Front and Center

Center Stage
Director: Nicholas Hynter
Cast: Amanda Schull, Zoe Saldana, Susan May Pratt, Peter Gallager, Donna Murphy
Released: May 12, 2000

Center Stage isn't the greatest film and the acting is pretty awful, but yet I've seen it numerous times and own the DVD. This is a little perplexing because I'm not a dancer, have never danced in my life, and couldn't dance to save my life.  So why do I love this movie so much? Because it's the best dance movie ever made, that's why! I mean, the whole dance sequence at the end with the motorcycle and the two main leads dancing to Michael Jackson's The Way You Make Me Feel was just pure genius.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The movie starts with our main character, Jodie (Schull who presumably got the part because she's a dancer) getting into the American Ballet Academy and trying to vie for a spot in one of the prestigious companies and there are only a few spots open for that.

Her roommates are Eva (Saldana) and Maureen (Pratt). Eva has an Attitude with a capital A. She's black, so she's tough and from the hood, yo. While she's a good dancer, her dance instructors do not like her rebellious ways. Maureen is a huge bitch, but you can't blame her because while she's a good dancer (well, of course they're all good dancers or else they would never have gotten accepted to ABA!), her heart isn't in it. See, the only reason why she's dancing is because it's her mother's dream for her to dance. Maureen's mother is a bigger bitch than Maureen: when her daughter confided in her that she was throwing up her meals, her mother replies, "Well, it's good to watch your weight!" Hmmm...somehow I don't think that's very good parenting. Maureen's mother is not pleased when she finds out that her daughter is secretly seeing a boy and -GASP- going out and eating pizza.

Jodie falls for Cooper, who is a professional dancer and a total douche bag. After an intimate night together, she thinks they will be together forever, but when she discovers that Cooper is blowing her off and flirting with other girls, she is so heartbroken. Well, duh. The guy is a total douche (albiet a great dancer). However, she forgives him (and ends up with the only straight male dancer from her class) and ends up dancing for his Company because she prefers his style of dancing to the more traditional ways of the older teachers.

The acting is horrible, but the film has some great dance sequence: the one at the end and the one where Jodie enrolls in a dance class and they dance to Mandy Moore's Candy and the Red Hot Chilli Pepper's Higher Ground. I love the music in this movie so much that I even own the soundtrack.

Even though I'm not a dancer, the movie gives a pretty good indication that the life of a ballet dancer is not a fun one: long hours of rehearsal, watching what you eat, puking up what you eat, not being able to have a life. Geeze, no wonder Natalie Portman went so crazy in Black Swan!

Brave Blue World

Avatar

Director: James Cameron

Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Signourey Weaver, Stephen Lang

Released: 12/18/09

Viewed in theaters: 1/13/10

Oscar nominations:

Best Picture (lost to The Hurt Locker)

Best Director - James Cameron (lost to Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker) 

Best Score - James Horner (lost to Michael Giacchino for Up)

Best Art Direction (won)

Best Cinematography (won)

Best Visual Effects (won)

Best Editing (lost to The Hurt Locker)

Best Sound Mixing (lost to The Hurt Locker)

Best Sound Editing (lost to The Hurt Locker)

I have to admit; when I first heard about Avatar, I really had no desire to see it because sci-fi really isn't my thing. But when all my Facebook friends and the celebs I follow on Twitter were raving about how great it was, I decided it was worth a watch. After all, it's from the same guy who directed Titanic, The Abyss, and Aliens, all movies that I love, so at least I know Cameron has a good track record. I have to say, I'm quite glad I did see it. For one thing, I really liked it and for another, this is definitely a movie you have to see on the big screen. Your TV screen won't do this film justice. In fact, Cameron told EW that he wasn't making a movie to watch on your phone. (I've watched the trailer on my phone and he's right...watching the full feature on a phone wouldn't have the same effect). I also caught this movie in 3-D, the first feature film I've ever seen in 3-D. (I've seen those educational Imax movies in 3-D, but never an actual movie). While the 3-D is cool, it's not necessary for you to see it. About halfway into the movie, my ears were starting to hurt because my glasses were starting to get too tight, so I probably won't be seeing anymore 3-D movies in the future unless they're essential.

In a way, Avatar kinda reminded me of Titanic. Yes, sure, there are major differences: Titanic is based on historical events while Avatar is an original story and Titanic takes place in the past while Avatar takes places many years into the future, but it has that epic feel that Titanic did and of course there's the love story. I also had that same feeling of awe when I saw Titanic while watching Avatar.

Taking place in the year 2154 on a planet called Pandora, Worthington plays Jake, a paralyzed marine who travels to this other world to take over a mission for his twin brother who was killed in battle. Pandora is beautiful, but deadly. It's also home of a very valuable mineral worth $200 million an ounce. The only thing standing in their way is the native Na'vi, these ten-feet tall, blue aliens with cat-like features. The only way they can talk to them and negoatiate with them is to look like large blue human-cats themselves, so they create avatars where they can virtually control their own Na'vi alien. I'm probably not explaining it clearly, but don't worry, it makes perfect sense when you watch the movie and the story is easy to follow. In fact, I have heard complaints that the story is too simplistic. Hey, at least Avatar has a plot unlike some movies. :::coughcoughTransformers2coughcough:::

It took me awhile to get used to the big blue aliens at first, but once you get past the first initial shock, it's easy to accept them and their world. The special effects of Pandora are absolutely amazing with some crazy scary creatures. I have to wonder, though, how this movie will hold up 10-20 years from now. The problem when you have a movie chock full of GGI is that it doesn't age very well. But for now, in 2010, the film is quite revolutionary and Cameron proves he is a master at the technical aspect of film and there is no doubt in my mind Avatar will sweep all the technical awards at the Oscars.

The film is nearly three hours long and while my ears became sore from the 3-D glasses, I found myself completely immersed in this world. I found myself becoming emotionally involved with the characters and there were a few times where my eyes started brimming with tears. Now I never flat-out bawled like I did when I saw Titanic, but I came very close several times.

It will probably be awhile before we see another film like this again, so I highly recommend you see it (on the big screen!) before it leaves your theaters. This film 'blue' me away!