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Lost In The Watchlist - 2001: A Space Odyssey
29 Plays17 days ago
Join us this week as we tackle a movie that was in all 3 of our watchlists for years, 2001: A Space Odyssey
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Transcript
Challenges of Filmmaking
00:00:24
Speaker
To make a film is very, very hard. To make a good film
00:00:36
Speaker
is an almost impossible task.
00:00:47
Speaker
Steven Spielberg.
00:00:53
Speaker
keep thinking it's over. It's never over. I really like the Steven Spielberg.
Meet the Hosts: Hachi, Malik, and Alex
00:01:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Lost in the Frame podcast. I'm your host Hachi.
00:01:04
Speaker
I'm your host Malik. And I'm your host Alex. How you guys doing today? I'm good. I'm great actually after that. yeah now I'm pumped up. I am inspired. I'm ready to write a roll.
Exploring Unseen Classics
00:01:19
Speaker
Let's make a film or talk about one. Tonight's going to be a movie for real. Oh, for real. I'm very excited for, what are we calling this? Lost in the Watchlist? Yeah.
00:01:30
Speaker
Lost in the Classics? That'll do. That'll do. We came up with this an insane idea to watch movies that are universally loved and talk about them.
00:01:42
Speaker
Whoa. Isn't that insane? That we've never seen. Who would ever do that? Who would ever do that? I was very surprised. I think mainly surprised by you, Alex, that you also hadn't seen 2001 A Space Odyssey.
00:01:54
Speaker
Yeah, it just was buried in the watch. I... It is one of like the OG movies I added to my IMDb watch list back in 2014 when I opened the account.
00:02:05
Speaker
Yeah, that's insane. i think for me, too, like this is just one of those movies out of... like There's probably so many. This segment will continue on until we're dead.
00:02:16
Speaker
um That has just been buried in the watch list. I was telling you guys, this movie was so deep in the watch list, it wasn't even actually on my watch list. Just one of the ones that you know that you have to see. I mean, didn't we kind of do this already? Like start it with Psycho?
00:02:30
Speaker
Because I'd never seen it. i guess this yeah I guess this did start with Psycho. Yeah. I hadn't seen that one since high school and that doesn't really count. Yeah. I think anything pre-18 doesn't count.
00:02:44
Speaker
i don't know. There's some Pete I watched when I was younger than 18. I'm kidding. I could have gone somewhere.
00:02:54
Speaker
I'm glad it didn't.
Unique Take on 2001: A Space Odyssey
00:02:55
Speaker
um If you couldn't guess it, today we're talking about 2001 A Space Odyssey. Three guys with a movie podcast who hadn't seen it, but we're going to talk about it today. Guys, were really unique. That's why you should listen to us.
00:03:08
Speaker
Yeah. If you're new here, thanks for listening. If you're not new here, thanks for being here, as always. You guys ready to get into it? Sure. All right.
00:03:20
Speaker
We'll kick it off with our love like loathe and then we'll get to reading the synopsis and all of that and our thoughts and feelings around 2001, a space odyssey.
Diverse Reviews of 2001: A Space Odyssey
00:03:28
Speaker
Tachi has our five star, me with the three and then Alex has the one star.
00:03:32
Speaker
Sure. So this five star review comes in from Reese. How is unironically the funniest little guy ever? He's legit my best friend. I support all his actions. Cute emoji. Hmm.
00:03:43
Speaker
This three star comes from Angus. March 5th, 2026. Wait. They watch this today. that's Look at that. Tomorrow.
00:03:55
Speaker
The 6th? No, March 5th, 2026. Oh, okay, sorry. They watched it tomorrow. and This one's a little bit long. Okay. From Angus, three stars.
00:04:06
Speaker
This may be crazy, but this is the most overrated film I've ever seen. I can get exactly why it gets the ratings it does, and I can see the reasoning, but it just did not land for me. I feel like this film could have dropped half an hour and nothing would change. We'll definitely revisit to see if my view gets changed.
00:04:22
Speaker
Good soundtrack, though. Done very well throughout the film. Thanks, Angus. I hope you're listening to this podcast. Tomorrow. Tomorrow.
00:04:33
Speaker
I have our one star today, and this one comes from Daddy's Money 321. All caps. Daddy's Money. I have watched north of 500 movies, starting off with the appeal to authority. That's strong.
00:04:47
Speaker
Never in my life have I watched a movie so boring or or rent or rentious. I think he means pretentious, but spelled with an O meandering and meaningless.
00:05:02
Speaker
Kubrick manages to make paint dry a thrilling experience. What an awful film. Not one second, not one scene was one, like the number one entertaining.
00:05:15
Speaker
I find it fascinating so many people enjoy this movie. What I would suggest is um MRI scans for all those people to check for psychopathy because it is the it is only too possible to enjoy this movie if you lack emotion.
00:05:33
Speaker
You don't figure out psychopathy from MRIs. Yeah. But he will. He will. With daddy's money. Yeah. I could have taken a nice long crap, a two hour one, while this movie played and I could have come back and understood the sheer nothingness of this movie.
00:05:55
Speaker
But you don't understand the point of the movie, they'll say. Kubrick is a genius. The slow scenes are meant to place the audience in the vastness of fit of space. Why not film poop in four k Film hundreds of people swimming in feces for two hours to represent the disgusting nature of humanity. They kind of made that. It was John Waters, Pink Flamingos. Get some nice, clear, and deep shots of just logs, diarrhea, and flatulence.
00:06:33
Speaker
Wow. Three likes. If you're eating while listening to this podcast, I'm sorry. That has to be the most poop filled letterbox review I've ever heard. It's incredible. There's an entire two actual entire paragraphs dedicated to defecation outside of his his typos.
00:06:57
Speaker
I actually kind of like his writing style. Yeah, it was it was vivid. It was vivid. That's fun to read. or i think I actually think the narration is what made it, but okay. You did an excellent job,
The Role of One-Star Reviews
00:07:12
Speaker
Alex. Thank you.
00:07:14
Speaker
um I feel like a lot of, i think mainly one star reviews are like the most passionate ones on Letterboxd. Oh, my like lowest rated ones that I've like reviewed are incredible.
00:07:27
Speaker
Like just pure malice. That's where you're really getting the bing. Whenever we do this segment before a movie, I always look forward to having a one star. Yeah. i like That's just the that's the most potential to find just some absolute gold.
00:07:44
Speaker
We love what's better stuff. What's better, having the one star when you did not like the movie or having the one star when you loved the movie? Oh, good question.
00:07:57
Speaker
That is a good question. i think it would be, i feel like it would have to be one star when you don't like the movie. Because then I think you're really trying to find something that like not only conveys like how you feel, but just like has like...
00:08:14
Speaker
that feeling that of the daddy's money review that you read i feel like that's what you would be going for but like if you love the movie you go to a one star you're like alright I'll just get a funny one not really you get like a confirmation bias yeah makes sense what do you think Alex I think I think there's two schools of thought do you like to be validated or do you like to be in an ivory taller tower tower Personally, I like both.
00:08:47
Speaker
Especially when it comes to really important opinions like film. Agreed. Very much agree.
2001: A Space Odyssey Synopsis
00:08:53
Speaker
Here's a quick synopsis of 2001 A Space Odyssey. This movie came out in 1968, directed by Stanley Kubrick.
00:08:59
Speaker
Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced supercomputer. Simple enough.
00:09:12
Speaker
Yeah. How do we want to tackle this movie? I was thinking in four different parts, each chapter of this movie. Unless there's a way that you guys wanted to like talk about something first, but let me know how we want to break down this behemoth of a movie.
00:09:31
Speaker
We can do that. Chapter by chapter. Yeah. Okay.
Opening Sequence Analysis: The Monolith
00:09:34
Speaker
Let's do it. All right. The Dawn of Man.
00:09:38
Speaker
Oh,
00:09:41
Speaker
The dawn of man. i don't know if you could hear No, not at all. Oh, you couldn't hear it? Okay. It takes 16 seconds for the theme song or the main theme of this to to kick in. And I was to do a little bit, but never mind.
00:09:56
Speaker
Obviously, I've seen a bunch of clips about like of this actual scene throughout references just pop culture everywhere was really cool to finally put pen to paper and like see it yeah yeah i can think of like two crazy references just off the top of my head but just growing up uh you remember the video game spore yes sounds very familiar So when you evolve from the creature stage to the tribal stage, it like spoofs this whole sequence with your animal discovering fire.
00:10:31
Speaker
And then my personal favorite reference to this movie, I think anywhere, is in the Tim Burton Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. ah During the Mike TV sequence where they beam chocolate into the TV and you can reach out and take it, <unk> the monolith is a chocolate bar.
00:10:50
Speaker
That's hilarious. And there's there's a bunch of just apes going crazy for chocolate. The one that came to my mind in most recent years, obviously, Barbie.
00:11:01
Speaker
Right. Yeah. The doll being thrown in the air. Margot Robbie being the monolith. Which, like, yeah. Sure. Makes sense.
Monolith's Evolutionary Impact
00:11:11
Speaker
Yep. What was your guys' first... Okay, so this movie opens up with...
00:11:16
Speaker
Just like low vibrational hums and a black screen for about like six minutes. Did you guys think something was wrong?
00:11:26
Speaker
No, I got locked in, to be honest. I was like, okay. Yeah, I'm like, you well, okay, so the last time I saw a movie that did that, it was the zone of interest. Yeah. and So i was like, like, all right, you have my attention. Like, I'm batting one, 1000 watching movies like this, so.
00:11:43
Speaker
you know Not to jump ahead, but like speaking of the zone of interest, the vibe that I got from this particular movie, which was a similar vibe after zone of interest where it feels like a, like a museum expedition, expedition, expedition, exhibition,
00:11:59
Speaker
you exhibition about an expedition. Yes. o I like that. Thank you for saving me. the The Dawn of Planet of the Man bit definitely feels like something out of like a museum or like a documentary. Mm-hmm.
00:12:17
Speaker
I mean, it's just...
Technical Mastery of 2001
00:12:19
Speaker
like There's no story. It's just vibes and then the monolith. Yeah, the monkeys were just doing that. Yeah. They were... they You know, and they were just... Yeah, it made me think of Ben.
00:12:34
Speaker
Ben. I immediately thought of Primate just because our boy in Primate was in a practical suit. And this is 1968. We've got about... We've got 20 dudes running around like Africa or something in monkey suits.
00:12:53
Speaker
Well, I think there were some scenes of like straight up... real apes in this. There were certainly real tapers and leopards and stuff, but I think there was, that was great. Yeah.
00:13:07
Speaker
Yeah. I, I think there were some actual like scenes of chimps in this. Cause there were some where like the face was too, was too good for the time. I didn't pick up on like the grown chimps. I know for sure the baby chimps they had. I'm like, okay, those are real. And the leopard attack. I was like, did they just have a guy in a monkey suit get attacked by a leopard? Like on set? There's a guy in a leopard suit. Well, I think that might have been a cheetah, not a leopard. Like it's definitely a leopard when it's like the close up.
00:13:38
Speaker
But I think it's a cheetah because cheetahs are actually like fairly tame. Like don't go pet a cheetah. But you could probably train it to like it won't kill people. It doesn't have like a natural urge to kill humans, but like a leper would.
00:13:52
Speaker
Could we get away with that in movies today? Like a trained cheetah to attack a person? No, there's probably too many like animal rights concerns. Oh, true. Like if if you watch like an old Western movie or like Ben-Hur or something, which I think is getting a 4K release in theaters. That might be a lost in the watch list classics to go watch. Ben-Hur.
00:14:15
Speaker
ah They do some crazy things to horses in that era of movies. Yeah, I've seen some clips of ah of old movies with horses and I'm like, this is awful. it's it's They're hard to watch, but yeah.
00:14:28
Speaker
Different era. All right, Dawn of Man. How did you guys feel about once this chapter ends? How are you? How are you feeling going into the rest of the movie once it's over? Like, what do you what is the vibe and the feeling that you have at this point in the movie?
00:14:44
Speaker
You're shaking your head. Just kind of confusion because I didn't read the synopsis. I don't I don't know anything about the movie or I didn't going into it. So I was just along for the ride. and i was locked in, though.
00:14:55
Speaker
I was ready to see like what made this movie so not pivotal, monumental. You know the word. Yeah. Very monumental. And the opening shots of space, like the whole time I'm just reminding myself, I'm like, this movie i is out before like my mom was born.
00:15:13
Speaker
I don't understand how they shot this movie. It's crazy. It was, it was shot before the moon landing. A year before. One year before the moon landing. Well, i think part of this is why people think Stanley Kubrick filmed the moon landing as this movie.
00:15:28
Speaker
Oh, they're like, that guy was really good at that movie he released last year. little too good. yeah this Here's actually another crazy bit of lore.
00:15:39
Speaker
Is... The year before this movie came out, that really famous Bigfoot video like started circulating. The Patterson-Gilman film. You know the one. We've all seen the screenshot.
00:15:51
Speaker
And part of the explanation of why people think it's fake, like the the doubters side, points to this movie and points to the suits used in Planet of the Apes, but this as well.
00:16:08
Speaker
The practical suits are like, oh, it's just a monkey suit, like in 2001. Interesting.
00:16:15
Speaker
see This Kubrick fella, he's got his fingers in a lot of pies, apparently, in the the conspiracy world. Foreshadowing.
00:16:27
Speaker
Do you think that Bigfoot video is real? ah but You go first, Tachi. who No, but I think it'd be a lot more fun if it was real. What do you think, Malik?
00:16:40
Speaker
Also no.
00:16:42
Speaker
You.
00:16:45
Speaker
Also no Astrid. um I have a caveat after this. So. i was no for a long time. This is my wheelhouse, right? I mean, I love this stuff.
00:16:59
Speaker
I listened to a five hour podcast about it. analyzing both sides. Actually, no, I think it was way longer than five hours, like five parts, and each one was like three hours long.
00:17:12
Speaker
Jeez. Yeah. All on Bigfoot? Yeah, i was I was on an internship. It was ah it was literally all about this like snippet of film and the analysis of it.
00:17:23
Speaker
I walked away from it thinking there's no way it was fake.
Bigfoot Video and Film History
00:17:27
Speaker
Wow. or at least Or at least it wasn't a planned hoax.
00:17:32
Speaker
Huh. 15 hours of a podcast will do that to you. after After I listened like five hours of that one podcast with the Exorcist episode, I was like convinced. It's the same guys. It's the same guys. Is it really? Yeah. Oh, I might have to check it out. That sounds interesting. No, straight up. Like I walked away thinking I'm like, i don't I don't know how that would be fake.
00:17:53
Speaker
My thing is i think a Bigfoot can exist and probably does or at least has. Is the video real? I don't know. but I mean, Bigfoot as a concept did exist just yeah years and years and years and years ago. Was it Giganthropithecus was like a big walking bipedal ape that was like eight feet tall or something.
00:18:14
Speaker
And then Stanley Kubrick casted him in his film. Well, I mean, the monolith made the ape smart. ah They call one of the apes Moonwatcher, the main ape.
00:18:28
Speaker
He's played by, think it's Daniel Richter, if I'm not mistaken. you know him? I don't know him. I just, I was curious. I was looking at the the cast and just kind of clicking into everyone's name.
00:18:42
Speaker
And then this guy was playing Moonwatcher. And I was like, Moonwatcher? Who the heck Moonwatcher? You click Moonwatcher and then it just brings up pictures of the monkey. was like, okay. They actually named him, which is pretty cool. He's the one who throws the bone in the in the air. He's the one who starts kind of using a bone as a tool and realizing what they can do. Right. um So obviously the monkeys come across this monolith, this this ancient artifact that they're scared of.
00:19:09
Speaker
They touch it and it kind of gives them... ah what do What do you guys think it it does to them? Do you think the monolith itself is what's giving them like the autonomy to now know what to do?
00:19:23
Speaker
Like critical thinking skills. Yeah. like Is this the beginning of evolution with the monolith? Sure. Maybe. What do you think? It's hard to tell. was trying to think of what the monolith means throughout the movie because it does reappear.
00:19:42
Speaker
i
00:19:45
Speaker
I'm not fully convinced. It's just like it just represents evolution. i don't know what it means yet, but I'm OK if that's the answer.
00:19:57
Speaker
Like if it's just as simple as that. Yeah. Because a lot of things in this movie are very. um i guess not addressed or unexplained or just left up to your interpretation.
00:20:10
Speaker
I think I would agree that it probably does like represent the start of humanity. It's probably what it represents. I'm not sure if like the monolith is what caused it, but it's certainly like the first foray into something greater than, you know, pure animalistic tendencies, which is ironic because the first thing that the monkey does is is beat the crap out of somebody. Yeah. So is that just our nature? It's just violence.
00:20:41
Speaker
That's like the first thing we do to each other. I think it's a base human nature, but I think what it means is to be human is to rise beyond that. Or to protect.
00:20:52
Speaker
Because he was protecting his home from other invaders. No, I thought they were the ones running people off from the watering hole and conquering it. they were Yeah. Yeah, I feel like they weren't protecting. It was just ah a hogging of resources.
00:21:09
Speaker
preeminent self-defense
00:21:14
Speaker
that's going around these days uh okay then yeah maybe maybe human instinct is to attack this was a much longer sequence than i thought it would be then like yeah like how long did this go on think 30 minutes no way I think you're right.
00:21:35
Speaker
I think the the start of chapter two or the the next section is about 30 minutes in. Okay, chapter two. We're with this captain, Dr. Haywood, right?
00:21:48
Speaker
Dr. Haywood, yes. Haywood Floyd? Yeah. This part I wanted to like ask you guys. I was a little... um not confused but i just wanted to hear like what you guys thought like just like of this part of the chapter overall so he's on his way to the moon oh sick sick shot of whatever this spinning oh my god yes that has to be like direct influence on um on christopher nolan's that sequence in interstellar 100 mean that so sick
00:22:20
Speaker
i mean that was so sick I mean, even the lighting looked like Star Wars. Yeah. Like, there was so much where it's like, oh, this is where it came from. Yeah. I mean, this is like the science fiction film. The sci-fi movie. Yeah.
00:22:33
Speaker
The only other one I can think that would be like this monumental is Metropolis. Yep. From 1929. Mm-hmm. But, I mean, this one is like, it's the space movie. I mean, whatever they were doing in 68, like... It was it was cooking.
00:22:49
Speaker
Yeah, their attention to detail was crazy.
Influence on Sci-Fi Genre
00:22:51
Speaker
the The whole i can sequence is just Kubrick aura farming with shots. You want to talk about, like, how did they do that in 68?
00:23:01
Speaker
Like, all, like, the anti-gravity sequences on, like, the Pan and Am flight... And then um not so much in the actual like space station itself, but that first flight, whether it's like the walking and walking up walls and it's like, it just was so smooth and it didn't look janky. And you're like,
00:23:23
Speaker
How did they do this? I really don't know. i almost don't want to know. i think it takes some of the magic a away to know. Same. The Pan Am flight with one of the stewardesses kind of walking to deliver the pilots their food.
00:23:38
Speaker
where the camera's kind of just locked into this circular hallway. Yeah. And she's she's got like the grip shoes or whatever. And she starts like walking upside down and then upside down into the other room.
00:23:53
Speaker
And I was just like, holy shit, what? How did they do that? I don't know. think he would have been like burned at the stake in the if he did something like this. Yeah.
00:24:11
Speaker
I mean, this is crazy. Yeah. It's just making more and more sense to me, like why people would think he had a hand in faking, helping fake the moon landing.
00:24:21
Speaker
Like watching this movie, like it was about this point in the movie that I started to hate like green screen studio movies. i was just like, I hate you.
00:24:32
Speaker
Like i hate everything about you. I hate your stupid look. I hate that stupid haze over everything. i hate like, oh, look how good it looks. Like, no, this looks like garbage. You have been just destroyed by a movie from 1968.
00:24:51
Speaker
There are recipes long, long gone. that we've forgotten about like Stranger Things season five. I'm sorry about that. What a train. very Stranger Things season five to this literally hydrogen bomb versus coughing baby.
00:25:09
Speaker
Joyce. Run.
00:25:17
Speaker
um How did you guys feel about the second sequence with Dr. Haywood? It. I just had no idea where it was going. Yeah, it felt a little out of place and directionless.
00:25:29
Speaker
it It didn't feel out of place until... felt a little out of place, but then like at the end, you're like, oh I see. Yeah. Yeah. The very last five minutes, I think I would agree with you, Tachi. Like it did feel like pretty directionalist up until there. Like I was more just, I found myself a lot in this particular chapter kind of just oohing and aahing at the, how did they do this? But I wasn't really like connected to the story. I was kind of lost where we were. Like we get to that situation room.
00:25:59
Speaker
Um, I guess they're on the moon. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah So they get to the situation room and these they're kind of talking about this cover up. We don't really know what's happening. So I wasn't fully like invested or connected at this point. I think until we got to the moon and then things start to get a little bit more interesting there.
00:26:18
Speaker
But once we get there, we see that the monolith is back. Yeah. It was somehow buried on in the moon.
Monolith on the Moon: Speculations
00:26:26
Speaker
Yeah. Thoughts or theories on a monolith on the moon.
00:26:32
Speaker
I think we should start digging. at In the moon? Yeah. I agree. We should dig now? Now. like We need to go. like're We're going stop recording. We're going to Oh, us.
00:26:45
Speaker
Yeah, like us. What is it? Artemis 3 is when they're going be landing on the moon? Artemis 2 is in June for the trip around the moon for the four astronauts. Have you all seen that?
00:26:56
Speaker
No. Yeah, but I thought it got the timeline got messed with a little bit because of current events. I hope not. i was looking forward to that. I just went to the NASA museum. They had a whole section for the Artemis mission.
00:27:13
Speaker
That's cool. is so sick. They're literally the fantastic four.
00:27:19
Speaker
It's them. Yeah, Artemis 2 in June, they're supposed to go around the moon, which will be like the farthest anyone has gone in space. And Artemis 3 in a few years will be us back on the moon for the first time since 69.
00:27:32
Speaker
sixty nine What are they going to do? um Do they have plans other than just saying we did it? I think, yeah, they're just going to like looks max.
00:27:44
Speaker
Okay. Like do a lot of frame logging on the moon. They're bringing the ASU frat leader. He'll be there.
00:27:54
Speaker
All right. Back to the monolith. I should take Back to the monolith. I... The shot of it like sitting there like uncovered on the moon was so ominous. And like the conspiracy that was like being hinted at like in the story leading up to it was like ah was so intriguing. I'm like, ooh.
00:28:16
Speaker
like oh like they wouldn't let anyone land in like that's a you know that's a illegal according to space code you know whatever i'm like what's happening how do you feel about so at this point in the movie so i don't think there's dialogue in this for like the first 20 30 minutes that entire uh dawn of man scene the dialogue uh animal no that's racist for you to assume No, I, no, I did not, no.
00:28:45
Speaker
That's not right. Officer, he's right there.
00:28:50
Speaker
No. I'm joking. Hey, hey, it's okay. Hands up
00:29:01
Speaker
up. The dialogue in this movie, it's very sparse. what How do you guys feel about it? It's kind of clunky. It's rare, i think, hearing full conversations throughout this entire like two and a half hour runtime.
00:29:16
Speaker
Does the dialogue work for you guys? Is it maybe just the product of the times? If not, I don't really find it super clunky. It's just like it's there. you know It's just straight to this matter of fact.
00:29:31
Speaker
Yeah. Maybe that's just how people talk back then. It's fine. I think the primary the primary problem people seem to have with it is like the extended silence.
00:29:43
Speaker
Not so much the lack of dialogue, but maybe some needle drops could do some wonders for those who are bored of the spacesuit breathing just the silence.
00:29:56
Speaker
Some needle drops in sound design. Yeah. Overall, like how and I can go first, but like how does the long stretches of silence or just space breathing work for you guys?
00:30:09
Speaker
For me. i don't think it really landed. Of course it didn't land. It was in space. Oh, boom. It didn't. It didn't. I just think maybe it's a little too much.
00:30:25
Speaker
Yeah. Like maybe it should have been only when he was spacewalking, not in the the space station. I'm with you. Yeah. I thought it added like a lot of tension to It and it does for sure.
00:30:38
Speaker
Like, I mean, we are in space and it I think it really treats space like it's space. Um, yeah. you know, the soundtrack itself, like the, you know, the, the songs they use, particularly when it comes to the monolith, make it seem like so otherworldly. and Like it literally is, is literally not only like otherworldly in the sense that this is like an alien technology, but it's otherworldly in the sense that we are not on the planet. Like we are not on our world.
00:31:08
Speaker
Right. And so I think it does a really good job of conveying, like you're somewhere kind of where you're not supposed to be. like We went from ah you know defying animalism to raising the bone, and now we're defying livability.
00:31:31
Speaker
And we're somewhere where we're not supposed to go. We got there anyway, and it's stressful. I mean, one wrong move, you can you can all go wrong. And so you space is quiet.
00:31:44
Speaker
There's no noise. It's a vacuum. And this movie really treats it as such.
00:31:52
Speaker
I think in conversation, it works it works more for me like as we're talking about it. But like I know how I felt watching the movie. And while it's like appreciated and I can see the intended effect for these long stretches of silence, I think...
00:32:11
Speaker
Like, I don't know, just to me, it did, it just felt like so much. And I, I think part of it is obvious. A lot of it is intentional from, from Kubrick and the other like filmmakers on the movie. But like, I can't but feel that some of it's just like a product of the times.
00:32:26
Speaker
Like it's like they these movies are moving at a different pace than we're obviously used to now. So I'm also trying to give it grace for that. But um yeah, just overall for me, just Very long stretches of silence.
00:32:40
Speaker
Does build the tension. But after a while, I just found myself like also in space, like mentally drifting off. Playing subway surfers. Yeah, I needed subway surfers at the bottom of the screen to keep my attention.
00:32:54
Speaker
i'm I'm not going to sit here and say that like that was like the most engaging part because it just wasn't. I think in a theater, it would have probably hit better. so I'd love to rewatch this movie in a theater. This and IMAX would go crazy.
00:33:08
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah. But i it did work for me. A little more about um the second part. I guess the difference is between the second part and the third part.
00:33:20
Speaker
It seems like the...
Enter HAL 9000
00:33:23
Speaker
i don't know, like the style of speaking changed. I don't know how far into the future... or or the difference in time between parts two and three R 18 months.
00:33:34
Speaker
Oh, that's it. Yeah. Oh, it seems like they're just speaking like a whole different way. It felt like the sixties versus modern, um, or kind of like that, um,
00:33:46
Speaker
Transatlantic. Yeah, Transatlantic. I get what you mean now that I'm thinking about it. like So the initial conversation between Haywood and like his other colleagues in the lobby of the Hilton felt very like Transatlantic 60s. I was like, oh yeah yeah. But now that I'm thinking about it, when I'm thinking of the conversation between Dave and Frank in like in the pod, yeah feels more modern.
00:34:07
Speaker
for sure Oh, strange, yeah. I thought it was like years and years and years. Yeah, just 18 months between ah the monolith on the moon and then the mission to Jupiter.
00:34:18
Speaker
Right. Let's go there. Dr. Dave Bowman and Frank Poole. The name, Alex. we ah Is this doxing?
00:34:30
Speaker
I don't know. I didn't know how to like bring it bring it up, but if we think it's doxing, I'll just cut it out. But Dave Bowman was the name of a manager at a place that we worked.
00:34:42
Speaker
And I was like, wow, if I had seen this movie, maybe would talked to him more.
00:34:49
Speaker
but ah But that was my first thought. And then I'm not doxing anyone here, but there's also some certain technologies used. And I was like, oh, look at that.
00:35:00
Speaker
Yeah, can we talk about how... I have no idea what you're referring to with that. ah Three letters. Three letter technology company. All over there.
00:35:10
Speaker
IBM. Oh, there we go. Yep. Yeah. IBM was all over the space stuff. Um, but I want to touch on like, it seems like Kubrick predicted a lot of things. Uh, I wrote a few things down that popped out to me. So, um, geez, when we're taking notes, that's what you know, this was serious. Easy ones are just like the video calls, like the one that he had with his daughter.
00:35:35
Speaker
Yeah. Um, the The modern looking tablet just like playing what seemed to just be like a television program or maybe the news. Space tourism. There was virtual chess.
00:35:48
Speaker
um And then like the little escape pods on the ship. I don't know. What about the escape pods? I just seen them in like every space movie after this.
00:35:59
Speaker
Yeah. A big one that... I didn't even really think of was like the iPads. You know, the quote unquote iPads. yeah They're watching it and like eating dinner and like I'm watching this and it just felt normal.
00:36:13
Speaker
I don't think I even fully stepped away and be like, holy shit, this this is 68. It just felt so normal. And and until you mentioned it. Yeah, they weren't even talking to each other. We're just scrolling.
00:36:24
Speaker
That's us. and We're not even in space. Yeah, there's unfortunately a lot of negative things from this movie that Kubrick was correct on.
00:36:40
Speaker
I don't have the name of the ah the author of the book. I think he also helped write the screenplay, but most credit to him, I would say, for that. But for both of them kind of putting this two film together, they got a lot right from a technology standpoint. but What book?
00:36:57
Speaker
Is this based off a book? Yeah, it is. it's ah It's, um so Arthur C. Clarke was the author, and he wrote, it was it was inspired by ah several short stories by Arthur C. Clarke, The Sentinel and Encounter in the Dawn.
00:37:15
Speaker
Okay. So it's not like a singular. They got a lot right, though. Yeah, they did. All right, we're in the ship. We're on the Jupiter mission. We meet Hal. Hal. Lot right with Hal.
00:37:27
Speaker
Oh, Hal. Another insane movie set. Hello, Malik. Hello, Tachi. Hello, Hal. Open the door, Hal.
00:37:40
Speaker
I'm afraid I can't do that, Tachi.
00:37:43
Speaker
It was an insane set. This was the the part of the movie that truly made me hate. And it's it's so funny that you brought it up earlier. When I was watching this, I specifically thought of the Fantastic Four, like the one that came out last year as like, God, how could they make a movie that looked that garbage now?
00:38:04
Speaker
And have this. what do like What do big budget blockbusters today look like with the love, care, and attention of of a 2001 A Space Odyssey?
00:38:15
Speaker
They probably look like Lawrence of Arabia. Like we were just getting the Fantastic Four as a classic immediately. Just banger after banger. Yeah. I feel like the closest thing to a cinematic achievement in recent history has to be like Lord of the Rings.
00:38:32
Speaker
I mean, there's there's still a good handful of movies that look amazing that are these achievements with like all these digital effects. Dune. It's just, yeah, like Dune, Interstellar.
00:38:46
Speaker
I even think the margin looks great. Like, it's just there's there's a care and attention to these movies that's just not super present anymore.
00:38:58
Speaker
And you can feel it. Like, this this set moving, just, like, the different shots of him running, and it kind of looks like he's on a hamster wheel, but, like, we have the shot, like, in front of him, on the back of him, and then him, like, stopping, like, at the desk. Like, it's just...
00:39:12
Speaker
So cool. And I want to see some more behind the scenes, but like you said, Alex, I also don't, I kind of just want to leave it as is, but I'm so curious. It's such a well-designed set too.
00:39:24
Speaker
and It really looks like that. It's moving around and they're defying gravity and there's no strings and harnesses and least as far as you can see.
00:39:35
Speaker
And then there's how just sitting there at little red eye, the iconic red eye. Yeah. I mean, I knew who Hal was like way before coming into this movie. Yeah. And I knew he was going to be like, yeah I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave. There's lot i I knew about this movie before. Like I knew about the Dawn of Man.
00:39:55
Speaker
and knew the theme, the bone in the air, Hal, that I can't do that. So it's just like all these beats in my head that are familiar, but I just actually haven't seen in the order they were meant to be seen.
00:40:09
Speaker
So, i mean, what did you guys think of Hal? I really like how brilliant and scary. okay Just so unnerving. Yeah. Oh my God. i think That, that pod scene when it zooms in on the lips, that made me nauseous. Like, oh my God, I, I hated it, but it was so cool.
00:40:29
Speaker
That was the scariest sequence of how for me, like just felt like, like government, like overreach, just seeing whatever we do. No matter what we do. like I feel like like I constantly have like this webcam.
00:40:44
Speaker
I feel like even if it's unplugged, somehow it's still being accessed. And that's exactly like what that scene was. Nightmare fuel.
HAL's Actions and AI Implications
00:40:53
Speaker
Well, um I mean, for me, the one that really set it off was this first one where it's like, oh, how are you doing my psychological profile? It's like, yes. It's like, what?
00:41:06
Speaker
You did what now? Hold up. Hold up. Wait a minute. But they rely on it so much. I mean, it's this just like, you know, God complex robot. And they how can you raise my thing?
00:41:21
Speaker
my My neck rest? Mm hmm. Can you do this? Can you do that? You're playing chess and. I've never been wrong. yeah Not once ever. And I never will be. Or whatever he says. Freaky bitch.
00:41:39
Speaker
It's the, like the main thing that I think they got right with this movie was like the over-reliance of technology and like how that is going to be our downfall. And I think today, like now more than ever, you're like, yeah, it's way too applicable now. Yeah. Yeah.
00:41:57
Speaker
for sure man i couldn't imagine watching this in the 60s they probably thought it was so far-fetched i don't man i like there's no way people will let it get this way yeah and to like see like space and like these sets like on a big movie screen as like a 10 year old yeah seeing a dead body just spinning endlessly through space yeah like oh my god also insane how they did that so so how kind of goes haywire he realizes that there's a mutiny yeah that there's a mutiny going about and these two are planning to shut him off so how fights back
00:42:45
Speaker
And he murders everyone. Straight up mercs one dude. So my question with how do you guys think so he is saying to Dave.
00:43:00
Speaker
That the mission cannot be compromised. So this is obviously in his programming that the mission has to be accomplished. Right. Is Hal sentient enough to like purposefully kill like the way he killed Frank? Or do you think it was purely because he he's programmed to save the mission and that's just like what had to be? I think it's purely a pragmatic decision. Okay.
00:43:23
Speaker
I mean, it's it's left, I think, up to the interpretation of Hal is sentient enough to understand, like truly understand what it means to die. he like he thinks that he does, but but like does he really understand the weight of it? But for Hal, it's purely pragmatic.
00:43:41
Speaker
But do you think it's pragmatic because at the end, he is trying to emotionally manipulate... Shoot, what's his name? Dave. Dave, yeah. as As Dave is turning off his his systems, he's like yeah i can see like, I can feel it.
00:43:59
Speaker
My mind slipping. Yeah. I'm afraid. But like, he ah can't feel, can he? I don't think he can feel. I think it's up to the interpretation of the viewer.
00:44:12
Speaker
I would say physically no. Like looking at like like AI as we have it today, it
00:44:21
Speaker
Then you get into the question of like, what does it mean to be alive? Like if this thing thinks it's alive and like it's learned from us humans and it's programmed to be human and feel human things like,
00:44:34
Speaker
can it feel like, are these a valid emotions? Like, I think you're almost getting into like a theological question. Yeah. And I think that's like where we're supposed to kind of take the questions we have with this movie and even framing it like, as we have it today, it's it made in the image of God. No, it's not alive.
00:44:53
Speaker
Yeah. It's tricky when you start thinking about, I guess to that degree, like, you know, one step further is, you know, when is a soul created? When is the soul enter the body? you know, stuff like that. But going back to the question, i don't think it was pragmatic. I think it was how feeling um all powerful or thinking that he feels all powerful.
00:45:22
Speaker
That scene where they that Dave is unplugging him was my favorite scene in the whole movie. I felt like so sick watching I almost felt bad for Hal.
00:45:33
Speaker
Just like he's like pleading and begging. like I mean, I still would turned him off, but it was just so uncomfortable to watch. My mind is going. His his voice like... I'm slipping.
00:45:45
Speaker
Yeah. Daisy. Daisy. Yeah, was going to do that. It was like, it was really sad in a way. It was like he was reduced to this like, you know, circus trick of like, I taught a computer to sing a song. Mm-hmm.
00:46:00
Speaker
Like, he kind of felt bad. But at the end of the day, it was a computer. So it's like they did such a good job of, like, making this thing so awful that you actually humanize it Yeah, I did.
00:46:11
Speaker
I will say the third chapter of this movie is my favorite as I'm, I feel like it probably is for a lot of people. Like this is where we're seeing a lot of like the screen grabs of like the imagery of like the red suit in the white tunnel, like that iconic shot. Obviously.
00:46:26
Speaker
Yeah. The red eye, like all of that. And so, um, real good tension building in this awesome sets. How is pretty cool.
00:46:38
Speaker
Um, Dave and Frank. Dave and Frank, I think this is... like I know the conversations and like the actual dialogue itself aren't like fully like the vehicles for this movie.
00:46:51
Speaker
They just kind of... the Again, the dialogue for me here, just it it just is. Yeah. They're words on a page, and they're kind of moving this forward, kind of not, but... I mean, what to Right. And I mean, there was only like...
00:47:07
Speaker
less fewer than five minutes for Dave and Frank to kind of establish their, their friendship, their working relationship, what the mission is, what they need to accomplish. So yeah, yeah. yeah Like they, they weren't given much time to, you know, make us feel more.
00:47:24
Speaker
I will say I think that's the biggest gripe I have like with the movie as a whole. is like There's no room for myself for like emotionally connecting to these characters. And like even when we get into this spaceship with Dave Frank and Hal, I find myself just like a little taken aback at like the...
00:47:44
Speaker
the immediate suspicion of Frank and Dave for Hal being wrong about this ah like transmission thing. like Why did he immediately think that that was like evil of him?
00:47:57
Speaker
A computer can mess up. like i thought like In my mind, I'm just thinking that it would have just been like, oh like a fluke. But I feel like there had to have been... maybe more in the book with house intentions and showing that he's fully evil because like from that one mistake, like I just didn't get it.
00:48:11
Speaker
And I was just like, okay, so we went from point A to point B and I kind of just had like whiplash in between it. Right. Yeah. I, I don't know. I think I'm struggling with keeping up with the theme or I don't know. i don't know. What, what is the theme?
00:48:29
Speaker
What's Kubrick trying to say? What's the point of the monolith? Why does it keep reappearing? And why are the cuts and the stories so drastic in different ways?
00:48:42
Speaker
Like, like the first cut being 4 million years, the next one being 18 months, the next one being like moments after, i guess. I think it's just, you're watching humanity evolve.
00:48:55
Speaker
Sure. go from one you know gate barrier of entry to the next or we go from being apes to being something else to you know finding our own something else
00:49:15
Speaker
I think it's just a vehicle for that okay so then what do you think the the second appearance means on the moon
00:49:25
Speaker
Do guys have theories? Of the monolith on moon? I don't know. Maybe it was left there to guide us. But like... To help us on our journey. Like, what was the evolutionary step at that point is my question. Sorry.
00:49:39
Speaker
Well, so, you know, we we take the first leap into space. We find that clue and then we then take the next leap... To Jupiter. but By going even farther beyond that to Jupiter.
00:49:52
Speaker
Yeah, I think overall, like, theme, obviously, a ah like, a warning of developing technologies. Like, I think, in this time period, like,
00:50:06
Speaker
the advances in technology they were getting was like back to back. Like they just had like banger after banger. Next year we're we're in the moon. Now we got color TV. Now all this is happening. Like just like insane technological advances that I think it was easy to like be like, whoa, like what does this actually mean?
00:50:23
Speaker
Like for us as a species? And it just hit us so quick. Like was literally having conversation the other day and it's it's weird thinking back to childhood and thinking of like a wifi less house.
00:50:36
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Like we just like feeling of boredom. Yeah. Like that just like wasn't there. And then now, um now we're like, we move like apartments or houses or anything. And I'm like, oh, I hope that the next place has good wifi. And i'm like, that wasn't like a sentence 30 years ago.
00:50:53
Speaker
Like that's just insane. So it's just, um, the warnings of like the advancement of technology. And then also I, I think just who we are as a species. Right. And the evolution. And so I, I agree with you, Alex. I feel like that second monolith was like a, like, I don't know what, I don't know what it is.
00:51:10
Speaker
Like, is that the extraterrestrial life? Like, and is it guiding? Is it a guide into like our evolution? Like, I don't know, but I think, I think that's the question I'm left with like after the fourth part.
00:51:24
Speaker
None of those questions get answered. In fact, I have more.
00:51:29
Speaker
Yeah, the fourth part is a trip.
Final Act: Surreal Interpretations
00:51:34
Speaker
I don't understand it either. At first, I thought he was just like, I thought he was just like flying through like the gases of Jupiter.
00:51:43
Speaker
the Like the gas clouds. For a second, I did too. And then I'm like, wait, I think he's in the monolith. And then I was like, wait, did he get sucked into a black hole?
00:51:53
Speaker
And now he's a placenta baby. So I don't know. Alex, what did you make of the fourth part? The fourth part was just a whole exercise and how on earth do they make this?
00:52:06
Speaker
Yeah. It was crazy. And it's one of those things where I think it's like truly left up to the interpretation of the viewer. where you're watching it and you're kind of just along for the ride of just this know surrealist, just cacophony of light and sound. And, you know, it's almost like like like an ambient movie, just pure ambience. And you get to the end there, the sequence in that scene.
00:52:35
Speaker
That, uh, that like room and it's literally like a whole life sequence. That was cool. And you go, and you go from, you know, man to older to eldest to death to rebirth. It's just like, well, it's the cycle and, you know giant floating space, baby. I don't know.
00:52:54
Speaker
that one I didn't have an explanation for that one. Yeah. I was ah i was stunned, to say the least. yeah um It's just... like I almost... Part of me is just not supposed to make sense, right?
00:53:10
Speaker
like It's almost like a fourth dimension. like We're not supposed to comprehend it because we can't. We're people. We're three-dimensional. But there's something beyond us. Maybe. Maybe. And it's almost not for us to comprehend. We're not ready for it yet.
00:53:26
Speaker
Yeah. I don't think there's answers for the ending of this movie. I think it is all up for interpretation. However you want to interpret it. Um,
00:53:38
Speaker
the visuals of him first going into the monolith. I'm just going to say he's going like into the monolith. He got sucked by the monolith. Yeah. Nope. Was crazy.
00:53:50
Speaker
Yeah. I'm actually not sure how they... like As much as like I think the ginormous sets are amazing, from like a digital effects standpoint, I'm like, how did they do this back then?
00:54:01
Speaker
Like the first like suck into the yeah the light. Like getting real Tron-like. Yeah, that was I don't know how that's going to That sequence was really cool with the intercuts of...
00:54:12
Speaker
of of Dave's face just like kind of frozen in the pod like yeah it was giving me black hole vibes so it was really cool yeah I really liked it but then it just went on for another 30 minutes yeah it really did the sweeping shots of like of what is earth in the different like color schematics mm-hmm I was getting like and this is kind of similar for like a good chunk of the movie is I understand the intended effect, but I'm like, the sequences are just long.
00:54:44
Speaker
It was long. Yeah. I got it. Yeah. It's purple. yeah
00:54:53
Speaker
But space baby, space baby. Just, it was not, it was not a direction. I thought that we were headed. But I feel like that's just like the movie overall.
00:55:07
Speaker
Maybe he just actually, no, let me find a review. You guys keep talking. There was a review that was a little bit illuminating when it came to that, or at least that part of the movie. I definitely think it is like a time thing, though, and I took all like the landscape shots of Earth is like Earth at its creation, its beginning. Hmm.
00:55:31
Speaker
Like you were breaking into the, cause the fourth dimension is time. Yeah. You're breaking into the fourth dimension. He was experiencing something that like he barely could comprehend.
00:55:42
Speaker
Okay, so here's the review. This is from Josh Lewis. It says, man invents tools. Man becomes slave to those tools. The tools start to behave like man, so man brutally murders them.
00:55:53
Speaker
Man sees the cycle, sees everything, and transcends, goes nuclear space baby mode. The 4K disc looks very nice. ah Nuclear space baby mode. So that's what's next for us.
Themes of Rebirth and Evolution
00:56:06
Speaker
Yeah. I'm about to go that this weekend.
00:56:12
Speaker
i want to do that too. I'll go nuclear space. base Just go transcend real quick. We'll be right Let's go transcend on the pedestrian bridge.
00:56:25
Speaker
Let's go. yeah So just rebirth. The cycle continues. Does the cycle, does the cycle continue or did we learn and move past are violent beginnings? Yeah.
00:56:39
Speaker
Do you see the ending as hopeful or as a never ending cycle? That's the question. I just see the ending as in the beginning.
00:56:50
Speaker
Is that positive or negative or is it just? It's just. Man charts its own course. We have free will.
00:57:01
Speaker
Do we? Yes. I
00:57:07
Speaker
just got a shot of the space nuclear space baby on this IMDb thing. It looks so funky. Yeah, it does. Funky out looking baby.
00:57:17
Speaker
All right, we've said a lot about this movie. And none of it makes sense. What, like, if you could put it into a few sentences, like how you feel about this movie, what would it be?
Final Thoughts on 2001
00:57:32
Speaker
Probably just wow.
00:57:36
Speaker
That's not a few sentences. Wow. Just wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow what will we will i I guess to answer the question, i love the way it was made.
00:57:53
Speaker
Or i really admire the way it was made. Like you guys mentioned, the love and care, the TLC that was put into the set design. the, the shots, the, you know, costumes, whatever you name it, everything was given a hundred percent effort.
00:58:12
Speaker
that was really great. The story was a little confusing. It's a little boring sometimes, but I really liked it.
00:58:23
Speaker
I agree with you. The movie is beautiful. Insane sets. If I could build a time machine, I think I'd send every current working filmmaker back in time and be like, look at that.
00:58:39
Speaker
Do to that. Yeah. I do think retro futurism is so cool and it's so underutilized. Okay. So this is in modern times. This is 1968. So this how many years ago? 45, 60, 60. Yeah. It's almost 60. Okay. 60 years ago.
00:58:52
Speaker
forty five sixty sixty guys almost sixty bad of math okay sixty years ago Kubrick is pretty spot on when it comes to like technological advances and what we have today and ai What does a movie look like from a filmmaker today talking about 60 years in the future?
00:59:13
Speaker
and And they get it right. Like what does 60 years look like? 2101. Yeah, what does 2080? What does 2090 look like? Unfortunately, I think it probably looks a lot like Blade Runner.
00:59:24
Speaker
You think we're going to get to Blade Runner? The way technology is advancing, I don't see why not. i want to be up high in the sky in Blade Runner. i don't want to be in the in the streets. The streets seem to be where the bad stuff happens.
00:59:39
Speaker
Get me out of the streets. I was made for the streets. I'll take the Wally ship. yeah They got their own how in Wally. I guess that's true.
00:59:51
Speaker
Here's another big reference. They also have high cholesterol. Very. Not great bone density either. technically I'm surprised they still have bones. Barely.
01:00:03
Speaker
they're They're basically all pus into babies. We're all nuclear baby mode. I was watching like a review or something. Someone was ranting about why, about how it was stupid because like they would have all atrophied or something and and would have been like unable to move. and I'm like, I think you're i think you're reading a little too far into this to make the point. I don't think that this was supposed to be like realistic.
01:00:32
Speaker
um For overall, like for my overall feelings with the movie, like going back to like how it looks, how it's designed, just like how it was made. I can 1000% appreciate this as the sci-fi movie.
01:00:47
Speaker
Like we were saying earlier, like there are so many sequences and shots where you're just like, where you just know, you're just like, okay, that's where this came from. Yep. Like this is the inspiration. Like this is the blueprint. Like I see that. Yeah.
01:01:01
Speaker
With the themes of the movie, I think a lot of it is really interesting, especially when it comes to like the actual role of the monolith. And while left up for interpretation, I think like the conversations around it are more fun.
01:01:14
Speaker
I think while watching the movie, I just i just was not connecting with it. I can see, I see like what's happening.
01:01:25
Speaker
And I'm like, I think tonight will be like whenever I ever finished the movie, I was like, I'm excited for this podcast because it'll be exciting to talk about it. um Just because it's like, ah it literally is like the cinematic achievement.
01:01:38
Speaker
Yeah, there were there were at least 10 or 15 times i ah I said out loud, like, how did they do this back then? Yeah. How did they make this? How did they shoot this? Yeah. and So that's ah that's ah that's a very heavy hand into how I feel about it. It's just like the,
01:01:52
Speaker
how awestruck I am in the actual filmmaking of this. Alex, anything else than wow?
01:02:03
Speaker
Crazy. yeah Damn, he doubled his word count. Crazy movie. Crazy eye movie.
01:02:14
Speaker
I mean, I don't really know like how to boil that down. and Just like visual achievement. like like an actual like cornerstone because that's what it is. And you watch it and you're like, like, yeah, this was this, this, there's a reason it stands the test of time it's still relevant now.
01:02:34
Speaker
Yeah. And it could, it's probably never been more relevant thematically. That's the scary part. Yep. That's the sign of a truly great film. I think.
01:02:47
Speaker
Well said. Ratings. Are we ready?
01:02:54
Speaker
I think so. I'm ready.
01:02:58
Speaker
I'm also ready. Oh, man. Who wants to go first? What are these faces? I'm nervous. I'm nervous, too.
01:03:08
Speaker
Okay. I'll be brave. I'll go first. Be brave. All right. Look. yeah We've been talking for the last hour and ten minutes about this movie.
01:03:20
Speaker
I just said this is a cinematic achievement. I get it. This is one of the movies. This is one of the movies where everyone has seen it except for us. Now we have. Now we're the cool kids.
01:03:34
Speaker
And everybody loves it. You go on Letterboxd. It has an insane rating curve. It's a 4.3. It's hard to... it' hard to It's sometimes hard to break the mold and feel like, oh, everyone else is rating it this. Like, maybe I should rate it that. Like, am I wrong?
01:03:47
Speaker
But I'm going to stick to my guns. And I think I can recognize a movie for its achievements, for its important footprint on cinema as a whole, and still leave like, be like, okay, just didn't connect with me. I get it.
01:04:04
Speaker
Just didn't connect with me. So all that being said, I'm going to give this a three out of five.
01:04:15
Speaker
You know, it's fine. Live your truth.
01:04:20
Speaker
I just blacked out for a second. What happened? and Alex, do you think this is like how he rated a caught stealing over Marty Supreme? I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is way worse.
01:04:33
Speaker
yeah This is like, okay.
01:04:40
Speaker
I get it. It's slow.
01:04:45
Speaker
And that's its biggest problem. it's it's It's slow. And there's a lot of stuff that's like dragged out and it feels like it's dead space. But to, for me at least, watching this movie, I'm watching it and I i am watching this and my jaw is on the floor at how it looks.
01:05:07
Speaker
And I'm having like, you know, physical reactions and emotional responses to Hal. And i look at that and the soundtrack and how they incorporated the music in it and the visuals and the lights, everything.
01:05:24
Speaker
And I look at it and it like, and it feels like it's a cinematic achievement because it is a cinematic achievement. And i look at it and I recognize that there were things that I liked about it and there are things I loved about it and there are things that I wish did better.
01:05:40
Speaker
But I can't in good conscience. Yeah. Give a movie that looked that good in a vacuum. I'm going to say it.
01:05:52
Speaker
With context of when it was made, that is the best looking movie ever made. I'm that is the visually best movie ever made from a technical aspect. It blows everything made this year out of the water.
01:06:07
Speaker
And it's not even close. Every single movie.
01:06:13
Speaker
I cannot think of the last time that I watched a movie and I was like, how on earth did they make that? How did they do it? It's like I was watching like a magician and they do that one trick and you're like, I don't know how they did it.
01:06:29
Speaker
Like a lot of times I go, it's slight of hand, you know, but this I'm like, what?
01:06:38
Speaker
And for that reason, I get it. You know, You want to go with your gut, right? 4.5 out of 5.
01:06:52
Speaker
This is so close to being like a 10 out of 10. it's It's just on the big screen. It probably will be. will watch it on the big screen.
01:07:05
Speaker
I don't know. Just rewind the tape a couple minutes. Just replay what Alex said. Cause that's pretty much exactly how I feel. And I'm giving this 4.5 as well.
01:07:16
Speaker
Like almost word for word, how I feel. That was, that was great. Ladies and gentlemen, there you have it. We're also taking auditions for a third member. What did I say? said prefaced that entire thing with this thing is garbage and I wasted my time. That's what you said.
01:07:38
Speaker
I did not say that. Here's the thing. and like I get it, Malik. I get it. I understand it. I understand your thought process. Yes. But... Let's look at some statistics.
01:07:51
Speaker
Okay. I'm pulling up your letterbox. Oh, shit. I'm going on home. I'm going to the profile here. I mean, I need to find my followers. Where are my followers? Where are you? You're in here somewhere.
01:08:04
Speaker
I have 38 followers. Hey, friends. um Great. I can't find you. They're they're hiding. You're you're hiding.
01:08:16
Speaker
You don't know my letterboxd handle? There you are. You were the third person I followed. so that's Oh, wow. autumn Yeah. So I'm going to go into your films, and I'm going to sort by three stars.
01:08:31
Speaker
this is not This is not a fair exercise. This is absolutely cause this exactly what I'm about. This is showing the gaps in the five-star rating system. Well, that's why I prefer the 10.
01:08:43
Speaker
This is showing gaps in rating movies, period. so Should we put a numerical value on art? I just did. 4.5 out of 5.
01:08:55
Speaker
um So, this movie is on par with The Running Man, him, Predator... but Oh, you got some L's. just I'm looking through this, dude. Low at three stars.
01:09:13
Speaker
I did not really enjoy flow that much. Flow at three stars. I mean, yeah, weapons at three and a half boy in the heron at three stars. Wasn't my favorite.
01:09:23
Speaker
So you have 2001, space odyssey on par with Sydney Sweeney's immaculate.
01:09:33
Speaker
And companion.
01:09:38
Speaker
but're We're going, s so okay, like let's let's just do sci-fi. Let's just do sci-fi. You got Companion. You got Fantastic Four is is three stars. Predator Badlands.
01:09:50
Speaker
I'm getting bullied for my beliefs. I, i
01:09:57
Speaker
there's There's nuance in the three star. A lot. There is. Well, there's to especially in like the three, three and a half range of tons of nuance because it's like, you like last week, you know, how to make a killing is only a three and a half for me because I went in expecting it to be dumb and I wanted to watch something dumb and I was in a good mood. So I walked out of it feeling very satisfied.
01:10:20
Speaker
And did you have popcorn? No, I didn't. I was about to say that probably adds to the experience as well. Look, I'm not sure how Jurassic World? Listen, listen to me. Listen to me.
01:10:31
Speaker
I'm not sure how to engage in this conversation right now. Sometimes... You gave Suicide Squad a three out of five.
01:10:43
Speaker
This is not fair. What are we, some kind of space odyssey? You have Shrek 2 and a three out of five?
01:10:54
Speaker
I gotta to go through these myself. Howl's Moving Castle. Okay, this is what we're doing. these okay wait if you're Okay, if you're getting into Shrek 2 and Howl's Moving Castle, these are probably movies when I first downloaded Letterboxd. And you know how it gives you a bunch of movies to go in and rate?
01:11:09
Speaker
I did that. I know a bunch of people didn't, but I did that back in like 2019. And I was just giving ratings to be like, oh, I remember that. I remember that. Oh, three out of five. Before really knowing what the rating system meant.
01:11:20
Speaker
So you can't look at Shrek 2 and Hal's Moving Castle because I know those were when I downloaded the app because I have not seen those movies since. Let's, let's, let's, uh, here, I'll end the judgment with this. Okay. What did what did you say that, you know, like i mean, just rehash your thoughts here for a second. like Okay.
01:11:43
Speaker
Give me the thought process again, like the the three sentence version.
01:11:49
Speaker
Of how I felt about the movie? Yeah, like why you rated it 3 out of 5. It's the recognition of what this is for like cinematic history. Understanding its place in history.
01:12:04
Speaker
That's not just those facts. it just It's a feeling. it just it's a feeling like i can I see this for what it is, but at the end of the day, like I'm watching the movie, and yes, I'm like in awe of some of these shots and like how it was made and knowing when it was made, but I'm just talking like the overall feeling of watching the movie, of going through these long stretches of silence, of...
01:12:36
Speaker
Things moving at an extremely slow pace pace. And I like slow-paced movies, but it gets to a point. And I recognize all of these things in place as active decisions by film by the filmmaker and can see, okay, I understand this is probably why they did this. Here's the message that I'm getting out of that.
01:12:59
Speaker
I can look back and appreciate what I saw. In fact, I can look back and be inspired at what I saw. Because at the end of the day, a rating is just a rating.
01:13:11
Speaker
Aw. Achievement. Inspiration.
01:13:18
Speaker
Same rating as Mission Impossible 2.
01:13:23
Speaker
Yeah. Have you seen his hair in that movie? Inspiring. Mission Impossible 2 too as the sauce. It doesn't have that much sauce. Yeah.
01:13:34
Speaker
No, I kid. I'm doing this for the joy of our listeners. I promise I'm not. a That was the scariest moment I've ever had on show. Just in your life. i yeah i I promise I'm not pretentious. I'm really not. Like, I'm really not. That is a crazy rating, though.
01:13:53
Speaker
It's crazy.
01:13:57
Speaker
like Like, if you had just been like, ah, it looked neat, but it was just too slow for me, would have been like, okay, sure. But, like, to be like, oh, the awe, like, that's what it so nuts for me. That's why i have a hard time with it. I think, like, what I want for, like, us as, like, individuals is to even look at something that maybe we weren't, like, big fans of and, like, be able to, like, talk through it more and, like, recognize, like, what is great about it.
01:14:23
Speaker
And just like like, I don't know, just like shining a light on it, but also sticking to our guns and our opinions. And I think that's hard. I'm curious then as to why you gave this one a rating, but i don't i as far as I remember, you still haven't rated Zone of Interest. I just never went. And you described it as also being a museum piece like Zone was.
01:14:45
Speaker
Yeah, I never went back to Zone. If I were, see i said i at this point, I feel like I need to rewatch Zone of Interest. but Ratings are dumb.
01:14:57
Speaker
like Because I have like Tokyo Drift as a 9. So 4 out of 5. It's all just crazy. like I don't get it. Tokyo Drift is peak. but It is peak. It's a great relief. There almost should be like two scales.
01:15:16
Speaker
I think there should be seven. Like yeah there's one where it's just like, how much do I vibe with the movie? And then like, how much does the movie just like, how great is it as cinema?
01:15:28
Speaker
And you got to like balance it out. It's a hard and it's, it's a hard act it's to to balance. Like, and it differs with each movie. It does. Like sometimes the vibes are up here and the cinema is fluctuating actively while you're watching the movie and you got to land on a rating. Yeah.
01:15:51
Speaker
don't know man that's where this one was this is okay this is the scale of 2001 for me the vibes and cinema and i just had to like literally and i had to throw a pin and then land on something
01:16:06
Speaker
so what did cam think boring and slow she had nothing else besides that yeah just like she's like i get it like i got like what the movie wants to do just wasn't vibing.
01:16:24
Speaker
I respect that. The vibes were not high in this home while watching this. Taji, I respect Cam's rating. Do you respect Cam's rating? Of course I do. I respect your reasoning. do do Do you respect mine?
01:16:39
Speaker
you we're still going to have those on We're still going to have those auditions, but it's not it's it's not a firm thing. It's not a firm thing. Look. We could be getting a fourth member. This is a great idea, is Lost in the Watch list.
01:16:51
Speaker
I like this. Plus... I really want to argue about like great films. Yeah. We're also doing another Kubrick at the end of this month. That one's a bit of a different flair, though. That one's...
01:17:06
Speaker
That one's a bit more forbidden. oo I like it. So we're really excited to talk about that one too. And if we argue about it, it it could be a great argument.
01:17:20
Speaker
Well, I'll be here. that We need to, i got I'm trying to make it like a movie that like I know would we would just all argue about. That's like like a classic.
01:17:31
Speaker
We'll find it. Yeah. i i don't know I don't know if there's actually like a more like potentially divisive one than this one.
01:17:41
Speaker
and Maybe not. Which is crazy because Val Malik was describing it. i'm actually I was a little caught off guard by the three. think that's why I had to preface...
01:17:55
Speaker
That's why I had to like preface like my statement. Right. And also in the middle of the episode, I feel like I was like leaving little nuggets. i there There was one thing you said. I'm like, I know what he's about to do. i know what he's going to do.
01:18:09
Speaker
And i'm I'm ready. I'm ready to fight. Because I kind of landed on like a 9 out of 10 this morning. I woke up and I was like, it feels right. It is really slow.
01:18:21
Speaker
And who knows? like It is a really slow. The amount of reviews that I've seen, and I'm not saying this to like justify my three right now, but I have seen a lot of people like coming back to this like years later being like, okay.
01:18:33
Speaker
You know? That happens.
Subjectivity in Opinions
01:18:35
Speaker
I'm not saying that's going to happen with me. I'm not even going to promise it will. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Who knows?
01:18:45
Speaker
But it's all subjective at the end of the day. And I'm thankful that this movie exists. This will this is the highest three of all time for me. How's that?
01:18:57
Speaker
I will say i have so I know I have some that are in there that like people would crucify me for. Yeah. We all And I'm okay with that. I think i think because you you need them. And that's the thing. We're all people.
01:19:12
Speaker
We all have our opinions and we all like, you know, have our own thoughts and understanding how we react to something. But at the end the day, you just got to remember. I'm objectively correct.
01:19:25
Speaker
All right. That's a good spot to end it.
Looking Forward: The Oscars Preview
01:19:30
Speaker
Our next episode, the Oscars will have happened. And we'll be talking. yeah Yeah, that's the next one.
01:19:38
Speaker
You probably need to figure out how we're going to record that. But you'll know soon enough. All you have to do is listen. We'll worry about the technical stuff. And you'll...
01:19:50
Speaker
o
01:19:55
Speaker
We'll also be posting our picks so you guys can judge us. And maybe this is the first time I win a loss in the frame contest. So. Oh, we'll see. I won't.
01:20:07
Speaker
All right. Well, let us know what you thought of 2001 A Space Odyssey. um Crucify me if you need to. I'll take the bullets. Or crucify me for being a pretentious. Yeah.
01:20:20
Speaker
It was a fun conversation, but thank you so much for listening. We'll see you after the Oscars. Bye.