I am not a movie critic. i hate movie critics. Almost as much as i hate Michael Cera (but not quite as much as i hate Michael Cera). That was my superficial and unnecessary preface to this, uh, discussion of a movie i just saw. i think you can guess what comes next.
Avatar was a terrible movie. Everybody i know who was not a wonky wonk liberal arts nerd (see: everyone i was friends with in college) loved this movie. Visually pretty? Yes. Prettier than District 9? Not really. Rife with thematic elements from District 9? Yeah, pretty much.
400 million dollars was the budget for this film. We could treat half the cases of malaria in the world with that amount.
This, however, is not a relative cost of entertainment versus real problems thing. It is just astounding that a movie that bad could cost 400 million dollars.
Avatar was essentially a computer-rendered combination of: Fern Gully (Awesome movie, btw) and Pocahontas (hence the title of this thing. there is definitely a scene where he owns the earth and still all he'll own is earth until...), complete with the _exact same_ mech robot driven by crazed military commander versus guy coming to terms with his alien identity climax fight scene.
I love a lot of people who told me they liked it for the quiet messages it sent to the audience. I did not have the heart to tell them that the "ecological awareness" and "anti-war" themes were baseball bat subtle. I should note that most of Cameron's message was appreciable given the enormous number of people that will go see this film.
Anyway. Emily and I saw it for free. My first theater hopping experience definitely showed me that crime doesn't pay. On the other hand, the movie we actually paid for, Sherlock Holmes, was very, very good.
There, thorough reason to hate myself.
-kevatar(d?)
2 comments:
I would only go see Avatar with my father. If he paid for it. And bought me popcorn and the 3D glasses. And I'd surely still complain. So, perhaps it's best he will likely go with someone who is a cheaper date.
On the other hand, I am glad to hear you enjoyed Sherlock Holmes. Solo movie date, here I come.
I haven't seen Avatar yet, but a friend whose movie reviews I usually, almost always, agree with said: "James Cameron spent 15 years and hundreds of millions of dollars to remake FERNGULLY: THE LAST RAINFOREST." http://everflame.livejournal.com/551645.html
Sherlock Holmes I LOVED, however. If you like the original stories and the move, you will likely also like the book, The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie King.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beekeeper%27s_Apprentice
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