If you have a chance to see the re-release of 2001: A Space Odyssey that is quietly -- very quietly -- making the rounds, by all means do so.



And then you’ll never have to see it again.



I mean, no matter how big or hi-def your TV is, it won’t hold up as well as in a theatre. And you’re not likely to get that chance again any time soon, seeing as how Warner fumbled this re-release. Of course, you may have already decided that you hate this film from watching on video or TCM or whatever. And that’s fine. It is overlong and self-indulgent. Yes, you could probably read Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End twice in the time of a single screening and get the same message. But it’s still worth seeing and hating on a big screen. So shut up and eat your vegetables.



I was also surprised to see, or to be reminded, that 2001 is rated G, this from the man whose next film was A Clockwork Orange. Suprising in terms of content -- in the opening Dawn of Man sequence, an ape gets beaten to death with a bone (I’m sure many a term paper has been written on how the the first gift of the Monolith is to teach us how to kill more efficiently), and just because most G-rated films are clearly aimed at a kiddie audience. I think The Straight Story and The Rookie are the only exceptions in the last 10 years, maybe more.