I caught a showing of Avatar earlier this afternoon and having some time to think about it a bit, I think I’m willing to say it was kind of great. Awesome even. Seriously, as my wife and I were talking about it during the car ride to dinner and then during dinner, it kind of dawned on me that I think I loved it. My wife also found herself beginning to appreciate it the more we spoke about it.

It is strange to finally see a movie of almost mythical proportions. James Cameron has reportedly been crafting this film for close to a decade, and to be honest, I think it shows. The world, characters, and tribes are all so well thought out that it’s obvious Cameron has spent years thinking this thing through and writing tomes about the history of the planet Pandora. Cameron is known for the details, and Avatar is full of them.

Does the film live up to the hype? I guess that is up to the masses to decide. Personally, when I saw the first trailer I thought maybe Cameron had flipped his lid and was out of his mind. As the movie approached I found myself becoming increasingly more interested in seeing it, but that was based mostly on Cameron’s nearly flawless track record. I went into the film with an open mind without many expectations at all, so I suppose for me it lived up to the hype.

Classy. Classy is probably the best possible word that can describe the just released “Michael Jackson’s This Is It.” The most important thing this movie did was treat it’s audience with intelligence and respect, as it never once bonks you over the head telling you Michael Jackson has died. There is never an interview during the movie where some celebrity is telling us how much they miss Michael Jackson. In fact, if this movie was released prior to his death, you would think the man was alive. Director Kenny Ortega made a bold move in displaying the film in this light, and it is all the better and more honest because of it. The goal of the movie is to simply give viewers a glimpse into what would have arguably have been the greatest live show of all time.

Fans might be initially let down at the fact that you really aren’t getting complete concert experience here. Instead we see Michael going through the process of figuring out just how he’s going to perform his songs and how every single detail is going to work. Most of the time he isn’t even singing the words to the music, as he just sort of mouths the sound of the song while mentally piecing together his routine. That is the magic of this movie though, you’re literally watching a master craft his work on camera, and the result is fascinating.

People have always heard stories about how Michael was a perfectionist, and throughout “This Is It” we finally get to see first hand just how professional the guy is. There are a handful of genuinely funny moments sprinkled throughout the film where we see Michael collaborating with the musicians and dancers trying to get the most out of them and explaining his vision of how the songs should play out. We get shots of him with director Kenny Ortega shooting footage for the video sequences in which he’s always adding his input into what goes where. It isn’t a joke when they say Michael was involved with every aspect of this show.

My wife hates horror movies, she refuses to watch them with me anymore. When were first dating we used to watch them all the time, but at some point after we got married she decided she didn’t like them any more. Typical bait and switch bullshit, I’m sure you other married guys out there know the deal. Anyway… I really enjoy scary movies, but somehow they’re just not much fun to watch by yourself. As a result, I miss out on pretty much every horror movie that comes out these days.

I don’t quite remember when Repo! became a blip on my radar, but it sounded like it had good potential mixing elements of Horror & Sci-fi with a musical. I figured this might be a good opportunity to get in a quick horror movie before Halloween. After taking a bullet and watching “Away We Go” on Friday night I managed to weasel Repo! into the dvd player last night for a vieweing.

Without spoiling too much of the plot Repo! takes place in a future where a large portion of humanity has died from rampant organ-failure. A large corporation called GeneCo has managed to save humanity by providing organ transplants to anyone who needs them. However, like any company there is plenty of fine print in the contract. Fail to keep up on your payments and GeneCo sends out the Repo man to take back their property.

So I guess it’s common knowledge around here that I enjoy playing MMOs. I realize I’m the minority, but whatever… I love ‘em. Apparently a lot of other people do as well, because millions of people play these games all over the world. So many people, in fact, that some filmmakers set out to make a documentary about MMORPG’s and the people that play them. The movie is called Second Skin and I had an opportunity to sit down and watch a pre-release screening on the internet.

The movie follows the lives and play habits of a handful of people: the couple that met in an online game, the guy who went to gamer-rehab, and the guys who share a house where they play World of Warcraft 24/7. Right off the bat, I’ll say that I was disappointed with the people chosen to represent MMO players. I realize that in the interest of making a movie with some drama it’s essential to highlight the unstable type of player, but I really feel like the majority of people who play these games are able to do it in healthy doses. It’s like making a documentary about alcohol that focuses primarily on alcoholics… the impression you walk away with is going to be a negative one.

This isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the movie, I actually found it to be pretty compelling to watch. I’ve certainly met my share of these caricatures in the games over the past 5-6 years and the filmmakers did a nice job telling their stories. I could definitely relate to some of the guys on there, though I’ve never been as extreme as they are in the movie.

After watching the likes of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, it’s easy to dismiss Tim Burton’s work on the Batman franchise when looking at the whole picture. I’m sure many people simply think about Batman Forever and Batman & Robin and they just lump the original and Returns in with those. That’s a slight bummer, because Tim Burton’s Batman is still really good stuff.

I actually haven’t seen this movie in its entirety in probably over 10 years, which is great because I was able to appreciate the movie on a different level. I think the thing I love most about the original Batman is that Burton wastes no time on an origin story. Batman is already running around Gotham making a name for himself, and as a result we get right into the thick of things. Sure, I absolutely love the origin story in Batman Begins, but I admire that Burton trusted the audience enough to understand why Batman exists.

Speaking of Batman the character, Michael Keaton is still awesome as both the caped crusader and Bruce Wayne. It’s interesting knowing that their was a huge fan outrage when the studious announced that (then) comedic actor Keaton would don the cape and cowl. Looking back, it’s still a ballsy move, especially when you look at every Batman that has come since then. Kilmer has the looks for Wayne and the build of Batman, Clooney had the looks too for Wayen (but was a nightmare in the suit) and Bale too hits both notes. Keaton isn’t known for being a sex symbol, instead appearing like an ordinary guy. How could he look good in the suit? The guy is like 5′4″ and barely had an ounce of muscle on his body, yet he nails both characters. As Bruce, he’s a charming fellow with that great charisma that Keaton previously brought to his other roles, and as Batman his pronounced lips and intense eyes not only sold him in the suit but was mimicked by Kilmer.

Watchmen. We’ve been getting hit with a very aggressive advertising campaign for several weeks at least now, so it is hard to ignore this film adaptation of the celebrated 1985 comic book. I will come right out and say that I have never read the comic book (or as its fashionably known as, the graphic novel), and I decided to remain as ignorant as possible of what this flick was all about until that is I actually saw it on the silver screen. I wanted to go in as open as possible to what was being presented to me. I was fortunate that my entire work was allowed to go a noon showing on opening day. I gave myself some time to let it sink in before giving it a nerdlog post.

To anyone expecting to see an action packed CGI-fest, you will be sorely disappointed. To anyone thinking that this will be a mindless romp, you will be disappointed. Instead what you will get a cast of very skewed and flawed characters each of whom believe they are serving the “greater good”, and who are all entwined in a complex plot line of impending nuclear holocaust during The Cold War.

The movie is off and running from the word “go”. The opening credits give us a history lesson in the Watchmen’s world of masked avengers. To sum it up as best as possible, the Minutemen was a group of cops in the 1940’s who donned masks and capes to fight crime as vigilantes. This group continues into the 1970’s when eventually the government bans them, society turns on them, and they “retire”. However, there are a few of them that remain in the U.S.’s services. The Comedian and Dr. Manhattan are employed during the Vietnam War, thus altering history as we now know it to where the U.S. emerged victorious in that conflict, Richard Nixon is still in office for his 5th term, and science has reached new heights. This brings us to the plot of the movie which is set in an alternate version of 1985 where The Comedian is murdered, and the search is on to the “who” and the “why”. That’s the short of the long of it.

A big blue Johnson. That is what will be the symbolic turn-off for this movie by the general populace. Dr. Manhattan, who essentially everything revolves around, was created during a scientific experiment gone awry. The result of this freak accident is a super evolved man able to see past and future events, and is capable of highly complex thought. This frees him from our human constraints, so in turn he is very…um…free. He doesn’t like to wear clothes. It just doesn’t bother him, and doesn’t even factor into his thinking. Listen; if you could see the particles that create matter and know how to teleport/explode people at will, you probably wouldn’t care either. So we get to see him walking around with his weener hanging out all the time.

I seriously didn’t want to watch Shyamalans’ The Happening because I don’t know a single person that liked the movie, but I had to watch it with my wife tonight since I turned her into a huge Shyamalan fan back when Signs came out.

Well call me Shyamalan’s biggest fan, because guess what? I liked this movie too. There hasn’t been a single Shyamalan film that I haven’t liked. Okay, Lady In the Water is still his weakest movie to date, but I certainly didn’t hate it. Anyway, back to The Happening, sure, some of the acting was questionable, and that whole old lady character introduced towards the end of the flick was a silly way to keep up the tension once we kind of knew what was up, but I thought it was still a decent ride.

The only job a movie like this has to do is keep the viewer in suspense, and I was in suspense for pretty much the entire duration of the film even if I already did know why the happening was taking place before watching the movie. Some of the death scenes were disturbing and well done, one of which includes Disney’s The Kid taking it like a champ. On the other hand however there were a handful of death scenes that were borderline comedic, like that Philadelphia Zoo Scene.

I have been waiting for this day for the last few months, and it is almost painful that I can’t drive out to Best Buy right now and pick up a copy of Crystal Skull on Blu-ray. At least I can sit here and write about it as I still stand by the fact that Crystal Skull is a classic in the making, and stands true to the Indiana Jones name.

The problem Crystal Skull faced is nostalgia, where people refused to admit that the original Jones films are just as outlandish as Skull. It is important to bring up that all the Jones flicks are inspired by B-movie serials from the 30s and 40s, and now 50s. To not have completely over the top action sequences (like swinging with monkeys) would be a disservice to the films that made Indiana Jones the icon that he is. In the case of Skulls, the passage of time actually helped Jones as a character, and makes for what I feel a more compelling movie since setting it in the 50s really lends certain qualities to the story. We could never have a humorous tongue in cheek moment like the hiding in the fridge scene, followed up with a beautiful shot of Indy starring at a nuclear mushroom cloud (something I’d love to hang on my wall), and the theme of the Crystal Skull works even better in a time where UFOs were all the rage.

People just see Crystal Skull as a quick way for George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to make a quick buck. Their nostalgia for the classic films makes them think that face melting ghosts, monkey brain eating heart thieves, and hyper aging goblets are somehow not as outlandish as physic and ultra magnetic skulls. My advice is people just enjoy Crystal Skull for the quick piece of entertainment it is. It’s not going to change your life, but it sure is a heck of a fun ride.

This wasn’t my first choice (or ever my second or third for that matter) to see in the theater, but a buddy of mine I haven’t seen in a while wanted to go see this. Without a doubt, The Clone Wars would be very cool if we saw it on TV, however its not feature quality in both the writing or the production values.

The story has very clear spots where you can tell there’s supposed to be a commercial break or an new episode ends. They even introduced two more characters close to the end that really came out of nowhere. Again, that wouldn’t have been a problem if those two characters, one a familiar face and the other is Jabba the Hutt’s gay uncle (I shit you not), if this was an episode on TV, but as it’s presented here its very awkward.

The animation is very stilted and lacks the polish one would come to expect from a theatrical release. The lightsaber fights are a little off and don’t have the flare and pizazz found in any of the other star wars films, and i found the lipsync and acting to be off in many places. Again, this level of animation would be very acceptable if it was seen on TV, however since we’re talking about features here, it doesn’t hold a candle to any of Pixar’s or Dreamworks’ efforts.

Who would have guessed that the best love story of the year would feature robots instead of humans? I sure wouldn’t have, yet it’s not that I doubted Pixar could pull it off, I just wasn’t really sure what WallE was about. It wasn’t until recently that we found out WallE was about a robot trying to find his companion, but I never expected it to be a full blown love story.

WallE starts out simple enough, with the robot going about his normal routine of cleaning up what is essentially a post apocalyptic earth. The first 20 or so minutes doesn’t feature a lick of dialogue, yet the audience can’t help but fall in love with WallE almost immediately. I could easily have watched an entire movie of WallE just going about his normal day because Pixar has made it that interesting. WallE’s opening moments captivate the audience in much the same way that Tom Hanks does during Cast Away. You simply can’t take your eyes off of him.

When Eve, WallE’s iPod-ish looking would be girl friend shows up things really get interesting. The first time the two bots speak to each other is nothing but pure movie magic. While we watch their relationship grow, the real villians of the film, both global warming and obesity, begin to show their faces. Surprisingly deep themes for a Pixar movie, but the team handles them with absolute care.