At The Age Of 71, I Finally Got To See "2001: A Space Odyssey" On The Screen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         First of all, darlings, there is no other way to see it.  Second, how the hell do I write about this film?  If I thought covering "The Wizard Of Oz" was a challenge, this is an even bigger one.  I haven't the background for the scientific aspects explored in this film.  Fortunately, my movie friend Chris was on hand to give me an idea--that it is about how intelligence came to mankind.

                                            That was good enough for me to go on, but what I decided was to look at it as though watching a foreign film--as a series of beautiful, patterned images set to simply gorgeous music, including "The Blue Danube," by Johann Strauss and my favorite, "Thus Spoke Zarathustra," which is repeated several times,

                                                One could get drunk on the imagery in this film; it is so intoxicating.  Not to mention two attractive astronauts played by Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood.  The latter played Alan Tuttle, known as "Toots," in Natalie Wood's 1961 triumph "Splendor In The Grass."  They are on a mission to Jupiter with a computer named HAL--but are they really?  Because after witnessing "The Dawn Of Man," one of the best sequences in the film, for imagery, cinematography and art direction, the narrative takes a turn when Dullea is alone on the ship with a deranged HAL.  This, in the second half, is followed by a cacophony of multi-colored, but beautiful imagery, suggesting one is on an LSD trip.  I loved it, but this segment could have been cut a little.  But then, who am I to say this about Stanley Kubrick, who, though not a director I consciously follow, cannot be ignored for having supplied us with this masterpiece??????????????

                                                 Kubrick was nominated for Best Director but did not win.  I would be shocked if this did not pick up some technical awards; it was clearly the most advanced film of the day. And still seems that way. Being released by MGM was a big deal for the film, which was initially shown in CINERAMA.  How I wish there was one CINERAMA theater in each major city so that we could see this and other films the way they were intended.

                                                   Of course, watching it today there are some references--"Forbidden Panet," "Invaders From Mars," and "The Wizard Of Oz" were some I spotted.  Not to mention "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind."  Others may find more.

                                                       Yes, good things come to those who wait, and I was so glad for the opportunity to see this iconic film.

                                                        But I am telling you, darlings, the truth is still out there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!