SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18 AT 2:00PM & TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20 AT 7:30PM | REGULAR ADMISSION PRICES

Experience the sci-fi spectacular 2001: A Space Odyssey in mind-blowing 70mm on The Loft’s big screen!

Tuesday’s screening will feature a special collection of 2001 art and artifacts from the University of Arizona Museum of Art, including original posters designed by space artist Robert McCall, the original publicity packet sent out for the film,  and a signed letter from Stanley Kubrick!

Three million years ago, a mysterious black monolith appeared out of nowhere and gave a pack of unruly apes a whole lot of new ideas … and thus begins Stanley Kubrick’s awe-inspiring sci-fi head trip, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Based on Arthur C. Clark’s story “The Sentinel,” this mind-blowing meditation on technology and humanity thrillingly hypothesizes mankind’s evolution from ape to astronaut to celestial being, while scientists Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) do battle with a snarky artificial intelligence unit named HAL and eventually try to crack the mystery of those baffling black monoliths. With assistance from special effects expert Douglas Trumbull, Kubrick spent over two years meticulously creating the most “realistic” depictions of outer space ever seen, greatly advancing cinematic technology in service of a story expressing grave doubts about technology itself. Eschewing traditional narrative structure and embracing a tone of mythic transcendence, 2001, provocatively promoted as “the ultimate trip,” quickly caught on with the late ‘60s counterculture audience open to a contemplative (i.e. chemically enhanced) viewing experience of a film carefully designed to take them on an odyssey they would never forget. Nominated for four Academy Awards and a winner for its landmark visual effects—the only official Academy recognition Kubrick received in his career. (Dir. by Stanley Kubrick, 1968, USA/UK, 141 mins., Rated G)