Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Six female soldiers are drafted to fight in a civil war against clones in the New America.
It is rare that I take all female war movies, or TV shows, seriously. Not because I think women aren't supposed to be soldiers, quite the opposite. It's due to the fact I've seen a few made for TV movies, which portray women as catty, or using sexual prowess to influence the commander in charge. Or, being absent-minded, like in the feature film, "Private Benjamin."
I attended the Treasure Coast International Film Festival in Port St. Lucie, Fla., U.S.A. Feb. 20, 2010. The festival showcases independent short films and feature length films. One short film, which won Best Screenplay at the festival, I'm still thinking about is "War is a Bitch," by Ronald K. Armstrong, director/producer/writer.
The main characters are all female soldiers. As a female, at first I paused when seeing the title, which can have a dual meaning. But, I decided to put my semantic thoughts aside and explore the film.
Based in the future, six female soldiers, Alpha-Team, have been drafted to fight in a civil war against clones in New America. The main character of the Alpha Team is named, Hope. In the beginning her character displays uncertainty. She does not seem comfortable as a soldier, sort of trying to find her way, which we witness throughout the film. Hope has an interesting relationship with her commander. Sort of like the title, in the beginning of the film Armstrong leaves it up to you to decide its meaning. It is apparent he likes to test the social ideologies of his audience. It isn't until the final scenes you know the truth, and you either think, "I knew it!," or "Wow. I didn't guess that."
As our world becomes more technologically advanced, cloning is a reality with animals. How would we be able to tell the difference between a human, and a human clone? I thought that as I watched the cast of strong females interact with each other. Similar to Mary Shelley's book, "Frankenstein," and films like James Cameron's "Terminator," Armstrong wants his audience to ponder what makes us human. Along with that, he intertwines 21st century social themes. It was hard to believe it is a short film. He said he's completing a feature length script.
A man who is immortal tries to save the world through imagination.
This review comes with a few warnings, including spoiliers. 1. If you do not enjoy Terry Gilliam's flights of fantasy movies, you will not like it. 2. If you are going to see it to see a lot of Heath Ledger, you will not like it. 3. If you have the courage to open your mind widely as your imagination will take you, you will like it regardless of the two mentioned statements.
I must admit I love Terry Gilliam movies. He has the most incredible quality to morph the antiquated with the modern and this movie is not exception, in fact in the specific area it is his masterpiece. A wandering band of actors, accompanied by the main speciticle Dr. Parnassus, ride in a ramshackled, two-story, horse drawn cart throught the present day England. Gilliam is a master at juxtposition.
Dr. Parnassuss has a single, but world changing talent, he can lead you into the depths of you dreams and save your soul from the devil at the same time. The problem is that in this current jaded society no one believes in either, so they don't see the point; that and his show's presentation is lost in the middle ages. So, let's just say business isn't so good.
The other important, delicious detail to this very twisted tale, is that it is a tale of temptation (another thing society doesn't care about, because we pretty much give into all of ours). It is an old-fashioned "deal with the devil" story. I personally love these tales. They expose humanity at its best and worst and so does this film.
Let me just say this, Heath Ledger was a visionary. He saw this movie for all it's potential and fantasty and signed up. I applaude his choice, and so do Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Ferrel who help complete the film. All of these actors payed a loving tribute to their friend and did a wonderful job. Most people, sadly, may not just "get it", but if you believe in the power of imagination you will.
Avatar - redefining standards of movie making and creative thinking!
So rarely comes a movie which redefines entertainment!
Pandora – the new planet by James Cameron.
Na’vi – the blue people of Pandora.
Skypeople – We the humans, the evil aliens plotting to loot Pandora and the Na’vi of their resources.
Welcome to this new world where all creatures live in harmony with the planet. Where each of them loves, respects and obeys nature. Where “live and let live” really works.
And then… humans, from the dying planet Earth reach there to spoil the party.
“Avatar” is overwhelming. 15 years in the making, Cameron has not spared a single detail in creating a whole new world. In fact all of us get so immersed in this visual spectacle that we never realize when we become a part of the Na’vi and wish for a victory over humans.
The movie is rich and incomparable with anything ever seen so far. Cameron proves that he is the best ever in action sequences and incomparable when it comes to creative thinking. This movie is a must watch in 3-D. Anything else, doesn’t do enough justice. The amazing creatures, small and huge are actually bought to life by this technique. You actually tend to reach out to some and may want to dodge the arrows flying on to you!
The story is set in the year 2154, and starts with the male protagonist “Jake Sully” played by Sam Worthington reaching Pandora. Jake is an ex-marine now confined to a wheelchair, who has volunteered to replace his twin brother “Tom” for an experiment to be carried out on this planet. Corporations are mining a rare mineral on Pandora, which is the key to solve energy problems of Earth. The intelligent biped species Na’vi is a major hurdle in this destructive mission of humans. The air on Pandora is toxic for humans. The Avatar program is meant to plant a genetically engineered Na’vi, which is created from a mixture of human and Na’vi DNA. The human DNA has been taken from Tom who dies abruptly thus endangering the mission. His place is taken by his brother Jake due to similarities in DNA. In his new Avatar, Jake is able to walk again and explore freely the beautiful yet treacherous planet Pandora. His mission is to infiltrate the Na’vi, establish trust and convince them to vacate the land they reside on. Underneath the Na’vi village and their holy place, lies a major chunk of ore that humans want.
Lost in the jungles, haunted by the wildlife of Pandora Jake is rescued by “Neytiri” (Zoe Saldana) a beautiful Na’vi female, who is also the daughter of a Na’vi chieftain. “Neytiri” believes him to be a messenger of god and convinces her clan to take him in. Thus begins his journey to become one of the Na’vis, which involves many tests and adventures. Jake gradually adapts to his new avatar however loses out on his real mission and submits himself to the pure ways of the people who live close to nature. In love with Neytiri and the innocent race of Pandora, he faces the ultimate test that will decide the fate of an entire world.
The spectacle of the floating mountains and the scene in which Jake tames his own flying bird is simply unforgettable and lingers on much after you leave the cinema halls. Avatar is a must watch in 3D and will stand out as a cinema that changed the way films are made. It will give you an experience similar to traveling to Pandora yourself.
The movie also carries out a subtle message of how humans have ravaged mother earth because of our selfish needs. I wish humans never find another living planet. With our virus-like behaviorism we will not spare any effort to kill it too.
Thank you James Cameron for giving us Pandora! For me you are nothing less but the god of creativity. It will be very mean of you if you do not plan a sequel.
Avatar is definitely worth repeat viewing and, in 3D!
Spiritual Lessons from the movie "Avatar" - Paradigm Shift
Everyone loves an epic. Everyone loves a good Holiday movie. The movie "Avatar" is a triumph, and I believe it goes beyond blockbuster entertainment.
You can call Avatar a message movie, subverting the dominant paradigm about more than one theme:
.war
.living close to the Earth in a sustainable way
.race and difference (using lovable purple humanoids as the "Other")
.return to a balance of feminine and masculine power
.living on the Enlightenment path
Wow! There are lots of messages here.
When Margaret Cho comes to town here in Portland, Oregon, she entertains, but underneath her entertainment are messages about her society, including race, body image and healing. Margaret Cho gets 5 minute standing ovations at the end of her comedy show, not just applause. She is not just a comedienne, but a comedienne with a message.
In the same way, I feel that the movie "Avatar" deserves an ovation.
A Fresh Look At The Way Humans Live
By now you may have heard that the basis for the movie is humans going to another planet to mine the resources of that planet, a valuable mineral called "unobtainium", and to do it in a violent way if necessary. On the planet are a people called the "Indigenous", who are disrespected as "savages" but also at times respected for their "healing ability" and "knowledge about wildlife".
With the disclaimer that this movie has to really rankle anyone of a Native American/Native Canadian descent, I know the imagery would trigger me, themes of colonization and diaspora are Universal, as evidenced by the Dalai Lama's country in exile, as well as many other examples.
The depictions are non-threatening, or not pointing to any particular group of people in the sense that the characters are not human, they are animated. This animated sci-fi picture can so easily depict the parts of our culture we normally don't think about often, like the way we do difference, the way we do war, etc., and it does it in non-threatening, even amusing way--with animation. Avatar gets our attention, and then it starts to create new images of what good things can look like, through watching the Indigenous, like
.good community
.male and female leadership in harmony
.connection with Divine Guidance
.harmony with the elements of nature
.respect for the Indigenous
When we're watching purple, animated, alien versions of people, we get to watch people like we're watching them for the first time.
When the humans are behaving badly we see
.dehumanizing language and thoughts about those that are "different"
.military use of power, with little negotiation
.preemptive strikes
.destruction of Nature
.derision of the female and her contributions
.arrogant speech and mannerisms
Avatar is a chance to see ourselves, and see us entertainingly.
What is an Avatar?
I knew that this movie was going to be interesting to see because it is called Avatar. An Avatar in Hinduism is a "God that comes to Earth". In Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages around that gives us many English words, the word Avatar means "descent" as in from Heaven to Earth.
Although Jesus can be seen as an Avatar, Jesus was actually a mortal that lived on the earth. In Eastern mythology where Avatars are more prominent, mythological Avatars come to Earth disguised as humans. Lakshmi, a Divine Mother figure, comes to Earth in different forms. Imagine that God, or a piece of God, comes to Earth in a disguise. This is an Avatar.
Hinduism is an amalgam of many indigenous texts and traditions. In fact the word "Hindu" appeared in English in the 17th century, to mean "Indian Pagan". The word "Pagan" also means "non-Christian". We have lots of terms that mean "a religion different than us", yet more and more our religions look the same.
If you haven't seen the movie I won't spoil it by disclosing the plot or ending, but for me these are some of the spiritual lessons the movie Avatar holds:
.Knowing We Are All Connected Is The Path to Enlightenment
.You too, can be an Avatar
.Return of the Divine Feminine
.Living Sustainably
Knowing We Are All Connected Is The Path to Enlightenment
On the planet Pandora where the movie Avatar takes place, everyone believes that everything is connected. The movie shows "connection" through visual means:
.The protagonist, a down and out Marine quadriplegic with little sense of life purpose, gets "connected" with the DNA of an "Indigenous" , that acts as his other body
.There is a female guide that shows the Marine how to "connect" with a horse to ride, or a bird
.There is a Sacred Tree to "connect" with the ancestors' voices
.The blossoms of the Tree show a "connection" with Divine Guidance is trying to get your attention
Whether we are talking about an Eastern Religion or a Western One, Enlightenment is meditation (connection with God), and finding out there is no difference between the seer and the seen. In the Bible the quote is "I and the Father are One". In Hinduism, in the Yoga Sutras 2.17, an ancient (and yes, indigenous) text, it talks about how the way to break cycles of Karma and find Enlightenment is to find where the "seer can engulf the seen". In other words, when the One that is Consciousness will engulf the individual Ego consciousness. This can be learned viscerally, through expanding the senses beyond the senses, through meditation and inner exploration.
You too, can be an Avatar
The Marine that doubles himself in the movie with an Indigenous body that is taller and stronger is a great metaphor, because your enlightened self gives rise to an "Expanded Self". In Hindu and other religions your enlightened body is expanded, your senses are added onto with a 6th sense. You can sense Divine Will and harness Divine Power. Answering a "spiritual call" you are on a mission of Grace, and you are in a sense, taller and stronger. The Marine's "2nd Body" is what he uses to do spiritual work.
Ever wonder why Avatars like Jesus or Buddha were so kind? They went from the "I" in their experience to the expanded consciousness. A Buddha constantly practices compassion, one way is to imagine everyone striving for happiness, in other words that we are all the same.
In Avatar, we witness the protagonist Marine "evolving" from an "I" to an expanded self before our eyes throughout the movie. When he achieves a sense of mission, finding what his Divine Guidance is asking him to do, he is at one with himself and with the Planet. He is Divine Grace in (almost) Human form. He feels kindness for everything. He is an Avatar.
Any of us, like him, can find our soul connection and our expanded self, to become an Avatar.
Return of the Divine Feminine
The word Avatar is from the East, and an Eastern theme also is Kali Yuga, the Return of the Divine Feminine.
Yuga means "world age" and for millenia an Eastern prophesy has stated that the Goddess, a symbol of Feminine Power, in a period starting in 2013.
The movie depicts feminine power in such a way that any female or male psyche that is thirsty for those images will be quenched. You have Sigourney Weaver after all, who can take on arrogance of those around her with more arrogance, but she also shows the ability to intuit a vision of better life on the planet and the will of the people around her.
You have Michelle Rodriguez who depicts the feminine in camouflage, boots and a smile. Her essence is bravery answering a call for Higher Justice.
The Indigenous Princess and Guide that teaches about the land is bravery personified. She senses the Spiritual Call easily and interprets her actions through that call.
Funny, but Hindu prophesy is that Kali will arrive here on Earth. That means that there is a call for Avatars to bring in the Age of Kali Yuga, and for males and females to bring in the Divine Feminine into harmony again with the Divine Masculine. This movie is a great example of hearing that call, and a great depiction of how things can look.
Living Sustainably
Let's face it. Blowing shit up isn't living sustainably. But just like when Hindus talk about bad karma, karma is not just the seen, as in "blowing shit up", but the unseen. It is the deeply embedded patterns and beliefs in our culture we have to look at to change, not just the external results, and movies act like a "vote" for those changes.
Here's an example of our quest and need for sustainable living. In the 1940's, 1 in 16 died of Cancer. Now it is 1 in 2. We are polluting our water, so that the change is unsustainable. Every week the runoff from automobiles into the ocean exceeds the spill of the Exxon Valdez. The trees we cut down are our source of oxygen, yet we seem to behave like we don't need oxygen, and that we don't care about trees. We only have 2% of the forest in the US that we used to.
There is so much we need to change, to live sustainably, but it starts with our deep seated beliefs.
"I See You"
When the Indigenous cause an animal to die, either through a hunt or an accident, they say "I See You". When the two important people are in love in the movie they say "I See You", and it becomes kind of a mantra.
When Eastern Religion uses the phrase "Namaste", they are saying "I see the light inside of you", in other words the light of Oneness. There are native cultures that believe you can see a light in another's eyes as the light that connects us with everyone.
"I See You" in the movie is a phrase that sees animals and human types as Sacred.
Avatar not only gives us a fresh look at how we see Nature, but how we see each other as well.
Conclusion
There is so much we need to change in this world, but why focus on the bad? Go to the movies! Buy yourself some popcorn. Millions will see this movie, and a few of you may be Avatars. ;)
James Cameron's 15 year in the making visual spectacle
There is not a moment in Avatar that left me doubting the love and work that has gone into this movie. It is a visual spectacle unlike anything I’ve seen so far. But the movie left me feeling like Cameron put time into making the best Lego blocks and then assembled a cuboid. The plot is unoriginal, the characters one-dimensional and the dialogue predictable. The cause he takes up is worthy, but the circumstances he builds around it appear painfully contrived. As a study of creativity, this movie is a good example of how one can build a new experience without an ounce of originality as long as one can be inventive with adaptation and repackaging.
The setting is Pandora, a distant moon. Pandora has life on it, tall blue skinned Navi being the human equivalents of its ecosystem. Unlike us humans though, the Navi live in perfect harmony with nature. Every creature is precious; the planet is their God. The earthlings; mercenary soldiers, corporates and scientists, are primarily there to mine, unimaginatively named Unobtanium, a valuable mineral, even at the cost of damage to everything the Navi hold dear. Pandora is not habitable and the humans need a variety of gizmos to be able to stay alive and the Navi are putting up whatever resistance they can. Except that the scientists can now let a human consciousness control a lab developed Navi body, the Avatar. The human sleeps while his Avatar roams about Pandora. Jake Tully, an injured marine, in Avatar form, begins a mission to infiltrate the Navi on a pretext of friendship and bring them down, but switches sides after knowing their ways and falling in love with their princess. The rest of the movie is about how this does not go down very well with the bad guys.
A large section of the movie is devoted to Jake’s discovery of the Navi way of life. This is enthralling but does little to progress the plot. It is, though, a fantastic canvas for the special effects work in the movie. If you are like me, this gets boring after a while. Not to mention painful, given the stiff 3D glasses. At 160 minutes, Avatar is far too long not to give a headache; and with all this time, Cameron still could not evoke an emotional connect with the characters, from me, thanks mainly to dialog like “I see you”(Jake to Navi princess) and “I trusted you”(Navi princess to Jake)
Science fiction and fantasy movies only become engaging when there is originality in them that questions our world. Avatar is an obfuscated Rambo movie, where the whole script gravitates towards a convenient logic defying unlikely victory with loads of money thrown into making the fireworks pretty. It lacks both the cleverness and soul for anything more. But it is a work of immense labour; and for that it wins credit.
Not perfect but overall a good time at the movie's.
Cloverfield is about a man named Rob Hawkins he is about to leave the U.S for his job in Japan when his friends prepare a farewell party for him the party is recorded by Rob's best friend Hud (Kinda like blair witch project) as the (boring) party goes on we are forced to care for Rob and his girlfriend Beth's relationship i did not care one bit but anyway moving on afther all these stupid and pointless attempts to make us care for these characters A monster comes to the city and starts attacking Rob and his friends are trying to find his girlfriend beth before it's too late. The film is overall pretty damm good but it has it's few problems like the characters they don't get very good development which is a shame that hud guy with the camera he was probably the only character i kinda cared for i know a lot of people found him annoying but i thought he was kinda cool he also get's given the funny line's even tough i didn't care much for the characters i thought the acting was very good what i loved about this movie was the suspense and the monster the suspense had my heart beating fast! i keeped asking myself *what does the monster look like?* *what's going on?* *what will happen?* when i first saw the monster i was thinking *holy sh*t!* i never saw anything as original or incredible in a monster movie in my life the effects were sweet as hell and the ending...a lot of people hated the ending but me...i loved it i'm not going to tell you about the ending i don't wanna spoil anything so all i can say is...i loved it. Overall i enjoyed it it's a good time at the movie's it's like a action summer blockbuster one more thing if you get motion sickness then i would not recommend seeing this movie the camera sakes a lot and stuff if you had motion sickness watchcing blar witch then you'll get the same thing here.
Fernando Meirelles's Film Adaptation of Jose Saramago's Novel, Starring Julianne Moore
Fernando Meirelles's film adaptation of Jose Saramago's novel, Blindness, can leave you looking for more. High expectations abound from the director who gave us the visually and emotionally riveting City of God and the conspiracy charged, The Constant Gardener.
The casting of Blindness also ups the ante of expectations with Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Danny Glover, Gael Garcia Bernal, Maury Chaykin and Sandra Oh. Even with the stylistic directing, engrossing performances and undeniably engaging plot vehicle of a blindness epidemic, the film seems to fall short sighted.
Meirelles channels his visionary directing style once again with Cinematographer, Cesar Charlone (City of God) to a beautiful, though at times dizzying wash of celluloid. The filmmaking style holds visual footnotes from the Flemish and Dutch masters of the Dutch Golden Age of Painting, such as The Bruegel Dynasty of painters and Rembrandt. These painters brought a realism to painting unforeseen, capturing the nuances of everyday life.
There are several scenes in Blindness that capture still moments seemingly emulative of Dutch Master Portrait painting. Not to mention a still-life of fruit in a bowl, as well as a nude shot of a rather plump woman highly reminiscent of Rembrandt's work.
Although, given the heightened doomsday scenario of Blindness, Meirelles takes on a harsh and gruesome realism. Please read the full review at my page on Associated Content.
A Philosophical Sci-Fi Drama that Mines the Depths of Consciousnesses
Who is Sam Bell? That is the overriding question in Duncan Jones's directorial debut, Moon, starring Sam Rockwell. Rockwell (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke) plays a lone miner on the far side of the moon named Sam Bell, who slides into cosmic identity crises. Not just of the human
variety, but (warning: Plot Spoiler) as a human clone. Moon is a philosophic exploration into the complex notion of human cloning juxtaposed against the solitude of space exploration.
Duncan Jones's academic background is rooted in philosophy and it was only later that he took his burning questions to the big screen. Jones shows a promising launch as a filmmaker; a preferred platform for philosophers in the Twentieth Century. The questions of 'what is consciousnesses' and 'how do we acknowledge identity' are prominent in Moon. The genre of Science Fiction is no surprise for Jones, whose academic thesis was, How to Kill Your Computer Friend: An Investigation of the Mind/Body Problem and How It Relates to the Hypothetical Creation of a Thinking Machine.
This is the best Jurassic Park movie out there. Worth seeing in the theater and trust me you don't wanna miss out on the dino action. It's a great film with a great story line. And you'll always watch this movie probably in the Spring and Summer. It's really really good. It's one of the best dinosaur movies out there. And it's enjoyable and great to watch as both a Dinosaur and a Jurassic Park film.
Overall it's great and awesome. For overall rating I give
Jurassic Park the Lost World ********** all ten stars
One of the okay SyFy horror films. Supergator opened with Jaw pounding action. It was okay at first then it got better as the film went on. It was great and it had awesome action. The animation however did look fake and unreal. It was stupid because of that. It took strong heat to make a million year Supergator look real. But they did it with Home EX Special Effects. I hate movies that use these type of special effects. This movie did have decent moments and was okay in some places. It was awesome in the very end. Very in the moment and a SyFy movie to remember. It was no Jaws but it was good. It was really entertaining. And very useful to SyFy.
Overall it was was great and people should defently rent, buy it or see it on SyFy.
For overall rating I give Supergator ******** eight stars
