![]() Opus' appearance changed since his inception - he originally looked like a common penguin, but between 19 his nose grew dramatically (developing its signature bump in the middle, of which Opus is very self-conscious). Opus' popularity quickly grew until he became the signature character of Bloom County and of Breathed's subsequent comic strips. After being featured in a few strips, the character was dropped for several months, before being gradually re-introduced in January 1982, and eventually becoming a central character in Bloom County. Opus was originally introduced in June 1981, as a one-time gag about hapless Mike Binkley bringing home what he thought was a German Shepherd, which turned out to be a penguin, much to the disappointment of his father. Breathed also included Opus in the sequel strip to Bloom County, Outland, and later made him the star of his own self-titled strip. Opus has appeared in several of Breathed's creations, most notably his 1980s comic strip Bloom County. Breathed has described him as an " existentialist penguin" and the favorite of his many characters. Penguin) is a fictional character created by artist Berkeley Breathed. I will admit that this film is not for everyone - and more than 1 of you reading this will attempt to watch 2001:A SPACE ODYSSEY and fall asleep during the middle of it - but for those of you that can plug into what Kubrick was achieving here will be rewarded with a very rich, very fascinating and very GOOD film that will garner conversation and criticism for many, many years to come.An early Opus appearance in the strip Bloom County (February 14, 1982) The long, uncomfortable silences and the glances between the two astronauts (played wonderfully by the oft-praised Keir Dullea and the underrated Gary Lockwood) leads to a sense of dread that is very reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock at his finest. It is here where Kubrick, I feel, is at his best. ![]() ![]() This is the famous HAL 9000 portion of the film where 2 astronauts end up battling with a increasingly unstable artificial intelligence on a journey to Jupiter. It is during the 3rd - and most famous - portion of this film that a viewer will either engage or disengage with this film. In between are THE MOON portion, which really serves as the audience introduction into the style and substance of the film, the wonderfully, Oscar winning special effects set upon a backdrop of classical music (who can hear Also sprach Zarathustra and not think of 2001)? Kubrick let's the action and visuals speak for themselves. The first 20 minutes of the film - the DAWN OF MAN portion - and the last 20 minutes - the JUPITER AND BEYOND THE INFINITE portion - are both dialogue-free. Some would call this type of film making boring (and I have accused other filmmakers who have attempted this as boring and pretentious), but in the hands of Kubrick, this film is mesmerizing and continuously fascinating. The film is full of Kubrick hallmarks - meticulously staged and choreographed scenes, stark colors - mostly one color with a dab of another color across the screen, and long scenes where not much dialogue takes place, but what is said (or not said) in the pauses speaks volume. Showing us what could be possible in outer space visuals (not just paper plates hung on a wire against a star background). In the hands of the great Stanley Kubrick, 2001 dazzles with pure visionary visuals, exploding heretofore unseen images on the screen. Told in 4 parts, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY tells the tale of mankind's evolution from ape-man to space explorers and the mysterious, monolithic aliens who help mankind advance along this line. The scope of the project in 1968 was (I'm sure) daunting with a subject matter that was just outside of normal vision, so for Kubrick to get a studio to o'k this film is mind-boggling to me.īut.how does it stack up as a film? Very well, indeed. ![]() I think I have seen it another 4 or 5 times since then and have appreciated it in different ways each time.įor this viewing, I walked away with a sense of awe of the sheer craftsmanship and audacity that Kubrick put up on the screen. Clark phase, I read the book and then re-watched the film and my understanding of what was happening on the screen gelled and, consequently, my fascination and respect for the themes and scope of 2001 opened up new doors of understanding. Later.in the early 1990's, during my Arthur C. I then saw it again as a college student in the early 1980's and was "really into" (for obvious reasons) the psychedelic special effects at the end. I was intrigued by the Sci-Fi special effects, but mostly liked the monkeys at the beginning. Over the years, many, many words have been written and said about the 1968 Stanley Kubrick opus, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, but after re-watching it, there is only 1 word I would write about it. ![]()
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