8 A.M. Sunday, 12th of January, 2014. HAL'S birthday. I'm tired as fuck.

HAL.

IBM.

HAL/IBM. HAL=IBM. IBM=HAL.

H+1 = I
A+1 = B
L+1 = M

So HAL is indisputably IBM. Just go one letter on in the alphabet from H, A and L and you get I, B and M. 

But what is IBM? A computer company Kubrick had a grudge against? Or are we just missing a "T" in the greatest riddle known to mankind? Confused? Allow me to demonstrate.

IBM
I= 9th letter of the alphabet.
B= 2nd letter of the alphabet.
M= 13th letter of the alphabet.

9+2+13= 24.

X= 24th letter of the alphabet.

X= 10 in Roman numerals, so IBM= 10.

HAL
H=…

Ever since I joined Letterboxd, nothing has scared me more than the idea of trying to write about 2001: A Space Odyssey. The fact that everything has "already been said" about this masterpiece has itself already been said so many times that there's not even an original means of expressing my lack of originality left at my disposal. So with the knowledge that I will probably never be able to fully encapsulate what makes this my favorite movie of all time—let alone say something truly unique about it—here is a small list of a few things I love about it.

I love that the monolith has remained an enigmatic symbol capable of being read in any number of different ways…

I've had this movie on Blu-Ray for maybe 4 years now and I've always been worried to watch it because it seemed like something I had to be in "the right mood" for. When a friend told me it was playing at the Arclight in 70mm, I said "fuck the mood" and bought myself a ticket, presuming that a 70mm theater screening is the best way to see this thing.

Honestly? I still don't know if that's true. It felt like a huge experience. But this is the second time I've seen a 70mm movie in theaters (the first time being The Hateful Eight) and both times I came away thinking: it doesn't really look better to me. And with…

I had a disclaimer at the top of this review but everybody went off telling me how wrong I was anyway, so scrap that, you'll just have to remember that this is merely one person's opinion and that we're all entitled to one.

First of all, I like Kubrick's films, love some of them in fact, but I can't even pretend to like this one. Of course I understand the influence this film had on the industry in its time, but that doesn't mean that I found it enjoyable.

It was heavy breathing and scenes of nothing (pretty nothing, nevertheless) against epic music, or sometimes even just a creepy choir, for 140 minutes straight. I wanted to switch it off…

Everything that could have possibly been written about this film pretty much has been by now. So instead of reviewing 2001: A Space Odyssey, I'm just going to say - if you love 2001 as much as I do, here are some other films that you might enjoy:

- The Tree of Life (2011), dir. Terrence Malick
- Solaris (1972), dir. Andrei Tarkovsky
- Baraka (1992), dir. Ron Fricke
- Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), dir. Bela Tarr
- Under the Skin (2013), dir. Jonathan Glazer
- The Double Life of Veronique (1991), dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski
- It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012), dir. Don Hertzfeldt
- Angel's Egg (1985), dir. Mamoru Oshii
- Enter the Void (2009), dir. Gaspar Noe
-…

“I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.”

In the beginning was the Monolith, and the Monolith was with God, and the Monolith was God.

From where had the Monolith derived? It scarcely mattered. If it had always been there, then it had come from nowhere. It simply was. The nothing from which everything sprang. The animating stimulus that drove the amoeba to split in two. The force of nature that extinguished the great lizards not inclined toward avian salvation. The spark of ingenuity that made the ape stand upright and realize its potential for violent innovation.

The Monolith was not “natural” in any traditional…

100

A few notes on the Christopher Nolan-supervised 'unrestored' 70mm print:

- First off, it was indescribably gorgeous. Deep, limitless blacks, sharp and distinct range of colors, and off-the-chart clarity. 65mm photography doesn't merely allow for a greater appreciation of the composition or the 'look' - it frees up each individual element to be its finest, most perfect self. Want to focus on faces? Go ahead. In it for the location and set design? It's all yours. Fascinated by gestural details and minutiae? Knock yourself out. 2001: A Space Odyssey, in 70mm, from sound to image and presentation, allows the art to fully speak for itself.

- That thought and consideration is so beautiful to me, so I was a…

Watched this when I was a lot younger and apparently rated it 3 1/2 stars when I first joined??? I think I found it too boring. Going through the reviews on here and it's all basically the same sort of stuff. Also people apparently equate boring w/ pretention and tbh if you're on Letterboxd reviewing 2001: A Space Odyssey and nitpicking it to shit then you yourself are the textbook definition of pretentious dork lol

Probably Kubrick's prettiest film (that I've seen)? I know a lotta you nerds love that black n white shit but there is more to life than shadows and backlighting!!! The space suits were always iconic, even when I was like 14 and kept falling asleep,…

I fucking dreaded watching this movie, as someone with ADHD, I tend to lose focus incredibly easily when it's not something I find incredibly gripping.

Then I sat down, wrapped myself in a blanket, and watched.

And uh, I don't know how to rate this movie.

There's something so uniquely other about it that it just feels impossible to quantify with a number.

I'll admit, after the opening twenty minutes, between that and the introduction of our main character and HAL, I was getting bored, and I was terrified that I wasn't going to enjoy the next 2:30 of my life...

But then, the film took off and transported me into one of the most terrifying, interesting, and beautiful pieces…