2001: A Space Odyssey (film) in science fiction films was sparked by Japanese tokusatsu films such as "Warning from Space" (1956). According to his biographer John Baxter, despite their "clumsy model sequences, the films were often well-photographed in colour ... and their dismal dialogue was delivered in well-designed and well-lit sets." Searching for a collaborator in the science fiction community, Kubrick was advised by a mutual acquaintance, Columbia Pictures staffer Roger Caras, to talk to writer Arthur C. Clarke, who lived in Ceylon. Although convinced that Clarke was "a recluse, a nut who lives in a tree", Kubrick allowed Caras to cable the film proposal
2001: A Space Odyssey its scientific realism, pioneering special effects, and provocatively ambiguous imagery and sound in place of traditional narrative techniques. Despite receiving mixed reviews upon release, "2001: A Space Odyssey" is today thought by some critics to be one of the greatest films ever made and is widely regarded as one of the best science fiction films of all time. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, and received one for visual effects. It also won the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Best Director and Best Film awards of 1968. In 1991, "2001: A Space Odyssey" was deemed culturally significant by the