Jason watches 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY in glorious 70 mm at the Castro

Goddamn that's a gorgeous movie. Go see it, whenever you have the chance.

Okay, not going to recap the plot, just a few thoughts that passed through my mind while watching.

The opening pre-human scene kind of drags on, but is beautiful. In our prequel-obsessed Hollywood, I'm surprised nobody has pitched a 2001 prequel just fleshing out the dawn-of-man sequence.

For how much I remember HAL, that's a pretty short part of the movie. There's more time on the moon and the space station then on the trip to Jupiter.

Why TF did Dave go out without his space helmet, anyway? That seems like a supremely dumbass move.

Everything from going into the monolith until the star baby is maybe better on drugs. But I don't know if there are any drugs that are better than watching that sequence.

Mandela Effect: the line "My God! It's full of stars!" is not in the movie (it's in the novel, and is the opening line of 2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT.

Okay, that's enough. Writing about 2001 is just silly compared to actually watching it.

Running Time: 149 minutes
My Total Minutes: 479,978

Jason watches PLAYTIME

I'm missing nearly all of the Castro's 70 mm film series to go to Holehead, but last Tuesday night I had a break to catch Jacques Tati's PLAYTIME.

I'd never seen a Tati film before, and it's my understanding this one is his most ambitious. Well, I now want to see all his work. It's a nearly-silent comedy, where the visuals are paramount. What words are spoken are a mix of French, English, and German (and no subtitles, so I imagine there's a uniquely different experience for the speakers of each language). Tati's Mr. Hulot bumbles his way through a modern Paris (well, 1960's modern) of glass walls. This isn't the Paris of the Eiffel tower (which is only seen briefly in a reflection), but a maze of glass. He tries to meet an official but gets lost in the office maze. He stumbles into a group of American tourists. He goes to the opening night of a trendy new (so new it's still being built) restaurant/nightclub. And whimsical hijinx ensue. But the movie isn't all about the slapstick, it's about the expertly choreographed shots with many layers of overlapping action and clever visual jokes. It's the sort of richly layered comedy that can leave you finding new things every time you watch it. And I can pretty much guarantee I'll be watching it again.

Running Time: 122 minutes

My Total Minutes: 238,463