zappo

... and saw "Avatar" yesterday, in the company of Club Cosmos members. Here's a not-too-glowing review:

Full points for technical brilliance. 3D used as it should be, as a non-wow effect. Animation and painting so good you can't tell it's not real.

But it was sloooow. And I've seen this movie so many times before. It used to be my favourite kind of story when I was a kid, because it featured red indians. Bitter war veteran goes west and falls in love with a beautiful indian girl who teaches him the ways of the tribe. When his white buddies, led by some really evil guy, come to wipe out the tribe, our hero, by virtue of his natural white superiority, leads the tribe to victory, and he gets the princess and half the kingdom, as it were.

Someone said, Pocahontas with blue indians. Dances with blue aliens. Jeremiah Johnson in space. Plus oh-so-eco-friendly.

In contrast, the really evil bad guy was stupendous. What a superman! Nothing at all could stop him!

Finally: that sounds like Wes Studi. Yes, gotta be Wes Studi. Mmmm, Wes Studi. *credits* Yay, it _was_ Wes Studi! (Funny that they brought in real red indians in this picture. Was it to get eco-cred or just because they needed someone who can pronounce alien words without sounding totally american?)