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I’m testing a new word plug-in for use with our film blog. If you are reading this post that means the plug-in works. I will show you on Wednesday how to work it.

Have fun,
Mr. Fleig

Sam Fields - the thoughts

I liked the way the movie went out of it's way to confuse the viewer. It asked alot of questions that it refused to answer, which forced the viewer to think.

Benton

Wow this movie completely blew me away. So my theory on the monolith is it's almost like the begining of a new chapter on the earth. Everyone who is not ready for the new chapter dies, but those who are ready like Dave, experience all the wonders the new chapter brings. The last scene shows new life following the monolith. The director (can't think of his name at the moment) is basically incredible! I usually hate movies like this, and would not even attempt to look for a deeper meaning, but the way he did it...wow!

Blair's Thoughts

I think that it is very cool that this film made in the 60s is still compared with the movies made today. However I thought the movie was a little slow but at the same time I liked it because everyone had a different opinion about it and they were all right. I think I like the conversation in class better than the movie though! - Blair

Christina G's A Space Odyssey Review

As I was watching the movie, the only thing that I truly enjoyed was the cinematography and the music to go along with it. The way that Kubrick would use the wide-angle lense for different scenes showed his creativity and ambition to be different from other directors. The music paralleled to the intensity of the film in that it was calm and relaxing, yet also powerful. During the movie, I did not completely understand what was happening. I did not realize until our class discussion that it the dialogue of the movie was a minor detail and for the majority of the movie I was caught up in trying to comprehend the dialogue. After our discussion in class, I began to realize the true message of the movie - that life revolves around knowledge of things unknown. Kubrick compelled this message through the movie by keeping things at a distance and making sure that the movie could not be completely comprehended. I can understand now why the movie is a classic.

To Morgan-From Alyce

Consider yourself out pictured, Morgan.

That crazy space movie --Morgan

WELL.

Though the movie confused me a lot, which was a bit annoying, I still liked many artistic, abstract elements of the film: the utilization of the wide-angle camera lenses, the music (or in some cases lack thereof), and most of all the overall theme: like Nicole said, it's hilariously ironic that the whole movie is about man's perpetual quest for knowledge, while we are stuck here talking about this movie for over a week and still never reaching complete certainty about what it's trying to convey. That's great. How fabulous that someone can make a movie that puzzles people for decades. Artistically the movie is wonderful, even if it IS ridiculously slow at times and just an outlet for Kubrick to vent some of his conceit. Another of my favorite things about this movie is how advanced it looked. If I hadn't known better, you could have convinced me that this film was made in the 90s. Some of the techniques used by Kubrick seemed VERY sophisticated for a movie of that time period. I was impressed. I don't know what else to put here-- I hope this was enough!

ps- aren't you jealous that the picture I found is exponentially creepier than all of yall's? muhaha

Kubrick is laughing at us from heaven (or hell)

I would like to start off by saying that this movie was amazing in regards to its artistic value. The colors, the sets, the sequences, the music....all of these artistic factors were done so incredibly that it kind of didn't matter what the movie was about at all. I think Stan put a whole bunch of different things together--some random, some that happened to be connected to others-- in a disorganized and random order but he did it in a way that made people think that everything was significant and everything symbolized something. I don't think this was the case. I think for us to try and make a connection between the different ideas or themes of this movie would be unwise and near impossible. We could speculate but we'd drive ourselves crazy. Puckett

2001 Space Odyssey

What I liked most about Stanley Kubrick’s work in his film the 2001 Space Odyssey was how he captured the Monolith and the people’s reaction when they first saw it. At the beginning of the movie, the monkeys reach for the Monolith cautiously, but with a certain desire. In the last scene of the movie, and what could be the last days of Dr. Bowman’s life, he sees the Monolith and reaches out in desperation. The Monolith represents basic knowledge and Kubrick captures the desire of humans from the beginning of time to discover the hidden truth of something that is unexplainable.
I also really enjoyed Kubrick’s use of camera and his choice of music. His camera angles of looking out of fish bowl and the beaming bright lights created an eerie atmosphere. The music Kubrick used made up for the lack of dialog and completed the eerie mood.
~Lindsey Carline~

Christy-2001

I did not really like many aspects of this movie. I didn't really like the fact that it was so confusing, but I believe that it was a visually stunning film. I tried to appreciate the music and the visual effects. I think it's so cool how original the film is and how groundbreaking the effects were.

Liz - 2001

I enjoyed this movie overall. Although I thought some of it was a bit too slow moving, I think it really made the movie extremely calm and I really liked that. Today we are so used to movies being extremely fast paced and it was just interesting to see a movie that just took it's own time. I didn't enjoy this movie for it's plot or for what it was about but I really enjoyed how artfully the movie was done. Many of the shots seemed like they could be a photograph in an art gallery or something and I know that that must take a lot of work and patience.

Helen's Thoughts on 2001

After first viewing it, I thought the movie was pretty awful. It had no coherent plot that I could see and the vast majority of the shots were excruciatingly slow. And then I have problems with the intangibility of the monolith. However, after discussing it, I think the film is an extremely accurate study of human nature and the cyclic way we have developed throughout history. I still am not a big fan of the excruciating nature of most of the movie, but as long as I never have to sit through it all again, I think I can say that I appreciate its artistic value at least. I did really like the waltzing planets near the beginning at least.

Alyce Thibodeaux's Review of 2001

I think Kubrick is a show off. He wanted all of the people in his little spaceboy cults to think he was a genius who could make a movie about nothing and still be thought of as a directorial genius. I think that the only reason this movie was so popular was because it had lots of spaceships.

2001: A Space Odyssey--Nicole Hanney

What amazed me the most about this film were the revolutionary special effects Kubrick used to cause the viewer to become immersed in such a realistic space environment. Things such as the detailing on the spaceships, the sound of the main character breathing in his space suit, and the wide-angle camera shots capturing the subject are just a few of the aspects of 2001: A Space Odyssey that really made the film come alive for me. In addition to the genius of the technical aspects of the film, the irony of the overall theme of Kubrick's film lies in that the plot revolves around the characters on a quest to acquire more knowledge, while the viewer is left in a state of utter confusion and also desiring answers to many questions.

The only thing more surreal than my initial viewing of 2001 as a college freshman was to be in on the viewing in 2005 in the film class. Conclusion: surreal transcends boundaries. Also, looking back over other Kubrick films has provided greater insight. I still remember the audience leaving the film--stunned does not begin to describe it.J. Simmons

2001 Space Odyssey

I did not think this film was very good seeing as so many questions go unanswered.
It makes people want to think there is something more to it than just a bunch of stuff put together. It probably drives a lot of people crazy.
-Leigh Ann King

See what you think.

Kubrick2001.com has an interesting take on the film. The best part of the website is the detailed flash animations of the film. I find the overall opinion the website is attempting to communicate a little dry. The site's interpretation seems to place more importance on less important themes, ideas, or plot points. See what you think.

Odyssey of the Mind-Jessica A

The particular parts of the movie that seem to pull me in were the drifting, almost endless scenes of space that get the viewer so weighted down in the movie. When watching this it takes the mind off on a tangent that I, personally, seem to get so caught up in. The various and original angles would have to be my favorite. The different angles and tones that are set help to build off the action, if called so, taking place.

What do you think about 2001?

Let's all try to post a comment on your thoughts about Kubrick's opus. I am not looking for a lengthy review. Try and post an intelligent comment on one aspect of the film. Don't forget to include a picture if you can.

Blair's Comments on Elizabethtown

I also saw Elizabethtown this weekend. Like Christina said the music was important part of the movie. Before the movie even started they had a short interview with the director Cameron Crowe about the movie and he stressed the importance of the music. This made me pay more attention to the music then I usually do. I realized how meticulous it is to choice what music goes in what scene. The movie was LONG… 2 hours. Most of the movie I am waiting for something to happen but it just keeps going. The movie takes place over a few days but seems like weeks. The most striking part of the film is the narration by Orlando Bloom. I related to him because of the emotion he had in his voice. Another thing I agree with Tina about is Kirsten Dunst’s accent. Over kill. There are movie for that like Steel Magnolias but not here. Some parts it was so over done and other it was nonexistent. Orlando Bloom I think did well with his American accent there was only a few places I heard his British accent slip out. I think that it was a very well done movie about human emotion when “life happens”.

Christina's Review- "Elizabethtown"

Yesterday, I went to see "Elizabethtown." Going into the movie I was not certain of what it was about, but I knew that I like Orlando Bloom as an actor, so I figured I would give it a shot. The movie was hard to follow at first, but most things explain themselves if you stick with it. I really enjoyed the music in the movie. It flowed well with the new age drama/romance genre of the film. Although the acting of Kirsten Dunst was not up to her usual par, I thought that the acting of the rest of the actors was very good. My only complaint from this movie was that Dunst fashioned a southern accent in some scenes of the film and then had her usual New Jersey accent in others. The director and writer of this film was Cameron Crowe, who also directed "Jerry Maguire," "Almost Famous," and "Vanilla Sky." In my opinion, Crowe's directing for the film paralleled that of his directing in the other famous films in that he brought out the emotions of the actors in unique ways. I really enjoyed the film and think that everyone who enjoyed "Jerry Maguire" or any of Crowe's other films would also enjoy it! Hope you all get a chance to see it!

Liz's Review - "Crash"

Hello my lovely class...I'm going to write a review about an amazing movie I've seen called "Crash"! I saw it three times in theaters and I bought and watched it this weekend. I thought this was one of the best movies of the summer, and one of the greatest movies I had seen in a long time. I REALLY like powerful movies that just make you think, and this was definitely one of those that can still affect you each time you see it. It's hard to sum up this movie because the movie consists of many stories that intertwine with one another, but this movie is generally about racism and how everyone is affected by it. The director of this movie was Paul Haggis, who produced and wrote the screenplay for "Million Dollar Baby" as well as this movie. One of the strongest elements in this movie was how the characters contrasted with one another, but still shared one thing in common: they were all, to some degree, racist and judgmental. The film consists of a 32 hour time period where all of the characters somehow collide with one another. With every new character there is a new stereotype pointed out and each one is proved right and/or wrong. One of my favorite aspects of this movie is how you see the characters in their worst light, showing the hardened, judgmental side of their personality, yet you still see their soft side and are able to feel sympathy for each character to some extent. Each character has their own story but they are ALL intertwined in some way and affect one another. One weakness I noticed in this movie was that it was a bit partial to one race, the Mexicans. They are shown in only a good light and we never really get to see their weaknesses, and I think it kind of messed up the balance of the movie. At the same time, however, it is possible that Haggis did this on purpose for reasons we don't know. All in all, this was an extremely powerful movie about a huge issue in our society. It definitely lives up to it's R rating because of it's intensity, language, some violence, and a bit of nudity and there are a few extremely intense scenes that really make the movie what it is. I thought the score for this movie was amazing and enhanced the feeling the movie gives. Rent it please...or buy it!

We Need More Content

We all need to pitch in and add more to this blog. In addition to reviews we can also add questions, links to relevant articles, and any other anecdotes that apply to film and the study of. Remind me in class next week to show you all again how to post to the blog, whether it is text or audio. We also need to make sure that grammar and punctuation are correct. If you can add a picture to the blog be sure to do so.

More to come!
MrF