Avatar - some random thoughts

SPOILER ALERT!
I just finished watching Avatar by James Cameron and I really enjoyed it. Definitely worth seeing it in 3D. :) It was a non stop action movie, but for some reason I left the movie theaters feeling empty and sad. Don't get me wrong, the effects were fantastic. The back story, setting and character design were breathtaking. There is a lot of fan service being done. I personally really like the power suit and alien lifeforms designs. I definitely recommend going to see this one.


I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. So stop reading now if you haven't seen it yet and plan to go see it.



Still here?



I am serious, if you want to see the movie stop reading now and come back later. :D



Not kidding.


Ok... so if you are still reading, I am assuming you already watched the movie or you don't care if I spoil the movie for you.

The reason why I think I left the movie feeling empty is that the whole movie can be summarized as Pocahontas in space. For the same reason you know there isn't really going to be Titanic 2. There won't be a Avatar 2. There is a lot of parallels (not sure if it was intentional, but seemed like it) with the war between native american and the early European settlers. The European settlers were interested in the land/gold/other resources they saw in the new land. In the movie, the earth corporation would stop at nothing to acquire the riches they find in Pandora(the planet where the aliens live), they will try to barter, threaten, and finally take by force. The natives want to protect the land from these foreigners, but lack the technological skills to do so. The reason why they protect the land is because they believe they are all part of the same life force (sound familiar?) Of course, there are some members of the invading force who would sympathize with the natives and try to help them out. At the same time the spies who were sent in to infiltrate the natives will eventually turn native and question their morals. These cliches play well in the movie. Given that this is Hollywood, the natives win the war and chase away the evil corporation. Yay~
But now it begs the question what happens if there were an Avatar2? The defeated colonist will come back with a bigger and stronger army. Better yet, they will stage orbital bombardment to wipe out the natives and any resistance. Once all is destroyed, they can harvest there precious rock as much as they want. Unfortunately that would not be a good movie and would not sell a lot of tickets, but who knows. War movies make millions and they are full of sadness and suffering as well.
I got into this whole debate with Janet and Guang about this too. They argued about if it would be economical feasible to wage war at such large scale for profit. Janet stated that war does not bring profit. I tend to disagree, war does benefit some people, like weapon manufacturer, medical and military research facilities and other related fields. But lets not get into that because that will open a whole new can of worms.

Riding the hills in Tahoe

I went to Tahoe with a couple of co-workers this past weekend, and we hit the Heavenly and Homewood resorts. Both mountains face the lake and have beautiful views.

Heavenly is a huge mountain. It has two peaks (one in California and another in Nevada). It is almost impossible to find people once you get separated. Cell coverage is spotty at best. Although, I did get 3G coverage at the top of the mountains, so I could facebook while riding the lifts. I need to remember to bring a talkie next time to keep in touch with other riders. Most of the blue runs were closed in the California side. So I went to the Nevada side. The traverse to get to the other side was really painful. Painfully flat, but once I was on the other side it was all good.
Favorite run(s):
* Orion (on the Nevada Side)
* California Trail


Homewood is a smaller mountain which is great for beginners. It has a really long green run (Rainbow Ridge) which is pretty mellow and was good for a second day run. My favorite trail was The Glades. Unfortunately to get there, there is a long flat traverse and no lifts. The lifts at homewood were incredibly slow when compared to heavenly.
Favorite run(s):
* The Glades
* Bonanza (serviced by the express lift)