The hype for James Cameron’s Avatar was about as high as you can get for a movie. 12 years since his last theatrical movie, Cameron is back in the full on sci-fi realm that made him famous. With Avatar, Cameron and his team bring new advancements in 3D viewing tech, which I think this movie will most be remembered by. Not the actual plot, but the tech running it.

The reason being that the story in Avatar brings nothing new. It’s been done before and the plot beats are very predictable. That said, it doesn’t detract from the movie that much because the story and characters presented to us are very well done. Dramatic scenes hit with weight and the action scenes are equally thrilling. Sure you may deduce what happens at every turn, but it’s still a marvel to see it unfold before you. An unbelievable amount of care was put into this movie.

Far in the future, Jake Sulley is a paraplegic marine placed on Pandora to do reconnaissance work on the indigenous people, the Na’vi. His twin brother was set to do the mission but was killed, so they ask Jake to fill his shoes. Literally. An “avatar” was made using a combination of Jake’s brother’s DNA and that of a Na’vi, creating a vessel for Jake’s mind to control on the surface of Pandora. Humans can’t breath unassisted on Pandora, but remote controlling this avatar lets humans walk about freely and integrate into the Na’vi society. Now, Earthlings have been staking out this planet for awhile. There is a extremely valuable mineral on this planet that the humans want and need the Na’vi to move to get to it. And if they don’t want to move then the military is going to take it in full force. So now Jake starts learning and growing with the Na’vi (who look like big blue cats) and Jake’s allegiances start to shift. You can probably see where this is going. The Na’vi are like Native Americans and the humans are the white man, ready to claim the land as their own since “savages” don’t know what their doing and are too dumb to figure it out.

So the CG and 3D tech is really the star of the show. Avatar needs to be seen on the big screen in 3D to really get it. All of the CG work is of the highest quality, Cameron and the 2,000 or so people spent 4 years creating a planet and eco-system. Terrain, plant life, animal life and of course all of the tech that the humans use (weapons, ships, life support, etc). Most of the movie is CG, but after awhile you forget about it and just marvel at what’s in front of you. The blending of real people and every digital creation is masterfully done and the 3D effect is used to create depth instead of “things coming out of the screen at you!” that so many 3D films do. This makes the movie screen look like a window, where all this stuff is taking place. I didn’t think the 3D was going to be this good, but there are some mind boggling scenes all throughout the movie. Cameron’s careful direction is very precise and meaningful, you always feel grounded in the world and never disoriented. Walking through lush, glowing jungles, flying around on the back of some crazy creature or full on scenes of war are all stunning. The very first scene in the movie is a great example. It’s a room where people are being woken up from deep sleep, drawers are being pulled open and groggy people float out of them while being advised on where they are and what to do. It looks like you are looking into a room that extends 200 feet out, the drawers that people are coming out of look like they take up actual space, people are floating in front of and behind various machinery. Another favorite of mine is any scene that takes place in the cockpit of a ship or mech. It looks like you are sitting being the pilot, looking through the canopy of the ship into space. The glass on the canopy looks completely real, like it’s jutting out in front of you protecting you from the dangerous atmosphere. There is some crazy perspective elements for scenes inside mechs too, where parts are out of focus that makes other stuff just pop, like the rearview mirror where you can see the pilots eyes looking back at you.

So Avatar is a solid movie wrapped in amazing special effects. Will it work as well at home? Without a 3D capable TV, I don’t think so. The real problem is that Hollywood is going to shove 3D into everything and it’s going to be a train wreck. Just look at the trailer for Piranha 3D. It looks horrific, as a movie and in terms of 3D. It takes restraint and serious talent to make this new level of 3D work as well as it can. The added ticket price for 3D showings is artificially inflating the box office for this, but the fact remains that a lot of people are seeing this and really enjoying it. Me being one of them.

There’s nothing like a good documentary. Anvil, I can happily say is one of the best music docu’s I’ve seen. Anvil is the name of a Canadian metal band that has been together for 30 years. Yeah, I never heard of them before this either.

It’s a remarkable human story of dreams and percerveriance. This guys saw their greatest success in the early 1980’s, shorty before Slayer and Metallica hit the scene and became world wide names in music. “Metal on Metal” was their hit and got them as far as touring Japan in a world tour that included Bon Jovi! But something happened. Nothing!

These guys were pretty much forgotten and left for dead. With a tiny fan base, Anvil put out 12 albums (with a fairly steady roster through the years too) independantly. Going from tiny label to tiny label, they never found traction and every single manager they had was garbage. But they never gave up. The original founding members, Lips and Robb swore that they’d make it as metal gods as kids and to this day are still going for it.

It’s a brutal but inspiring story. The documentary follows them while recording their 13th album. Everything from playing tiny shows to hooking back up with their original producer in England. They’re depressed to lose money on a 5 week Euro tour that has to be seen to be believed (I don’t think the manager they had knew what a manger does). They find hope when they hook up with their great old producer and then a huge fight breaks out 6 weeks into recording. They have meaningless jobs back home that barely pay the bills while they stretch everyday to get to that dream, but it always seems to move out of the way…

But there is a silver lining at the end. It doesn’t matter what kind of music you like, Anvil is a human story that everyone should see. And yes, the similarities to Spinal Tap are eerie, but this wacky ride is a real one.

Drag Me to Hell could also be called Evil Dead 4. Director Sam Raimi goes back to his horror roots with this one. Christine, a normal, friendly girl, is a loan officer. One day an old gypsy woman swoops in to her office for a loan extension, which Christine denies to help herself move up the corporate ladder.

Taking a page from Stephen King’s “Thinner”, you don’t upset old gypsy women because they will curse the shitout of you. Christine spends the rest of the movie running from hell, seeking help to break the curse to keep her on this mortal coil.

So if you’ve seen an Evil Dead movie, you know what to expect. The main character is tortured through bizarre and scary events, trying to the last frame of the picture to save their lives. Jump scares, demons, gross out effects, dirt, blood, bugs and a whole lot of yelling is the main course for viewers. While the premise of the movie is actually very scary (if you don’t break the curse, you are literally dragged to hell), the move really isn’t. It’s funny and exciting really. The acting is great, especially Alison Lohman who plays Christine, the effects are top notch and there is actually very little gore. It’s edited just right, sound work is great too, lots of wild surround work done to really push the intensity at you. There are a lot of fantastic scenes in here, I would have loved to have made this movie. The fight in Christines bed room was wild, the feeling of being stalked by something supernatural was perfectly done.

I liked Drag Me to Hell a lot. It’s the kind of material that Raimi excels at (I think the Spider Man movies have been overly praised). It’s not for everyone but as far as I’m concerned it’s worth watching (especially with friends)/

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

This one is a simple affair; summer action blockbuster. It’s based on decades long toy line, G.I. Joe has an ensemble cast that blows shit up (or tries to keep shit from blowing up) around the world for an hour and 25 minutes.

It’s the classic tale of the good guys teaming up to stop the bad guys from taking over the world. And you know what? It works better than Transformers 2 despite it being just as outlandish at times. It’s CG overload, I think 90% of this movie is digital effects. It ranges from passable to very good and honestly I had a good time watching it. Don’t expect Die Hard in terms of quality and you’re good to go.

You can pretty much walk into any Pixar movie and expect to have a good time at the very least. Everyone rates the movies differently, but Pixar is pretty much the only studio on the planet that hits big with every single picture they make. Up doesn’t deviate from that historical line.

78 year old Carl is up for an adventure. Living his life with his beloved wife, she passes away without them going on the big life adventure they always intended to make since they met as kids. After being fed up with all the changes going around him, he decides to give a middle finger to the world and pack up and leave all the kids to ruin things the way they see fit. Except he takes everything that is his. With baloons tied to his house! Just after lift off he finds a stow away passanger, the neighborhood kid Russell. Russell meant well, he just wanted to help old man Carl so he could earn his last Wilderness Explorer badge.

So off the odd pair go, to land in the lost legendary lands somewhere in South America. Up is a touching adventure of two people who are worlds apart that soon discover they have more in common than they ever thought. The typical charm and magic of a Pixar movie is here. Great characters, a solid story, fun dialog and animation to die for. Things do get more juvenile and wacky closer to the end of the movie (dogs flying bi-planes? Okay, aerial dog fight but still) which is pretty rare for a Pixar movie. So while the action gets low brow the movie doesn’t really suffer for it. It’s a great flick for anyone to enjoy.

Watch in confidence. Pixar did make it you know.

Adventureland

Adventureland is your typical “The Summer That Changed My Life” movie. While it is a cookie cutter genre picture, I still liked it. Held down by Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, Adventureland is the name of the amusement park that the kids work in.

It’s the late 80’s and James is just out of college when his European trip is cancelled due to his father losing his job and being relocated. Off to Pittsburgh, James gets a job at the amusement park to save up and move to NYC for graduate school when his friend gets back from Europe at the end of the summer.

Cue love triangle with the troubled girl and the douchebag guy, partying, fights and other such youthful trials and tribulations. The cast is great, the acting solid and the direction safe. The biggest knock against the movie is that it’s nothing special, but it isn’t a bad movie. It’s a solid story of growing up that’s entertaining enough to keep you for it’s hour and a half or so run time. It’s got some good laughs here and there making it a great movie for a rainy day.

Crank: High Voltage

Jason Statham returns for the second Crank film! While the first movie was goofy and dare I say original, this is a pointless movie. Much better off as a one, goofy, braindead movie, the creators of this borefest try to squeeze more excitement than God could even dream of.

Chev lives through the first movie and has his heart stolen and replaced by a battery operated one. He then runs around for the rest of the movie trying to get it back. I was willing to go for the ride in the first movie, but this is just more of the same, but none of it works. Amateur at best, from every angle Crank 2 is more annoying to watch than anything. Frantic shots and editing try to make everything exciting when there really isn’t a single good action set piece. What action there is is just ruined by the direction and editing. Every single character is irritating and more cartoon character than person. You don’t care what peoples names are, let alone if they live or die. More effort than it’s worth to watch, avoid at all costs.