A Serious Avatar

This past week I sort of took it easy and decided to go to the movies... a lot.

On Saturday I went to see A Serious Man at The Electric. This is probably one of the bleakest films the Coen Brothers have ever done. It is even bleaker than No Country for Old Men and that is one of the most bleakest films in recent memory. However, that is not to say that A Serious Man isn't one of the funniest movies released this year. There was one joke, one of the darkest and disturbing jokes I've ever seen that had me belly laughing so hard that people in the audience actually pointed at me. It just was that funny. It also tackles serious questions about faith and if God even is communicating with us or if life is just merely chaos. I thought it was well done without being on a soapbox. Also, like all good art, it leaves the question open rather than didactic and solvable. Discussion is key and this film feels like it is trying to open up a discussion while also being incredibly funny. It also feels like one of their most personal projects in recent memory.

About three hours after A Serious Man, I saw Me and Orson Welles. This movie was dull. It had some interesting things happening such as Christian McKay's performance as Orson Welles but the movie itself was just... boring. It felt like it was trying to be a classical Hollywood film in the sense that it was really trying for that snappy dialogue that served well in films such as The Thin Man and even Welles' Citizen Kane but it just didn't work overall. I was bored and looking at my wristwatch throughout most of the last act.

However, one of the more interesting experiences I had this past week was just within the last 12 hours of this post. My flat mate Adam and I went to see Avatar in Imax 3D. I'm not a big fan of 3D just because it's always felt gimmicky. However, in this film, it works. It works in subtle ways. It does not try and be flashy with the 3D technology except for at the beginning of the film in the first few scenes. The plot itself is somewhat clunky but hey, so is most of Star Wars plot. Essentially it is like Dances with Wolves but with blue aliens. This is not the film you watch because of the plot but because of the visuals. And my God the visuals are astounding. James Cameron really knows how to create a world and an atmosphere which anyone would want to just live in. Lush jungles and vistas as well as an entirely new culture for the screen. This is the kind of film that brings the kid in me to life. The kid in me who read many crappy science fiction novels and hey, I'm planning on going again in a few hours to see it in Imax. I'm sort of a sucker for event films.

I'm also planning on spending the entire day at The Electric on Saturday. I'm planning on watching It's a Wonderful Life, Citizen Kane and possibly but not definitely The Red Shoes. All on 35 mm.