Aaron and Josh Sarnecky are here for the April installment of their monthly movie retrospectives. This time they’re talking about 2001: A Space Odyssey for its 55th anniversary.
2001: A Space Odyssey is an epic science fiction film directed by Stanley Kubrick, who co-wrote the film with Arthur C. Clarke. It opened in theaters on April 3, 1968.
In the film the principal characters, astronaut Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and artificial intelligence HAL 9000 (Douglas Rain), travel to Jupiter in search of extraterrestrial life.
Though initial reactions to the film were mixed, it received Oscar nominations for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Art Direction, and won for Best Visual Effects. Popular but expensive, the movie only become profitable upon rerelease. In 2022 a poll of 480 directors voted it the Greatest Film of All Time in Sight & Sound magazine.
Aaron and Josh discuss the plot of the film, its effects, and its slow pace. They also briefly chat about Arthur C. Clarke’s book series and the film 2010: The Year We Make Contact. Capping things off is a look at space travel and A.I. today.
For more ‘60s cinema, you can listen to Josh and Aaron’s podcast on The Birds. For another Kubrick film, listen to their podcast on The Shining.
