Monthly Movies: December'09

Hmm, not much for December! That might have something to do with 5 days spent on the road heading South, or on the Holidays, or on the really busy last couple of weeks in Belgium. Well, at least they were damn good movies! :o)

 (500) Days of Summer

"This is a story about boy meets girl. This is not a love story."

I like that. I don't quite know why, but I do! And I also really liked this movie! Sweet yet real. Funny. A lovely tale of a relationship that felt quie real to me, both in the good and the bad.

I was a bit worried about the presence of a narrator when the film started, but the device was very well used and served to remind us that this was a story. Someone is telling us a story. No big serious subject to think about. No big empty special-effects driven popcorn movie. Just a story. Between a boy and a girl. We don't get enough of those any more. Reminded me a bit of Once in that sense....

I don't think I've ever seen Zooey Deschanel in a movie, but I can see why people like her so much and I'm very much looking forward to seeing her in the Bones episode coming up this month! (which will be past by the time I post this in early January, lol!) She has some mannerisms that reminded me so much of Emily Deschanel that it was a bit disorienting at times! :p

PS: Great soundtrack

PPS: I've got to get my Dad to see this, he'll love it! ;o)

Avatar

Can I just say... WOW!

Wow enough to have seen it twice within a week... once here in Alicante with my Dad (in Spanish) and then a week later in Barcelona (in VO!!!) with some friends... one of whom's sister participated in creating the special effects! Her company (Framestore) in London worked on the helicopters and other aerial vehicles as well as a few other things. Was really cool talking to her about it all after seeing the movie. :o)

I'll admit to having been sceptical about this movie when I saw the first trailer. But the second one started bringing me round. As a big cinema fan I was always going to go see it (what with it probably being a "historical" moment, or "the next big thing" on screens), but I'm so glad it was way better than I expected.

So, more specifically? Well the first time I saw it I was so wowed by the 3D  (it all feels so REAL!) that I was worried upon watching it a second time I might realise the story, acting etc. were cr@p or something. But nope, enjoyed it even more! Sure the whole plot is rather simplistic "humans are bad, over-exploiting natural resources, pushing a native people off their lands for the treasure" (loved the name of that mineral: unobtanium?!). Yes it brings to mind Dances With Wolves, Ferngully, The Emerald Forest and any other story of the exploitation/extermination of Indians, Aboriginees etc... But hey, it's a story that's as old as the world, and it still works! I would have preferred some slightly less two-dimensional bad guys, but I so enjoyed everything related to the Na'avi that I'll forgive James Cameron that much. :p

And that's what I really enjoyed, the whole world of the Na'avi. From the magical and ethereal Pandora they live on (a whole planet as a symbiotic organism with one species able to tap into those connections? fabulous!), to their grace and stature, to their culture and relationship with the people/world around them. And I just loved seeing Sigourney Weaver as one of them! ;o)

I'm also thrilled to hear it's doing so well on screens in the US and across the globe. It's nice to see an original movie having such a success (as opposed to the usual chapter X of a franchise or a sequel/prequel thingy). Personally I'd go see it again at least once on the big screen (and definitely in 3D) if it were playing in VO in Alicante. sigh!