2001: A Space Odyssey

Why I Bought It

Spoilers for 2001: A Space Odyssey follows.

2001: A Space Odyssey is everything you've always heard. Not only one of Stanley Kubrick's best films of his damn near perfect career, but it's also one of the absolute best movies ever made, period. Stunningly photographed, meticulously paced and carrying one of the most iconic soundtracks of all time, 2001 is probably the best movie I own that I never want to watch.

Before you all go screaming "HERESY!", hear me out.

I seem to have allowed a stigma to grow against a lot of the movies I'll be talking about in this column. Obviously, I love these movies in some shape or form or I wouldn't have spent the money on them. Films like There Will Be Blood, Pulp Fiction, Boogie Nights, North By Northwest and many, many more. These are classics! Yet for some reason, I would only watch them under the most perfect of circumstances. I had to be in the right mood, it had to be the right time of day, etc. It seemed like there was always an excuse to not watch these Very Good movies and instead watch something I've seen 100 times for comfort.

Which is totally OK! There is nothing wrong with comfort, especially with the shit fire of the last few years. But I like movies. I especially like Very Good movies, and again, 2001 is obviously Very Good. So why do I never want to watch it? Truthfully, 2001 is just such an experience, such a monumental piece of work, I simply cannot just put this movie in on a whim. That's just how my brain works. Sometimes I wish it didn't work that way, but it is what is. Thankfully, this column is helping me lift that stigma. I know it's only the third entry, but it has been a joy to have an excuse to watch these movies.

So then, why the hell did I buy a movie I never want to watch?

Oh that's right, because it's one of the most intoxicating and mind blowing films ever made.

It had been YEARS since I watched 2001. I was genuinely surprised that the film's signature soundtrack actually came from this movie. It has been such a huge part of pop culture and parodied so much that I flat out forgot where it originated. Hearing that music within the intended context is simply jaw dropping. Kubrick uses the iconic score as well as the stunning cinematography to move and captivate his audience. The entire movie is basically just sensory overload as there is only something like 40 minutes of dialogue within the 149 minute runtime. Think about that for a second; Kubrick made a movie about time, human advancement and robots going off the rails in a largely dialogue free environment. That's some next level flexing if I ever saw it, and only someone like Kubrick could pull this off.

Now that I think about it, I think one of the reasons I bought 2001: A Space Odyssey is because it is such a singular movie. Do I want to watch it all the time? No, not at all, but how could I not want to own a movie that gives such a profound viewing experience?

"So I said to myself, I said 'Well I like good movies, and this movie is good!' So I bought it"- Robert Jordan Hunt, Jan. 2021.