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I was intrigued with Avatar because of the technological advances along with the patient steps Cameron had to go through to get it made. The man deserves an oscar for his patience. A year to design the horses? Yeah that’s probably exaggerated but if it took me more than a week to design a horse I would just google horse images and choose the first pic that came up. The Blue people thing has turned a lot of people off and I get it. It’s weird and different and I too would feel much more comfortable in “Edge of Darkness.” The last thing I saw in the theater in 3-D was Friday the 13th part 3 and that shit ruled! Here’s the difference, (Other than 27 years and a whole lot of technical jargin) The first interior shot where the camera was steady and the lighting was crisp I felt like I was in Extra. To the point where I was like, “I can’t do this. This is like a ride at Disney Land. AND my glasses need bigger frames.” “How distracting but awesome,” I thought. I did obsess with the similarity of making your own Mii on Wii (Stupid Ryan) but that was over quickly. And you know how most 3-D movies center around the certain shots that promote the 3-D element? Well, Cameron didn’t do this exactly. He was very selective in how he chose these particular shots which showed he knew he didn’t need to advertise it. Now, moving into the movie, I came accustomed to the new look and got into the story. Zoe Saldana was hot, I don’t care if she was Blue. For me Avatar became a spectacle that turned into a solid filmmaking experience. I can’t see people putting glasses on every time they go to see a film but I do see cinema’s catching up technically to showcase these advances themselves for it’s audiences. Go see it, don’t let Blue people be the reason you don’t see an advance in filmmaking. Best Picture for 2010….as a whole….it will be close.

I walked into this film having no clue what it was about other than it being nominated for best picture. Not true, I remembered right before that Carey Mulligan was nominated for best actress as well. The only reason I care about Carey Mulligan is that she plays Gekko’s daughter in the sequel to Wall Street that we all know will freaking rule. SO, the first word of An Education I knew we were in Europe. Shortly after that I learned we were in London, in the 1960’s. I thought to myself, “Shit, where is “Edge of Darkness” when you need it. THEN a girl yelled at me for rattling my popcorn bag. I thought, “Shit, am I back in art class? You gonna call me a jock next?” I finally settled in. This movie is awesome and Mulligan earned that nod, maybe even a win. I still have to see Julie and Julia. An Education is the type of movies that need to be made today as opposed to Remakes, Sequels, and Technology Porn. A film with an important message that could speak to todays generation. We need these films to continue on. I’d love to see a John Hughes American version (HA, of course I would)!

The Hurt Locker - War is a Drug

Ok these days my memory is shit but I can’t really recall a solid war film that has captured the wars that have occurred in my life time (DOB 1975). Shit when was Vietnam over? Anyway. We’ve had all these desert wars. I get my Black Hawk Downs mixed up with my Three Kings and my Jarheads. Then those are confused by the more recent films that have dealt with the politics rather than showing us aspects of the war. You know like Full Metal Jacket or Platoon, Apocalypse Now, the first 20 minutes of Saving private Ryan, or Das Boot and Paths of Glory (Even though I hold them in a different category of my own). Solid War movies that you never forget and watch over and over.  I will now add the Hurt Locker to that list. This movie is so intense that it made me all cranky and on edge after I got out. It gives you a sense of paranoia. To be honest it flared my patriotism, ALMOST over the edge to some good ole American arrogance.

Kathryn Bigelow has been on my radar since Point Break and when I read she’s never done a studio movie, usually getting distribution during shooting, well she’s becoming my hero. She makes a near perfect movie with The Hurt Locker. You know to hell with that, it was a perfect movie. There’s nothing I can say negative about this movie that would be worth the time. I’m so glad they cast Jeremy Renner instead of a huge name, he was perfectly cast and terrific in this movie. And Mackie and Geraghty were solid (Loved them in We are Marshall). It was their film and these three guys carried it to the fence. I really felt satisfied with this one. I recommend it to all, even the dregs like Noble.

Inglourious Basterds - “That’s a Bingo”

It’s always exciting for me when a Quentin Tarantino film is released.  It’s simply going to be cool. How will he open it? What will the music be like? What burn out is going to show up in the cast? Quentin excites me because he is obviously inspired by cinema and his love for it is seen on the screen. You don’t see that shit these days. Nobody gets inspired anymore. Hollywood has become a craps table where a bunch money obsessed lunatics stand around strategizing how to make money. And most of the films these days hang out on the pass line where you can always make a buck or two for a fews rolls. SO when Quentin steps in you can always count on the creative explosion you yearn for (Yeah I yearn for it fuckers)!  Inglorious Basterds is a gentlemen’s film. I think it’s the most mature film Tarantino has ever made because of it’s patience. It waits to strike. It’s very Bernard Hopkins. You can always count on genius dialogue from genius characters from QT but in this film Taranino finesses’ it to perfection through great filmmaking.  Christoph Waltz leads the steady march in this film and Brad Pitt is a bad ass character that makes me laugh. Inglorious Basterds was everything I’d hoped it’d be and once again I could feel Tarantino’s influence seeping to my brain as he celebrated his personal fate of the Third Reich.

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