The Berting Blag #1
The Berting Blag #1
So, I was sitting around a few days ago, and thought to myself
“Self”
And I said “Yes?”
“I feel like writing a blog, but I have nothing to talk about.”
“Well, you could always just talk and see what comes out.”
“Nah, that would be confusing and possibly boring to the people that might read it.”
“True. Why don’t you share your opinions on entertainment with everyone?”
“That’s a great idea me!”
Then I gave myself a high five and started planning. The plan ended up being that I will write reviews of movies, books, comic books, video games, theatre, and anything else I think is review worthy here (and by here I mean Facebook and Livejournal) and see what people have to say about it. Along with said reviews will most likely be a little forward (much like this) and maybe a heads up about stuff that I’m excited about. So, I officially welcome you to The Berting Blag!!!! (Thanks to Greg for the idea for the name.)
My first issue has to do with a movie I saw just last night called Avatar. I’m sorry; its full title is JAMES CAMERON’S Avatar. Anyway, my friend Kenny and I went to go see it to just hang, and it resulted in this, so enjoy the review.
Avatar
I would like it to go down in the books that I was wrong. Very very wrong. James Cameron’s Avatar was much better then I thought it ever could be. That being said, I can not say that I enjoyed this movie. Liked it, yes, loved it, maybe, but enjoy is not even close to the first word that comes to mind when thinking of this movie. I’ll get back to that later on.
The first time I saw anything for this movie was James Cameron doing an interview about his movie Avatar. My first thought was a sigh of relief that M. Night Shamalamadingdong was no longer working on it. As I listened I got excited. Mr. Cameron was talking about new techniques for making movies, and applying them to make THE BEST MOVIE EVER!!!! After I listened to him more, I found out that, no this was not the movie version of Avatar: the Last Airbender, but it was an original story… by James Cameron… and directed by James Cameron… and produced by James Cameron. This pissed me off. So, maybe it was because I thought it was The Last Airbender, or maybe it was because I thought James Cameron was talking himself up too much, but from right then I decided that I was not going to be excited about Avatar. It wasn’t until it actually came out, and my friends told me that I NEEDED to go see it, that I actually started to consider to maybe going see it. I am glad I decided to do this.
Anyway, let’s cut into the meat of this thing, the movie. So, Avatar is about this jungle world called Pandora. This is a deadly place with lots of stuff that can kill the shit out of you by thinking about it. The native humanoid “people” are blue cat like things called the Na’vi. Imagine the smurfs crossed with the Thunder Cats and mix in some bad ass, and that’s about them. Anyway, a human company goes there to mine (ready for this) unobtanium… I shit you not. Anyway, the Na’vi are living on a large stockpile of it, and are not going to give it up. This is where our hero comes in. His name is Jake Sully, and he is a crippled marine that is brought to the planet to pilot a half Na’vi half human all bad ass body called an avatar (thus the name of the movie). One of his roles as an avatar pilot is to make nice with the Na’vi, so that the big bad company (backed by the military) can claim the *snicker* unobtanium. As Jake gets closer to the Na’vi, they teach him about nature, and he falls in love, so on and so forth. After that, all hell breaks loose. And it is good.
So, on to the reviewing. Let’s start with the part that knocked my socks clean off the direction. Yes, good job Mr. Cameron. It was a beautiful movie that blended animation and live action in a way I have not seen since Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Joking aside the blending between the CG Na’vi and the real people was amazing. Hell, even the blending between the real people and the fake machines was amazing. On top of that, the CG was just beautiful. I don’t think I have ever seen a movie look this good. It was something else. From the big flying scary thing, to the grass that glowed when you stepped on it at night, it all just took my breath away. This was most true in the scene when Jake first flies. Watching the dragon like beasts soar through clouds, past cliffs, over mountains, under mountains, through waterfalls that fall all the way back to the ground, it literally took my breath away (and yes, I mean that, there was a time that I was watching and forgot to breathe). Besides that, all the flora and fauna were imaginative and interesting. The one thing I found most interesting and hysterical were the inclusion of USB plugs on the back of the Na’vi’s heads. Ok, so they weren’t really plugs, but they were little phalanges that came out the back of their head that allowed them to commune with different animals and plants in nature. This communion allowed information to be transferred, and direct communication to be made with the animals. No matter how cool it was that they were designed with this ability, all it did for me was stir up images of s-video jack cat (http://www.slowwave.com/index.php?date=08-05-17). On top of all this natural beauty, there were the humans. They came to Pandora armed to the teeth, and their array of future tech did not disappoint. They have everything a future human race needed, real small breathing apparatuses, awesome helijets, 3D holograms, awesome screens that were projected into thin air, and mechs. Yes, this future was one of fighting robots. This upset me a bit because I think that giant robots are only good for fighting other giant robots. Yea, they looked cool, but you could have gotten the same job done faster if you just sent a hummer. Anyway, that’s just me.
On to the next part to talk about, the plot/characters. One, I was quite impressed with, the other… not so much. I’ll give you a hint… the plot was underwhelming to say the least. Everything that happened felt very familiar, and not in the good way. Think less “I like being here and enjoy it” and more “I’m lost and I keep passing this same tree!”. Now, I know it’s been over done, but I have to say it, it’s a space version of Pocahontas. The only thing I feel that keeps the plot from dragging the movie down with it are the characters. Yea yea yea Jake shows great change from the beginning to the end of the movie, but that’s not what I’m talking about. The people I really enjoyed were the supporting cast. This includes the pilot for the avatars, the main researcher on the avatar team, the other new avatar guy, and the guy in charge of the military there. The two that really made their way to the top of my list were the main researcher (Sigourney Weaver) and the military guy (Stephen Lang). The things that stood out for me were the characters that were created by the actors. In Weaver’s case she was able to show a very dynamic character that changed her entire personality depending on if she was around humans or Na’vi. Lang on the other hand just played his character as the perfect villain. Ranging from when he was drinking coffee while he was bombing the shit out to the Na’vi, to the absolute rage he showed during the last fight. This speaks greatly of the actors, casting people, and of Mr. Cameron.
And now, for the part I liked the least, which came very close to ruining the movie for me, the message. This was VERY obvious. The entire movie just screamed SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT. And there were some scenes that just took it a bit too far. In particular, I’m thinking of the fire bombing of the Na’vi. I felt that while it was very powerful, I feel that they took it too far. This is the thing that makes it so that I don’t want to say I enjoyed the movie, because I have a hard time saying that I enjoy movies that show such genocide. This scene dredged up visions of the twin towers falling in my head, which was quite painful to watch. The scene was far to long, it was heavy handed, and it made the rest of the movie look subtle, which is an accomplishment unto itself.
In short, the special effects were phenomenal, the acting and directing were really quite good, the plot left a lot to be desired, and the heavy handed message almost killed it. This adds up to me recommending this movie with high marks. Go see it in a theatre with some friends. You’ll have a good time.
So to finish off for today, I’ll put forth some more info about the blog. I plan on updating at most 4 times a month, and least once a month. This will keep me doing stuff so I can have content for my readers.
Keep your eyes out for reviews of:
Mass Effect (x-box)
KOTOR 2 (x-box)
Assassin’s Creed (x-box)
No More Heroes (Wii)
Super Smash Bros (Wii)
Get over it (movie)
Ironman (movie)
And maybe some CD’s
So, I was sitting around a few days ago, and thought to myself
“Self”
And I said “Yes?”
“I feel like writing a blog, but I have nothing to talk about.”
“Well, you could always just talk and see what comes out.”
“Nah, that would be confusing and possibly boring to the people that might read it.”
“True. Why don’t you share your opinions on entertainment with everyone?”
“That’s a great idea me!”
Then I gave myself a high five and started planning. The plan ended up being that I will write reviews of movies, books, comic books, video games, theatre, and anything else I think is review worthy here (and by here I mean Facebook and Livejournal) and see what people have to say about it. Along with said reviews will most likely be a little forward (much like this) and maybe a heads up about stuff that I’m excited about. So, I officially welcome you to The Berting Blag!!!! (Thanks to Greg for the idea for the name.)
My first issue has to do with a movie I saw just last night called Avatar. I’m sorry; its full title is JAMES CAMERON’S Avatar. Anyway, my friend Kenny and I went to go see it to just hang, and it resulted in this, so enjoy the review.
Avatar
I would like it to go down in the books that I was wrong. Very very wrong. James Cameron’s Avatar was much better then I thought it ever could be. That being said, I can not say that I enjoyed this movie. Liked it, yes, loved it, maybe, but enjoy is not even close to the first word that comes to mind when thinking of this movie. I’ll get back to that later on.
The first time I saw anything for this movie was James Cameron doing an interview about his movie Avatar. My first thought was a sigh of relief that M. Night Shamalamadingdong was no longer working on it. As I listened I got excited. Mr. Cameron was talking about new techniques for making movies, and applying them to make THE BEST MOVIE EVER!!!! After I listened to him more, I found out that, no this was not the movie version of Avatar: the Last Airbender, but it was an original story… by James Cameron… and directed by James Cameron… and produced by James Cameron. This pissed me off. So, maybe it was because I thought it was The Last Airbender, or maybe it was because I thought James Cameron was talking himself up too much, but from right then I decided that I was not going to be excited about Avatar. It wasn’t until it actually came out, and my friends told me that I NEEDED to go see it, that I actually started to consider to maybe going see it. I am glad I decided to do this.
Anyway, let’s cut into the meat of this thing, the movie. So, Avatar is about this jungle world called Pandora. This is a deadly place with lots of stuff that can kill the shit out of you by thinking about it. The native humanoid “people” are blue cat like things called the Na’vi. Imagine the smurfs crossed with the Thunder Cats and mix in some bad ass, and that’s about them. Anyway, a human company goes there to mine (ready for this) unobtanium… I shit you not. Anyway, the Na’vi are living on a large stockpile of it, and are not going to give it up. This is where our hero comes in. His name is Jake Sully, and he is a crippled marine that is brought to the planet to pilot a half Na’vi half human all bad ass body called an avatar (thus the name of the movie). One of his roles as an avatar pilot is to make nice with the Na’vi, so that the big bad company (backed by the military) can claim the *snicker* unobtanium. As Jake gets closer to the Na’vi, they teach him about nature, and he falls in love, so on and so forth. After that, all hell breaks loose. And it is good.
So, on to the reviewing. Let’s start with the part that knocked my socks clean off the direction. Yes, good job Mr. Cameron. It was a beautiful movie that blended animation and live action in a way I have not seen since Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Joking aside the blending between the CG Na’vi and the real people was amazing. Hell, even the blending between the real people and the fake machines was amazing. On top of that, the CG was just beautiful. I don’t think I have ever seen a movie look this good. It was something else. From the big flying scary thing, to the grass that glowed when you stepped on it at night, it all just took my breath away. This was most true in the scene when Jake first flies. Watching the dragon like beasts soar through clouds, past cliffs, over mountains, under mountains, through waterfalls that fall all the way back to the ground, it literally took my breath away (and yes, I mean that, there was a time that I was watching and forgot to breathe). Besides that, all the flora and fauna were imaginative and interesting. The one thing I found most interesting and hysterical were the inclusion of USB plugs on the back of the Na’vi’s heads. Ok, so they weren’t really plugs, but they were little phalanges that came out the back of their head that allowed them to commune with different animals and plants in nature. This communion allowed information to be transferred, and direct communication to be made with the animals. No matter how cool it was that they were designed with this ability, all it did for me was stir up images of s-video jack cat (http://www.slowwave.com/index.php?date=08-05-17). On top of all this natural beauty, there were the humans. They came to Pandora armed to the teeth, and their array of future tech did not disappoint. They have everything a future human race needed, real small breathing apparatuses, awesome helijets, 3D holograms, awesome screens that were projected into thin air, and mechs. Yes, this future was one of fighting robots. This upset me a bit because I think that giant robots are only good for fighting other giant robots. Yea, they looked cool, but you could have gotten the same job done faster if you just sent a hummer. Anyway, that’s just me.
On to the next part to talk about, the plot/characters. One, I was quite impressed with, the other… not so much. I’ll give you a hint… the plot was underwhelming to say the least. Everything that happened felt very familiar, and not in the good way. Think less “I like being here and enjoy it” and more “I’m lost and I keep passing this same tree!”. Now, I know it’s been over done, but I have to say it, it’s a space version of Pocahontas. The only thing I feel that keeps the plot from dragging the movie down with it are the characters. Yea yea yea Jake shows great change from the beginning to the end of the movie, but that’s not what I’m talking about. The people I really enjoyed were the supporting cast. This includes the pilot for the avatars, the main researcher on the avatar team, the other new avatar guy, and the guy in charge of the military there. The two that really made their way to the top of my list were the main researcher (Sigourney Weaver) and the military guy (Stephen Lang). The things that stood out for me were the characters that were created by the actors. In Weaver’s case she was able to show a very dynamic character that changed her entire personality depending on if she was around humans or Na’vi. Lang on the other hand just played his character as the perfect villain. Ranging from when he was drinking coffee while he was bombing the shit out to the Na’vi, to the absolute rage he showed during the last fight. This speaks greatly of the actors, casting people, and of Mr. Cameron.
And now, for the part I liked the least, which came very close to ruining the movie for me, the message. This was VERY obvious. The entire movie just screamed SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT. And there were some scenes that just took it a bit too far. In particular, I’m thinking of the fire bombing of the Na’vi. I felt that while it was very powerful, I feel that they took it too far. This is the thing that makes it so that I don’t want to say I enjoyed the movie, because I have a hard time saying that I enjoy movies that show such genocide. This scene dredged up visions of the twin towers falling in my head, which was quite painful to watch. The scene was far to long, it was heavy handed, and it made the rest of the movie look subtle, which is an accomplishment unto itself.
In short, the special effects were phenomenal, the acting and directing were really quite good, the plot left a lot to be desired, and the heavy handed message almost killed it. This adds up to me recommending this movie with high marks. Go see it in a theatre with some friends. You’ll have a good time.
So to finish off for today, I’ll put forth some more info about the blog. I plan on updating at most 4 times a month, and least once a month. This will keep me doing stuff so I can have content for my readers.
Keep your eyes out for reviews of:
Mass Effect (x-box)
KOTOR 2 (x-box)
Assassin’s Creed (x-box)
No More Heroes (Wii)
Super Smash Bros (Wii)
Get over it (movie)
Ironman (movie)
And maybe some CD’s