Avatar: Am I Blue?

A few days weeks ago, my friend Pixie sent a mass text: "I just saw the $300 million dollar version of Ferngully." A few hours ago, my husband said "I've never seen anything so beautiful that bored me this much." A few minutes ago, I watched this spot-on review on Bum Reviews by Doug Walker (the Nostalgia Critic). And now, I confess that halfway through this movie about a blacklight poster-colored planet inhabited by giant blue feline Abercrombie & Fitch models, I mentally checked out. The people at ILM and Weta and all the other production houses should all be very proud of themselves- this is indeed a visual achievement that heralds a new age in filmmaking. I just wish I could had enjoyed watching it. I was actually very pleased with the character designs (I've never been a furry, but I've always liked the idea of cat people. From Captain Amelia in "Treasure Planet" to the nuns in that weird hospital episode of Doctor Who) and although the neon world was over the top, it was very pretty. But the story, the characters- oy vey. Whether or not you subscribe to the philosophy of "humans are evil, especially those in the military and corporations", you must admit its a very tired film cliche, and at three and half hours (or was it days?) I could barely keep my eyes pointed at the screen. I literally spent the second half of the movie trying to remember the names of my schoolmates from the second grade. I don't know why my mind went there- it just seemed like a more interesting way to occupy my mind.