Cinema

I have been extremely lax on staying current with movies.  But in the last couple of weeks I have made an effort to see several movies that I missed throughout the year (I guess I have to say last year now).  This will probably be a lengthy post so I'll talk about the others later. 


First up was Avatar (not Avatar).  We had a difficult time deciding between that one and Sherlock Holmes.  But the deciding factor was the cinema experience.  I figured Sherlock Holmes would be equally great or disappointing (which is sure to be damn near impossible with the people involved) whether we watched it on the big screen or on our mammoth 32" TV at home.  But a movie like Avatar, especially in 3D, would suffer a visual beating, worthy of a sure-fire Oscar-winning performance by Hillary Swank (no one takes an on-screen beating like her), if we forced its fetish-in-waiting Na'vi onto our screen.


The main and side plots are nothing revolutionary, but they're also not as derivative as some reviews made it sound.  Many parts were somewhat predictable but just as many twists were unexpected.  The acting was superb (as superb as one can be playing clichéd stereotypes with myriad explosions all around).  But the cinematography and visual effects are where this movie shines.  Many times (I lost count how many) I couldn't tell whether some elements of the shot were real or digital.  And these weren't easy things to digitally render.  Moving trees/waterfalls and the like.  

I'm still not sure how I feel about this.  On one hand I'm super excited that technology has gotten to that point.  But I also understand that means that actors will now stand in a green room and talk to themselves for a month or so during filming and then see the finished product when we do.  I'm not actor, but I can't help but think this will harm the art of acting.  I remember great acting moments just as much as great action moments.  I'll never forget working at Blockbuster and having someone mention Heat.  Being incredibly ignorant of most cinema when I was hired, I had never heard of it.  Sitting down to watch this movie, and coming upon a scene with Pacino and De Niro sitting across from each other, acting their asses off,  really made an impression.  If you haven't seen it, just buy it.  You'll want to see it a few more times. 



(Side Note:  As someone who has played MMORPGs for many years I have seen my fair share of horribly rendered water.  However, I am currently playing Lord of the Rings Online and I most definitely does not suffer from this affliction (not Affliction).  I have been consistently impressed with nearly everything in my almost three years of playing.  I can't give Turbine enough praise for how they've run the game from beta through now.)

At one point in the movie I shifted in my seat (it is 150 minutes after all) and leaned my elbows on my knees.  I reached up to swat some dust away from my face twice before I realized it wasn't dust; at least not any that I could actually touch.  The 3D effects are incredibly subtle in this movie.  I am by no means a 3D movie connoisseur.  But every 3D movie I've seen, save for Avatar, has used the effects as nothing more than a gimmick.

Also, scale would normally be an issue when dealing with the size differences of things that are in this movie.  I absolutely love the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but there are a few times  in the films when something just looks...off, with respect to the scale.  Nothing looks wrong but it just doesn't lock in.  That was never an issue in Avatar.  You're made to experience the queasiness of seeing something so large it breaks your sense of scale completely. This movie makes you feel scale in the pit of your stomach.  This feeling and the 3D effects combine beautifully in one early scene in particular.  A giant, and I mean giant, vehicle rolls onto screen and you see people in jeeps (or something similar) in the foreground.  The scene lasts longer than a normal shot of this nature would and I think it's for the sole reason of letting you totally take in the scale.  But rather than put the mammoth vehicle in a gimmicky 3D shot, Cameron uses the effects on the tiny foreground elements in the bottom right-hand corner.  This effectively pulls your eyes to that part of the screen and forces you to refocus when you look at the background.  My descriptions don't do it justice but you'll understand when you see it.  Nothing really happens in the scene but it still sticks in my mind.

I don't like to give stars or thumbs or bald, naked, gold men but I did enjoy the movie.  I would watch it again and recommended it to others.