I finally got to see Avatar this weekend.  We went to the 3:30PM show thinking that it would be empty, but it was anything but; the place was packed.  When we arrived the theater was about half full, but by the time the movie started it was almost sold out.

The movie is everything they say it is.  The three hours flew by.

Since everyone else has already reviewed Avatar by now, it doesn’t seem a good use of my time to post another review, so I’ll just say that it is definitely worth seeing.  The CGI is amazing, the 3D is a blast and the movie is action packed without going over the top.  The story has been done before a whole bunch of times, but what story hasn’t.  If you go to see it, make sure you see the 3D version.  Although the movie would stand up well without 3D, you’d still be missing a whole lot of the experience.

Before it leaves the theaters, I think I would like to see it one more time at an IMAX theater.  I’m not a big fan of IMAX, but I suspect in this case it might be worth doing.

Tom Cruise : Ray Ferrier
Dakota Fanning : Rachel
Justin Chatwin : Robbie
Miranda Otto : Mary Ann
Tim Robbins : Harlan Ogilvy
Directed by Steven Spielberg

It’s quiz time. Which of the following best describes the reason that Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds was produced:

A. The original movie wasn’t all that good and the new version improves on it.
B. The original movie was good but the director has a new take on the film
C. The original movie was good, but If we put out a new version we’ll make a lot of money

Let’s see it’s not A because the original version of War of the Worlds was actually a pretty good movie and the new version didn’t improve on it one bit.

And it’s not B because the new version tells the same story as the old version; the new version breaks no new ground.

So it must be…

You guessed it C. Dollar signs were apparently foremost on the mind of Spielberg and his DreamWorks buddies when they decided to produce this picture.

It’s not really a bad movie, it just wasn’t really needed. The 1953 movie had already told this story quite well and the 2005 version does absolutely nothing to improve on it.

In the original version, Gene Barry plays the …

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James Cagney : Arthur ‘Cody’ Jarrett
Virginia Mayo : Verna Jarrett
Edmond O’Brien : Vic Pardo/Hank Fallon
Margaret Wycherly : Ma Jarrett
Directed by Raoul Walsh

White Heat is one of those rare old movies that actually lives up to the hype. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard great things about an old movie but when I finally get to see it, I end up disappointed. This isn’t the case with White Heat however; it’s just as good as everyone says it is.

The story is about a psychopath, tough as nails gangster, Cody Jarrett, who has a weird, child-like attachment to his mother. Jarrett thinks nothing of robbing trains, stealing payrolls and killing people, but when times get tough, he needs the love and encouragement of his mom.

The story begins with Jarrett and the boys staging a train robbery during which Jarrett brutally kills the train engineers. During the heist, one of the gang members is seriously injured and his later death gives the Feds the ability to link the train robbery back to Jarrett. Jarrett sensing that the Feds now have the evidence needed to put him in prison for a long time confesses to another crime that he did not commit, but which serves as a alibi that prevents him from being implicated in the train robbery.

Jarrett later …

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Written and Directed by : George Lucas
Obi-Wan Kenobi : Ewan McGregor
Padmé : Natalie Portman
Anakin Skywalker : Hayden Christensen
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine : Ian McDiarmid

You’ve probably already heard people say that this movie is good and they are right, it really is.

This movie is the conclusion of the trilogy telling the story of Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into the evil Darth Vader.

As you already know, the original Star Wars (the first movie) was actually episode four of the series. It was followed by two sequels Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi that told the story of the restoration of the Jedi knights and the fall of the evil empire. The latest movie, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is the conclusion of the second trilogy which was actually the prequel of the first trilogy. Confused yet? This might help:

1. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (Movie #4 Released 1999)
2. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (Movie #5 Released 2002)
3. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Movie #6 Released 2005)
4. Star Wars (Released 1977 Movie #1)
5. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (Movie #2 Released 1980)

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Karen and I went to see the latest Star Trek movie last weekend - Star Trek Nemesis and I must say I was a little disappointed with it. It wasn’t really a bad movie, it just wasn’t a very good movie. I have been reading interviews with cast members and other production staff for over a year and everyone of them gave it glowing reviews. The hype was that it was the best Star Trek movie ever, and that it was built on a solid story with lots of action and drama. I really got sucked into the hype and went to the theater expecting something spectacular. Unfortunately, it was anything but.

Don’t get me wrong, the story was OK, but much of it had been recycled from “Star Trek - The Wrath of Kahn” and other assorted episodes. And as advertised, there were a lot of action sequences but most of them seemed poorly choreographed and because of this were much less suspenseful then they should have been. It also didn’t help that the peek sequences in the action had been used as part of the commercials for the movie so I knew what was going to happen before it actually occurred. A great way to kill the suspense.

The movie also dragged somewhat in the beginning and could have been helped out by a little bit of judicious editing.

Patrick Stewart looked …

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