that makes the primates shriek more and bash boars with bones. A bone goes in the air and becomes a spaceship. Cool. And I love Strauss. But we watch ships fly and dock for a.....long.....time. God, I get it Stanley, move it along. Yay, we get actual human beings. Boo we cannot hear anything they are saying because they whisper. I turned the volume up all the way and still could not hear the dialogue. Well, I soldiered on because, thank God, HAL appeared. My favorite character is a computer. Great. HAL showed more emotion than any other in this film. But Stanley killed him......slowly. Christ. Poor HAL. Last 15 minutes of this film is one....long......acid.......trip. We see the big Hershey bar again then a fetus (????????). But I am grateful because I finally hear the dialogue of a human: "My God, it's full of stars". Ooookay. No, it is full of baloney. I wish HAL lived and Dave died, HAL at least had charisma and a very nice singing voice. And I love the song "Daisy". I was overjoyed when HAL lived on for the sequel and the humans did not. Eight stars for sheer audacity and because I love Stanley. And HAL.