AVATAR!
I was so extatic to see this movie. I went with my friend Jacob who said he'd been waiting for this movie to come out for about a year. We decided to go together to see it at an early bird showing which means that we pay less than a matinee price. At cinemark you pay "only" 5.50 for the very first showing of the day, plus the three dollars for the 3D formatting. So it was still around 9 bucks for some reason...tax?
Anyway, to the movie....
It opened with some incredible science fiction images of people being shipped off to Pandora, and Jake looking at his dead brothers body. The spaceships made me think of watching a Star Wars film for the first time in theaters. This is what it must have been like for those people back in 1977 when that giant ship came onto the screen. Only this one was in 3D. The visuals aren't too stunning, when they arive on Pandora. We get to meet Sigourney Weaver's character. I immediately began to like her the moment she came on the screen. We begin to understand what the mission is and what an Avatar is. Sigourney Weaver's character begins to talk about the Na'vi people. There is immediately a conflict between the scientists on Pandora studying the people and the Biology of the planet, and the Military forces that want to take the rich minerals that bring in the big bucks.
When the planet is first being explored, I am reminded of Jurassic park when we are first looking at the dinosaurs with the caravan of tour jeeps. Only this world is incredible to behold. It is "planet earth" on steroids, but healthy ones if that is possible. It looks and feels completely real. I had the feeling plenty of times as if I was going to movies for the first time in my life. There were times when I was actually afraid of falling off cliffs, I was afraid of being stabbed in the face, I was afraid of being shot with an arrow. These were all feelings I was literally feeling because of the world that James Cameron created, and because of the ingenious ways the 3D process was implimented. These things I felt throughout the entire movie, not just the moment when the planet was first being explored.
The Na'vi people are beautiful. They have every human quality and characteristic. They express themselves the same ways that we do, only their tails are the additional expressive feature. They are about three to four times the size of humans, and they fly about the trees with the agility of Tarzan. They're eyes, when scaled to size, are much larger; their ears are something in between horse and elf. They're blue skin is the overarching color in the color palette of the film.
When Jake is going between the world of human and na'vi, it is as if he is entering something that is surreal, and dreamlike. Not quite real, but not fake either. The na'vi soon becomes more real to the audience as they becomes more real to Jake. The Na'vi become the focus of the film and they become the people, the Humans almost become the fake monsters that we so often see in VFX films. whatever that means.
The culture of the Na'vi is explained through the lessons of Neytiri to Jake. We learn about the flying beasts and horselike creatures that the Na'vi ride and make a connection with using their hair. We learn about the way they speak to their dead ancestors through the roots of the trees.
anyway that's all i can think of for now. :)
Monday, December 21, 2009
Monday, November 02, 2009
Science Fiction Movies.
There have been a slew of science fiction movies this year. Well, good science fiction, in my opinion. Three of them are noteworthy: Star Trek, District 9, and Moon. I just saw "Moon" last night at the dollar theater. I'm starting to count the days until Avatar is released. It will be as if I am watching a science fiction movie, in what used to be a science fiction manner. I will be watching it in a high resolution format, probably, in the new 3-D, and it was shot with High-Definition 3-D cameras. Not to mention, it has state-of-the art visual effects, it is the most expensive film of all time, and it is coming out in the year 2009. Who would have thought? Well, there are some big incredible effects movies coming out this holiday season, including 2012 and The Lovely Bones. This year is stuffed with computer visual effects.
But, as always, it is never the visual effects that make the movie. Even though the visual effects in all of the movies I mentioned above are state of the art. It is always the dynamic story that makes the movie good. Notice I did not mention Transformers? Star Trek was a big budget movie with a studio backing it. Because it focused on brining those characters and themes about star trek that everyone loves, it succeeded. Moon and District 9 are different though. They are basically independent movies with a huge following. The visual effects in both of these films are just as seamless as those in Star Trek. The only difference is, there are bigger and larger moments in Star Trek and thus more FX are needed.
Moon follows the story of a man who works on the moon by himself. He is basically a maintenance man for the machinery on the moon. These machines are responsible for harvesting an Element from the moon to fuel the earth's resources. He deals with the struggle of loneliness and missing his wife and kid. There is a robot who is played by Kevin Spacy who is his support. This robot gives an equally compelling and creepy performance as Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
There have been a slew of science fiction movies this year. Well, good science fiction, in my opinion. Three of them are noteworthy: Star Trek, District 9, and Moon. I just saw "Moon" last night at the dollar theater. I'm starting to count the days until Avatar is released. It will be as if I am watching a science fiction movie, in what used to be a science fiction manner. I will be watching it in a high resolution format, probably, in the new 3-D, and it was shot with High-Definition 3-D cameras. Not to mention, it has state-of-the art visual effects, it is the most expensive film of all time, and it is coming out in the year 2009. Who would have thought? Well, there are some big incredible effects movies coming out this holiday season, including 2012 and The Lovely Bones. This year is stuffed with computer visual effects.
But, as always, it is never the visual effects that make the movie. Even though the visual effects in all of the movies I mentioned above are state of the art. It is always the dynamic story that makes the movie good. Notice I did not mention Transformers? Star Trek was a big budget movie with a studio backing it. Because it focused on brining those characters and themes about star trek that everyone loves, it succeeded. Moon and District 9 are different though. They are basically independent movies with a huge following. The visual effects in both of these films are just as seamless as those in Star Trek. The only difference is, there are bigger and larger moments in Star Trek and thus more FX are needed.
Moon follows the story of a man who works on the moon by himself. He is basically a maintenance man for the machinery on the moon. These machines are responsible for harvesting an Element from the moon to fuel the earth's resources. He deals with the struggle of loneliness and missing his wife and kid. There is a robot who is played by Kevin Spacy who is his support. This robot gives an equally compelling and creepy performance as Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Where the Wild Things Are.
Where the wild things are is sad. I mean really sad. It is about two broken families. The broken family that Max is a part of, and the broken family that the "Wild Things" have. Max runs away from his hurt, he is angry at his mother and begins to act like an animal or a 'wild thing.' He ends up on this island filled with the wild things and somehow he becomes their king.
Where the wild things are is sad. I mean really sad. It is about two broken families. The broken family that Max is a part of, and the broken family that the "Wild Things" have. Max runs away from his hurt, he is angry at his mother and begins to act like an animal or a 'wild thing.' He ends up on this island filled with the wild things and somehow he becomes their king.
I was pretty sad throughout the whole thing. Mostly because I was also feeling sad that day, but also because the film struck a few chords in me. It reminded me of my wounded childhood.
Max's mother is dating a guy and obviously Max is upset at her decision. He wants her attention. He is also upset because his sister is hanging out with some people and she does not stick up for him when his igloo is destroyed.
The land of the wild things is full of messed up relationships and family struggle. The wild things are trying their best to pull it together and be a family. When Max gets there, they are getting ready to give up. He becomes a savior to them and they begin to rely on him to be their king.
Max's solution to every problem is violence. When there is conflict and arguments, he decides that the best thing to do is to have a dirt clot fight. He makes one group the 'good guys' and one group the 'bad guys.' This fight creates only more conflict.
Every wild thing character has so much going on behind it's surface. Though they are monsters, they are very human characters. It seems like this was the only way to make the story understandable, was to create the wild things with very human emotions and human problems.
Building stuff was always a kids past time. Max brings this hobby of building and creating back to the wild things when they are building their family home. This gives them something to do and something to look forward to.
Just some thoughts....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)