A Great Movie by a great Canadian

I couldn't wait to see James Cameron's new movie after an eleven year hiatus from movie making. Well, the wait for this James Cameron fan has definitely been worth it and "my" Multiplex does not even have 3-D capability, just good old 2-D, and my town does not have an IMAX theatre either, unfortunately. In spite of my "handicap" I can describe the movie in one word: AWESOME" or in three words: I was impressed. Having seen real tropical rain forest on three continents, I could relate to the setting, but even if you haven't seen the real tropical rain forest you cannot help but be impressed by the computer generated rain forest which is essentially the product of Cameron's fertile imagination. As a passive viewer, I could not help but get completely caught up and "sucked in" by this beautiful fantasy realm. Even though this film would be considered Sci-Fi or fantasy fare, it is really much larger than either of these categories because it has so many obvious parallels to our world which is generally not the case with most Sci-Fi and fantasy films. This is one reason why I found this film so compelling. Even though the essentially simple story is taking place in a distant future on a ficticious planet, in a sense it is really taking place on our planet Earth as we speak. And that is the real magic of this movie.

It transcends the usual categories of Sci-Fi and fantasy and is really part fable, part polemic, part morality tale and in typical Cameron fashion all wrapped up in a generous part of great entertainment. This is no mean accomplishment.

I spoke of magic earlier. I believe this film is a real step (leap?) forward as far as the magic of computer generated moviemaking is concerned. Here, it is becoming obvious that the boundary between naturalism and cutting edge animation is increasingly becoming blurred and in the process is perhaps inventing, as I would suggest, a whole new fusion genre or 'mash up', - to use a contemporary term, -that one could call 'magic realism'.

In closing, (and at this point some discerning readers might question my sanity) I will go out on a limb and say something I rarely say about any movie: I really hope this movie will do well at the box office so Mr Cameron and 20th Century Fox will be inspired to make a sequel and a third one and perhaps even a prequel. (But please, please: NO MADE FOR TV MOVIE VERSION !!) This is where I draw the line.

Has humanity gone collectively insane ?

OK, WHO HASN'T HEARD OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING YET ? HAS EVERYONE LOOKED UP COPENHAGEN ON THE WORLD MAP YET ??

CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIMATE CHANGE, SCHMIMATE CHANGE !

This summit has been billed as the most important summit in the history of mankind. Hmmm !, Okaay ! After I heard this example of shameless, self serving media hype, my immediate thought was.

WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE OTHER PRESSING ISSUES FACING HUMANITY ?

What about such issues as growing world poverty, capitalist greed gone berserk, a world wide military budget and the attendant waste of the world's finite resources that is going through the roof, the fact that we still live side by side with nukes, bio weapons and chemical weapons, the world's population that is still growing unabated and faster than our capacity to reduce third world poverty.

MY POINT IS: WHAT HAPPENED TO THESE ISSUES AND OUR COMMITMENT TO TACKLE THEM? HAVE THEY COMPLETELY FALLEN OFF THE RADAR SCREEN?

JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!

A while ago the excellent idea of taxing all currency trades world wide with a minuscule tax of (0.5 %, I believe) was proposed. (I can't remember if other financial products were included), (remember, these transactions or "investments" don't really produce actual value) The idea was to use this tax to tackle some of humanity's most pressing problems.

(YES, INCLUDING THE PROBLEM OF CLIMATE CHANGE!)

The idea never gained traction for reasons that any cynic worth his or her salt can piece together for themselves. You may ask: WHAT IS YOUR POINT? My point is: most countries, including most if not all of the rich ones are border line broke and are running high deficits again.

We were not willing to tackle just ONE! of the world's problems during good economic times when we presumably had the money. What makes us think we will tackle one pressing problem now during tough economic times? (It's the ECONOMY, stupid)

JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!

The way the media carries on about climate change you could be forgiven for believing that solving the problem of climate change (whatever that actually means) will solve all of humanity's problems. ---- ARE WE REALLY THIS NAIVE ? -- (AND BRAIN WASHED ?)

JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!

To be filed in the "I just want to scream" folder

I really have to get this off my chest even though I have no time at the moment to do any blogging. (notice I haven't posted for months)

(Nr. One)
Just heard this morning on some gossip radio program that Amy Winehouse set her hair on fire and that Hugh Grant had plastic surgery. (File this in under "So What !!" or Who Cares ??") It was also mentioned in this program that these juicy items might be hoaxes started by the tabloid press desperate to create new buzz for itself or perhaps some desperate soul's attempt to claim its 15 minutes of fame. Andy (Warhol); who knew at the time you said that, that you would turn out to be such a prophet? (You can also file this in the "Who has got time for this shit" folder)

(Nr. Two)
I also heard recently (on another radio program, by the way) that the number of starving people has surpassed a billion and that the annual defense budget of the world is somewhere well over one trillion. (I forgot the exact amount) (File this under "I just want to scream").

Is it any wonder that so many people feel helpless and don't know where to start? Anyway, need I say more?

I have this sinking feeling that most of the few people that will bother to read this post to the end will mentally file this in the "Whatever" folder. Sigh !

The movie "Valkyrie"

I went to see the movie "Valkyrie" the other day and I thought it was a very good movie. It is a great and worthwhile story that needed telling and thank you very much, Tom, for taking a risk and putting this story on the big screen with sensitivity and without any faux "Hollywood style" melodrama.
Keep up your great work and don't worry what Oprah and all your other detractors think of you. (Who cares what they think anyway !)
Before I go, Tom, several words of advice to you (to quote Bono) : "Don't let the bastards grind you down" I hope the movie does well at the box office.

Sad sad news

Well, there goes my chance of ever seeing the original Stooges playing at the CN Centre in my town. Their lead guitarist was found dead at his home this morning. I am sure Ron has lived more in his 60 years than others do in a 100. May you rest in peace, Ron.