I saw the film in 3D a couple weeks ago, and I must say that the technical achievements are impressive, but the story is completely underwhelming. I knew within the first 15 minutes exactly how the plot would play out, who would live, who would die, who would fall in love, and who would no longer care (that would be me). For a film offering a sweeping three-dimensional experience, it is ironic that the characters without exception are all one-dimensional and completely predictable. James Cameron has fallen into the same hole that swallowed George Lucas – an obsessive fascination with shiny new toys and a marked dis-interest in character development.
The following is my one-sentence review which I offered my friends on Facebook:
“Avatar 3D: Amazing multi-million dollar special effects wasted on a ten-cent script.”
I think I’m going to have to suspend my ban on watching comic-book based movies and rent Iron Man. I’ve had several people tell me that it is one of the best of the genre, and, frankly, I’ll need a little background information at some point, because the trailer for Iron Man 2 looks… freakin’ awesome.
I had planned to post a significant rant regarding the current weather situation, in which I list my complaints beginning with the 3+ hours a day I’ve spent plowing the road for the last five days, as well as a tirade about the sheer difficulty of getting around in this stuff without being smacked by some clown in his 4×4 who thinks the physics of ice and snow don’t apply to him at speeds above 45 mph, and ending with a screed about how this massive snowfall is making me crazy, which I would illustrate with a YouTube clip from The Shining. You know the one (“Heeeeeres Johnny!”).
But what’s the point?
The fact is, we chose to move up here in the woods knowing of (and in fact hoping for) potentially large amounts of snowfall in the winter. Complaining about it doesn’t make it better. In fact, it just makes it worse. In addition, such an attitude seems petty and narcissistic when one takes into account the real difficulty faced by so many others who lack the resources (not to mention the tractor) that we have at our disposal.
So really, it’s not that bad. In fact, it’s quite lovely. And it puts me in a completely different frame of mind…
