The special effects were amazing and the 3-D exceptionally well done, but the story and characters were nothing new or original. The “noble savage” concept with the Na’vi was especially tired. The movie was good, and I wanted it to win the Oscar because science fiction films never do, but I disagreed with most of its messages and conclusions.

The biggest problem I had with Avatar, the most troublesome thing, is that we lose. The humans get sent packing, back home to the polluted planet with nothing to help them. No consolation prize. I agree that humans did indeed do all the damage and destruction in the film, but I am a human. The only human who won in the end was the hero, and he was eventually put into a Avatar full time.

I don’t want our kind to be a dead species. Some humans may be evil, but then again some Na’vi are bad too. I don’t believe killing all the humans, or making them extinct is the right thing to do. I can imagine myself in the movie. I would not be in an Avatar. I would probably either be stuck on Earth, and therefore doomed, or be one of the anonymous military types brought back to Earth to die.

Humans are capable of great things, and just as capable of bad things. But I don’t believe either side has the right to commit genocide against the other, by direct action or inaction (in the case of the Na’vi).

There’s no compromise or agreement at the end. The Na’vi are the only ones who win. That bothers me.

This is a weird feeling. Minority Report has been my favorite movie since roughly 2003, when it came out on DVD. The first time I saw the movie, I hated it, because I was expecting robots, or something like Blade Runner. My expectations were too high, but after getting it on DVD, I ended up absolutely loving it.

However, I just watched it again on Blu-Ray, and my favorite film, the only film I felt confident calling my number one, really let me down. It kind of sucked. All of a sudden I found plot holes I never even knew existed.

The plot twist hinges on the concept of the Precogs rerunning the previous murder over in their minds after it’s already been foiled, an “echo.” The technicians turn off the incoming feed in these cases and disregard the visions. However, a murder is committed during one of these echoes, and no brown ball is created. It’s not just a nonsense vision, but an actual murder. Why is there no brown ball? It’s premeditated, not a crime of passion, so there would be a definite ball being created, with a strict timeline. The whole concept here is ridiculously screwy.

And why does Danny Witwer explain his theory on the huge cover-up he thinks is being committed to the the one person in the film he does not trust, and, if his theory is true, the number one suspect?

I didn’t even notice the SECOND time Anderton’s eyes are used to get into a secure location after he becomes a wanted fugitive. The first is when he busts out the Precog, a plot hole I knew of all along, and ignored in order not to go insane. The second is when he is actually put away for good - his wife is able to use his eye to actually open up the building in which he himself is imprisoned. How crazy is that?!

I don’t even know if Minority Report is a good movie anymore. This feels like some sort of betrayal, but the movie never changed. All this time, I’ve watched the exact same movie. But it’s only watching it today that I found all these plot holes and logical problems. I’ve never had this sort of experience before.

I watched Tron when I was a kid and I always enjoyed it’s imagination and the whole unique world it created. It was a fun high-tech adventure, even though it’s CGI was technically outdated by the time I saw it on VHS, it didn’t matter because it didn’t show its age. The limits of the technology were made into its own style.

I bought the DVD in 2002, and I loved the movie even more since the quality was so much better, and the colors just popped. But over the years, I haven’t really watched Tron much, and I always took the position that the story and characters were shallow, and it wasn’t really a great movie or anything.

I watched it again recently in order to prep myself for Tron Legacy, and boy was I wrong. I don’t know why my opinion changed without having watched the movie to confirm it, but I always like being impressed by a movie when I watch it, instead of the other way around.

Tron really did impress me. Whatever flaws it had, mostly that the story of going into a computer was utter nonsense, didn’t matter because that nonsense made the story so much more entertaining. The Master Control Program still looked like a crappy spinning Kool Aid Man at the end, which is strange because earlier in the movie he looks great, but overall there aren’t a lot of complaints. It creates a unique and compelling universe, which is rare.

Judging by the trailer for Tron Legacy, they do seem to be taking the first movie seriously, which is a very good thing. It’s almost absurd that it took Tron 28 years to get a sequel, and now, apparently, it’s going to have additional sequels. God, I hope they don’t suck.