Oldie but a goodie?

There are some things that will never pass into obscurity.  The Star Wars movies, for example, will remain favorites with every generation both because of their appeal to a wide audience and the fact that George Lucas (genius that he is) keeps finding ways to make them new and interesting.  "Golden Oldies" music will also always be enjoyable because it is singable and dancable and fun in a way that much of the music today, well... isn't.  But some of the "oldies but goodies" out there are ready to be retired.  I find this mostly true where movies are concerned.  While it is true that some classics will stand the test of time, others simply fail to make the grade. 
I am referring specifically now to the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey."  John's partner, Jack, recommended the movie to us.  They recently upgraded to electronic medical records in their office and Jack, not very comfortable with computers, has named his computer Hal after the computer from "2001".  We have now had the movie on loan from Netflix for two weeks and have not seen more than the first 40 minutes- nor do we have any desire to see more.  In order to put it off we have been watching ANYTHING else we can find- this includes but is not limited to Disney Channel original movies and Lifetime specials.  "2001" reminds me of the films they used to have on MST3K.  In fact, having snide remarks interspersed with the few actual events in this debacle of a film would vastly improve it!  While I appreciate the limitations they had on their technology in the 50s this movie is so painfully boring (seriously the first 30 minutes is watching men in gorilla costumes fight over a water hole to the sound of classical music) that I can imagine it could be put to more productive uses (new torture method anyone?), rather than be inflicted upon the unsuspecting public.