Avatar: 9/10
My favorite podcast did an entire episode on Avatar being a criminally underrated and under appreciated movie. I, like every other human on the planet, saw this in theaters. I remember snarking thru most of it, and going into my general “all movies are crap” rant in most of my post viewing discussions. I now see how wrong I was. In the wake of Disney Star Wars and endless Avengers movies, I think it is undeniable that Avatar is a work of genius. The graphics and computer effects have not only held up, but still look infinitly better than anything that has come out in the 8 or 9 years since Avatar’s original release. What’s more, the whole plot is about American Colonialism being out of control. I just took this for granted at the time, but now in the wake of blue lives matter and the Avengers representing all things good our country, it is beyond refreshing to see a major block buster (2nd of all time) where the American Military and capitalist greed are the unappologetic enemy. It seems almost impossible that there was a time when a theater could be filled with hooting boomers, all screaming and shouting in support of a 10 foot blue alien who is throwing our blessed marines out of a helicopter. I never thought I would say this, but I am totally down for the 4 additional movies that Cameron is currently filming in New Zealand. As Matt Will and Felix said on yesterday episode of Chapo Trap House: James Cameron and Avatar could be the last chance for correcting the current American/Colonial Capitalist death spiral.
Also, while watching Avatar, the stunning soundtrack reminded me of another, all but forgotten, masterpiece:
This pure work of art perfectly captures the beautiful voices of the Na’vi for what I can only describe as a stunning and euphoric listening expericne. I’d say it’s beyond doubt that James Cameron was listening to The Album when he was in the development phases of Avatar. Additionally, the music video manages to predict COVID-19 19 years (coincidence? 🧐) ahead of time. We see the video’s hot female villain (The american colonial marines) going around giving COVID (American Colonialism) to unsuspecting euro-trash men (The Na’vi) while Mauro (Jake Sully) does his best to stop the spread. IDK what else I can say. It has been a formative and eye opening 24 hours. 🦎
