Be vewy, vewy, qwiet … the dwagon is sleeping :
I had a Cunning Plan for tonight, it involved breaching quarantine (didn’t have a great night last night) and heading out to see the rescreening of 2001.
I’m shocked ! It’s sold out ! And this for a film that’s older than I am ! Crikey.
So I’m watching it off dvd at the moment. I’m quite looking forward to getting my next telly, which will probably be this Xmas depending on the deals which are available. I’ll definitely watch the sequel to 2001, called 2010 Odyssey Two, on the new Big Screen.
2001 was a visionary book and a visionary movie. It predicted a huge amount of technology, some which has happened, some which will hopefully happen. They’re on the space station at the moment, about to go to the moon. What’s the tech in 2001 ?
Space planes – not got these yet. Hopefully the British Skylon initiative will get us there. And these would be true space planes, which can achieve an orbit with cargo or passenger transfers. The ill fated Spaceship 2 is just capable of short suborbital jaunts. The space shuttle needed a lot of help with external boost`ers. But Skylon’s advantage is rocket/jets with breakthrough technology in the intake coolers which should be able to push it up to orbit as a single stage.
Zero gravity – 2001 predicts that we won’t have solved the artificial gravity problem. All of the space scenes have zero g, with this affecting meals, clothing and simply getting about the place. However, simulated anti-centripetal gravity is in the movie. This is where you have the floor on the inside surface of a cylinder and spin the cylinder up. One of Newton’s laws of motion says :
Objects will remain at rest or continue in motion, unless acted upon by an external force.
And with that cylinder, a body in the cylinder will fall outwards until it hits the floor with forces between body and floor stopping the body from falling further. Think of the hamster in his wheel.
It makes sense but limits artificial gravity to cylinders and centrifuges instead of magical panels in the floor or walls.
Hand held cameras and small digital devices – This is accurate, although we’re only now really hitting the strides for these.
Video phone calls – these are getting fairly ubiquitous now.
That’s enough about the movie and the tech in it though. Except to say that it’s a true timeless classic. The models used are still fantastic quality today and hold up with the best of the computer graphic effects we have now. In fact, I’d say in a lot of cases, the effects from 1968 are considerably better. They’re believable too.
It’s going to be a busy week for movies …
Today is 2001, on dvd rather than cinema as first thought.
Friday – The Hobbit no 3. I hope they make this third one worthwhile. I’ve said before that I think they’ve stretched the Hobbit out way too far. It was a smaller, less detailed book than any of the 3 Lord Of The Rings books, yet they make it into 3 films. And they include some really fluffy, useless extra parts while stupidly extending sequences like the barrel escape. I hope this one restores some faith in the franchise.
Monday – Black Sea. Could be a bit late though. But I won’t mind because Cupid’s Gift hopefully will be ok with staying out late.
I’ve been pretty down lately as my body and mind prepare for hibernating through the Xmas break but the promise of an evening with a Pretty Lady is a sure thing for resurrecting me from any negative or tired feelings.
Looking forward to it.
More pics ? Let’s see what I got in the peace theme …
Anti-peace ? Maybe. Back to the movie :
