Now Playing: Avatar

Back on track with GG quest: Avatar. Clearly, this movie is technical wizardry. Clocking in at almost 150 minutes, it's all in 3D, has seamless CGI that actually made me forget that these weren't people in latex-makeup and was simply visually stunning. Movie of the Year? Hellz no.

This is the kind of movie that should have been released in the summer blockbuster season. It's an action movie, pure and simple. An amazingly beautiful action movie, but an action movie nonetheless. Lots of things go boom, the plot is thin and Michelle Rodriguez has a gun. See? Action movie.

And the plot is thin, cliché even. It's like every oppressor/oppressee movie ever made. Take a little Last Samurai, a little Dance with Wolves and a sprinkle of Blood Diamond, et voilà: Avatar. Movie of the Year? I repeat, hellz no.

What I wish had happened was that James Cameron had simply signed up to make the World of Warcraft movie. With only some minor tweaks (i.e. longer ears on the Navi, a different colour scheme for Pandora), this could have been night elves versus Terrans. Just look at the cover art for the game (left)! At the very least, I hope that the same tech team can be brought on board for WoW. I mean, if Avatar can get a MotY nod, then WoW, with its FAR superior plot and characters should be a shoe-in.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

*********

Also watched two DVDs for the quest. I usually don't review DVDs, but these are special circumstances. So, brief reviews.

Hangover: really? I thought I Love You, Man was much funnier. There were only a few places I actually laughed out loud. The whole thing was totally over the top, relied on gross-out moments for humour and asked its audience to be as stupid as its characters (a hard feat). The revelatory moment was so silly (I kept asking why didn't he think of that in the first place? What new information has he gotten that triggers this brainwave?) The trailer was funnier. I wouldn't even rent it. 2 out of 5 stars.

Julie & Julia: I have been wanting to see this this it came out. I thought the way the movie bases itself on two books and manages to weave the two together into a cohesive whole was pretty compelling. Meryl Streep is genius... is there an accent that woman can't master? It was made all the more appropriate by the fact that I was doing my holiday baking while it was on. I liked it so much, I watched it twice. In the same night. 4 out of 5 stars.