Does "Avatar" Resonate at All After 10 Years?

Scene from Avatar (2009)

It all seems like a myth nowadays. How could there be an original story in a major Hollywood production that grossed $2.78 Billion (with a 'B')? In 2009, earning over the 10-digit threshold was a rarity made by enough films that you could count on one hand. In some ways, that is what Avatar represented ultimately at the box office when it premiered on this date 10 years ago. It was a film that promised a new kind of spectacle, where motion-capture and 3D technology could be used to create a world of awe for audiences, creating the new essential for a theatrical experience. Yes, to wade through the majestic world is known as Pandora is to see the capabilities of computer technology to create fascinating landscapes where everything down to the moss growing on a tree feels thought out for hours and days. It was the spectacle that forced audiences to return in droves week after week.

And yet the world it promised would not amount to much. At some point following the film's release, director James Cameron declared that he would only be making Avatar movies for the rest of his career. It is 2019 and amid many deadlines not met the joke has become that these films will never get made. Is it to blame for why the film feels like such an anomaly nowadays? Kind of. The film was released in the wake of Marvel starting their cinematic universe and surging ticket prices made the road to a billion dollars easier (Disney has seven films this year that have achieved that goal this year so far). It could skid by so long on merchandise, popping up on the front page of Disney+ on release day as this weird reminder that the studio that made it (Fox) no longer exists. To complete the irony, Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing movie of all time just a few months prior. However, its status as the phenomenon that changed the world has been reduced to a fad, and one not entirely earned. As the joke goes, it's the most popular movie that nobody remembers, and that's a bit of a bummer. 

Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Widows" (2018)

Scene from Widows

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

Review: "Widows" is the Best Kind of Heist Film Imaginable

Scene from Widows

In 2013, director Steve McQueen released 12 Years a Slave. It was a film so vital and important that it could be considered one of the rare essential American films of the 21st century so far. With stark honesty, he captured an uncomfortable piece of U.S. history and helped to reshape the history, and all with lingering shots of brutality that forces the viewer to soak in the discomfort. So, how does McQueen follow up the film? Fives years later he has returned with Widows, which in the first 30 seconds features a brash edit so explosive that it rattles the audience in a new way. This is McQueen not as the methodical filmmaker he has been known as, but as someone who places urgency in every frame, artistry in every angle, and enough memorable bits to make this one of the best films of 2018. It's a heist movie with one of the year's greatest ensembles and an even more electric script by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl). It's a film that will grab you in your seat and not let go for the entire two hours. It's perfect evidence that McQueen doesn't only make good art films, but just good films in geneal.