Avatar

When I lived in LA I looked forward to the Oscars and the long broadcast of the event.  Mostly, I admit, for the clothes.  The speeches are nearly always inane, and the choice of winners often a bit of puzzle.  Here in Zion we are left only with the nominations and winning -- the long broadcast is actually fairly short here.  This number of nominations has expanded this year.  Nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year is, among others, Avatar.  That is a measure of the nature of the industry.  I can agree that the special effects are remarkable, and quite entertaining.  But the rest of it is very far from best of anything.  The plot is too dumb to be inane, as trite a plot as made into a movie.  The characters are silly and unbelievable.  Every part of it is hard to swallow.   The great white hope saves all.  (Why do the natives attempt to revive the Weaver character?  If they can bring people from the edge of death, how come none of their own?)  What sort of Marine plans uses a battle plan which has folks with bows and arrows, and lances, mount a frontal assault on an enemy armed with automatic weapons?  Or attacks helicopter gunships with similar weapons?  Why not drop rocks on the helicopters -- the rotors clearly break.  He lose his legs in a kitchen accident?  Always a bad sign when physics suddenly stops working.  No way the flying lizards could carry the extra payload.  And on and on.  So, aside from huge expenditures to make and fun effects, there is no real movie here. 

There was a lot of Last of the Mohicans with less thought.