Why you should see AVATAR at the Alamo
Try to fight it all you want, but somehow or another you will end up in a theater watching James Cameron’s blockbuster-busting AVATAR in digital 3D. As well you should, because not seeing it is like punching a $300,000,000 gift-horse in the mouth. So, since you are going to see it, here’s a few of the many reasons you should see it at the Alamo…
Brand new, state-of-the-art Sony 4K Digital 3D Projectors - I won’t go into the specifics (if you’re interested, check out Tim League’s blog), but rest assured that these guys offer the best picture in town, and no one else in Austin has them.
The bulbs are set at optimum brightness – Did you know some theaters dim their bulbs to make them last longer? Not cool. Especially for 3D, where brightness equals depth and resolution.
Custom made pre-show entertainment – So there’s no canned advertising or back-patting industry news numbing your brain while you wait.
Beer & wine – And lots of it.
Free, ample parking – I’m talking to you, IMAX. You’re busted on the image quality, too.
Full menu – Real food created by real chefs. No stale hotdogs and watered down cheese product. Plus, we’ve got real butter for the popcorn!
Strictly enforced NO TALKING policy – If you’ve been to the Alamo before, you know our reverence for movies will not tolerate talking. Enjoy your experience in peace and quiet.
There are even more reasons, but the last, big reason to see AVATAR (or any movie) at the Alamo Drafthouse is to be surrounded by a community of film nuts all in it together, having a warm, personal experience. And then talking about it after the show.
So where are you going to see it?
“It’s thrilling and lovely and sad and explosive in all the right ways, and it needs to be seen – on the big screen, in 3-D – to be believed. 4 Stars.”
Marc Savlov, The Austin Chronicle
“It’s an impossible but completely plausible and seductive world that invites your total immersion. Don’t resist it; sink in and fly with it. All Cameron asks is that you open your eyes.”
“There is still at least one man in Hollywood who knows how to spend $250 million, or was it $300 million, wisely.”
Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun Times
When we first saw images from James Cameron’s latest $300 million dollar behemoth, one word came to mind- “Ferngully.” But then we were treated to 20 minutes of sneak-peak footage at Fantastic Fest, and HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. All the hype about the groundbreaking technology developed just to make this film pays off in a big big way. 60% CGI, 40% live action, 10,000% fun. This movie is GORGEOUS- you MUST see it in digital 3D, cause if you’re seeing it in 2D, you’re not seeing AVATAR. Worth. Every. Penny.
In the distant future, Jake Sully, a paraplegic war veteran, is offered a second chance in the military. He’s transported to a planet called Pandora, where the world’s armed forces have been put in a fierce battle against the planet’s native species (the Na’Vi) for years, struggling to mine a vital energy source for earth, which rests under the Na’Vi settlement.
See it at Village or South Lamar
December 19th, 2009 at 2:09 am
This is the same old story premise of Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke, where the forest spirits battle with the mining profiteers. Both have the same animal warriors versus humans, with a human that crosses over to join the mystic forest side. Call it a “Humans screw up the Environment” genre flick. Not sure how this same old story and generic happy ending is going to “change the movies”. But if you wanna see it, definitely go to the Alamo.
December 21st, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Humans always screw up everything.
December 25th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
It amazes me how people can’t seem to just enjoy a movie without whining about it being the same story as this or that or the other. Once upon a time movies used to be about enjoyment and escape from the mundane everyday life. Not everything has to be completely original with the best actors and the most perfect special effects and win an oscar. Relax and allow yourself to just enjoy something for the sake of enjoyment…..
December 30th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
You’re right, Otto: “Not everything has to be completely original with the best actors and the most perfect special effects and win an oscar. ”
Because there has to be ~ and there always will be ~ lame, pre-digested cinematic oatmeal (albeit served in a bright, three-dee, CGI-enhanced bowl) for people like you to devour.
Not a damned thing wrong with you enjoying what you enjoy.
Also not a damned thing wrong with people venting frustration
over the amount of technical genius that was wasted (as we see it)
in service to a narrative as puerile and unoriginal as that of Avatar.
Although, regardless of how one can’t really qualify the adjective “perfect,”
I disagree with you: The technical achievements themselves were nonpareil and godlike.
(Now let’s see such tech used by Peter Jackson or Guillermo del Toro, say,
to render a cinematic version of Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination
with Clive Owen as Gully Foyle, hey?
THAT, I suggest, would be a worthy escape from “mundane everyday life.”)
April 12th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
Excellent article as usual, thanks for writing all this informative stuff on a regular basis.
April 22nd, 2010 at 5:39 pm
I love the Avatar 3D movie, especially the story line, not solely it brings a very new sensation but eye opening ideas of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, can’t wait to see it again…!
April 22nd, 2010 at 6:21 pm
I like the Avatar 3D film, particularly the story line, not only it brings a totally new feelings however eye opening thoughts of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, can’t wait to see it again…!
April 22nd, 2010 at 6:22 pm
I really like the Avatar 3D movie, particularly the story line, not solely it brings a totally new feelings however eye opening thoughts of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, cannot wait to see it again…!