Baron Dave Romm
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By Baron Dave Romm
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I'll try not to have too many spoilers, but some are inevitable. Be forewarned. To read my longer review, with major spoilers, go to Baron Dave's LiveJournal entry.
Avatar is a movie people will like for many of the wrong reasons, and dislike for the wrong reasons. It's a tremendous achievement, one where the strengths overshadow the weaknesses. Unfortunately, the weaknesses are hard to separate out.
The film is gorgeously rendered in 3D, with writer/director James Cameron building new techniques to get the cgi Avatars to move like their human actors. Mostly, the 3D is used in small but effective ways. But the action is so quick that it sometimes beat out persistence of vision and blurred. I don't know how it would be in regular 2D; you'd lose much but keep some as well.
All through Avatar, I kept thinking, "Haven't these people read science fiction? Didn't they learn anything from Vietnam or Iraq? Haven't they seen Bambi?"
The clash between Heinlein's Starship Troopers and Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern is cliche'd. A real expedition with this much riding on it would handle everything better. For how much time and money they corporation has spent on the project, they screw up the most important part: Mining the Unobtainium.
Ultimately, Avatar is Dune in the jungle: Pandora has melange... er, unobtainium which is very valuable to the invaders who have an unstoppable army. The Na'vi recognize, pretty quickly, an outsider as having potential to understand their world, which he does by riding a worm... er, dragon and forming a bond with it. This convinces the Fremen... er, Na'vi that he's worthy. The newest addition to their people then leads them against his former affiliation.At least Dune got the economics right: Pandora has something Earth wants, and they should trade on their own level. A little more about why the mineral is only on this planet (and how they found it) would have helped to flesh out a thin story.
Avatar is for the short attention span crowd. Few long shots, little exposition, lots of movement and emotion. Advantage: Got a lot in (there's a reason no one's done Dune right). Disadvantage: The movie seems hollow at second glance, with background and motivation driven by cliches. Not a good thing when you're trying to make a groundbreaking movie.
One of the unexplored bits of business was the Avatar technology itself: Do they grow them or construct them? Can they have children? Back on Earth, can any paraplegic with money get one?
Will Avatar be Tron: A groundbreaking movie where advances in technology come so quickly that it's dated almost instantly? Will Avatar be Blade Runner: A beautifully crafted movie that doesn't hold up to much scrutiny? Will Avatar be Wall-E, an eco-friendly film that will be remembered fondly despite how it manipulates and relies on cliche?
Or... Will Avatar be 2001: A Space Odyssey: A brilliant movie that advanced cinematic technology and remains a high-water mark in science fiction storytelling? Will Avatar be Star Wars: An action packed good-guys-vs-bad-guys with a rich back story that virtually creates a genre?
Gotme. I suspect that Avatar will make its huuuuge investment back and other filmmakers will have to pay attention to the new technology. Whether this will make better films remains to be seen. My one prediction: Within a few years, it will be significantly cheaper to do. Watch for Avatar-like home gaming systems within a decade (replacing Wii).
I think Avatar is a good movie, one any sf fan should see eventually. The advances in technology work okay but feel like a work in progress. And be aware that it is NOT a kiddie flick. Despite its PG-13 rating, it's very violent and bloody.
Two things: 1) The 3D glasses are invariably dirty. Bring a good microfiber glasses cleaner, or some sort of soft cloth, possibly with glasses cleaning fluid. 2) Avatar is a long movie -- 162 minutes, not counting previews (which are in 3D). Go to the bathroom first, and don't be in a hurry to gulp down your soda during the film. Fortunately, there's nothing after the credits so you can bolt out of the theater if necessary.
Final comment: Other reviewers have split their ratings, giving high marks for the effects and low marks for the story. My more subjective rating allows for such: On the Shockwave Radio Theater scale of 8 to 23, where 23 is the best, I give Avatar about an 18 or 19, with two and maybe three points for the effects.
Dollhouse
It's difficult to see how Dollhouse can pull up from some really awful episodes. An interesting premise was never fully brought up to tv standards, and now the plots are all about internal strife and soap-opera interrelationships. I'll watch the last few episodes just to be a completist, but at this point I'm just waiting for the show to be put out of its misery.
Vikings vs. the snow in Carolina
The Vikings game will be played after I finish this. I'm amused that the east coast is getting socked with snow while the Vikings play in a domed stadium and don't play on snow. We here in Minnesota have a few inches left over from the last storm and might get some more today, but inside the stadium it's nice and clear.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog maintains a Facebook Page, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
I, Anonymous: To My Super-Rad In-Laws (thestranger.com)
Big thanks to you, my Schiavo-esque in-laws, for deciding to keep my severely brain-damaged mother-in-law alive for four years now.
Noam Scheiber: Upper Mismanagement (tnr.com)
Why can't Americans make things? Two words: business school.
Susan Estrich: What Will Democrats Do? (creators.com)
Whatever it takes. Whatever Joe wants. That's the short answer to what the Democrats will do to get health care reform passed. If Joe Lieberman doesn't want 55-year-olds to buy into Medicare, they won't. Poof. Gone.
Froma Harrop: Joe Lieberman's Big Picture (creators.com)
No, another six years in the Senate can't possibly be in Lieberman's stars. But moolah, quite possibly. Mucho moolah.
Connie Schultz: A Professor Was More Than Her Cause of Death (creators.com)
Last year, I sent an e-mail to a college mentor, thanking her for believing in me before I believed in myself. I wrote it after someone asked me, "When did you think your opinion mattered?"
Ellen Friedrichs: Guess What? Casual Sex Won't Make You Go Insane (AlterNet)
Many cling to the notion that casual sex must be damaging. Recent research -- and a little historical perspective and common sense -- shows otherwise.
This column will change your life: Check out checklists (guardian.co.uk)
They've saved lives, you know, says Oliver Burkeman.
Mark Shields: "Tell Me, Do You Know Anyone?" (creators.com)
To those of us fortunate enough to have known him, the late Tom Pettit was much more than the award-winning NBC News reporter who was the only television journalist on the air live at the Dallas City Jail on Nov. 24, 1963, when Jack Ruby shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald.
George Varga: "Paying the Bills: John Cleese" (creators.com)
John Cleese had a timely reason for launching the first leg of his recently concluded, international one-man tour.
Rosanna Greenstreet: "Q&A: Dame Vera Lynn" (guardian.co.uk)
'My guiltiest pleasure? At 6pm I like to sit down with a glass of wine and a packet of crisps.'
Keith Lawrence: Bill Monroe's mandolin continues to make history (Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer)
A 7-inch mandolin headstock veneer defaced by Bill Monroe nearly half a century ago sold at auction Dec. 3 for $37,500. That's $5,357.15 an inch.
Carlos Ramirez: A Chat with Chester Bennington, Dead by Sunrise/Linkin Park singer (bullz-eye.com)
I'll go through a gallon of Jack Daniels and down some antidepressants in one night and keep on going. I hated my life at one point. I loved my band, career and friends, but when I got home from tour, I couldn't deal. I would just begin drinking.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
Christmas with Your Wife?
Always a late night Christmas favorite of Tiger's?
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'Making (Up) the Grade' Edition...
On Sunday night, Oprah's Christmas at the White House special aired; during her one-on-one conversation with the president, Oprah asked Obama what grade he would give himself for his first year in office. "A good solid B-plus," Obama answered... President Obama To Oprah: I Give Myself A Solid B+ (VIDEO)
What letter grade(s) would you give President Obama? Feel free to break it down into whatever categories you think are appropriate...
Send your response to
noted:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
2009's Top
Music Tours
A year ago, many were predicting a downturn -- if not disaster -- for the music touring industry in 2009 based on a gloomy economic forecast, particularly in North America.
A look at the top tours of the year shows that there were plenty of acts people wanted to see. A dozen of the top 25 tours topped 1 million in attendance, and Madonna and U2 reported 2.1 million and 3 million tickets sold, respectively. The numbers are based on data reported to Billboard Boxscore fro the print magazine issues dated December 6, 2008, through November 21, 2009.
In terms of grosses, five tours exceeded $100 million at the box office, and 18 were at $50 million-plus. Leading everyone is U2 with its groundbreaking 360 tour, which reported a staggering $311.6 million in grosses and 3 million in attendance from 44 sellouts. And that's just the first leg. U2's strategy of boosting capacities by staging a first-ever mobile 360-degree configuration clearly paid off. The band averaged more than $7 million in revenue and attendance of nearly 70,000 per show, surely the highest averages ever reported to Billboard Boxscore.
The second leg of Madonna's Sticky & Sweet tour finished second for the year, coming in at $222 million, on her way to the top-grossing solo tour ever. Madonna's numbers are also among the highest per-show averages ever, taking in an average $4.8 million in sales and 47,565 in attendance per show.
Bruce Springsteen continued his marathon with his E Street Band in 2009, morphing the Magic tour into the Working on a Dream tour without missing a beat. Springsteen's take for the year was $156.3 million from 72 shows and attendance of 1.7 million. The total take for the two tours, since October 2007, is $388 million and 4.1 million in attendance from 171 shows. Among them: the final shows of Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., and the Spectrum in Philadelphia.
Music Tours
Top R&B Artist Of The Decade
Alicia Keys
With seven No. 1s on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs tally and four consecutive chart-toppers on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, Alicia Keys walks off as Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop artist of the decade.
The singer's 2001 debut album, "Songs in A Minor," reigned over Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for six weeks and launched a pair of top 10 singles, including the multiformat smash "Fallin'."
Keys followed "Songs in A Minor" with "The Diary of Alicia Keys" (2003), "Unplugged" (2005) and "As I Am" (2007). With the exception of her third offering, each set ranks in the top 40 of the decade's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. On Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Keys' No. 1 singles have led for 41 chart weeks, more than any other artist. Among them, "No One" and "Like You'll Never See Me Again" combined for 17 consecutive weeks at No. 1.
Keys' dominance reflects the broader picture of the era's top-ranked acts. Straight-ahead R&B artists like Keys, Beyonce and Ne-Yo fare better than rap acts on the all-encompassing top artist ranking, despite being responsible for fewer than half of the decade's top 50 R&B/hip-hop albums. R&B acts account for 31 of the decade's top 50 artists, while rap acts, led by Jay-Z at No. 2, round out the remaining slots.
Alicia Keys
Top Decade's Rock Charts
Linkin Park & Nickelback
Linkin Park's trademark anthemic hooks came to represent a core sound in rock music in the 2000s, so it's no surprise that the band ranks as the top act of the decade on Billboard's Rock Songs and Alternative Songs decade-end tallies.
The group's "In the End" places at No. 2 on the Rock and Alternative decade-encompassing charts. On the former survey -- which encapsulates airplay from alternative, mainstream rock and triple A (adult alternative album) radio stations -- Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" claims top song honors. On the latter chart, Trapt's "Headstrong" stands tallest.
Among all acts, Linkin Park collected the most Alternative No. 1s -- eight -- during the decade.
On the Mainstream Rock Songs Artists chart, Nickelback is the decade's top act. "Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down is the chart's top song of the decade.
Linkin Park & Nickelback
Artist Of The Decade
Eminem
Eminem has earned Billboard's artist of the decade title, just slightly more than 10 years after he made his Billboard Hot 100 debut.
The decade-end artist recap ranks the best-performing acts of the past 10 years (from December 4, 1999, to November 28, 2009) based on activity on two charts: the Billboard 200 albums list and the Billboard Hot 100 songs tally.
The hip-hop king first graced the Hot 100 chart February 27, 1999, with "My Name Is," then racked up another 27 entries from 2000 onward. On the Billboard 200, all five of his sets released in the decade reached No. 1. Additionally, his album "The Slim Shady LP" debuted and peaked at No. 2 in the spring of 1999, but continued to chart in 2000.
Eminem is also the top male artist of the decade. The female honor goes to Beyonce, while the top duo/group is Nickelback.
Eminem
Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Citadel Broadcasting
Citadel Broadcasting Corp., the nation's third-largest radio broadcasting company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday in an effort to restructure its hefty debt load as it continues to face declining advertising revenue.
Citadel owns and operates 224 radio stations in all major markets and produces news and talk radio programing for 4,000 station affiliates and 8,500 program affiliates. Citadel's WABC is home to several syndicated hosts, including Don Imus, Rush Limbaugh, Joe Scarborough and Mark Levin.
In documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Las Vegas-based Citadel listed total assets at Oct. 30 of $1.4 billion and total debt of $2.46 billion. The company said in a statement it has reached an agreement with more than 60 percent of its lenders on a deal that would erase about $1.4 billion of debt in exchange for control of the company.
Much of the Citadel's debt burden stems from its $2.7 billion purchase of ABC Radio from Walt Disney Co. in 2007. Citadel also has been hurt over the past couple of years by declines in advertising revenue in nearly all major markets as many listeners abandoned the format for prerecorded music and the commercial-free satellite radio offerings of Sirius XM. The economic slump further cut ad spending across all media, including newspapers and television, and has also affected rivals including No. 1 U.S. radio broadcaster Clear Channel.
Citadel Broadcasting
Spanish Dig Finds Nothing
Federico Garcia Lorca
A high-profile dig aimed at locating the body of the poet Federico Garcia Lorca, who was executed at the start of the Spanish Civil War, has yielded nothing, officials said Friday.
The announcement means that one of the 1936-39 war's greatest mysteries - the whereabouts of the remains of Spain's most acclaimed 20th-century poet and playwright - will remain unresolved for now.
The two-month excavation on a hillside outside the southern city of Granada produced "not one bone, item of clothing or bullet shell," said Begona Alvarez, the Andalusia region's justice minister.
The excavation near the town of Alfacar had been requested by historians and relatives of a handful of men believed to have been executed and buried along with Garcia Lorca. It was part of a movement begun in the late 1990s to help Spaniards locate the graves of loved ones who went missing during the war.
Garcia Lorca was executed in the opening weeks of the war by militia fighters loyal to Gen. Francisco Franco, whose rightist forces rose up against an elected, leftist Republican government and ultimately prevailed.
Federico Garcia Lorca
Sainthood Surprise
Ratzinger
Pope Benedict XVI moved controversial wartime pontiff Pius XII closer to sainthood by declaring him "venerable" in a surprise announcement on Saturday.
The pontiff simultaneously bestowed the same title on his beloved predecessor John Paul II and paved the way for the beatification of Jerzy Popieluszko, the activist priest who helped bring down Poland's communist regime.
The triple announcement by the German-born pope "took everyone by surprise," Vatican expert Bruno Bartoloni told AFP, adding: "There will certainly be negative reactions" from the Jewish community.
Benedict -- who was himself at the centre of controversy over his past membership of the Hitler Youth -- has publicly defended Pius XII.
Ratzinger
Damaged Gate Sign Retrieved
Auschwitz
Polish police found the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign that was stolen from the gate of the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz after an intensive three-day hunt and arrested five suspects, police said early Monday. The sign was found cut into three pieces.
Police spokeswoman Katarzyna Padlo told The Associated Press that the sign was found Sunday night in northern Poland, the other end of the country from the southern Polish town where the Auschwitz memorial museum is located and where it disappeared before dawn Friday.
Padlo said police detained five men between the ages of 25 and 39 and took them for questioning to Krakow, which is the regional command of the area that includes the Auschwitz museum.
Another police spokesman, Dariusz Nowak, said the 16-foot (5-meter) sign, made of hollow steel, was found cut into three pieces, each containing one of the words. The cruelly ironic phrase means "Work Sets You Free" and ran completely counter to the purpose of Auschwitz, which began as a concentration camp for political prisoners during the Nazi occupation of Poland and evolved into an extermination camp where Jews were gassed to death in factory-like fashion.
Auschwitz
Weekend Box Office
`Avatar'
James Cameron launched his science-fiction epic "Avatar" into a safe orbit as the costly film soared to No. 1 with $73 million domestically and $159.2 million overseas, for a $232.2 million worldwide total.
The film fell short of the record for December debuts of $77.2 million set two years ago by Will Smith's "I Am Legend." But it did break the record for a film opening in 3-D, previously held by last summer's "Up" with $68.1 million.
The overall box office shot up on the strength of "Avatar." Hollywood's domestic revenues came in at $134 million, up 51.5 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Yes Man" opened at No. 1 with $18.3 million, according to Hollywood.com.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Avatar," $73 million.
2. "The Princess and the Frog," $12.2 million.
3. "The Blind Side," $10 million.
4. "Did You Hear About the Morgans?", $7 million.
5. "The Twilight Saga" New Moon," $4.4 million.
6. "Invictus," $4.2 million.
7. "Disney's a Christmas Carol," $3.4 million.
8. "Up in the Air," $3.1 million.
9. "Brothers," $2.6 million.
10. "Old Dogs," $2.3 million.
`Avatar'
In Memory
Brittany Murphy
Brittany Murphy, the actress who got her start in the sleeper hit "Clueless" and rose to stardom in "8 Mile," died Sunday in Los Angeles. She was 32.
Murphy was pronounced dead at 10:04 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Sally Stewart said. Stewart would not provide a cause of death or any other information.
Murphy was transported to the hospital after the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to a call at 8 a.m. at the home she shared with her husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack, in the Hollywood Hills.
Born Nov. 10, 1977, in Atlanta, Murphy grew up in New Jersey and later moved with her mother to Los Angeles to pursue acting.
Her career started in the early 1990s with small roles in television series, commercials and movies. She is best known for parts in "Girl, Interrupted," "Clueless" and "8 Mile."
Her on-screen roles declined in recent years, but Murphy's voice gave life to numerous animated characters, including Luanne Platter on more than 200 episodes of Fox's "King of the Hill" and Gloria the penguin in the 2006 feature "Happy Feet."
Murphy credited her mother, Sharon, with being a key to her success.
"When I asked my mom to move to California, she sold everything and moved out here for me," Murphy said. "I was really grateful to have grown up in an environment that was conducive to creating and didn't stifle any of that. She always believed in me."
Brittany Murphy
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