There's some sort of internet thingy that had the outline for Avatar and the outline for some Disney mawkish twaddle (Might have been The Little Mermaid, might have been Pocahontas, can't remember). BUT, they had changed the names, but the rest of the two outlines was the same.

Good going Mr "Terminator" Cameron (I think!)

There's some sort of internet thingy that had the outline for Avatar and the outline for some Disney mawkish twaddle (Might have been The Little Mermaid, might have been Pocahontas, can't remember). BUT, they had changed the names, but the rest of the two outlines was the same.

Good going Mr "Terminator" Cameron (I think!)

It does make interesting reading!

Ah well, my eldest son arrived yesterday bringing the DVD of Avatar with him for me to watch. Don;t think I'll bother now!

Ah well, my eldest son arrived yesterday bringing the DVD of Avatar with him for me to watch. Don;t think I'll bother now!

It's definitely worth watching, just for the special effects alone.

OK, so I'll suspend my usual criteria of good plot and dialogue, and just go for pretty moving pictures. OOH it'll be like being a teenager! Yippee!

OK, so I'll suspend my usual criteria of good plot and dialogue, and just go for pretty moving pictures. OOH it'll be like being a teenager! Yippee!

Don't be so pedantic! It does make a good watch, the action scenes are spectacular.

Don't be so pedantic! It does make a good watch, the action scenes are spectacular.

OK sorry! I'll do that and let you know tomorrow!

Ah well, my eldest son arrived yesterday bringing the DVD of Avatar with him for me to watch. Don;t think I'll bother now!

Dont be put off - its worth seeing for the effects, just ignore the implausibility of the plot and enjoy the fairy story

Avatar is good. My parents liked it and me too a little bit! :D

Avatar is like a presten wrapped in finest paper and with a beautiful red shining bow on top, but with an empty box inside.

I assume Avatar would lose a lot of its appeal if it were to be watched on DVD. The main (only) appeal was the special effects.

still plodding through Saw 3 - On balance, I'm enjoying this one best of the three so far, but that's not really saying that much

I took the kids (6 and 4) to see Toy Story 3 on Wednesday evening and it was great entertainment (not as good as the first one but still good fun). I suppose that is also a kids film but speaking as a full grown adult I would rather see that then sit through any of the Saw films. The first one was a bad enough but the follow ups were dreadful!

Personally I don't buy into 'that is a kids film so why are adults enjoying it' no more than I buy into 'why are adults reading books written for children.

The Harry Potter books and films bore me to tears but only because I think the books are badly written and the films are just Hollywood pap which smells of the badly written book. The reasons I don't like them have nothing to do with the fact they are badged as kids books / films. I could happily watch many films aimed at kids and read books aimed at kids over and over again as long as they are well written / made.

There are many 'adult' films which I don't actually think are adult stories - just basic stories made into adult films by throwing in a bit of gore and violence. That, for me, doesn't make it an adult film, just a crap story dressed up to make money.

The Hangover!! FANTASTIC!!!!! :D

Watched Rec 2 last night. Very good and one of the few sequals that are on par with the first movie.

The best horror movies really do come from outside USA.

I did watch Avatar last night, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I can only imagine what it must have been like on the big screen with 3D specs! I was fascinated by the new language they'd invented, and would like to know how they set about inventing a fictional language. I love science fiction, so I readily accepted the basic premise of the film.

Apart from the comparisons already drawn with Pocahontas/John Smith, there were other resemblances sprang to mind. Many years ago I read a series of books called The Dragonriders of Pern, by Anne McAffrey. The way the riders bonded with the declans (the flying banshees) reminded me very much of the relationship between dragons and riders. The way the Navi greeted each other by placing the hand on the opposite shoulder reminded me of the Bushmen of the Kalahari in the Gods Must be Crazy.

I loved the floating islands in the Hallelujah mountains - I'd like to see it with all the 3D effects for those scenes alone.

I could have done without the sloppy love stuff, though!

What I took from Avatar hasn't been covered here so far. Beyond the good (3D special effects, a thorough telling) and bad (a cross-species love affair, lack of originalty), stands the real message from Jim Cameron to the world: the raping of another's land for mineral resources and profit. Corporate-driven interests being executed by military force definitely made my blood boil. In this film, the disregard and even hatred for the indiginous peoples was on full display.

I wonder if my conservative friends were rooting for the mining operation, as surely the liberal tree-huggers rooted for the defense of Pandora at the end. Of course this is a sci-fi/fantasy, but the ongoing fight for the survival of Brazilian rain forests shows the relevance. I hope my 15 year old son takes this message with him, as well as you good Shedsters, because Hollywood doesn't usually bring it home like this. For that reason I give Avatar a 5 out of 5.

Edited August 13, 201015 yr by ThunderDan

Indeed ThunderDan, but I thought this message was so overstated that it didn't require mentioning. In fact I thought he really took a sledgehammer to ram home the Noble Savage/Evil Exploiter message. But perhaps that's what youngsters need. Good is good and Evil is evil and never the twain shall meet, to paraphrase a saying.

And I suppose what I didn't like about the sloppy love interest (apart from the sloppiness of it) was that it detracted from the purity of Jake's motives. It would have been better for me if he'd chosen to help the Navis because it was the right thing to do rather than because he wanted to get his avatar's leg over!

Edited August 14, 201015 yr by moi

Shutter Island 8/10

Walled in 5/10

The Box 6/10

Shelter 7/10

I'm watching Legion tonight, not sure it looks too good, but I'll give it a go.

the Noble Savage/Evil Exploiter message.

I haven't seen Avatar so might be very wide of the mark but it sounds to me like it has taken one of the sub plots of Lord of the Rings and turned it into an entire film. Is that fair or not?

It's essentially a very, very ham-fisted and poorly-executed analogy of the Iraq War.

Rather than the very very ham fisted poorly executed strategy that was the Iraq War.

Rather than the very very ham fisted poorly executed strategy that was the Iraq War.

Indeed!

For a much better portrayal of "Noble savage/evil invader" dilemma, you want to watch The Royal Hunt Of the Sun - a film version of a play by Peter Schaffer. Robert Shaw is Francisco Pizarro, leading the Spanish Conquistadores in the conquest of Peru, with Christopher Plummer as Atahualpa, the Inca king.

Just saw a film that some of you may be familiar with, but which I knew nothing about. "Cass", the true story of Cass Pennant, was very engaging with its treatment of violence and race relations in London circa 1970's. What a story, Spammers vs. Gooners with the weapons graduating from fists to bats to knives to handguns. The main character goes from a bullied immigrant to an ass-kicking hooligan, only to walk away from the violence and write his autobiography. This movie had the power of a punch in the mouth, but nuance to make the viewer consider the concepts of hatred and retribution. Maybe some of you knew this man. I wonder if anyone can recommmend some other good movies on this subject...