2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Arthur C. Clarke (story, screenplay), Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester

This film was a rarity from my collection: I hadn't seen it when I purchased it. However, the blu-ray was sitting in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart for $5, I simply couldn't pass up that deal on a movie with such a reputation. That was a couple of years ago.

I finally picked it out of my collection to watch because Hurricane Sandy was descending on New York and my cable went out. My power and blu-ray player still working, I decided this would be the best time to settle in for the three hour film; it's not like I could go outside.

The movie is certainly an enigma, but watching it I understood everything that could be attributed to it. It was truly a a giant step for film innovation. The pristine shots of the spacecrafts from space are beautiful (like much of the film's visuals) and there would be no Star Wars or Alien space shots without Kubrick's 2001. In fact, I was amazed this film was made in 1968. The technology seemed so far advanced, and that's when I realized this was the first.

The film itself has an abstract story, but it's momentous to take in from the visuals to the music to the nearly philosophical aspect of questioning humanity. The dialogue is barely audible at times, but that's because it's not the point. While it may be hard to keep your attention because there's not much story happening, the images, production design, cinematography and directing kept mine.

I loved the iconic music over the man-ape throwing his tool into the air in the beginning and I also loved the shot-to-shot cuts in the room in Jupiter near the end.

The Best: Obviously HAL's meltdown is the most plot this movie has; my favorite moment in the film is a mechanic that Kubrick repeated and many others copied. When the astronaut is trying to get back onto the spacecraft with his friend and HAL won't let him in, he has to let the other man go and blast back into the spacecraft without his helmet. Such an intense scene would usually be paired with loud and bombastic music -- but it's all played in silence though the image vibrates with flashing lights and the actor flying across the screen. The silence made me hold my breath. It was beautiful.

 



Fact: HAL 9000 never once says, "Good morning, Dave," despite this line being one of his most recognized quotations. It is hard not to think about 2001 when watching many sci-fi movies, even this year, Prometheus' character David opens a computer and it greets him with "Hello, Dave."

Rating: ********* (9 out of 10)

Belle de Jour (1967)

Dir: Luis Buñuel
Writer: Joseph Kessel (novel), Luis Buñuel, Jean-Claude Carrière
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Pierre Clémenti

I remember seeing this movie as a teenager, and though it's not particularly racy, it was still about something taboo to me at the time. It was also my introduction to one of my favorite French actresses, Catherine Deneuve.

The film centers on Séverine (a name I've come to love, it's so French!), the frigid and elegant housewife to Pierre, a handsome surgeon. They look the perfect couple, but Séverine has a lot of inner turmoil regarding her sensuality - she brushes off her adoring husband constantly, but dreams of being dominated sexually. So, she does what anybody would do and decides to become a prostitute--but only during the day! Thus, Belle de Jour is her name.

Directed by Buñuel, who was famous for working on psychological and surrealist films with Dalí (Un Chen Andalou - I'll never forget that eye-slicing shot!), the plot definitely fits with his asthetic. He loves exploring the inner mind and the reasons people do what they do. The movie is not abstract but has abstract moments of daydreams, quick cuts, and silence as Séverine ponders her existence. It still has a very '60s feel, and I enjoyed it for that, but also because I was intrigued by this female central character and her motivations.

The film looks great, and that also extends to the beautiful Deneuve, whose profile is mesmerizing. I recently saw a screening of the 1965 Polanski film Repulsion and she was in attendance--she's still gorgeous. The DVD was just released on Criterion, and I bought it with good reason since I know I'll be watching this movie several times over and make new observations each time.

The Best: Deneuve, the center of the film, whose seemingly vacant stares evoke so much more to the viewer than to her clueless husband.

Fact: "Belle de jour" is a day lily in French, a flower that blooms only by day, as Séverine is available only during the afternoons. "Belle de jour" is also a sort of pun, as it reminds us of "belle de nuit," an euphemism for prostitute.

Rating: ********* (9 out of 10)

Rear Window (1954)

Dir: Alfred Hitchcock
Writers: John Michael Hayes (script), Cornell Woolrich (short story)
Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly

My father introduced me to Hitchcock films when I was in middle school, starting with Pyscho. I keenly remember the small video store in Kansas we would frequent, with its bulky, brown plastic VHS covers. I loved horror films, and Hitchcock was definitely a master, so I thank my dad for the introduction.

The other night I was hanging out with two girlfriends pondering what to watch when one of them mentioned a classic, maybe a horror movie. "Do you have any Hitchcock?" she asked.

Do I have any Hitchcock!

I didn't want to go with the obvious Pyscho, nor what I consider his masterpiece Vertigo, so I asked if they'd seen Rear Window. Neither had, and I got to enjoy the movie again with two people who had rarely, if ever, seen Grace Kelly on screen.

Rear Window's brilliance can be surmised simply by how often its premise is replicated in modern thrillers. But none can match the Hitchcock pieces together this mystery, with cunning shots and clues only for the viewer's eyes.

James Stewart plays a photojournalist recently injured and holed up in his New York apartment for six weeks with a broken leg. The window in his apartment overlooks a whole community that loves leaving their shades open - explained easily by the summer heat. He begins to suspect one of his neighbors of murdering his invalid wife and keeps his binoculars trained on the apartment looking for clues. The other characters in the complex add sympathy (Miss Torso, Miss Lonelyhearts), and also become conversation points for his girlfriend that stops by frequently.

His girlfriend (Grace Kelly - probably mostly just playing herself), is a Park Avenue society girl who is unbelievably beautiful and wears designer gowns just to sit in his apartment. Craggy Stewart remarks on how she's not fit for the life he intends to lead of photographing wartorn villages across the globe. But she believes his story about his neighbor, and soon starts doing all his dirty work outside of the apartment.

The movie works slowly, but that's what I love about Hitchcock and classic films - movies these days act like people don't have any sort of attention span. And I understand that a lot of people don't, but there's no need to do away with slow-building tension! There's time to think, which is necessary in this type of storytelling - you have all the clues laid out for you, how will you make your conclusions? Do you agree with Stewart? Do you agree with his detective friend who doubts him? My friends and I debated throughout watching, which added more fun to viewing it with people who hadn't seen it.

The truth and the culmination are a thrilling payoff, and certainly deserved it's Best Screenplay Academy Award nomination. Stewart and Kelly are great, and the directing superb. One of the best Hitchcock films.

The Best: Kelly's entrance scene. I've never seen an actress' beauty illuminated more brilliantly than when Kelly's face comes into focus on screen, first from a side angle then full-on from the front - meant to feel like a dream Stewart's having, and actually wakes up to. Kelly's make-up, beauty, and costumes in the film are all breathtaking!

Fact: There's a sheen on everybody's faces in the movie, since it's supposed to take place during the middle of the summer in New York. It all seemed very realistic, but upon further investigation apparently it was also all real heat: one-thousand arc lights were used on the set to simulate daylight, and once during the movie the amount of heat they produced set off the set's sprinkler system!

Rating: ********* (9 out of 10)