Tag Archives: 2001 a space odyssey

Is The Black Hole a Good Movie?

1979’s The Black Hole does just about everything right. It’s chock-full of great actors giving compelling performances. It has plenty of memorable scenes and imagery. John Barry’s score is hauntingly beautiful throughout. It offers several iconic robot designs. And it … Continue reading

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How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love 2001: A Space Odyssey

I was wrong about 2001: A Space Odyssey. I used to think it was severely overpraised, like a massive case of the emperor’s new clothes. But no longer. I grew up loving science fiction. I read several Arthur C. Clarke … Continue reading

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Short Stories That Grew Into Big Films

Films can come from anywhere. They can be original ideas or adaptations of stories from other media. When they’re based on literature, they usually have a lot of source material to draw from. But what happens when they’re based on … Continue reading

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10 Directors Who Seamlessly Transitioned to Sci-Fi on Their First Try

Great directors are ones who thrive even when making films in genres they’re not particularly familiar with. Science fiction is a great one to test a director’s mettle because films in this genre could so easily be dismissed as mindless … Continue reading

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Forgotten Film Gems: Gattaca

Why do great movies like Gattaca bomb at the box office while drivel like Avatar earn way more money than they deserve? I guess the film business is a lot like high school. The smart, nerdy films get ignored while … Continue reading

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Movie Matchups: Star Trek: The Motion Picture vs. 2001: A Space Odyssey

Since my first attempt at talking about 2001: A Space Odyssey was such a resounding success (Stanley Kubrick fans lined up to hurl insults at me), I thought I might as well finish what I started and try to set … Continue reading

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Movie Matchups: Star Wars Prequels vs. Spartacus

Spartacus (1960) is proof that the Star Wars prequels could have been contained in one film. And they probably would have been much better if they had. Just imagine, we could have gone back and seen the birth of the … Continue reading

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6 Movies That Are Better If You Skip the First Half

Some movies are so perfectly set up that you can’t skip a second without feeling totally lost or missing something vital to the whole experience. Films in this category include such gems as Inception, Star Trek II: The Wrath of … Continue reading

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