Cast: Keir Dullea

What It’s About: An alien monolith touches apes in pre-human times, setting the evolution of humanity in motion.  In the “future” of 1999, a monolith is found on the surface of the moon, and in 2001 an expedition departs for Jupiter, where the object originated.  On board the space ship are four astronauts-and super computer HAL 9000.  Before the astronauts can get to the moon, they will need to deal with HAL…

Why Watch it Today?: HAL9000 became operational on January 12, 1992 at the HAL lab in Urbana, Illinois.  2001 is a landmark of science fiction, a beautiful combination of image and music, and one of director Stanley Kubrick’s best films. The ability to chuckle at the occasionally dated references to corporations that no longer exists in a future ten years past is a bonus.  2001 won an Oscar for Visual Effects and earned Kubrick nominations for directing and writing with co-writer Arthur C. Clarke.

Where to Get It:  Netflix, iTunes, your local library or Amazon

The Trailer: