Sponsored by
Stunning Avatar out on DVD
DVDs out this week.
JAMES Cameron's sprawling sci-fi epic AVATAR (12: Twentieth Century Fox) has become the biggest grossing film of all time, taking more than 1.5billion at the box office.
But it came a poor second at the Oscars to an Iraq war drama made for just 10million.
In a true Hollywood twist, Cameron sat directly behind his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, at the Academy Awards ceremony and rose to his feet applauding wildly when she stepped up to receive the best director gong for The Hurt Locker.
In all, Bigelow's movie picked up six Oscars and Avatar just three after both had been nominated for nine awards.
But I have absolutely no doubt that Cameron's blockbuster – his first full feature since Titanic - will spend several weeks at the top of the DVD rental and retail charts after it becomes available on Monday (April 26).
You'll have the measure of Avatar if you think Dances With Wolves in space - and in 3D.
A paraplegic US marine (Sam Worthington) is drafted to distant planet Pandora to gain the trust of the Na'vi, the blue-skinned indigenous race whose homeland lies above a large deposit of a rare and valuable mineral.
Many of the director's favourite themes are in evidence, such as love in a time of chaos and man alone in a hostile environment.
Sigourney Weaver is excellent as a brash scientist and there's no shortage of acting talent in supporting roles to get to grips with a lengthy script that has nothing groundbreaking about it.
As a motion-captured Worthington controlling an alien body (or Avatar) through telepathy is tutored in the clan's mystical ways by the chief's daughter, it's the breathtakingly beautiful CGI landscape that's the highlight in this tale of profit and progress versus nature's power.
> The main reason to see ME AND ORSON WELLES (12: CinemaNX) is the outstanding performance of Christian McKay, who has an uncanny physical resemblance to the theatrical genius.
But teen star Zac Efron, best known for the High School Musical movies, is badly miscast in this fictional account of a youngster's brief encounter with Welles.
Efron is Richard, a wannabe actor who's given a small role in Welles' 1937 production of Julius Caesar and falls for ambitious company member Sonja (Claire Danes), who also happens to be involved with Welles.
Director Richard Linklater, who hit the big time with The School Of Rock, leaves Efron high and dry, but although the screenplay reveals little about his mercurial character, McKay manages to convey Welles' bluster and charisma.
> Convoluted chiller THE BOX (12: Icon) isn't as bad as Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly's previous picture, Southland Tales, but it's still a total mess.
When a mysterious stranger (Frank Langella) turns up on their doorstep with a strange proposition, a married couple (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden) must struggle with a moral dilemma.
The movie's premise - if you could get rich by pushing a button causing a total stranger's death, would you? - is eerie enough, but some oddball plot twists are thrown into the mix and the two leads are stilted.
Based on the short story Button, Button - a 1980s Twilight Zone TV episode - the film soon collapses under the weight of its lofty pretensions.
> The most successful element of part-animated tale ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQUEAKQUEL (U: Twentieth Century Fox) is the banter between the rival squirrel-like creatures.
It's a pity that the same doesn't apply to the inane and rather irritating live-action characters.
Chipmunk pop sensation Alvin and his brothers Simon and Theodore have competition in their second feature-length adventure.
The boys start school without the support of their mentor, Dave (Jason Lee), who's laid up in hospital, and they have to face bullying, threats to their friendship and the popularity of girl band The Chipettes.
Justin Long (Alvin) and Christina Applegate (Brittany) provide lively lead voices and even if there's little here for adults to enjoy, youngsters will love the slapstick action and catchy soundtrack.
>> TOP TEN: 1 2012; 2 The Box; 3 Law Abiding Citizen; 4 Twilight Saga: New Moon; 5 Men Who Stare At Goats; 6 Harry Brown; 7 Paranormal Activity; 8 The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus; 9 The Time Traveler's Wife; 10 The Invention Of Lying. Chart from Blockbuster.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leighton Buzzard
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -3 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 6 mph
Wind direction: South
