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How do you create a blockbuster? Just ask James Cameron. His newest movie, Avatar, is unquestionably one of the biggest successes in movie history.  This film brings together a cast of familiar faces such as Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana, Giovanni Ribisi, Michelle Rodriguez and Stephen Lang, who do a great job with the material. However is the movie any good? Is it worth spending over two and a half hours (total run time is 162 minutes) watching a bunch of scantily clad blue people running around in the forest?

The answer is yes.

One of the main draws of this film is its visual feat for the eyes. The state of the art graphics coupled with the 3D effect makes the characters and situations literally pop off the screen. It is hard to not be entranced when watching all the different animals, floral, and events as they seem to hover a few feet in front of you. And given the amount of extensive research that Cameron has done to create a new language and new animal types just to add credibility to the story it is hard not to be swept up into this magical world of Pandora, where all these fantasy beings come to life.

As far as the story goes one will find that it is not terribly original. It feels like too much has been borrowed from Dances With Wolves (1990). But who really cares? The story may not be terribly original but it is unique enough to keep you guessing exactly how it will progress throughout the movie. And that is enough to keep this movie from boring the audience.

In the story we find a young marine, Jake Scully (played by Worthington) who is given an opportunity of a lifetime to join an off world research project on the lush moon of Pandora. Because of an incident that happens with his twin brother he finds himself driving a genetically designed creature modeled after the native habitants of the moon. He has his mission to help the humans but as the story progresses it turns out that there is a greater calling for him to side with the natives.

Sound familiar? Yes, it sounds like a lot of other movies that have come out over the years. But even so Cameron makes a compelling enough drama to keep the user interested in the storyline. We may have seen this story before but we have never seen it quite like this. And that makes all the difference.

Avatar is a feast for the eyes and the imagination. Watching it does not insult one’s intellect. It is over two and a half hours but to tell you the truth the time flies by surprisingly quickly. And by the end of the film you realize that you have witnessed something rather historic: a film that is balanced between spectacle and solid storytelling — a rarity within Hollywood.

First I would like to start by saying that I loved the television version of Speed Racer and had unrealistic expectations when I heard they were making a movie. I did not quite envision the Speed Racer the Wachowski Brothers brought to Hollywood but it was an enjoyable experience none the less.

Emile Hirsch is handsome and brought a sensitivity to Speed that made you understand his drive toward success. The seductive lure of Royalton’s offer held little appeal when faced with the truth behind the company’s need to win in racing.

Loyal to his father  (despite how badly Pops handled his older deceased brother Rex’s career and fall from grace) Speed’s honor would not let him desert his family when Royalton vows to ruin them all.

The ending was satisfying although I would have wished for more actual racing rather than the CGI version of glitz and glamour.

I sat next to two eight year old male twins that found themselves a bit distracted during parts of the film where I thought they would have appreciated all the bright lights on screen.

Trixie (Christina Ricci) was well cast. She is quite talented and I feel she is an under rated actress. She has made her mark in independent film and much like Johnny Depp seems to choose films that she likes rather than the salary they command.

Pops Racer (John Goodman) was great as the race car builder who was once a professional wrestler. Susan Sarandon (who looks marvelous) as Mom Racer was the perfect fit. She’s a bit quirky but her eccentricity adds to the character of Mom.

Racer X (Matthew Fox) was one of the highlights of the film for me. Despite the fact that he is wonderful eye candy in black he added a darker element to the movie and of  course raises the question of whether or not he was Racer Rex or another type of racer vigilante who worked to right the wrongs of the racing world.

I liked the film and would give it a strong 4 out of 10 but the flash and CGI racing lost its appeal for me. It was a bit too campy. Although the younger brother Spritle (played by Paulie Litt) was entertaining at times he was a bit too annoying for me. After a while I found myself wanting to watch the chimp more than the kid. And with so many kids in the audience I wonder if the character of Spritle will serve as a bad influence on the younger audience by encouraging them to be brats when they leave the theater.

Oh well.  There are always the original television series on DVD. I only hope that future television adaptations like the anticipated Incredible Hunk will do the characters and story the justice they deserved.

Steve Carell best known for THE OFFICE and THE FORTY YEAR OLD VIRGIN surprised me with his portrayal as Dan Burns, newspaper columnist and relationship expert in DAN IN REAL LIFE.

I kind of thought Carell was a talented one note comedy actor but I saw a different side of him in this movie that led me to believe he has a future as a dramatic actor.

In the movie, Dan Burns is raising three young daughters after his wife’s death. Work and child rearing seems to be his life until he travels home to get one his daughter’s away from an ardent suitor.

There he meets Marie, a beautiful woman played by the extremely lovely and talented Juliet Binoche. He falls instantly in love while talking books and being himself for the fist time since his wife had died.

Hours later he learns the beauty is his younger brother’s girlfriend and he finds it extremely difficult to be cooped up with his whole family and the object of his love and growing lust.

When the lady shows him the least bit of encouragement he flirts and passes snide comments to both his lady love and his brother unable to keep his anger controlled at the injustice of it all.

When Marie is given Dan’s book in the movie to her horror she learns every clever and romantic line Dan’s brother ( Dane Cook) has spoken to her had been stolen from his elder sibling.

Unable to continue the farce any longer Marie leaves only to call Burns and asks him to meet her at a nearby bowling alley. There they are free to laugh and enjoy one another’s company without the awkwardness and watchful eyes of his family.

As they indulge in their first kiss the entire family walks into the bowling alley and chaos ensues. The girls are disappointed in their father, his brother punches him in the face and Marie runs away.

Later Dan explains to his family that the woman he told them he met on the first day of his arrival was his brother’s gal and that he had every intention of just letting her go but he fell in love.

His brother seemed to rebound quickly finding comfort in the arms of a wild gal his mom set Dan up with which only confirmed to Dan how much he was in love with Marie.

After the family comes to terms with all that has transpired they accept Marie into the family once again as Dan weds her at the family’s home where all the mischief and chaos took place.

The secondary love story of Dan’s daughter and her young suitor teaches Dan despite his words to the contrary to his daughter one can indeed fall in love with someone in three days.

This movie delivered in a wonderful way. I especially like the fact that it was a family movie and you would not be the least uncomfortable watching it with folks of all ages. That is rare these days as most movies are filled with fowl language and excessive nudity.

Dan in Real Life was directed by Peter Hedges and written by Pierce Gardner and Peter Hedges.

21 has director, Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde, Mother-in-Law) and a well crafted screenplay by Peter Steinfeld and Allen Loeb. It is based on a book by Ben Mezrich. All of these factors has made this film a sure winner at the box office.

Six MIT students are seduced by riches by their ego-maniacal professor(Kevin Spacey) to win big at the casinos to pay for their tuitions and live the high life on weekends in Vegas.

Greed and revenge finds its way into the mix to send the most talented of the players Ben Campbell (Jim Sturges) into a tailspin as he loses everything when he and the professor (Spacey) have a falling out.

Cole Williams ( a security specialist) played rather well by Lawrence Fishburne has a beef with the professor (Spacey) from long ago and sees a perfect opportunity to use the talents of Ben Campbell to act out his revenge.

In the end the MIT students learn a serious life lesson as Ben Campbell who has fallen in love with fellow card counter, Jill Taylor(Kate Bosworth) must decide what is more important in life. Their futures or what greed has taught them.

Overall this was a great movie. The ending is humorous and satisfying. I give it four out of five stars. ****

Footnote* The actual student the book and movie is based on, Jeff Ma has a cameo role as a card dealer in the movie.