This post is for the 1001 Movies Club. Go over there and check out more reviews of this and other movies!
"2001: A Space Odyssey" is a film whose reputation precedes itself. It's on countless Best of All Time lists, it's endlessly parodied, and the title itself seems to be a household name. Movies like this are sort of unlucky - they have to live up to their glorious reputations, which is difficult. Many fail under the weight of their expectations. However, "2001" lives up to its
impressive reputation, and then some.
"2001" is an epic science fiction tale that is separated into 4 parts. In part 1, we have "The Dawn of Man", in Part 2, we have an interesting chapter about interspace politics, in Part 3, we have the really famous bulk of the movie, in which two astronauts are on a mission to Jupiter and their computer goes awry, and then Part 4...cannot even really be described.
I personally find every single moment of this film to be brilliant. It's remarkably imaginative and the symbolism is very intriguing. Stanley Kubrick is obviously a genius. He allows scenes to drag on, but it's completely necessary and absolutely
not too long. One of my favorite things about the movie was the use of music - the classical soundtrack of Ligeti and Strauss just enhance every single scene and add an overwhelming sense of majesty to the entire film.
One thing I did not expect (but was pleasantly surprised with) was how
frightening and emotional the film was. Hal is just so creepy, and his "Daisy, Daisy" scene was just heartwrenching. Also, the fact that everything has a sense of malaise to it - the monkeys, the monolith, the "epidemic" in space...everything builds up to create this tension that really drives the entire movie.
And, finally, the visual effects were brilliant. I feel that even in today's world of CGI and 3D, I was still completely convinced by them.
Gosh, words cannot really describe my love for this film. It has been so long since I've seen a movie that is as mind-bending, entertaining, thought-provoking and intelligent as this one. I don't think I was half as awestruck during "Avatar"! So, if you haven't seen it yet, GO DO SO, RIGHT AWAY. Not only is it a classic, but it's freaking amazing.
10/10
(the first perfect score!)
I'm not sure if it was the train-centric opening credits, the Herrmann-ian score by Chris Bacon, the enigmatic female performances from Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan, or something else entirely; but while watching Duncan Jones's "Source Code" I could not help but be reminded of an Alfred Hitchcock film. "Source Code" is not really on the same level as most of Hitchock's filmography, but it wouldn't be difficult to imagine the king of suspense making a movie rather similar to it if he was still alive. Needless to say, the film is smartly, stylishly, and suspensefully put together (helped greatly by its brilliant minimalist structure) and makes for an extremely entertaining hour and a half. However, beyond that hour and a half, the film isn't particularly memorable, perhaps because it skirts around the philosophical questions that it seems to want to ask and never really asserts itself visually. The most lasting aspect of the film is, unsurprisingly, Farmiga's performance - unbelievably complex, gorgeously layered and quietly powerful, her eyes say everything the overall film fails to.
