Where Movie Critics Get A Taste Of Their Own Medicine
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First day a trip!
by Herb Kane
April 25th, 2001
We left the president's mansion pretty pumped up. We arrived at The Virginia Theater around 7:30 P.M. to meet a packed house and a still long line of people outside the building hoping to get a ticket. Naturally, we entered the press entrance and found a seat. The inside of the theater is a brilliant work of architectural design, yet it is still under renovation. The air was filled with the excitement of Roger Ebert taking stage and introducing the first movie of the festival - "2001: A Space Odyssey." Following the screening, Keir Dullea (who played Dave Bowman) and Jan Harlan (brother-in-law of Stanley Kubrick, director of the film) joined Ebert on stage in a panel discussion.
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There was also a phone call to Arthur C. Clarke (co-writer of "2001") who joined in on a brief and humorous discussion with the panel from his home in Sri Lanka. Audience members asked questions at the end. Years ago, I never would have imagined myself in the presence of Keir Dullea in the year 2001. Yet here I am. What a privilege it is to experience the film in a time that was once only in our imaginations.
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Space travel movie still a trip!
by Herb Kane
April 25th, 2001
out
of 4 stars
CRITIC DOCTOR EXAMINES: Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times, "Ebert & Roeper and the Movies" - Buena Vista TV, and host of "Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival" - 2001)
I interviewed Roger Ebert last November and I asked him the following question: What review are you most proud of and why? He replied, "I'm pleased that on deadline, before any other reviews had appeared, I was absolutely right about '2001'." He was absolutely right!
This movie is about David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and his ultimate battle with an on-board computer named Hal. Hal's intelligence far exceeds that of any human and later goes mad (like what can happen to any human). This movie is a complicated movie about the division of intelligence - from the beginning of man to the future. But where else does a division take place? That's the question and mystery Stanley Kubrick left behind. Regardless of the philosophical questions presented, you're in for a trip.
Ebert said in a welcome letter to his festival visitors, "'2001: A Space Odyssey,' is among the landmarks of cinema history, but few people will ever get the chance to see it as it was originally filmed, in 70mm; the format is overlooked."
The clarity and sound of this new print was outstanding! The montage of pictures and music created a space waltz - literally. We see people among the stars in real form. Sometimes no music - just breathing. Other times, you'll hear music from Richard Strauss' "Thus Spake Zarathustra." The film is mesmerizing. Imagine yourself at a symphony watching space images fly by you on a huge movie screen.
Ebert said, "Kubrick's film is almost unique in enhancing the music by its association with his images."
Usually, music enhances a film. In this case, the film enhances the music. And yet the vast amount of silent moments in this film are just as powerful as those scenes with music and images. Simply put, "2001" was ahead of its time - and still all its mysteries are trying to be ironed out by film experts today.
Ebert concludes in his review. "Our minds have given us the tools to understand where we live and who we are. Now it is time to move on to the next step, to know that we live not on a planet but among the stars, and that we are not flesh but intelligence."
Not flesh but intelligence. Profound, Roger!
I hope American audiences will get the chance to see this re-mastered print edition. I would love to take another waltz in this space odyssey in 2001.
--CRITIC DOCTOR
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2001: A Space Odyssey
David Bowman: Keir Dullea
Frank Poole: Gary Lockwood
Heywood Floyd: William Sylvester
Moonwatcher: Daniel Richter
Smyslov: Leonard Rossiter
Elena: Margaret Tyzack
Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Written by Arthur C. Clarke and Kubrick, based on Clarke's story ``The Sentinel.'' Photographed by John Alcott and Geoffrey Unsworth. Special effects by Douglas Trumbull. Running time: 139 minutes. Release date: April 3, 1968.
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