If I’m understanding correctly, here’s the defense of these movies: A decent plot is complimented by revolutionary special effects and a host of good actors. I’m fine with that, but it brings up two points in my mind.

First of all, Jurassic Park, The Matrix, Star Wars and Terminator all fit the same description. I’d go as far as to say that I felt all of these were better movies or at least as good as Titanic, although I may just be saying that because I’m a boy and these are all action movies. Either way, they all had really amazing effects for their time, created a unique universe, had at least passable stories and at least decent actors, and all of them won Oscars, for things like acting, special effects and sound, but none of them won best picture.

Second, I feel like following this train of thought, if James Cameron were to take Goldilocks and the Three Bears, put it in some fantastic setting like space or ancient Egypt, load the cast up and then give it some really impressive special effects, I would be a stuffy, holier-than-thou dick if I thought that wasn’t the greatest movie made that year either, ESPECIALLY IF BEVERLY HILLS NINJA CAME OUT THAT VERY SAME YEAR.

I’m not saying that these are terrible movies. Except for Titanic. Actually, I’m just saying that to antagonize you. Except yes, I think Titanic sucks. (OR DO I?)

What I am saying is that A) part of what makes me think a movie is awesome is being able to watch it again and again and think it’s really cool, even after the original luster of the special effects has worn off and the actors have fallen off of everyone’s radar and B) I agree that Avatar had very impressive visuals, but I feel like the special effects end up over-inflating people’s perception of the quality of it.

I’m not saying that anyone should feel guilty for liking them, either, or that you can’t enjoy this movie. Almost all of my media consumption is trash. I listen to metal, I read junk, I play hours of video games and my favorite food is nachos. I love all of those things, and I don’t lose a lot of sleep about it or feel guilty that I don’t read more Dostoevsky, eat more foie gras and listen to Classical. But I also don’t expect any of the things I like to get a lot of critical acclaim, either.

As for the 10 recycled plots, I agree. The thing that I think I found frustrating about it was that I felt like you could pause the movie at any point and predict what was going to happen for the next 30 minutes. I never felt like I was being kept “on my toes”. Then again, you have me thinking about this, and it could be that it’s just not a plot that I especially enjoy. When I’m watching some guy comedy like The Hangover or The 40 Year Old Virgin, I suppose it’s not as though those are especially cerebral either. It’s no less formulaic, I just really like the formula so it doesn’t bother me as much.

I like a lot of Cameron’s movies too. I could be wrong, I just feel like this is one of those movies that will be less like Terminator and more like Titanic that’s not going to age especially well.

Either way, all good points.

Second, Avatar certainly rehashes a story which reminds most people of Dances with Wolves or Pocahontas. That’s a generational response, those movies were rehashed from other previously successful movies/stories.

Third, there are no “new” movie plots this year, or really any year. Hollywood has about 10 movie story forms and every major movie is just a spin on that. You have to go watch an indie film like Primer to find something beyond a typical Hollywood plot form.

I enjoyed Avatar quite a bit because it took an established story form and did it well. It didn’t re-invent anything in terms of story telling but I felt it was polished and well crafted. Maybe I’m the jaded one… I feel like if you see a single advertisement for a film, economics has already committed that film to a typical Hollywood plot line. I thought Avatar was an amazing experience. I’m a big fan of everything Cameron has done, except for Titanic. I’m looking forward to his next movie.

There are other movies that are more deserving an academy award and had the bad luck to come out in the same year as Avatar.

As for unobtainium, if my understanding is correct, it’s a joke name for something really rare and expensive. I’ll totally check out the link, though.

But hey, did you know that unobtanium is an actual scientific term?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unobtainium