I've made a point several times on this website that Stanley Kubrick is my favorite director.
I've ranked his “best” (I'll get to why that's in quotes in a moment) movies, and I've even talked about what Stanley Kubrick thought was one of the best movies that he'd ever seen. So, it's safe to say that I LOVE Kubrick. That said, Kubrick’s “best” movie is actually my LEAST favorite of his.
If you haven’t already guessed, it’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is a film that I’ve watched countless times just to MAKE myself like it, but I just can’t, which really bothers me. I’ll explain why.
2001: A Space Odyssey Is Not Only Considered Kubrick's Best Movie, But Also The Best Sci-fi Movie Of All Time
We once did a list of the best sci-fi movies of all time, and guess what came out on top. Yep, you guessed it: 2001: A Space Odyssey. That’s not a surprise, as what else were we going to put? 2001 has cemented itself as not only the greatest sci-fi movie ever made but also one of the greatest movies of all time, full stop. On the prestigious Sight & Sound list of the greatest films of all time, critics ranked 2001: A Space Odyssey at number 6.
And get this! The list polls directors, too, and they put 2001 at NUMBER ONE! I should be overjoyed. Directors and critics alike have said that my favorite director made one of–if not the–greatest movies of all time, but I’m not happy, because I don’t like 2001. I mean, why couldn’t The Shining (which is one of the best horror movies of all time) be considered his best film? Why can’t Paths of Glory (One of the best war movies ever made) be considered his magnum opus?
Hell, I would even take Barry Lyndon (Which is a masterpiece, but hardly his best) as Kubrick’s greatest film, because at least I thoroughly enjoy The Shining, Paths of Glory, and Barry Lyndon. But 2001? It just seriously annoys me that it’s considered his best, which I’ll get into next.
It Also Pains Me Because I KNOW It's A Great Movie, But I Just Find It So BORING
2015's The Revenant is a great movie, but much like 2001, I just don’t like it. This is frustrating to me because I feel like I SHOULD like it. The setting, characters, and revenge plot are right up my alley, but I just find myself totally checked out every time I watch it. The same could be said for 2001, as I KNOW it’s a great movie, as everything in it (the bone transitioning into a spacecraft, the theme of “Also sprach Zarathustra,” the floating baby at the end!) IS great. I just find it so…BORING!
This sucks because it has everything I want in a sci-fi story. In fact, I love the Arthur C. Clarke novel based on the screenplay, and it pains me that this movie that everyone agrees is Kubrick’s best - and that I KNOW is a masterpiece - is just an awful, mind-numbing experience for me.
I would rather watch any other movie in Kubrick’s filmography - even the mediocre Fear and Desire - over 2001, and that really sucks. In fact…
I'm Embarrassed To Admit The Truth With Fellow Movie Fans That I Honestly Can't Stand This Movie
Do you know how embarrassing it is to admit that I hate 2001: A Space Odyssey? It wouldn’t be so bad, but whenever I tell fellow cinephiles that Kubrick is my favorite director, they almost always say, “Oh, yeah. 2001. Love that movie.” It's available, by the way, with an HBO Max subscription.
To which I have to admit that I don’t like 2001, to which they’re like, “Wait. How?” And this is when I have to admit that I think it’s slow and boring, to which they usually roll their eyes and say something demeaning about the “Millennial attention span.”
It’s not fair! I love OTHER “slow” movies (Apocalypse Now is my FAVORITE movie, after all). But not 2001, which is embarrassing to say, but true: I hate this movie!
