Saturday, February 21 - 7:30 p.m. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, 1968, Warner Bros., 139 min. Arthur C. Clarke was the author of more than 100 fiction and nonfiction books. He achieved his greatest fame in 1968 when his short story The Sentinel was turned into 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. Director Stanley Kubrick's mind-blowing meditation on the dangers (and wonders) of technology, the limitless vistas of space, and the future of the human race itself is one of the Cinematheque's most requested movie titles. This is another opportunity to see one of the essential cinema experiences on the giant screen in 70mm, in truly psychedelic 6-track stereo sound. Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood are two astronauts on a deep space probe who faithfully rely on onboard computer HAL to navigate and overcome any problems. But then the unthinkable happens -- HAL develops a paranoid "personality."
Wednesday, February 25 - 7:30 p.m. 25th Anniversary Double Feature:
2010, 1984, Warner Bros. 116 min. Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, and Helen Mirren are among the members of a joint Soviet-American crew that goes into space to find out what went wrong on the original Discovery mission. Director Peter Hyams' ambitious sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is the best kind of sequel, a film that strikes out in its own original directions rather than repeat the innovations of the original. With spectacular visual effects by Richard Edlund.
Discussion in between films with 2010 visual effects supervisor Richard Edlund.
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR, 1984, MGM Repertory, 113 min. John Hurt and Suzanna Hamilton are lovers trapped in an oppressive police state who heroically fight against the all-powerful "Big Brother." Director Michael Radford's (IL POSTINO) adaptation of George Orwell's classic novel perfectly captures the book's deep sense of unease, and Richard Burton gives a great late career performance as an evil but human government official.
