I enjoyed seeing the new movie, “Avatar 2: The Way of Water,” yesterday with @aj485 and her husband, @joelcorley .
I highly recommend this film for both children (over age 10) and adults. It’s an exciting adventure film but so much more. It’s an order of magnitude more worthwhile than a “Marvel Universe” comic book adventure.
The characters have well-developed personalities and relationships. The stress is on family loyalty and friendship. The adolescents are bold and independent and are great role models. The “family” adults are protective and loving. The “villainous” adults have specific, highly-recognizable forms of villainy, not just the “I’m bad” comic book villains.
Most of all, “Avatar: The Way of Water” is permeated with James Cameron’s true love of the ocean. About an hour of this 3-hour film is spent simply enjoying the variety of underwater ecology of this alien moon which resembles Earth’s ecology in many ways. The message of the film is that we should treasure our oceans and that it’s wrong to despoil them for profit. The children in the movie (who are seriously heroic) are disgusted by the hunting of the slighly-disguised humpback whales for their valuable oil.
I believe that this movie should become a classic enjoyed by all generations. If you see one movie with your family this year it should be “Avatar 2.”
Wendy
I’m looking forward to seeing it, but you wouldn’t see me in a cinema right now for love nor money, because of our mutual friend Mr Covid.
I also suffered pretty harsh ‘Avatar sadness’ after the first film for a few days, not sure how keen I am to repeat that. As one of the early and most successful 3D films, there was a feeling of being somewhere fascinating and green for several hours, and the walk home through an unfriendly, littered town was… especially bleak.
Expect to feel “Avatar sadness” after Avatar 2. The beauty of the film and the theme of environmental destruction are at least as intense. Also, Avatar 2 has real tragedy (human and animal) which is missing from Avatar 1.
Mrs Goofy and I go to matinees on weekdays, which are generally deserted. We’re not going until after the New Year because kids are out of schools until then, but usually we are a couple of maybe 4 or 6 people in the entire theater.
I was going to pass on Avatar 2 because except for the special effects, I found the first one trite. (The special effects were stunning, but it was also two or three CGI generations ago.)
However two of our friends have now seen it, recommend it highly, and say they are going back - and are going to see it in 3D the second time around. Or 3D IMAX, so - quite a good recommendation.
One amazing thing about “Avatar 2” is that the actors trained to hold their breath underwater for extended periods of time. For real. So many of the swimming scenes are live action (of course, manipulated by computer later) and not pure CGI. I’m tired of CGI but really admire true acting and physical action.
It was tempting to join the rest of the crew when they go on Tuesday to see the movie, but I decided to pass on 3 hours of torture. Sitting still for that long with fingers in my ears to mitigate the blaring noise is really not a strength for me. Happily for DH the boys are in town for the holiday and he will have company.
Besides which, our 17 year old furry family member seems to be floating out with the outgoing tide, and we don’t want to leave him alone. While there is a chance he will live up to his nickname of Lazarus, I suspect this is the final act. Happily, it seems to be a peaceful one, without pain and lots of love present.
Happy Holidays to everyone, whether you chose to celebrate them now or have to do so later. We would have done ours later, but one had a plane ticket bought and the other needs the extra days off at end of year to cobble together enough days to make the drive worth while. It’s always great when we get together, no matter the timing, and I am happy the boys will have a chance to say goodbye to their furry friend.
When JLC asked the intermission question, my mind went immediately to attention span, but I understand the turn the responses took. I had no problem with either since the movie really had no parts that were boring - the moment things slowed down, they just as soon sped up; and, I always make sure to use the loo* before ANY movie, although I’m not one who has to run to the facilities every couple hours anyway.
*Despite being a very British word for toilet, ‘loo’ is actually derived from the French phrase ‘guardez l’eau’, which means ‘watch out for the water’.
I always carry industrial-strength foam ear plugs in my purse. I wear them in movies because the loud sound is painful to me. Also on airliners, at family parties with a DJ, in restaurants with a screaming child, etc.
Oh, I understand. I’m sorry to hear that you are about to lose your furry family member. No matter how many years, it’s always sad.
I always carry industrial-strength foam ear plugs in my purse. I wear them in movies because the loud sound is painful to me. Also on airliners, at family parties with a DJ, in restaurants with a screaming child, etc.
Wow, that’s a great idea to just always carry them. I suffer horrible panic attacks / adrenaline dumps when I go somewhere with lots of noise or loud noise now, as a result of cPTSD from the way two past partners & also family acted towards me over the years. Thank you for mentioning this. This is going to be a gamechanger for cinemas, airports, restaurants and the like. Thank you!
I have a box of them in my workshop to kill the really loud sounds of routers, planer, and out in the yard with the remaining engined weed eater/hedge trimmer…
But on the airlines, a pair of over the ear noise cancelling headphones, Sony, Bose, others make decent ones, with Bluetooth, no cords to get tangled, and a batch of preloaded podcasts reside on my iPhone, ready for even long flights. In case we feel the urge… In the ear versions I never found as effective… Killing that roar is vital…
I think it’s better to be able to hear some sound through the ear plugs, such as the movie dialog, announcements on an airliner, etc. That’s why I prefer ear plugs to noise cancelling headphones which are too efficient. Also, the ear plugs are tiny so I carry them everywhere in my purse. Some brands even come with a little protective case.
Wendy
Same here (no pun intended). Very painful. I find the wearing hearing aids, even ones designed to block loud noises, the worst. I always carry at least 1 pair of ear plugs with me. Some restaurants are avoided because they’re too loud, even with ear plugs.
I totally agree with wecoguy about over-the-ear noise-cancellation headphones when flying. I never fly without them. They’re a godsend.
I’ve even been known to leave weddings, bar-mitzvahs, etc. when the band starts because the music it just TOO DAMN LOUD! Of course, being a curmudgeon doesn’t help either.
I went to four or five concerts in my younger days and perhaps saw seven or eight bands in barrooms. That was too much for me. I do not want the damage to my hearing. Not for some half a$$ed music.
In the car I turn up the Beatles and turn down anything else even if I love it. It is all within a nice range volume wise.
