2001: A Space Odyssey Review

2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey was a film that influenced the science fiction films we see today. It paved the way films including Star Wars and Star Trek. It was a film made by Stanley Kubrick and was a prediction for what the future would be like from what they could guess in 1968. It didn’t really have much of a main actor or anything because it was mainly a piece of artwork and there wasn’t a whole lot of talking in it and it had quite a few time jumps which would go months or years into the future.

2001: A Space Odyssey was an outstanding film for when it was made and I bet in it’s time it was very impressive because I know that when I watched the first Star Wars as a kid I was really impressed but if it was a movie that was put out now I would be disappointed because the movie industry moves so fast that films are being improved at a rapid pace and therefore our movie expectations are much higher.

After watching this film I was disappointed because I thought that the ending was very poor and hard to understand and that the whole scene with the colors flying by was a very confusing part that I personally did not understand at all. I thought that the movie was pretty easy to understand until the end and for me personally the end of a movie usually makes me like or dislike the film and in this case it made me really dislike it.

In this film I really liked the use of some of the music because I felt like it gave it the epic feel that it needed. I noticed while watching this film that most of the music I heard wasn’t new to me and I was shocked because I expected for a film made in 1968 to have music I hadn’t heard before. The reason I feel that I have heard a lot of this music is because it is in a lot of new age movies which also surprised me because it goes to show me how much of an influence this film had on the science fiction genre of movies.

In 2001: A Space Odyssey I noticed that it used a lot of underlying humor including the very long and drawn out travel scenes and excessive use of the colorful traveling scene in the end. With these scenes I thought that they added quite a bit of humor to the film but it took away from it at the same time because even though they were funny, Kubrick used them way to many times and it just got old and boring after a while. After watching this it reminded me of a movie that I have seen many time and that is Space Balls. I noticed in Space Balls they used the same sort of humor where the ship would take a really long time to pass or get from one place to another and one that sticks out to me is the opening scene to Space Balls which uses the same angles and shape of the ship as 2001: A Space Odyssey but in Space Balls the ship was much longer and drawn out to provide more obvious humor.

In 2001: A Space Odyssey I did really like the use of imagination and creativity. I really liked the scene where the ship hostess went from walking on one surface to walking up the wall and onto the ceiling. I thought that this was a really neat idea to have compartments of the ship upside down. I also really liked the part where the astronauts went down a ladder on a spinning part of a ship which made me think how it was possible because you would think if it was spinning how could it be connected to anything for them to climb down into.

Overall I think this film was a very good experience for me because now I can connect some modern day movies to it but I wouldn’t want to see it again. I feel if I would watch it a second time I would be really bored because then the little things like the music or some of the creative ideas wouldn’t keep my attention nearly as much and I would just get bored with it quickly. So I think this movie is definitely good because it was a turning point in science fiction but I would have to say to today’s standards this movie is really not that good.

Strategies

The book tells about three strategies which are: cause and effect, classifying and dividing, and comparing and contrasting. Cause and effect has three main ways of organizing and that is by a cause leading to effects, a effect resulting from multiple causes, or a cause leading to an effect which leads to a chain of effects. Classifying and dividing is where you classify or divide information to make it easier for the reader or listener to understand. An example of classifying is: the seven deadly sins. It describes a group of seven sins. An example of division is: music being divided into genres, artists, male/female, or instruments. Comparing and contrasting is where you analyze two different things to see the differences (contrast) and similarities (comparison). After reading over these topics I believe I have learned many things on how to not only make my writings better but also my speeches for communications class because these topics can easily be used in making a persuasive, analytical, or informative speech.

Reading Strategies-Jones

In the selection of reading about "Reading Strategies" it talks about how there are different ways to read different styles and forms of texts. It said if you are reading for a general overview then you will more than likely skim or quickly read the passage but it said pretty much every thing else you read you will need to read carefully. I think that this is a really good point because I know most of the stuff I read I will either read it quickly or skim it for a brief understanding when I needed to read it carefully to get all of the details. I believe by reading this chapter it has helped me to know how to read a text carefully. I didn't know that you would skim it before hand when you read it carefully or that you would need to read it a couple times to pick everything up. Now that I think about it though it makes since because I watch a lot of movies and when I watch a movie that I have seen countless times I still somehow pick up something I didn't see before. So, in essence reading is the same way.

Analyzing A Text-Jones

I thought it was really interesting to read the analysis about how the Gettysburg Address was reused in the 9/11 one year memorial. It was able to be used because it had the theme of conception , birth, death, and rebirth which was exactly what 9/11 was. I think this was a great example of an analysis writing because he used many many quotes from the speech so that he showed he had a clear interpretation and judgment of the text.
I believe that this analysis was an excellent example because he caught my attention and made me want to read more. I believe he did this by the topic he chose for his analysis. Everyone knows what happened during 9/11 and it is a topic that has effected everyone and grabs their attention quickly. Therefore, when I choose a topic to do an analysis writing on I am going to do it on something maybe a little controversial or well known because it will catch my readers attention quickly and keep them entertained easier because it will be relevant to them.

Narratives-Jones

In this set of reading we had five narratives. I just wanted to talk about one of them though that stood out to me more than the rest.
I really enjoyed reading the narrative by Frederick Douglass. It stood out to me because Frederick talked about how hard it was for him to find the materials to learn to read and write He would have to go up to boys that were in school and trick them into teaching him by challenging them to see who could write better and he would write what he would know and tell them to beat that and he would learn based off what they would put. I think he is a really inspiring writer because he tells what happened in such great detail and he doesn't try to hold back in the writing. I like this because it gives me a really good idea of what the slaves had to go through just to learn to read and write.
This makes me think because they try so hard just to be able to read and write but now days people take advantage of reading and writing Since it is so common now people don't see it as the privilege it is.

Purpose for Writing-Jones

This first reading talks about the different types of writing. It also talks about how to write them and the purpose to each one. In this explaining of how to write them it tells us about genres, mediums, audience, and stance and how they can be used effectively in making a great piece of work.
My favorite part of the reading is when I read the story about the young man and his father. I could feel the tension between them and I thought it was really amazing how the author made me feel as I was reading it. This is an example quote from the story when he made me feel the tension,"The opportunity hung perfectly still in the air in front of my face and fists, and I held my temper and let it float on by. I could have no more challenged him, berated him, hurt him, than I could have kicked some three-legged dog. Life had kicked his ass pretty good.". This is a moving quote because you can tell that the boy has all this hatred toward the father but yet he feels sympathetic and I personally think deep down loves his father very much and when his father later gave him the books it truely showes that the father and boy love each other very much but are to scared and uncertain how to show it.
I will be coming back to these passages to look at the techniques and questions to ask yourself when writing the different styles when we have to do writing assignments in class because I believe this questions and advice will be very useful.