So, it's going to be a good week for movies. Saw Harold and Kumar on Saturday, and that was very funny. As can be expected, it trailed off when they started wrapping up all the plot issues. It was very gag centric until the last 20 minutes and then it got very sincere. Annoying, but such is life. Also, the complaints that it wasn't as tightly plotted or written as the original are justified. That's not really to take away from the movie though, as I thought it was very funny.
I saw 2001: A Space Oddysey at the AFI Silver Theatre. They had a 70 mm print, and it was beautiful. People can complain that the movie doesn't make any sense, but it is absolutely stunning to watch on the big screen. The fact that they accomplished it 40 years ago, well before digital effects became anywhere close to common, makes it all the more amazing.
One of the things that surprised me about the film was the intensity of the sound. The score is well-known and often parodied, but it is quite good with movie. There is a 5-7 minute overture that plays before the film starts and a roughly 10 minute intermission about 2/3 of the way through the film. Both of those periods have music playing over them. I was not expecting either, so that was a fun experience. The sound during the movie, however, could be excrutiatingly loud. That was also something I wasn't expecting. Kubrick was clearly trying to use music and sound as part of the force of the film.
But again, the main point was that it was genuinely beautiful to watch to the point that it is probably hard to appreciate on a television.
This coming weekend, I'll be seeing "The Final Cut" of Blade Runner and I'm really looking forward to it.