This film sort of slipped in under the wire, though I know all us Keir Dullea fans knew of it. SPACE STATION 76 is a farcical look at the space opera. It pulls from various sources including most of the science fiction films and television series of the era including my favourite show Space: 1999, Buck Rogers, Star Wars, and likely even Keir’s films 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and 2010: ODYSSEY TWO where he played the part of Commander Dave Bowman. Here Keir’s part is largely a cameo playing Liv Tyler’s father, Mr. Marlowe. His scene comes about forty minutes into the film where he’s only seen on a small monitor attached to a contemporary touch-tone phone. It’s really kind of funny. And the part that gets me is his appearance is reminiscent of his first scene in the Peter Hyams aforementioned film 2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT. Yeah, I know I called it Odyssey Two, but that’s the title I like to call it by. Below is a side-by-side comparison of Keir then and now.

• [564] SCREENCAPS: SPACE STATION 76

Yep, as the title says. Keir and Gary are going to be making an appearance on behalf of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. Where? At the Toronto International Film Festival. Keir and Gary will introduce the film and host a Q&A afterwards. I’m not sure of the venue, yet, but when I finally find out I’ll either edit this post or make a new one if this one has moved down. I do know the date is 01 November, 2014 at 2:00 PM. Again, not sure of the location…but I know it’s somewhere in the big T.O. That’s Toronto for those not initiated with the Canadian sensibility. Apparently this is part of a week long celebration at TIFF Cinematheque to honour the film and its amazing director, Stanley Kubrick. I’ll keep you posted as the event comes up. I won’t be able to attend, unfortunately my personal life sort of precludes that. Here’s some of the info.

2001: A Space Odyssey introduced by Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood

2001: A Space Odyssey

Directed by Stanley Kubrick
(PG)

Part of 2001: A Space Odyssey introduced by Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood

One of the most revered films of all time, Stanley Kubrick’s science-fiction masterpiece about a doomed intergalactic mission is still “the ultimate trip.”

“The ultimate trip,” Kubrick’s science-fiction masterpiece has survived innumerable parodies, references and rip-offs with its awe-inspiring power intact. Tracing a cosmic mystery from the dawn of mankind to the farthest reaches of time and space, 2001 chronicles an intergalactic mission to find the origin of a mysterious black monolith discovered by American astronauts on the moon — a mission complicated when the ship’s renegade computer HAL 9000 decides that its human cargo is inadequate to carry out such an important task. When they realize that HAL is turning on them, astronauts Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) have to outwit the omniscient machine to survive. Featuring spectacular special effects by Douglas Trumbull, 2001 pointedly speculates on what it means to be human in an age dominated by technology, and what the next stage of human evolution could potentially be.

Our week-long engagement of 2001: A Space Odyssey plays in conjunction with the TIFF Cinematheque retrospective Stanley Kubrick: A Cinematic Odyssey.
Credits
Director(s): Stanley Kubrick
Rating: PG
Language: English
Year: 1968
Country: USA
Runtime: 141 minutes

Since 1957, Keir Dullea has appeared in more than 25 feature films, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, David and Lisa, Black Christmas, and Bunny Lake is Missing, in which he starred opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. He has made more than 50 guest appearances on television series ranging from Naked City and Law & Order to Damages. His Broadway credits include Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Butterflies Are Free and P.S. Your Cat is Dead. He will next be seen in the forthcoming feature Isn’t It Delicious.

Gary Lockwood is a film and television actor best known for his role as Frank Poole in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. He has appeared in such films as Tall Story opposite Jane Fonda, Splendor in the Grass with Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty, It Happened at the World’s Fair opposite Elvis Presley, and Jacques Demy’s Model Shop. On television, he has guest-starred on Star Trek, MacGyver, and Murder, She Wrote.

SOURCE

I have a review of Keir’s upcoming film SPACE STATION 76 where he plays the part of Mr. Marlow. Not sure of what the film is about, but one of the influences mentioned was the 70s science fiction show Space: 1999. I used to watch this show and it was really good. It starred then husband and wife acting team Martin Landau as Cmdr. John Koenig and Barbara Bain as Dr. Helena Russell. The two of them helped the marooned inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha and its aimless wanderings throughout space after being thrown out of Earth’s orbit in the wake of a nuclear explosion. The show was really good and had many of the model makers who worked with Stanley Kubrick on 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY including Brian Johnson. The show ran two seasons, though the second is not as good as the first. Landau quit the series after several run-ins with executive producer Fred Friedberger. The show would have gone another season but according to Landau, “We were sunk by the Titanic.” Sir Lew Grade who ran ITC had decided to go into film and the first film he green lit was Raise the Titanic starring the late Richard Jordan and David Selby. It subsequently ate all of Space: 1999‘s budget, considering each episode cost a whopping $1 millon to make. The film came from the book written by Clive Cussler. A clip from Space: 1999 will be included below the review. The show also starred Barry Morse, Nick Tate, Zienia Merton, Prentis Hancock, Clifton Jones, Anton Phillips, Tony Anholt, John Hug and Catherine Schell.

Film Review: ‘Space Station 76’

A low-key indie comedy that deftly mixes ’70s attitudes and futuristic sci-fi.

Joe Leydon
@joeleydon

In space, everyone one can hear you kvetch. That appears to be standard operational procedure aboard “Space Station 76,” an intergalactic deadpan farce that suggests a daft mashup of “The Ice Storm” and “Space: 1999.” With the aid of ensemble players who maintain admirably straight faces amid the absurdity, director Jack Plotnick gets an impressive amount of mileage from a concept — characters in a futuristic sci-fi setting evince ‘70s angst and attitudes — that might seem at first blush barely adequate to sustain a “Saturday Night Live” sketch. This low-key indie comedy could live long and prosper on homescreen platforms.

Working from a script he and four fellow writers originally conceived for the stage, Plotnick establishes a tone of seriocomic soap-operatics in the early scenes while introducing the diversely dysfunctional crew of the Omega 76 Space Station.

Sexually repressed Capt. Glenn (Patrick Wilson, first among equals in a fine cast) is by turns inconsolably glum and inappropriately hostile while mooning for a reassigned comrade. Misty (Marisa Coughlan) pops Valium, spouts New Age aphorisms and avoids sexual contact with Ted (Matt Bomer of TV’s “White Collar”), her increasingly frustrated technician husband. The aggressively chipper Donna (Kali Rocha) seems content in her marriage to Steve (Jerry O’Connell), the father of her infant child. She’s too busy, or too clueless, to note that Steve is having an affair with Misty.

Long-simmering emotions and resentments start bubbling to the surface with the arrival of a new second-in-command, Jessica Marlowe (Liv Tyler), a seemingly self-assured professional who nonetheless comes equipped with her own share of hangups. The already unstable Capt. Glenn has trouble accepting a woman as his equal — yes, this is the future, but it’s a future based on ’70s sexual and workplace politics — while the self-absorbed Misty resents Jessica’s budding friendship with Sunshine (Kylie Rogers), Misty’s neglected young daughter. But Ted has no trouble at all welcoming his beautiful new crewmate.

Aiming more for bemused chuckles than for convulsive laughter, Plotnick and his actors deftly evoke a faux Me Decade ambiance throughout “Space Station 76.” Indeed, given the period-appropriate production values, it will be easy, and amusing, for some viewers to pretend this actually is a sci-fi melodrama that was produced during the ’70s — possibly to complete a double feature with “Logan’s Run” or “Silent Running” — but only recently unearthed and released.

Plotnick also includes a couple of wink-wink nods to genuine sci-fi classics, such as a clever cameo by “2001: A Space Odyssey” star Keir Dullea, or an R2-D2-like droid that serves as a pill-dispensing psychiatrist. Even funnier, though, are the off-the-wall moments that simply emphasize the disparity between dialogue rife with ’70s-flavored banalities — “Your whole vibe is just stressing me!” — and the day-after-tomorrow environment provided by production designer Seth Reed and costume designer Sandra Burns. Predictably, but effectively, the soundtrack abounds with slyly selected ’70s tunes by Todd Rundgren and other artists.
Film Review: ‘Space Station 76’

Reviewed at SXSW Film Festival (Visions), March 14, 2014. Running time: 95 MIN.
Production

A Rival Pictures/Om Films production. Produced by Katherine Ann McGregor, Joel Michaely, Dan Burks, Edward Parks, Rachel Ward. Executive producers, Niraj Bhatia, Frank Mele. Co-producers, Jim Burba, Bob Hayes. Co-executive producers, Ramesh Bhatia, Jack Plotnick.
Crew

Directed by Jack Plotnick. Screenplay, Jennifer Elise Cox, Sam Pancake, Plotnick, Kali Rocha, Michael Stoyanov, based on their play. Camera (color), Robert Brinkmann; editor, Sharon Rutter; music, Steffan Fantini, Marc Fantini; production designer, Seth Reed; art director, Jennifer Moller; set decorator, Kat Wilson; costume designer, Sandra Burns; sound, John C. Taylor; visual effects supervisor, Billy Brooks; associate producers, Billy Brooks, Melodi Hallenbeck, Alexander Koehne, Ilana Marks; assistant director, Jeremy Phoenix; casting, Eric Souliere.
With

Patrick Wilson, Liv Tyler, Matt Bomer, Marisa Coughlan, Kylie Rogers, Kali Rocha, Jerry O’Connell, Keir Dullea.

SOURCE

Keir appeared in a BBC series called THE REAL HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION talking about 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and Stanly Kubrick. So far he’s done two episodes and I’m not sure if he’ll be in the rest or if there will be a series two. Considering his age Keir is looking mighty fine. The only thing I’d change is that beard! It looks like a small animal ate his face. His features are far too fine for that kind of beardage. Though if he’s still performing in CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, then it’s understandable. Either way Keir is still compelling to watch and compelling to listen to.

• [317] SCREENCAPS: THE REAL HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION – PT 1 ROBOTS
• [286] SCREENCAPS: THE REAL HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION – PT 2 SPACE

I screwed up on the stills album for 2010: ODYSSEY TWO and had to reupload them to the gallery. Of course Keir reprised his iconic role of Commander Dave Bowman in this Peter Hyams directed sequel to the 1968 classic. I know the release title for the film was 2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT, but I really liked Arthur C. Clarke’s title for it better and thought I’d post that title. The film also starred Roy Scheider as Dr. Heywood Floyd taking over for William Sylvester, Helen Mirren as Tanya Kirbuk, John Lithgow as Dr. Walter Curnow, Bob Balaban as Dr. Chandra, and the return of Douglas Rain as the voice of the HAL-9000. This comes to the end of the additions for today. Whew!

• [005] STILLS: 2001: ODYSSEY TWO