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Decided to reconfigure things here a bit (hopefully to make things a bit clearer.)
I've created an entirely new blog I'm calling my "Comics Index Blog". It is here that I'll include month-by-month labels in order to more specifically index what I've read by original release (and, potentially, other factors, although I'll still be limited by the maximum number of text characters Blogger allows me to put in each blog entry's label's field).
I've started off by carrying over portions of the posts I made about comics that I posted in 2009 to this new blog (specifically, the posts about Watchmen and Star Trek: Countdown). I've included links back to the original posts on the main Reading/Viewing blog page.
The only changes I made to the original blog entries was removing the month-by-month labels ("1986-09 (Comics)", "1986-10 (Comics)", etc., and replacing them with the more general, by the decade style that I use for novels, nonfiction, movies, etc. ("1980s Comics").
As with Star Trek related entries, I still intend on posting at least brief entries to the main page about everything that I read, but the comics ones will become less detailed, referring one over to the Comics Index Blog page.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Avatar
Avatar (2009) (Movie)
(Opened in the U.S. 12/18/09; seen 3/14/10).
It's been nearly a year since I last posted a blog entry about a movie I've seen. Partially that's because I haven't been out to see very many movies lately. Also, I've been very busy with various other things (moving again in November of '09 and some pretty big work changes coming up are just two of those; plus, I've gotten pretty active on Facebook which is where I've shifted a lot of my internet time).
Here's something I wrote about Avatar over on my Facebook page:
Avatar was good. ...[I]t "rocked" in all the areas where one would expect it to. Everything looked awesome. Cameron really raised things up another notch in terms of creating an incredibly exotic looking alien world. The action scenes were exciting and some of the best I've seen, both the ground and air based combat.
If you're looking for a really deep plot you might be a bit disappointed as it's pretty predictable (the old "natives being persecuted and driven off their own land by technologically superior invaders" theme) and it follows a lot of the standard action movie conventions, as well. The lead two or three characters are *just* developed enough to keep one interested in what was happening (aside from the pretty stereotypical tough guy drill sergeant bad guy, and even he "works" in the context of keeping things moving along and providing the necessary danger/conflict).
But I think for most people going in to see Avatar, they don't mind those relatively minor quibbles. It's obviously marketed as a big action/sci-fi "blockbuster" type movie so people should realize what type of movie they are going to see. (I have to admit that, aside from visual effects wise, I'm a bit surprised that it got so much Oscar notice. It didn't seem like an "Oscars type" movie to me. Then, again, what it actually won was in the areas of art direction, cinematography, and visual effects.)... See More
I saw the 3D version (which costs me an additional $3 on top of the matinee price for a regular movie). It took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust. (Just a few minutes into the movie they do one of these cool looking shots where you are inside the space ship and the interior walls seem to recede back many miles into the distance. My eyes hadn't adjusted quite yet so it had a brief vertigo-like effect on me. And near the end of the movie during the big, climactic battle things got a bit fast, action wise, which I had a little trouble following every now and then with the 3D effect. But, otherwise, it was an enjoyable experience, one that I wasn't going to be able experience unless I went out and saw it at the theater. (I will find it interesting to watch the standard "2D" version when it comes out on DVD to compare.)
Warning, Avatar's running time is 162 minutes. So over 2 1/2 hours long. Plan your day accordingly. :) (Not quite as long as Titanic--which I'm actually one of the seemingly few people who actually enjoyed, at least going by most of the people I talk to--which was 194 minutes long. But, don't worry, I heard on the radio that Fox is thinking about re-releasing Avatar with additional scenes this summer. They wanted to keep the movie in the digital 3D and IMAX theaters longer but it got bumped from them when Alice in Wonderland came out in 3D on March 5. One source said that there could be as much as 40 more minutes of additional material, but IMAX movies can only be 170 minutes long, so that only about 8 additional minutes if IMAX theaters are one of their primary concerns.)
Oh, and sequels are pretty much a sure thing as Avatar is currently the highest grossing movie ever (and Cameron already had plans for a couple of sequels when he was making it should it do well enough.)
(Opened in the U.S. 12/18/09; seen 3/14/10).
It's been nearly a year since I last posted a blog entry about a movie I've seen. Partially that's because I haven't been out to see very many movies lately. Also, I've been very busy with various other things (moving again in November of '09 and some pretty big work changes coming up are just two of those; plus, I've gotten pretty active on Facebook which is where I've shifted a lot of my internet time).
Here's something I wrote about Avatar over on my Facebook page:
Avatar was good. ...[I]t "rocked" in all the areas where one would expect it to. Everything looked awesome. Cameron really raised things up another notch in terms of creating an incredibly exotic looking alien world. The action scenes were exciting and some of the best I've seen, both the ground and air based combat.
If you're looking for a really deep plot you might be a bit disappointed as it's pretty predictable (the old "natives being persecuted and driven off their own land by technologically superior invaders" theme) and it follows a lot of the standard action movie conventions, as well. The lead two or three characters are *just* developed enough to keep one interested in what was happening (aside from the pretty stereotypical tough guy drill sergeant bad guy, and even he "works" in the context of keeping things moving along and providing the necessary danger/conflict).
But I think for most people going in to see Avatar, they don't mind those relatively minor quibbles. It's obviously marketed as a big action/sci-fi "blockbuster" type movie so people should realize what type of movie they are going to see. (I have to admit that, aside from visual effects wise, I'm a bit surprised that it got so much Oscar notice. It didn't seem like an "Oscars type" movie to me. Then, again, what it actually won was in the areas of art direction, cinematography, and visual effects.)... See More
I saw the 3D version (which costs me an additional $3 on top of the matinee price for a regular movie). It took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust. (Just a few minutes into the movie they do one of these cool looking shots where you are inside the space ship and the interior walls seem to recede back many miles into the distance. My eyes hadn't adjusted quite yet so it had a brief vertigo-like effect on me. And near the end of the movie during the big, climactic battle things got a bit fast, action wise, which I had a little trouble following every now and then with the 3D effect. But, otherwise, it was an enjoyable experience, one that I wasn't going to be able experience unless I went out and saw it at the theater. (I will find it interesting to watch the standard "2D" version when it comes out on DVD to compare.)
Warning, Avatar's running time is 162 minutes. So over 2 1/2 hours long. Plan your day accordingly. :) (Not quite as long as Titanic--which I'm actually one of the seemingly few people who actually enjoyed, at least going by most of the people I talk to--which was 194 minutes long. But, don't worry, I heard on the radio that Fox is thinking about re-releasing Avatar with additional scenes this summer. They wanted to keep the movie in the digital 3D and IMAX theaters longer but it got bumped from them when Alice in Wonderland came out in 3D on March 5. One source said that there could be as much as 40 more minutes of additional material, but IMAX movies can only be 170 minutes long, so that only about 8 additional minutes if IMAX theaters are one of their primary concerns.)
Oh, and sequels are pretty much a sure thing as Avatar is currently the highest grossing movie ever (and Cameron already had plans for a couple of sequels when he was making it should it do well enough.)
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