Leap Year or Undistracted by what is going on on the screen, Jason has time to wax philosophical.

1. Did I enjoy it? NO
Spraining my knee has given me time to catch up on my film reviews. But the question that keeps coming back to me is why did I ever get behind in the first place. Really great films, and even really bad films for that matter, generate conversation. You can't wait to tell your friends about what excited or outraged you. You quote the movie. The movie shows things about yourself you did not know.

Then there's mediocre movies. They just slip out of thoughts after you leave the theatre. Leaving you with nothing to talk about or be excited about. Or maybe the problem is not the movie but me.

Many my modern American lifestyle has blinded me to the subtleties of cinema. (The fact I enjoyed Furry Vengeance may be a supporting factor in that argument.) Has the dichotomy of great indie films versus big blockbusters blinded me to the charms of simple middle of the road film making. Amy Adams was cute. Matthew Goode was charming. The Irish countryside was beautiful. Shouldn't that be enough. Unfortunately it isn't. Perhaps if it was I'd be a happier person.

2. Would I watch the movie again? NO
One time is enough thank you.

Avatar or Jason goes to watch Avatar, says fuck it, and sneaks into Sherlock Holmes.

I tried to sit through Avatar. I really did. But I just couldn't do it. Large soda and large popcorn in hand, I walked out. A smile broke over my face as the door to that auditorium closed behind me. As I nervously scanned for any ushers when I snuck into Sherlock Holmes, I joined the "Yeah But" crowd.

"Yeah the special effects were good but the story...well that's another story."

What really bugged me, to the point where I could no longer suspend disbelief, was there was no point to making the movie. I am not saying the story had no point. It follows the monomyth: hero is given a task, ventures to a strange land, engages in conflict, and emerges with what he was missing. There was no reason for the filmmakers to make this specific story. James Cameron spent over ten years and three billion dollars to make Avatar. Ten years and three billion dollars to essentially remake Dances with Wolves. It is the exact same story of the lost man discovering himself when he joins the indigeous or aboriginal people. Didn't anyone notice this. They had ten years.

As I exited the theater I overheard a grandmother and her ten year old grandson talking.
"Have you seen Avatar," the grandma asks.
"Yeah. IT WAS AMAZING," he exclaimed.
Maybe Avatar is beyond me. I might finally be "too old" to get it. Avatar is this nascent generation's Star Wars. A film that inspires less from the message the hero learns but more from the filmmaker making a world people want to live in.

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