There are two things of note I need to mention: The season premiere of Lost and James Cameron's Avatar.
Avatar first. I felt an obligation to see it.
I'm Mr. PhD-candidate in film and seeing as how this flick was being talked about as the NEXT BIG THING, I felt like I had to see it to keep up with the times. James Cameron, the director, is a gargantuan jerk. I've read enough interviews with him and articles about him to know that he is not someone I would enjoy spending time with. Titanic's visuals were impressive but the story was trite, the dialogue was corny, and I just didn't think it deserved to be as big of a movie as it was. So, frankly, I was kind of hoping Avatar would be a little bit of a failure or that, at least, I'd see it and not like it very much. Unfortunately, neither of those things happened. It is the biggest money-maker of all time and, sadly, I thought it was totally freakin' awesome to watch. It was exhilarating and more accomplished visually than anything else I've ever seen. The word that kept coming to my mind as I watched it was "complete." The picture was complete as in there were no silly effects that stood out and drew away from the overall effect. There was no Jar Jar Binks, no crappy green-screen line around performers, no disconnect between the actual and the virtual. As much as I dislike Cameron's ego and self-indulgence, he has created something that backs him up. The narrative isn't anything particularly new - you might as well call it Dances With Aliens -- but the dialogue wasn't embarrassing and the characters were likable. Between Star Trek's Uhura and Avatar's love interest, I think Zoe Saldana might be my new sci-fi girlfriend.
Lost: The premiere was last night and it delivered. I won't go into any details for those who still have it waiting on their DVR but I will say that, after 8 months, it was a satisfying, twisty-turny kick-off to what I hope will be an excellent final season.
In other news, Parker continues to be fat, cheerful, and perfect. Maryn is in a children's choir, she and Avery are both in swimming, Suzanne has her hands full with Parker and helping some of the ladies she visits from church, and I am working my stupid face off teaching six classes while still trying publish the campus literary journal and work on my dissertation. You'd think I'd be skinnier than I am with all that work.
4 comments:
I was afraid you had fallen into the "black hole" you had written about.
Glad to have you back although it seems you will not have time to do much blogging with all that is on your "plate" ...pun intended !
See Mark? It happens . . .
We saw Avatar over Christmas break and we loved it!! However, I went into the movie not knowing the length. When I could see the imminent war, I leaned over to Andrew and screamed, "There's more!!!" (In a good way!)
I had to record LOST as we have this meeting on Tuesday nights - I can't wait to watch it Thursday night. It's freaking killing me!
So glad to hear it's going to be worth the (even extra for me) wait!
I felt like avatar really was like Dances with Aliens and was fairly predictable. Good visual, but at no point during the film did I feel a sense of intensity, meaning at no time did I ever feel like Jake would not win in the end and that is what I didn't like.
I have never watched a single episode of Lost. Is there really a smoke monster?
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