While any movie able to tackle the box office totals as this one has must clearly have something to say for itself, I was generally let down by the storytelling. Certain sacrifices must be made in making a story more appropriate for mass audience, and I can accept this as a matter of doing business. But somewhere in that compromise Avatar lost something. We’re treated to an absolute masterpiece of visual standards, blowing away any previous 3D efforts and setting a new bar for immersive film technique and subtle use of an oft-abused third dimension in film. The score is able to build and sustain great swells of emotion and does its best at times to nudge the story along. Lost in this visual and aural treat are our characters.. ambling about and stumbling through an oversimplified and devastatingly drawn out jumble of predictable plot twists and conclusions.

I am an expert at leaving my cynicism and disbelief at the theatre door and can find great joy in ninety-nine percent of all film I go to see, even the most ridiculous B-movie can be a great ride while accepting the inherent faults of less expensive cinema. Sometime during Avatar though, I didn’t start to disbelieve the film so much as I wanted to believe more. Cameron’s dialogue is about to tread the line between forced delivery and natural development well enough, but our story is so cookie cutter science fiction it almost kills the merits gained throughout. An invading race, an indigenous race, a boy-meets-girl story, a sudden realization of corporate/human greed, a battle, all wrapped up nicely with an ending I won’t ruin but you can guess.

Sequel talk has begun in earnest, and why shouldn’t it? $1,341,694,147 gross worldwide as of this post. Amazing 3D technology. And clearly popular momentum. Let’s take a risk though, let’s tell a new story with a sequel – explore new science fiction ground. A repeat of the Human vs Na’vi struggle will simply deliver the mediocre sequel results we’ve all seen in the past.

Regardless, it’s worth seeing for the experience. Don’t dare see it in 2D. Don’t let AMC and other theaters trick you into paying more for a licensed but sub-par IMAX experience. A traditional 3D screen is the best and only way this movie should be watched. (Minus on a real, full-sized IMAX screen in 3D)

Next up: Does Dan Brown Still Got It?

There’s a growing file on my desktop that has partially completed posts, and I’ve got a lot of subjects that I’ve been really meaning to elaborate on and explain some of my thoughts on. So.. while I definitely say this way too much, some great new content coming this way soon!

‘Til then, my sorrowful readers!

Copy of Nixon's Alternate Speech

I do not pretend to be anything short of a giant history-buff. The annals of history, from the most mundane trivia to the most intricate and thought provoking issues that plague mankind; I’ve always been wholly consumed with curiosity and delight at its exploration. Today I found a copy of a speech, meant to be delivered by President Nixon in the event the Apollo 11 moon landing was not successful and that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were stuck to die on the surface of the Moon.

Background: On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon. The following speech was prepared by Nixon’s then speechwriter, William Safire, to be used in the event of a disaster that would maroon the astronauts on the moon:

Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.

These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice.

These two men are laying down their lives in mankind’s most noble goal: the search for truth and understanding.

They will be mourned by their families and friends; they will be mourned by their nation; they will be mourned by the people of the world; they will be mourned by a Mother Earth that dared send two of her sons into the unknown.

In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.

In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations. In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.

Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man’s search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.

For every human being who looks up at the moon in the nights to come will know that there is some corner of another world that is forever mankind.

I append it here for your bemusement.

It was delayed until 1996, where on its release it was forced to compete against the Sony Playstation, Sega Saturn, and the Nintendo 64. If this wasn’t bad enough, it was marketed as much more than a game console but it was viewed by consumers as an overpriced console that just happened to also be a semi-functional computer/web device. It’s starting price of $599 did not help the Pippin gain any market traction either.

Pippin (front)

Pippin (rear)