“Just what do you think you’re doing, Dave?”

Kyle’s rating: Looks like we made it!

Kyle’s review: Just as there are those who believe in the trick with burning the candle to the Tommy album in Almost Famous, there are those who believe that taking acid for the entirety or for certain parts of 2001: A Space Odyssey will unlock your mind to the secrets of the universe and to the ultimate Meaning of Life. Awesome, eh?

With or without drugs, 2001 is pretty whack. Stanley Kubrick is an acquired taste; you either like the intricacies of his drawn-out often-terribly-long cinematic “visions” or don’t. I have the requisite friends who love some or all of his work; the recent phone call where I had a one-sided conversation about Barry Lyndon was a personal highlight of my listening skills and patience (I was the side that said “oh yeah?” and “whoa” every few minutes). Kubrick is dead now, so it’s necessary to refer to him as a “genius” or “true artisan” in any rental or entertainment store. Just do it.

See, the whack aspect of 2001 is there is like 45 minutes tops of true content. In the hands of a modern film director, heck, a modern television show director, 2001 could be a one-hour episode of some sci-fi series. Kubrick loves his long shots and communicating with lengthy shots and subtle visual cues. Great.

HOWEVER… Kubrick did some pretty excellent work here. I don’t get bored during 2001, even though its 139 minutes can feel like 931 minutes. Every scene is like those buttons on your VCR: they are actually quite deep and run far into your machine like a tooth. The story carries a lot of weight and requires genuine thought on your part. That’s what film should do, you know?

If you’ve never seen it, that’s pretty cool! If you’re near Los Angeles, try to find a showing of it on a big screen somewhere: my friend Luke claims he doesn’t have to owe a copy because when he’s ready to see it again it’s usually playing a theater somewhere (see: Speed). If you’re elsewhere, rent it and set aside some time and brain cells and just let it seep in and see what you think. It’s worth seeing, it really is. It’s one of those films that everyone, even morons, assume others have seen just because.

And if you can get your hands on the liner notes to the soundtrack, it’s worth it because those are pretty good. It filled in a lot of questions I had and enhanced my perceptions of what’s truly going on here. I still don’t really know, truth be told. But I have my ideas. I can’t share because I won’t tell you, but I know they’re mine. Maybe it’s all about stimulating our creativity and learning to evolve or die ourselves. Or maybe it’s an excuse for a lightshow the likes of which you won’t see outside of a planetarium or without herbal stimulants. Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke knew, and it’s possible they aren’t telling. But they left us the clues. Now it’s up to us.

Notice I barely talked about the plot at all. Oh well. I will say that it’s about evolution and that if you don’t believe humans evolved from the apes, you’re going to be really, really confused and/or angry with the first fifteen minutes or so. Sorry, creationists!

It is an amazing movie, though. I used to really dislike it, and actually hadn’t seen it in like a decade. But my friend is so into I decided to give it a whirl, even though I could only find a VHS rental copy. It’s good. It’s like the crazy work by Grant Morrison or the more abstract of famous abstract art pieces, where the more you read/watch it the more questions it stimulates and the more first date conversation fodder it produces. What is the black monolith all about? Who put it in the places it is found? How many are there? What’s with the long lightshow? If you can figure it out, e-mail me and let’s talk. That’s the gift Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke have given us. Thanks, guys!