I don't want to have to wear these every single time I go to the movies. (Photo CC by 2.0, via pink_fish13 on Flickr)

Like I’ve said before, I am one of the few people I know who still attends movies regularly. My attendance has dropped off lately due to an overload of work commitments, but at one point, my boyfriend and I would see about a movie a week. So it was with great amusement early last year that we attended the first 3-D movie to come out in a long time, the slasher flick My Bloody Valentine.

The movie itself was atrocious, but it was atrocious enough to be funny, and the novelty value of the experience was high. But seriously, the effects were so cheesy overall, I figured the rebirth of 3-D would remain mostly that, an occasional novelty.

Avatar seems to have changed all that definitively with its astronomical box-office success. Sadly, I have to be a partial Avatar naysayer. I duly lined up in the early weeks to see it in the be-all, end-all version: IMAX 3-D, with a ticket that cost about $20. I enjoyed the movie itself, with its visuals and corny but uplifting plot.

The theatrical experience, though, was sensorially exhausting. The sound was crushing, and the scale of the screen combined with the 3-D effects left me with a headache for hours afterward. (I’m no square, either — I write about loud forms of music as my “day job!”).

These days it seems like almost every big-budget movie that’s not a romantic comedy or something is destined to come out in 3-D. It seems unnecessary. For instance, while bored at the mall the other day we decided to pop in and watch Clash of the Titans in 3-D (though not in IMAX).

Clash of the Titans really didn't need to be in 3-D. (Image CC by 2.0, via perry_marco on Flickr)

The experience wasn’t as tiring as Avatar was, but I had to question the necessity of 3-D at all — especially since the movie was rendered 3-D after the fact, leaving a frequent strange flattening of shapes in the movie’s foreground. The most irritating thing was the price. Each ticket cost $5 more. Sure, we got to keep the “Real 3-D” glasses, but considering you don’t have the option of bringing your own and paying less the next time around, it seems like a waste of plastic.

If 3-D is going to rule the movie theater experience from now on, hopefully the technology will change so that it becomes less physically fatiguing. And hopefully theater prices will stabilize. Otherwise, the novelty factor will eventually wear off, and attendance will continue to drop off — especially as 3-D television at home approaches.

Though it took me until it was released on DVD to check it out, I finally got around to seeing The Hurt Locker — a day before it was nominated for Best Picture for this year’s Academy Awards.I had read on blogs after it was released in theaters that it was a great film. I read reviews from critics I trust like Roger Ebert, who raved about it. Then after Avatar came out, it seemed like everyone started talking again on blogs and in Tweets about The Hurt Locker and how the two would likely be going head-to-head with Avatar in a David vs. Goliath-like battle. They were right.

The Hurt Locker is a beautiful piece of film. I’m a big fan of the war film genre because it’s so hard to get right. But when it’s done right, it is done right. I don’t really want to get too deep into the glorifying war vs. anti-war film debate, but The Hurt Locker is simultaneously a great commentary on the current wars we are fighting and a flat-out great action movie. The suspense in the film is palpable. I don’t think I have been as physically involved and on the edge of my seat during a film since Paul Greengrass’ United 93. Director Kathryn Bigelow does a great job of letting you feel the suspense that these soldiers must be going through every time they leave the wire. Nevermind the fact that they are defusing a bomb and never know when it might go off, but you also never know when a sniper is going to fire on you, or someone is going to pop around out of an alley an point an AK-47 in your face.

I’m not a member of the Academy, but it has my vote.

For the past year I’ve been waiting for the release of Empire after seeing its initial teaser. It’s a film about having fun on fixed-gear bicycles by a group of friends in New York City. There are a bunch of films out there on the internet generally about the same thing, but the guys at Empire have done a great job teasing the film by running a blog about it is and releasing these short trailers. I’ve found that for me, nothing really gets me more motivated to get out and ride than watching cycling videos, especially during the winter months. I can’t wait for the full-length version to be released.

When I am craving mental escape, I go to the movies.  A well-told well-acted story on the big screen with a bag of popcorn may be even be more effective than a hot bath for warming up a frosty spirit.  Especially if there is comedy involved.  Some people devote their entire lives to perfecting a particular craft and become its master.  George Clooney and Jeff Bridges are both masters of the gesture; seasoned actors whose physicality, uniqueness, and charm translate into waves of emotion and a string of epiphanies for those who bear witness to their work.  Other individuals, like Michael C. Ruppert, dedicate their lives to unearthing the hidden equations embedded within the fabric of society and mankind.  Then there is the type like James Cameron, who prefers to focus his energies on conceptualizing massive mega-blockbuster hits that are beautiful in all of their cinematic glory, whose message reaches millions, but whose story becomes fragmented in order to reach such a vast audience, its integrity compromised by the desire to touch too many, at the expense of truly affecting one or a few.

To get through the winter blues, I have started doing weekly movie nights with friends at the theatre.  It has become a ritual I look forward to, and finding the perfect film to capture the mood of the day is not an exact science, but a creative art based on impulse, desire, rapport, and a dash of magic.

Up in The Air totally blew my mind.  I haven’t laughed so hard in ages.  George Clooney is so slick and so smooth in this role, strong and sexy yet vulnerable and lost.  I don’t want to give away too much about this one, but if you have any family members who happen to have an obsession with collecting frequent flyer points and status miles, this one will really hit home.

Avatar in 3-D was pretty cool too, although I have to agree with the general sentiment among my friends that the film’s plot is less than satisfying.  The idea of a utopian society made up of forest-dwelling Na’vi who tap into the natural powers of the jungle and respect the limits of nature is an idealistic fantasy that I wish could be reality.  But in my opinion the film would have been much stronger if man had been overpowered by the forces of nature, rather than the other way around.  Instead of placing the emphasis on humanity’s plight toward destruction and domination, why not focus more on the delicate nuances of the Na’vi’s tribalized existence?

Apparently James Cameron was trying to convey some sort of moral message or warning here, but it was sadly lost in translation.  Pandora is such a beautiful place, why not enjoy it?

Michael J. Ruppert echoes the same sentiments in the new documentary Collapse: that the evils of capital drive our obsession with destruction.  Connecting the dots between economics, the history of industrialization, politics, and the pending collapse of our global natural resource supply, Ruppert is a force to be reckoned with, spurting brilliant quotable lines every few minutes, laughing, crying, smoking cigarettes, and cursing like a sailor.  The line which resonated for me the most was: “War is a continuation of politics by other means.  Politics is a continuation of economics by other means.”   To combat this endless loop of over-consumption that dominates our capitalist existence, Ruppert recommends a healthy dose of art and music, a reversal back to a more tribalized existence, and to cultivate a close-knit network of friends and family that you can count on.  Oh–and stockpiling a supply of seeds, in case of emergency.

Easy to say, much less easy to do, as so many things are.

The last movie that I saw–with a similar fundamental message–was the story of Bad Blake, a country-crooner turned alcoholic, who is on his last legs where his health and sanity are concerned, as he tours small bars in the United States to make a few bucks in Crazy Heart.  The story is rich, warm, hilarious, and simple all at the same time. Jeff Bridges demonstrates his mastery of the craft through a brilliant choice of gesture, most notably his decision to spend a high percentage of his on-screen time with his belt undone.  A metaphor for the lack of control he has over his life?  A genius comedic device?  Or an indication of his tendency to wear his heart and soul on his sleeve, the mark of a truly artistic soul?  All of the above.

]]> http://www.scoutnetworkblog.com/2010/02/2265/crazy-hearts-emancipated-minds/feed/ 0 http://www.scoutnetworkblog.com/2010/01/2008/zahelu/ http://www.scoutnetworkblog.com/2010/01/2008/zahelu/#comments Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:08:42 +0000 Vanessa http://www.scoutnetworkblog.com/?p=2008 My friends are completely divided about Avatar. It seems to be a litmus test for how much of a bleeding heart hippie you are — which apparently I am, as I totally loved it. Yeah, it was Pocahontas meets Fern Gully meets Dances With Wolves, but I was floored — and heartened — that the blockbuster movie grossing more money than any other was, above all, about deepening one’s own connection with nature and becoming more spiritual.

It helped that the movie was stunningly beautiful, depicting the natural world in a phosphorescent, impressively imaginative otherworldliness. It also helped that the interconnectedness of life in this world was more than metaphoric — it was biological, even botanical, as all things were connected by a nervous system that could interact, including the flora. (Zahelu!)

The ironic part, of course, is that it took the most cutting edge effects and enormous budget to tell this story, and it’s one packing hordes into $20/seat IMAX 3-D theaters.

But if it takes beautiful blockbusters with ham-fisted love stories and predictable plot lines to make environmental themes appeal to the masses, so be it. But I want to see more movies like Avatar and Wall-E, which give me hope that popular attitudes towards superficial consumption — and our love affair with material wealth — will one day shift.

We’ve been hearing about James Cameron’s “Avatar” for what seems like an eternity now. At nearly $300 million, it’s the most expensive movie ever made. Its marketing machine has been at full force for months. It has a spectacular trailer. And now the critics are getting in on the act.Roger Ebert has given it four stars and it’s doing well on Rotten Tomatoes. It’ll be the box-office best for its opening weekend (this post was written before the premiere).

Conversely, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen was the 2009′s highest grossing film at more than $400 million domestically, yet it had a 19 percent approval rating from the critics on the Tomato meter. I didn’t plunk down the money to see it, and still haven’t, but what from I listen to most seriously — word of mouth — it’s the worst movie ever made.

Word of mouth is an interesting animal. When I saw the trailer for Sandra Bullock’s new based-on-a-true-story movie, “The Blind Side,” I laughed it off as a cheesy Disney I’m-a-rich-white-person-giving-a-black-kid-from-the-streets-a-chance tearjerker. It didn’t start at No. 1, and movies usually drop off dramatically after the first week, but it has to-date grossed more than $150 million. The reason? Word of mouth and social networking.

I haven’t seen it yet, and probably won’t in the theater, but I am definitely interested in checking it out after hearing good things from people I know. It’s funny how you can write something off because of bad marketing, a poor review or a cheesy trailer, yet will change your tune once someone you trust vouches for it.

'The Blind Side' was based on Michael Oher (center)

Even though Neil Blomkamp’s District 9 is out, I haven’t seen it yet. Haven’t had the time, but I have seen all his short films on youTube which actually helped him catch Peter Jackson’s attention.

I am looking forward to Shutter Island – - the new Scorsese movie based on a really good Dennis Lehane novel.

The much anticipated Where the Wild Things Are is potentially Spike Jonze at his best.  As long as the film studio does not cut it to shreds.