"Avatar" - Film Review

Avatar. It is poised to be one of the biggest box office hits ever. One critic called it the “perfect” film. Well, maybe. I saw it and was prepared to not like it – I was surprised, I liked it… a lot!

Film is an interesting medium; it runs on a continuum between being an Art Form on one end and a Consumer Product on the other. The way the media industry cranks them out, one would easily assume this film would be yet another Consumer Product. Perhaps in America, they mostly are, unlike foreign films (European in particular) which decidedly lean more toward Art.

The crafted art film is both beautifully visual and has an engaging plot. I think of Amelie, for example. Whereas American film plots are annoyingly predictable and are recycled repeatedly under different film titles. Foreign films, or the occasional American film, such as Memento or The Usual Suspects try to diverge from the standard predictable plot line.

So where does Avatar fall within the Art – Consumer continuum? I would say about half-way, actually. The plot line is almost entirely the same as Dances With Wolves. Yet it has been brought to the screen with a renewed freshness through stunning computer graphics and 3D effects.

There is sexual tension but no sex. There is combat but no blood. There is violence but it is not violent. Yawn potential? No, I was engaged. The characters seemed quite real, and yet fantasy was effectively infused in this film to make for compelling fiction.

Of course the computer graphics are what the news media has focused on. But often CG is rendered with inane and even silly design and can completely ruin a film. Consider when the boy on the bicycle in ET became airborne, peddling his bike across the sky, they ruined the film making it into an alien Mary Poppins. Likewise, when Close Encounters of a Third Kind revealed the alien smiling like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, they dumped the film into a bucket of schmaltz.

But the set designers of Avatar clearly put a lot of thought and science into the design of the geography, botany and biology of the set. I found my self believing that such life could likely evolve on some distant planet. The science was imaginative but believable; and breathtakingly beautiful as well.

I could easily position myself as a film snob and find elements in which to criticize this film. But I won’t; I liked it… very much. In an era where I often don’t bother to watch a new release in the theater, preferring instead to wait for it to come out on DVD, I am glad I saw it in the venue for which it was designed: Large screen 3D.

See Avatar yourself in 3D, then return and post your reviews here. I would love to hear other opinions about this film.

Best in film: "Touching the Void"

My friend William had been trying for some time to talk me into seeing a favorite film of his titled “Touching the Void”. When I inquired about the story, he told me it was about two mountain climbers in South America and what happened to them when one of their climbs went horribly wrong.

I was not enthused about seeing the film. But he insisted, reassuring me; “…nobody dies”. Not what I would call a ringing endorsement, but I relented – a glad I did; this film had a profound influence on me and an important message about our choices in life.

The film would be considered a docudrama about young British mountain climbers, Simon and Joe. Young, impetuous and blithely unaware of their own mortality, the two experienced climbers scale Siula Grande in Peru. The ascent goes according to plan, however, during the descent, Joe slips and falls, breaking both his legs. They are now both in very big trouble.

They begin the painstaking process of trying to lower Joe down the steep face of the mountain. As fate would have it, Joe is lowered over the edge of a cliff… there is not enough rope to bring him safely down. Now Joe is suspended over the face of the cliff; Simon retaining hold on the rope on the cliffs edge. With two broken legs, Joe cannot climb up, and he is literally at the end of his rope. Simon can only hold on; which he does, but time is running short. Now the weather turns worse; cold, frostbitten, they will both die if they don’t do something – there is no alternative, Simon cuts the rope. Joe falls helplessly down the mountain face and into a crevasse.

Simon makes his way down the mountain to base camp. He is in mental and emotional turmoil about the choice and action he has made and cannot bring himself to leave the base camp.

Deep in the crevasse, Joe has survived though lodged on a narrow shelf of ice. He pulls on the rope above… which falls untethered into his lap. He inspects the end of the rope – it has been cut. Hopelessness settles in. Joe decides that he must do something; anything. In great pain he begins to inch his way down deeper down into the crevasse. The pain of any movement of his legs causes agonizing pain, yet he pulls himself along, inch by inch; moving forward.

I will not give away the remainder of the story of this true story, Touching the Void is a film well worth seeing and one I have recommended to many people. The underlying value in this story is that, given insurmountable odds, in a position of hopelessness, there is always “something” you can do – the critical thing is to keep making decisions, making choices. The story of Simon and Joe is a testament to the importance of trying even when facing the most desperate circumstances. It is an important allegory for facing the trials that life throws at us. When we are faced with the most insurmountable barriers there are always choices we can make. The secret to survival is to keep making choices no matter what.

Woody: Quit while you are ahead!!

I used to be a big Woody Allen fan. Were I to pick what I believe was his best (meaning, finely crafted film art) it would be Crimes and Misdemeanors, starring Martin Landau. (Rotten Tomatoes gives this one a 92%).

Unfortunately I believe that Woody Allen should have gone the route of cartoonists Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) and Gary Larson (The Far Side) and quit before his creativity ran out. Allen chose not to take this route and released yet another embarrassing film Whatever Works, starring Larry David.

Now I am a total fan of Larry David. We are deep into catching up on his HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. However I think David, the creator of the Seinfeld TV comedy, is best when he is performing his own work. Apparently the script for Whatever Works was penned by Allen back in the 1970’s for Zero Mostel, but then shelved when Mostel died before it could be brought to film. After seeing this film I can only assume that Allen did no more than blow the dust off the script and hand it to Larry David.

Perhaps David needed the work or was thrilled to work with the legendary director… I don’t know, but I can’t imagine in his heart of hearts, David doesn’t secretly regret his involvement in this dog.

The whole story line is embarrassingly cliché; older man marries a much younger woman who is attracted to his intellect. A series of unbelievable convolutions occur involving the young bride‘s mother, father and their awakening from small town neieve religious simple folk to uptown New York hipsters. Everyone ends up living happy ever after in the end. Oh please!!

Rotten Tomatoes gave this film a generous (by my standards) 46%. Sometimes I wonder if film reviewers actually watch the films they review or just peek at the trailers.

Woody needs to retire and rest on the reputation for his good works. Larry David needs to keep performing his OWN work. And Whatever Works needs to quickly go to DVD so Target will have something to put in its $3.99 bargain table near the exit.