Avatar - Dances With Cat People
Thursday, January 14, 2010

I liked the movie, Avatar, by James Cameron. I have not seen Titanic. The thought of watching a three hour movie about a sinking ship doesn't appeal to me.

This movie is spectacular to look at. The 3D aspect does make you feel immersed in the movie. Very nice to look at.

Plot: The natives, called Na'vi, on Pandora are under siege by military contractors (not the Marines) to mine the planet for unobtanium, which is worth about 16 million a kilo. That would justify the cost of a corporation spending so much in resources to head to another galaxy. This story happens in the future - the year 2150.

The lead male character Jack Sully, aka Sam Worthington, mentally links to a genetically created human-Na'vi hybrid Avatar to get close to the Na'vi. He was recruited to replace his twin brother who died. He was able to use his brother's Avatar, because they have the same DNA.  

Side note: Imagine being able to walk about in another body? That's a scary, yet exciting future to imagine. That is a true, fantasy, roll playing, out-of-body experience.

Zoe Saldana voices Neytiri, the princess of the Na'vi people. Sigourney Weaver plays the brilliant Dr. Grace Augustine, who helped create the Avatars. Stephen Lang (old man hotness) plays the delightful and memorable bad guy Colonel Miles Quaritch. I would savor bringing him back for the sequel. He's very sexy.


I cannot imagine seeing this at home, because the 3D aspect would be lost. It was an enjoyable film, not a brilliant masterpiece, but fun all the same.

Racism Chasers

I read the complaints about the racism in this film, or the usage of a "white messiah". I'm not a "racism chaser", so I thought the main character, Jake Sully, wasn't a savior, but someone willing to offer a different perspective and think "outside of the box." Doesn't it help to have another fresh set of eyes to look at a problem? Anyway, he helps the Na'vi help themselves. He does not singlehandedly do everything. He admits he cannot.

Did these "racism chasers" even see the film? They get so wrapped up in the modern anti-Western Lit Crit (all the white males are racists) point of view, they can't watch something with an unbiased perspective. If they remember correctly, all stories have a s/hero who saves everyone. Nowadays, it's not just a white guy, Will Smith and Denzil Washington have made plenty of Magic Negro films.

People like to look for something to be offended by. It's a hobby for them.

Labels: Avatar, Denzel Washington, James Cameron, racism, racism chasers, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Will Smith, Zoe Saldana

posted by GoldenAh
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Terminator: Salvation Junkyard
Thursday, June 4, 2009


The original Terminator film frightened me. It was scary. It gave me goosebumps, all because it was a low-key horror movie.

The sequels do not frighten, because they never pause to take a breath. The films rush through everything. There's nary a moment allowing the characters to contemplate how numbing, and terrifying, it would be to have an unstoppable, calculating and scheming killing machine pursuing them.

These follow-up movies are mildly engaging, generically amusing, and kinda boring overall. It's all about explosions, gun fire, devastating and earth shattering wreckage, and blowing up buildings.

Yawn. I think they should leave a lot of these pyrotechnics for the video games. Yeah, people pay for the bombs. I get it.

All of the producers of the franchise films seem unaware of what made the first film so riveting (although it was not an absolute commercial success).

Here's a clue: Arnold Schwarzenegger's character was an unrelenting, unemotional, and unsentimental robot. He had only one task to perform.

That movie was as chilling and creepy as watching Psycho.

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I couldn't resist throwing the word 'junkyard' in the post heading. The desolate themes throughout the movie, reminded me of Road Warrior (I must rent that, haven't seen that crazy classic in a long time!), and Resident Evil: Extinction. The robots, especially the giant one that harvested humans reminded me of War of the Worlds and Star Wars: The Rotten Prequels.

Plot pivots: was it a Superman or Jesus Christ thingy going on? Oh, right. It was a hint at our possible immortality. So, that made Marcus Wright (I'm sure there's a meaning in that name, but I'm a bit dull right now in sorting it out) akin to a demi-god for this flick.

Marcus could have chosen to be immortal, as a cyborg, but what made him human was his heart.

It's scary how fast the future (prosthetic body parts, rapidly healing, etc., etc.) is coming at us.

Did I mention that Sam Worthington, who plays Marcus Wright is hawt? Like really smoking hot? This picture does his handsome mug no justice. Delicious. Slurp.

Interesting how the best looking actors are coming out of New Zealand and Australia these days. Must be something in the air, food or water.

I must visit soon!

Oh right, about the movie. I had to run out a few times, but the first hour is all about Marcus (Sam), so that's the best thing I can say about the flick. Christian Bale (John Connor) barks throughout the film. He's too damn stoic. The cuties in this film were: Jadagrace and Anton Yelchin (lucky kid, he was in Star Trek too).

Boy, is McG a lazy director or what? Did he not notice these guys slipping back into their regional accents on occasion? I wont mention the enormous amount of inconsistencies in the film sequences. For example: in one scene Connor's shoe has been tossed far and wide, yet in the very next one, it's on again.

Worth seeing again? When it's on DVD, sure, but a repeat at the theater? Nope.

However, the special effects were awesome. The CGI was so realistic that I couldn't tell what was fake, and usually I could tell.

Overall, not bad, but not great either.

Labels: Anton Yelchin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Christian Bale, Jadagrace, Sam Worthington, Star Wars, Terminator, Terminator: Salvation

posted by GoldenAh
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