Whatever happened to Scotland's Silicon Glen? US giant IBM arrived at Spango Valley in post-war Greenock, attracted as part of a government effort to replace industrial jobs. For decades the company provided thousands of jobs, often at the leading edge of technology, helping to attract dozens of high-tech investments to Scotland from all over the world. What was it like to work for the company known as Big Blue? The film uncovers the stories of the shop-floor at IBM. And it tells of IBM's supporting role in major events including the Moon landings and the creation of an iconic movie - Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
In December 1941, Czech soldiers Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš parachute into their occupied homeland to assassinate Nazi officer Reinhard Heydrich.
A few years after his death, the widow of Stanley Kubrick (1928-1999) asks Jon Ronson to look through the contents of about 1,000 boxes of meticulously sorted materials Kubrick left. Ronson finds that most contain materials reflecting work Kubrick did after the release of "Barry Lyndon" in 1975, when Kubrick's film output slowed down. Ronson finds audition tapes for "Full Metal Jacket," photographs to find the right hat for "Clockwork Orange" or the right doorway for "Eyes Wide Shut" -- thousands of details that went into Kubrick's meticulous approach. Ronson believes that the boxes show "the rhythm of genius." Interviews with family, staff, and friends are included.
He is considered by many the greatest film director the medium has ever known. Yet in a 45-year career, Stanley Kubrick's films number only a dozen. That he strove for perfection is well established. What is less known is that he lavished years of energy on several films that never saw the flickering light of the silver screen. Through interviews and abundant archival materials, this documentary examines these "lost" films in depth to discover what drew Kubrick to these projects, the work he did to prepare them for production, and why they ultimately were abandoned.
This documentary about "2001: A Space Odyssey" looks at some of the things that seemed fanciful in 1968, which don't seem quite as much anymore.
Keir Dullea, interspersed with archive clips of Arthur C. Clarke, discusses the probability of extraterrestrial life.