Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the best films ever made. Almost 50 years after its release, it remains a topic of heated discussion and great reverence. It’s one of those films you could only dream to own a part of. But now you can.
For eons, humankind has looked up to the sky and wondered if it was alone. While we still haven’t answered that question just yet, fiction has stepped in to show us what that moment of first contact might look like. Sometimes it has led to a golden age of human space exploration. Sometimes, it brings on death,…
Every year, I make it a point to stop by the Mondo booth at San Diego Comic-Con as often as possible. No one at the entire convention releases as much exciting, vibrant, and exclusive pop culture art over the course of four days—and 2017 was no exception.
The crowd cheered in California on Monday, when Apple announced HomePod, a new smart speaker armed with Siri, the company’s virtual assistant. Minutes later, an image of the product appeared on Apple’s website and, well, holy shit, it looks just like HAL 9000! Is Apple fucking with us?
Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9's roundup of the most interesting toys we’ve seen this week. It’s a Guardians of the Galaxy blowout as we’ve got life-sized Groots, creepy plush Groots, and a fancy cassette player. But wait—there’s more, including a very swanky David Bowie figure and a very large Iron Man. Check it out!
HAL would approve too.
If these were actual stamps, it might make a trip to the post office bearable.
Before he started busting myths, Adam Savage worked in the special effects industry building props and models for films. His love of iconic film artifacts is reflected in some of the recent builds he’s shared online, but it’s also fun to just watch him geek out over Peter Jackson’s amazing film prop collection.
When we hear the phrase “science fiction,” most of the time, we focus on the second word. That’s the fun part, right? The stuff that’s impossible? Well, a new art show is flipping that on its head.
Here’s an excellent re-imagination of two of the most famous depictions of artificial intelligence in film, HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Samantha from Her. Tillmann Ohm stitched together the actual dialogue from the films to construct a new conversation between the two. It flows rather well.
I’m not a huge toy collector. I generally exercise my nerd muscles in other ways, like re-watching certain films over and over, including 2001: A Space Odyssey. But this recreation of 2001's iconic monolith may make me reconsider—though it’s $300, a sum that would probably buy an unlimited supply of bush babies.
Mother of god that’s cool-looking.
It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Folio Society’s special editions. They’ve been creating some fantastic books, particularly in the science fiction world. After tackling Frank Herbert’s Dune, Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle and Ursula K. Le Guin’s A Wizard of Earthsea, they’ve set their sights on a new…
The Singularity is coming soon! Artificial intelligences will reinvent everything, and there will be unlimited rice pudding. Except, of course, that when we imagine artificial intelligences in fiction, they’re often not that smart. Case in point? These 10 ridiculously dumb artificial intelligences.
Science fiction has rocked cinemas for a century, and the genre has produced many undisputed classics during that time. But which movies are essential viewing for anyone interested in the genre? We broke down the 50 must-watch science fiction films.
This video for “Sound & Color” by the Alabama Shakes is just a brilliant tribute to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, including lots of one-point perspective shots and some lovely white corridors. And it has an amazing storyline about an astronaut who wakes from cryogenic sleep to discover an unpleasant truth.
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center recently received a treasure trove: 85 cubic feet of Arthur C. Clarke’s papers, shipped from his home in Sri Lanka. Including a high-school notebook, where the young Clarke rated the science fiction stories he read. And an early draft of Clarke’s 2001:…
Writing about the world to come is a scary proposition, because nothing becomes obsolete faster than futuristic visions. Especially if you're writing about a decade or two from now, your story risks looking ridiculous within a few years. So here are 10 tips to keep your near-future setting from looking too dated.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences added a feather into the cap of its under-construction museum by purchasing an iconic prop from 2001: A Space Odyssey: the Aries 1B Trans-Lunar Spherical Space Shuttle.
2001: A Space Odyssey can be interpreted about a million different ways. That's a big part of its appeal. But have you ever felt… hungry while watching it? That's because the movie is actually about food. Look closely, and you'll see it too!
