1026. Avatar

Avatar
2009
Directed by James Cameron

I am taking a break briefly from my Best Picture series, as I haven't had time to watch Spotlight (or really the desire, as I know it will be beyond depressing).  I have had a lot of writing projects lately, so I apologize for taking so long to update this and  respond to comments.  I do read my comments daily and they always make me smile, even if they point out when I'm an idiot.  Anyway, I wanted to write about a movie I have seen before to save time, so I chose Avatar.

The year is 2154 and humans have depleted the world of its resources.  The Resources Development Administration mines for unobtanium on Pandora, a lush planet populated by sexy blue creatures who are peaceful and deeply connected to nature.  The atmosphere of Pandora is poisonous to humans, so the scientists create avatars that look like Na'vi but can be controlled by humans.  One of the operators is Jake Sully, a paraplegic ex Marine.  Jake, of course, falls in love with one of the Na'vi and decides to help the Na'vi defend themselves against the white invaders.

So, once again, we get a very tired concept.  White people invade a land inhabited by peaceful, nature loving people.  One especially hot white guy falls in love with native girl and sees the beauty in their culture, mastering and surpassing the natives in the skills they value.  Then the white guy defends the natives (who are entirely powerless without him) against the other greedy white people.  At least Pocahontas had good songs.

Obviously, this movie is a breakthrough in cinematic technology and was beautiful to look at.  I don't really watch films for the effects; I value unique stories and characters more.  I keep rewriting this part, as I don't want to sound like a snob (that ship might have sailed a long time ago).   I guess I am trying to say that I get the appeal of this movie, but it didn't really cater to my personal taste.

God, I need a writing break *pulls up short story to work on*.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

James Cameron has said he got the idea for the Avatar from watching Disney's Pocahontas.

60% CGI.

Cameron insisted the Na'vi have breasts so the audience would think they were hot.

923. Titanic

Titanic
1997
Directed by James Cameron

There are many tragic films I can watch without shedding a tear, but this one really destroys me.  As Joey Tribbiani said, those two had only each other!

I am assuming everyone who is reading this knows the plot of this movie.  I am even assuming they know the ending, which breaks my usual no spoiler rule, but I have to argue with people who claim Jack could have fit on the debris (it's not about space people, it's about weight!).  Anyway, for tradition's sake, I will give a brief summary.  A young, unhappily engaged aristocrat falls in love with a poor but sexy artist onboard the doomed Titanic.

So this is a beautifully made film with insanely accurate detail.  If Cameron had directed Braveheart, we all would have been a lot happier.  I think this is the type of film that could easily coast with a less than stellar cast, but thankfully, everybody gave fantastic performances (I was particularly impressed with Bates and Stuart).  Normally I would complain about the length, but I just read that Cameron wanted the running time to equal the actual time it took the ship to sink after colliding with the iceberg.   That's actually pretty awesome, so I will keep my mouth shut.

Usually epic romances bore me, but something about their chemistry makes them more likable.  The problems they face are not caused by their own stupidity (here's looking at you An Affair to Remember).

Finally, I agree with a Best Picture winner!

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

The line "I'm king of the world" was improvised by Leonardo DiCaprio.

James Cameron pitched the film to 20th Century Fox by saying it was Romeo and Juliet on the Titanic.

First movie to gross a billion dollars.

836. Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1991
Directed by James Cameron

Ah, the age old debate.  Which Terminator film was better?  I like to pretend that there were only two Terminator movies.  I would like to think I didn't see a trailer for the remake, in which James Cameron pleads desperately with the audience to go see Terminator: Genisys (spelled incorrectly for some artistic reason I'm sure) in a super pathetic way.

Skynet has sent yet another cyborg into the past, T-1000, this time to kill John Connor.  Luckily, future John sent back a cyborg as well to protect his past self because obviously he knew it would work, since it already happened.  But wouldn't Skynet know it didn't work if John still existed in the future?  Oh right, I forgot my rule.  Don't think too hard about time travel movies.  Anyway, John fears that T-1000 will also try to kill his mother.  He and his trusty cyborg decide to rescue her from a mental hospital, which she was sent to for warning people about the upcoming apocalypse and bombing computer factories.

How bad ass was Linda Hamilton in this?  Her performance alone was worth the price of admission; it was fascinating watching her transform from an ordinary girl in the first film to a unstoppable warrior in this.  T-1000 was also a fantastic villain.  I actually didn't find the special effects to be too overpowering.  Even with the CGI, you still had some very human scenes to balance out all the explosions and fight scenes.

There are many valid criticisms of this movie (yes, we all want to punch young John in the face), but I still had a blast with this one.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

Linda Hamilton's twin sister was used in the shots when there are two Sarah Connors.

The special effects shots total sixteen minutes of the film.

744. Aliens

Aliens
1986
Directed by James Cameron

I have such a low opinion of sequels.  It seems like nowadays every successful film has at least two sequels.  And then of course, when the number of sequels reaches the double digits they usually just reboot the franchise and start over.  I sound like such a curmudgeon. There are obvious exceptions like The Godfather: Part II.  I wouldn't exactly consider Aliens a masterpiece, but at the very least it wasn't as disappointing as it could have been.

Ripley is rescued and debriefed after drifting through space in stasis for fifty-seven years.  None of her employers really believe her account of what happened.  In fact, the planet (or moon...or whatever) where the alien eggs were found is now home to a colony.  Once contact is lost with the colony, the company sends a Marine unit to investigate. Ripley warns everyone about the dangers but everyone is too busy mansplaining to listen.  Ripley agrees to go with them and things go about as well as you would imagine.

By their very definition sequels are never really going to show us anything particularly new, so I can see a lot of people complaining that this is basically a rehash of the first movie, plus a really cute kid.  I happened to really enjoy the first movie and gladly sat down to watch Ripley fight the patriarchy and be a bad ass again.  I also liked that the stakes were a lot higher than last time, so it felt like we were building to something rather than just facing the same conflict again.

So maybe not a film that I would consider a "must see" but I still had a really good time with this.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Carrie Henn kept messing up the shot of her sliding down the vent on purpose because it was so fun.  Cameron told her if she got it right she could play as much as she wanted.  Adorable.

Longest Alien film.

711. The Terminator

The Terminator
1984
Directed by James Cameron

This is a film I have seen many times, as it is one of my mother's favorites.  It seems we watch it every year around her birthday and I think lately she has tried to make it a thing to watch it on Christmas.  It's not quite keeping with the spirit of the holidays.  Die Hard is a much more logical choice.

In 2029, mankind is at war with machines.  Two beings are sent from 2029 to 1984 Los Angeles.  One is a cyborg sent to kill Sarah Connor to prevent her from conceiving and eventually giving birth to the leader of the resistance movement in 2029.  The other is a hot young guy sent to protect her from the cyborg.  Was that a shitty summary or what?  Time travel movies are always so complicated.

This is often classified as a science fiction/action film, but at times it doesn't feel that way and it certainly is not what James Cameron meant it to be.  It feels a lot more like a slasher movie.  You have a killer that is seemingly unstoppable, and the resourceful girl that somehow outlives all her friends. I happen to adore slasher films, so I really enjoyed this.

I am not sure I could adequately defend this against criticism.  But it is a fun movie with great pacing and great twists.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

It is rumored that Julia Louis-Dreyfus was chosen to play Sarah Connor but turned it down because of Saturday Night Live commitments.

O.J. Simpson was in the running to play The Terminator, but producers didn't believe he would be convincing as a cold-blooded killer.

Kyle Reese only smiles once in the entire film.