…this is how I started to write this post over a week ago. I saw Avatar two Sundays ago and I thought it was an entertaining spectacle, even if it’s basically Pocahontas/Ferngully/Dances with Wolves in space. But now I’m already annoyed with it.

I stand by the assessment that if you’re interested at all, you should go see the movie in a 3D theater, but I’m not going to try to convince anyone now. Apparently, enough people have been already convinced since it’s made well over a BILLION DOLLARS. At the very least, it will end up as the second-highest grossing movie of all-time, and it also has a chance at toppling Titanic‘s worldwide record of $1.8 billion. These are James Cameron’s last two movies. I wonder exactly when he sold his soul to be able to make whatever the hell he wants and still bring in an obscene amount of money.

But I have to hand it to Cameron — he knows how to direct. That’s more than I can say for the blockbuster director that has attempted to take his place for the past decade. I think we all know to whom I refer. Cameron has come back and shown everyone how it’s done. He somehow took a movie that features funny-looking blue people and turned into the biggest hit of the decade. He has truly pushed the boundaries of filming technology and special effects once again, and you can actually decipher what is going on in the action scenes! And they are massive action scenes.

In terms of the 3D usage, it has to be the least intrusive I’ve ever seen, but there’s still some of that blurring and awkward focusing at times — it’s not perfect. I heard that in RealD (the theater type I saw it in), the 3D doesn’t pop out as much as in IMAX. I think that’s probably a good thing. You don’t feel engulfed in the world, but it adds some nice perspective to massive shots, particularly the flying scenes, which were probably when I was most impressed with the movie.

But overall, the movie is just so totally transparent and predictable that I couldn’t help but be bored a lot of the time. I wasn’t enthralled with the world Cameron had created, and neither did I really care all that much about the indigenous Nav’i tribe. I actually loved the Colonel who wanted nothing more but to destroy everything related to the Nav’i; the dude was a total badass. It’s a bad sign when the best character in a movie is a caricature.

No matter what I think, Avatar is already going down as one of the biggest movie events of all-time, and it even seems like a candidate for the Oscar for Best Picture. That is the most shocking development of all — I don’t even think as highly of The Dark Knight as many people I’ve come across, but it deserved a nod much more than Avatar. But hey, most critics seem to disagree with me. I’m just shocked 50-year-old men are more impressed with a pretty 3D film with no substance than me.

Edit: Annddddd it’s gone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJjoaxoq1rA

Sweet dreams.

Attended by over 6,000 people each year, I-CON is a three day festival, designed to encourage literacy, creativity and interest in science and technology through science fiction and its related genres. Programming at I-CON spans a wide range of topics and interests, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, Japanese animation (otherwise known as Anime), science and technology, comic books, and medieval reenactment.

The only featured guests this year that I know are Ray Bradbury, Billy West (voice of Fry), the dude who was Darth Maul, and the black guy from Ghostbusters.

Even with my student discount, it’s $48 for the three-day pass. One day ranges from $31-48 depending on the day.

Anyway, I’m looking at the schedule, and there’s some potential gold here.

ANIMU PREVIEW
Early Morning Furry Get Together
Group Cosplay
A Brief History of Awesome
Your Furry Alter-Ego: The Why & How
Anime 101: The Road to Being an Otaku!
Smash Brothers Brawl Tournament
Creating Anthropomorphic Web Comics
Harry Potter Wand Making / Creature Battle
Gamer Sex 101 “R” Rated
Cosplay Competition
Hentai (18+)

On the flip side, there’s actually some legitimately interesting stuff:

Michio Kaku presentations (don’t know why he isn’t a featured guest)
Doctor Who screenings
Why People Suck: The Search For Suck (my professor’s panel)
Texas Hold’em tourney
Introduction to Podcasting
Space 2008, What’s New?
South Park Trivia Contest
Battlestar Galactica Season 4 Premiere screening (too bad I’m not caught up)
Guitar Hero 3 tourney

But really, none of these compare to the previous list.

I think I’m leaning towards checking out this spectacle. THIS is why I finally bought a digital camera.