Jim's "Go or Don't Go" Double Bonus Edition...

Well, we finally saw Avatar this week. Why did we wait so long? Something in my nature usually causes me to avoid "must see" movies, but Carrie wanted to see it in 3D, so we figured that we had better get to a theater soon.

Most people know the Avatar plot by now, so I'll just give my general impression of the film. I'll skip the not-so-subtle political overtones of the movie, however, here's a helpful tip that applies to any movie: In general, avoid getting your history lessons from Hollywood films.

First off, the movie is beautiful to look at. The planet Pandora and it's native "Na'vi" people are an amazing achievement in visual effects. Director/writer James Cameron deserves be applauded for his vision and the incredible amount of work and talent that must have been necessary to bring Avatar to the screen. One note on the 3D thing - maybe it's just me, but I think that I would have preferred to watch the film in regular old FlatD. It took me half way through the movie for my eyes to adjust, and I had some serious eye strain the next day.

OK, now for the important stuff - the plot. Honestly, nothing new here. Maybe I was expecting too much, but if you take away the CGI, for any movie to be great, the story has got to be strong, and this ain't a strong story folks. Take a little Pocahontas, throw in some Star Wars, a pinch of FernGully and a dash of Dances with Wolves, and you've got Avatar. And at 162 minutes, I was tempted to check the time on my cell phone on a couple of occasions. Mind you, I'm not saying that the story was terrible, just nothing great, or anything that I haven't seen before, which is what I would hope to see in a film that's made a ba-jillion dollars at the box office. One more thing - this movie really suffered from a lack of humor. Of course, it's not a comedy, but boy, a couple of laughs here and there would have really helped.

Next up: characters. OK, I get it, the greedy corporate guy and the psuedo military jarhead guy are supposed to be the incarnation of evil, but they were so stereotypically over-the-top that I had a hard time even working up any hatred for them. I've seen more sympathetic villains in superhero movies. (Note to casting: Don't cast Phoebe's crazy brother from Friends as one of your primary villains. It's a little distracting). Speaking of stereotypes, let's move on the the noble natives of Pandora, the Na'vi. All knowing, all-caring, at complete harmony with the nature, they are one of those imaginary people groups that only exist in Hollywood movies.

So it may sound as if I didn't like Avatar, but I did. I just didn't run out of the theater calling 10 people to tell them that they must see this film and that it will change their lives forever. I think the Oscars got it right - great effects, not-so-great story. I say "Go".

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And now for a movie that I really liked. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang falls into the "Great Movies That I've Never Even Heard of Before" category. The 2005 gem stars Robert Downey Jr., (who is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors. I know, I'm getting to the party a little late on this one) as "a petty thief posing as an actor who is brought to Los Angeles for an unlikely audition, and finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation along with his high school dream girl and a detective who's been training him for his upcoming role." Thank you IMDb.

This is a dark comedy, full of smart dialogue, quirky characters and a clever storytelling style. The film had a "we are going to do whatever we want" vibe throughout. Downey narrates the film to us, all the while aware that he and the other characters in the movie know that we are watching them in said movie.

Downey is at his smart-alec best, and Val Kilmer is perfect as his detective mentor. This movie was funny from the very first scene, right through to the very last. And not "tee-hee" funny; laugh-out-loud "Ha!" funny.

There are people that know much more about film, pulp-fiction novels, and Hollywood insider stuff who could really do this movie justice in a review. You should look some of them up. All I know is that Carrie and I laughed a lot during KKBB. It's rare that we see a movie that's truly different from most of the stuff that we end up watching.

OK - here's the disclaimer. We watched the edited version on AMC, and from what we understand, there is a LOT of profanity in the uncut film. So if this would bother you, you may want to stick to a cleaned-up version of the film (your TiVo should be able to tell you when it's showing next) - it's still very, very good. I promise. I say "Go".