A Pleasant Surprise: Avatar

The Internet Movie Database puts Avatar in three genres: action, adventure, and sci-fi. What three genres do I never venture into? You guessed right: action, adventure, and sci-fi. It's because of this that I was so surprised that I enjoyed James Cameron's Avatar as much as I did, and why I think people who normally lean away from fantasy films should give this one a try.

I wasn't one of the lucky kids who got to see this film in the IMAX theater, but it's not necessary. The detail in Cameron's film is so great that the ordinary theater serves it's purpose just fine.

Unlike most films, it's my feeling that Avatar hardly had to rely on the talent of its cast. That's not to say that they were good or bad, but that the 3-D work was that good. Pandora's forest is the stuff dreams are made of—beautiful, pristine, vibrant. If I were one to take hallucinogenics, Pandora is what I hope they would make me see.

See this film, if only for the visuals.

If anyone is thinking ahead: I really want a mountain banshee for my birthday. (Psst, it's June 11.)

Party Time!

Today, my first Oscar Party invite dropped into my Facebook inbox, complete with this wonderfully Photoshopped picture of the hosts:

Clever fella, eh? No worries, you can achieve the same awesome invite in no time, and when you're done Photoshopping, you can really get down to planning your own Oscar shindig with these pointers:

• Make a 60-to-90-minute playlist of easy-to-recognize movie themes to play in the background during the red carpet and after the show.
• Printable ballots are a nonnegotiable. At the end of the night, present the winner with their own Oscar. If you're throwing an adult party, a bottle of wine or a gift card is also appropriate for the winner.
• Encourage your guests to dress for the event—tuxes, long dresses, glitzy jewelry. Truthfully, it seems most of us are usually looking for an occasion to break out our formal attire, if only to prove we still fit in our college spring gala dresses.
• Send the guests home with a small gift bag of movie-centric items: a bag of popcorn, a box of movie theater candy, and 3-D glasses or star-shaped glasses.

Finally, I only wish I could all these pun-heavy Oscar muchies and drinks from Margaret Lyons of Entertainment Weekly: The Fantastic Mr. Lox, The Lovely Scones, Ham Education, Ginvictus, and my personal favorite, The Pabst Station.

I Still Heart Audrey, But Not Coco

Make no mistake about it: Watching a movie with English subtitles takes far more effort than one without. A foreign film turns movie watching from a passive activity, into an active one. With some films, this is a blessing, as their cinematography, acting, and plot deserve even greater attention than usual. On the other hand, and as was the case with Coco Avant Chanel, it makes some movies darn close to unbearable.

Audrey Tautou of Amelie fame did all she could to save this film, but it still wasn't enough. Coco Avant Chanel just couldn't break the cookie-cut mold of a romantic, period film. What's worse is how long it took to even gain that momentum.

The film definitely left me wanting to know more about Gabrielle Coco Chanel, but not in a good way. It was as if the story went right up to the point where I wish it would have started. One RottenTomatoes.com brief review echoes my sentiments about the film's title exactly in suggesting, "Coco Before She Was Interesting".

If you're a fashion junkie looking for your industry fix, I propose you pick up 2009's The September Issue rather than Coco. The inside look at Anna Wintour and the Vogue team is far more enlightening and exciting than this snooze. Even better yet, revisit Tautou as Ms. Amelie Poulain.