INASCIFI BLOG

This is a poster for Avatar. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the film, 20th Century Fox, the publisher of the film or the graphic artist.

Avatar (2009) is written and directed by James Cameron, starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang and Giovanni Ribisi.

The year is 2154 and paraplegic ex-marine Jake Sully is sent to a distant planet called Pandora, on a mission initially meant for his dead twin brother. The rich and lush Pandora is inhabited by locals named Na’vi–a humanoid race of yellow-eyed, blue-skinned beings, each about 2.7m to 3.7m tall. Jake is to drive what is called an Avatar, which is a human-made Na’vi lookalike that is connected and controlled by a person’s mind while the person is kept safe somewhere else. What is once thought as a harmless mission of getting to know Pandora and the Na’vis turns complicated as the humans are willing to do whatever it takes to mine the planet’s rich mineral which is greatly valuable on Earth.

When people hear Avatar, they think “special effects”. And they are right, since Avatar flaunts an impressive, groundbreaking CGI work. Everything looks so surreal yet believable, out-of-this-world yet convincing. You might be skeptic about blue aliens being believable but when you see those aliens move, speak in their language, express their emotions, you’ll be immersed in the world. You will believe. Neytiri has yellow eyes, blue skin, a tail and is inhumanly tall, but damn she IS pretty. She IS sexy. The Na’vi culture and language feel so real that it seems like they really do exist. The abundant and luscious Pandora and the Na’vis feel like a version of Earth that we often dream of–green, untouched, harmonious. Who isn’t awed when seeing Pandora in night for the first time? With its glow-in-the-dark plants and wondrous animals? The stunning visual effects never fail to draw you in.

There is no denying that the plot is not as impressive as the special effects. When you’ve seen the 3-minute trailer, you’ve practically found out the plot of the whole movie. The characters develop like you think they will develop, no surprising plot twists whatsoever. But that does not matter at all. You are already engaged in Pandora, captivated by its beauty, charmed by the characters. The fact that the plot is so-so does not matter at all because Avatar gives you a movie experience that you don’t often get. That kind of movie experience that The Lord of the Rings trilogy gave you. Something mind-blowing, something awe-inspiring, an experience you’ll remember forever. Avatar reminds us why we go to the movies. Avatar shows us what 3D is for. For almost three hours Avatar never fails to keep us interested, keep us in awe. This is a movie to remember, an experience you’ll never forget.

The 2008 film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story Curious Case of Benjamin Button, is a very touching movie.

Theatrical poster for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Copyright © 2008 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

What if a person is born in physically old, and grows younger in each passing day?
This touching story is based on the short story (that can be read online here or in Project Guttenberg.

Having read the short story first before watching the film, I was quite surprised at the ‘creative liberty’ that the filmmakers have taken that elevated the main character (from someone in my opinion is selfish in the original short story) to a person of genuine care and sincerity to those around him in the film version.

Brad Pitt plays wonderfully (and for which he deserves an Academy nomination for Best Actor) as the reverse-aging Benjamin. Abandoned by his father as an infant with the infirmities of an old man, Benjamin grew up under the care of Afro-American woman in a retirement home.
As he noticed himself growing younger and stronger each day, he began to explore life, the world, and eventually love and sacrifice.
Being a drama film, the story pace is rather slow and only gets exciting in a few scenes, but the message for us to appreciate what we have, the time we can spend and who we can spend them with is always relevant for many people.

My rating:
Story: A-
Visual: A (you’ve got to love the scenery and make up effects they made for the aging characters)
Cast: A

overall: A

Edit:

Here are some trailer links.

Hi res download: http://movies.apple.com/movies/paramount/thecuriouscaseofbenjaminbutton/benbutton-tlr2a_h480p.mov