Avatar

So it's been a week since James Cameron's Avatar came out in theaters and I finally just got a ticket to see it in the true IMAX 3D experience. This show has been sold out in every theater since it's release and rightfully so, James Cameron has been working on this film for longer than I'd care to remember. Was the wait worth it or was it just another flop?

The movie open's and creates a back story that isn't to original but yet created a completely new environment that just screams beauty. We learn that sometime in the 2100's Earth's population has found a new planet where everything is hostile, from the animal and beasts to the plants and indigenous people. The human's are there for one reason and one reason only, to mine a rare mineral that seems to thrive under the surface of the beautiful planet of Pandora.

Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully, a marine drop out who is only chosen to come because his brother was killed right before shipping off and since he has the same DNA, he's able to drive his brother's avatar. Jake is a handicapped marine who's stuck in a wheel chair but doesn't like to be told what he is and is not capable of.

Jake is introduced to the mercenaries of Pandora, since the pay is better most of the human army is mercenaries. Then in complete contrast to the brute force of the mercenaries is the scientific team consisting of Grace (Sigourney Weaver) and Norm (Joel Moore). This group is only in it to find out the fascinating details behind this incredible planet.

On his first day out in the field he gets attacked by some animals and gets completely lost in the jungle. He then must fight the odds and survive a night alone in this new world that only wants to destroy him. Strangely, one of the indigenous people, the Na'vi, saves his life. After this Jake begins to see the wonders of this beautiful world.

Now this movie is suppose to be completely epic, and NEEDS to be seen in 3D. As many of you know, I don't like this gimmick partly because... well, that's all it is, a gimmick. This movie didn't change my mind about the 3D but at the same time, for once, it did enhance the experience. This film didn't use corny 3D tactics like throwing anything at you, but instead, they use the 3D to show the depth of the scenery. During this entire movie I really felt like I could move to another part of the theater and find myself seeing everything from a different point of view.

Everything about this movie was brilliantly done and you can tell that this is easily Cameron's baby. This is the movie that he's been dreaming of making for years. From the individual styling of each character to the smallest details of the Na'vi people this movie was just done completely brilliant, even the animals had their own personalities.

To sum up this masterpiece, this was what should have been a summer blockbuster but instead it came out in the winter. If they continue to make films using these characters this could be just as great as the original Star Wars saga. Topping out at a 9 out of 10 this movie had very few flaws and couldn't have been done better.

Sherlock Holmes

Guy Richie has yet to make a movie that I do not thoroughly enjoy. With that said, I have to marvel at yet another one of his movies with one of my new favorite actors, Robert Downey Jr. It has been years since I've read Sherlock Holmes but I believe it's safe to say that Guy Richie did for Sherlock Holmes what J.J. Abrhams did for Star Trek.

Robert Downey Jr. does an immaculate at portraying the opium smoking Sherlock Holmes and while they never actually say that he's smoking opium it's easily apparent that he is out of his mind half the time. When Richie shows us how Holmes goes through his mental process he does it in such a spectacular way. Holmes clearly see's the entire fight through while planning out every action and reaction and explaining the ramifications of his movies.

Jude Law plays Dr. John Watson, Holmes' assistant and physician. Both actors did such a surpurb job at playing such classic characters that you begin to forget they are just actors and not actually best friends who solve crimes together.

Without giving to much of the plot away, Watson is trying to move out of 221 Baker St. and in with his girlfriend Mary, but can't seem to pull himself away from the charismatic Holmes. With a touch of super natural in the mix it brings together one hell of a murder mystery. In right fashion when the story comes to a close, Sherlock explains everything and lays out every little detail that you never even picked up on until now.

Through and through, I've tried to find something that I could say would have been better but I'm at a loss for words here. Even the musical score fit the moods and scenes brilliantly. I don't know how it could have been done better and frankly I don't really think it could have, it lead perfectly into a possible sequel or more without even coming off hokey once. The film was a perfect match of action, comedy, and drama. Without a doubt in my mind one of better films of the year. Sherlock Holmes easily gets a 9 out of 10.

Apologies

So as of late, I have run into a bit of financial issues. Thusly, I have not had the time or resources to see or review any new films. Though, I am excited to finally be seeing Avatar when it comes out. Just wanted to send the apology to anyone out there who does read this. Changes are coming to updates and everything, so be excited!

Another tid bit of information I wanted to send out your way, just downloaded the new browser Google Chrome, and it is crazy fast. Sure, it's got it's bugs with videos and netflix instant view isn't supported yet, but what can you expect? It's still in it's Beta testing. Runs a lot cleaner and faster than firefox and new add-ons are added daily, so check it out... Just a few thoughts

Paranormal Activity

Horror fans, ghost fans, and anyone who genuinely want to get terrified by a movie will all enjoy this dirt cheap movie for what it is, a purely scary movie. Oren Peli directed this movie with the lowest of low budgets of only $15,000 and creates this movie that plays on all your scenes.

The story is as follows, Micah and Katie have moved in together and Micah finds out that Katie has been haunted by this "entity" since she was 8 years old. Micah then decides to document the paranormal activities that go on in their home. At first things just start building up. Nothing really happens during the day until shit hits the proverbial fan. But the day shots really set up the scenes for the night terrors.

On the plus side of this movie there is no descending once this movie gets going. The most terrifying scene is the final scene when everything goes bananas. I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone but it is the second ending that has been attached to the film.

Originally, the film was released in 2007 at a scary movie festival and took tons of awards. Steven Spielberg caught wind of this and supposedly locked himself in his room because this movie was so scary. But the films ending was changed to really try and get one more massive scare out of audiences.

The scare tactics used in this movie are very simple and easy to pull off but Peli uses your senses and lack of senses to really terrify each person. Though this movie is filmed in another Blair Witch rip off, it's not suppose to be a high budget scare fest.

As a critic of all kinds of movies, I have to say that scary movies are my favorite. I loved being younger and having a movie scare me so badly that I couldn't get to sleep because I was so terrified of the thoughts that the movie put in my mind. Not saying that this movie made me stay up all night, but I have to say this was honestly one of the few movies that actually scared me and had my heart beating faster and harder than it has in years.

Though, I must say that the acting was not the best acting I've ever seen. I also had a tough time believing that Micah and Katie lived in this gorgeous house, since Katie's a student and Micah was a Day trader. It just didn't seem believable for them to be living in such a huge and amazing house.

All in all though, I must say that this was a great movie that kept me on the edge of my seat, literally. But I have to say that this movie easily deserves the 7 out of 10.

Marketing Problems

So it has been a recent occurrence that movie trailers are portraying films to embellish the action scenes and stories. The only problem with this is once you sit down into the movie and watch it, you are then disappointed in the fact that this movie you went to go see isn't at all what you were expecting. Granted, sometimes this can be great but when you go see a movie entitled "Gamer" one would expect more than fifteen minutes of the game itself. Or better yet, a movie called "Inglorious Basterds" where the the Basterds only appear in four scenes in the movie.

Now I have no issues with either of these movies, in fact, I enjoyed both of those thoroughly and plan on purchasing them to add to my collection of films. All I am trying to say is that when you watch a trailer for a movie that looks like it's going to be more action than story, your going to be really surprised and almost put off when you find out it's exactly the opposite of that.

Let's start with the big blockbusters of this summer. First, was District 9, Peter Jackson's film that no one really knew about because there were very few trailers out. Most of this movie was viral marketing but when all the marketing is clearly viral, your going to miss out on a great deal of the public. Friends of mine were completely put off to this movie because of the fact that the trailers were very few and didn't show much of anything. Though, if more of the film was shown, the amazing story in this film would have been ruined.

Next, we have Inglorious Basterds, the Tarantino film based around World War 2. The only problem with this movie was that the Basterds themselves were on screen for little more than thirty minutes. The story line itself was amazing and though it was a story about the other characters, the movie called "Inglorious Basterds" might not have been the most appropriate name for this film.

Thirdly, we have Gamer, the movie with Gerald Butler and Micheal C. Hall, about real people control the criminals who are fighting in a constant slayer game. Though our "hero" must win 30 games in order to win their freedom, we only see five minutes of games 27-30. Granted that's all you really needed to see, but I would personally have liked to see a few more games and how ridiculous and intense these games can be.

Lastly, the most recent movie I have seen "9", the Tim Burton movie (he produced it). By watching the trailers, one would come to believe that this movie is a complete action movie with very little on the story itself. Though, to my great surprise, this movie is completely story driven with very little action sequences.

Even with my complaints about the marketing techniques, I must say that each and every one of these movies I thoroughly enjoyed. The only thing I wanted to comment about these movies was that with such great stock footage to work with, it's a little absurd that the marketing companies used these scenes to spread the movie on false pretenses. All I'm asking for is a little more truth behind the trailers rather than sloshing a random bunch of scenes together.

Inglorious Basterds

Tarantino has done it again. Another great movie to add to his cartography of films. Inglorious Basterds is the fictional story of two groups of people during World War II. All the stories intertwine in a brilliant combination of comedy and satire.

The first story we come across is the story of Shosanna Dreyfus, played by Melanie Laurent. Shosanna, a young Jewish woman who was hidden when Col. Hans Landa, Christoph Waltz, comes in and shoots her entire family. Shosanna then runs off into the distance.

We are then introduced to Lt. Aldo Raine, brilliantly played by Brad Pitt. This Lt. has gathered a motley crew of army men, who just happen to be Jewish themselves, to go behind enemy lines and hide out in the woods and do nothing more then kill Nazi's. They call themselves the Inglorious Basterds, and they take great pride in what they do to a point where it becomes comical.

Brad Pitt really proved he has some chops left with his portrayal of Aldo Raine. The character is so brilliantly written and portrayed that it clearly falls into one of my favorite character ever in a movie. The only issue with this whole movie that stands out like a sore thumb is you only see the Basterds for about 20 minutes of actual screen time.

This film is broken up in traditional Tarantino fashion as chapters. Although, his chapters actually line up threw me for a loop at first but this movie should have been longer. I don't say that very often but the characters who were so enthralling just needed more time. Parts of the movie were a tad slow but only if you weren't paying that close attention to the plot but if you were, this was truly a story that was music to my ears.

This movie forced my thought process going again after a long summer of unsatisfying movies, and makes me want to go back and see it again. While also making me laugh at the absurdity of the characters and the witty satirical dialogue. Without even taking a second thought, this movie pulls a 9.5 out of 10.

District 9

District 9 was one movie that I never had my radar on to because I didn't see much about it that really sparked my interest. Even the online buzz never brought me into it, what really made me go see this film was Peter Jackson's name attached to it. I figured he deserved at least one redeeming movie since King Kong, and hopefully this would be it.

Most Alien movies are the humans trying to fight for survival whilst the aliens terrorize the planet, or more simply New York, or somewhere in the USA. This movie flips that norm on its head when aliens, called Prawns for how they look, come to Earth and just hover over Johannesburg and don't invade at all. Instead, the government takes it's place and takes the aliens out and put them on Earth so we can "help them be healthier". I don't want to give to much away because this was such a great story and to really know anything is to ruin some of the amazement of the story.

This film was filmed in a very interesting way. It started out as a documentary with interviews and scene footage. Then turns to a regular movie and then closes as it would have if it was a documentary. Throughout the movie they show scenes from local news shows just to keep the mythos in mind that this is actually going on now. Some of the camera shots were just spectacularly shot and literally makes you feel the uneasiness of the people in this movie.

To my surprise, there is not one big name actor in this movie. The actors in it do a decent job of seeming like ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Though none of them really shine through as amazing actors but they pull off their characters as if they were merely extensions of themselves.

This was the movie you've been waiting to see all summer but didn't know it until you walk out of that theater. It was cleverly hidden and given just that little bit of mystique to draw you in. Strangely, the only problem I had with the movie was the simple fact that everyone in the movie didn't really have much of a back story other than the main character Wikus, played by Sharlto Copey. Though, it doesn't really matter because they cleverly close up all story elements and there are small twists that show intents that could lead us to a District 10.

Like I said, this is the movie you've been waiting to see all summer without knowing it. District 9 gets a 9 out of 10.