Avatar: Round 2

So yesterday I went to see Avatar 3D for a second time. The first time I saw the movie I expected to be wowed, but other than that I did not know much about the movie's plot or what role the special effects would play. When I walked out, I was pretty speechless. It wasn't the best move I had ever seen, but it was definitely the most amazing movie I had ever seen. Even a few days later, I couldn't stop thinking about it and knew that the film had not fully sunk in yet. I couldn't fully process what I had seen. In the back of my mind, I knew I wanted to see it again in the theaters. This is a movie that HAS to be seen on the big screen in 3D. Getting the DVD or waiting for it to come out on rental will not do it justice. I really felt like it was an experience more than a movie, and my second viewing only confirmed that.

I think that the movie was actually MORE enjoyable the second time around, which says a lot about how this movie will fare in the box office over the next few months. I do believe that repeat viewers will be commonplace, which is what made Titanic such a success. There is just too much to take in during one viewing- you really need a second one to take it all in.

Since the second time around I already knew the plot and how the movie ended, I was able to focus more on the film's scenery, nuances, and mastery of the technology. I was able to fully absorb the world that James Cameron created with the multiple moons, floating mountains, and unimaginable creatures. The entire concept of the movie is incredible- how the humans and the Na'vi coexist in the same world and even appear together in some scenes. You forget that the scenes with the Na'vi are only products of special effects. The whole thing feels real.

The movie just felt historic. As if I was witnessing a change in the way movies will be made going forward. It felt like the bar was being raised and that I was witnessing a film that I would be talking about for years.

The one thing I will say is that this is a different type of movie than a character film. There has been a lot of debate over what aspects of the characters' expressions and personality is attributable to the actual skill versus the special effects, which is a fair point. It is definitely difficult for the average moviegoer to distinguish between the two. I hope that this type of film does not replace movies like The Wrestler or Up in the Air but rather that they learn to coexist. It will be interesting to see what happens with the Academy Award for Best Picture- whether Avatar will be recognized as a breakthrough historic film or if the film itself and the technology it employs will be dismissed.

This film has a ton of potential going forward. I can easily see a sequel in which the Na'vi rebuilds and repairs its society. I can also see a prequel that shows how Pandora was initially discovered and how the U.S. set up the whole project on the planet. If Avatar has shown me anything, it's that going forward the possibilities are endless. Not only for this movie franchise, but for the movie industry itself.

The Summer of 1998 and My Boycott of Cooperstown

I don't care that Mark McGwire did steroids. I didn't care a year ago. I didn't care when he testified in front of congress, and I didn't care when there were murmurs of suspected steroid use in the Summer of '98. Mark McGwire provided me with one of my most magical baseball memories growing up, and for that I will always be grateful.

The summer of 1998 concluded for me with a last week in August family trip to Smuggler's Notch in Vermont. I was getting ready to enter high school, and had decided that it would be a great idea to try out for cross-country (my glory days as an athlete). I spent the week running and listening to the Rocky IV soundtrack cassette on my Walkman, taking tennis lessons, and giving my parents a hard time for taking me on a family vacation. There was only one thing that distracted me from running that week- Mark McGwire.

I distinctly remember hanging around the cottage we had rented, waiting for TV stations to cut into their scheduled programming to show a Mark McGwire at bat. Most of the games were not televised, but when Big Mac strode to the plate, everyone stopped what they were doing. He was on that historic of a pace. And it wasn't just that he was making history- it literally felt like everytime he came up he was going to hit it out. And he almost always did. I remember yelling to my brother that McGwire was up again and him running into the room just in time to catch Big Mac unleashing one into the upper deck. It was surreal and it was magical. I had never seen anything like it before and knew that I would never see anything like it again.

It is a little bit sad that almost 12 years later, as I sit here unmagically in my office chair, that what we have all known for years has been confirmed. McGwire did steroids. But do I really care? The answer is a confident no. For better or for worse McGwire is part of my childhood and part of the foundation of my life-long love for the game.

To the Hall of Fame voters, I say get a life. You aren't deciding whether or not this guy should go to heaven or hell. For lack of a better alternative, you are deciding whether or not this man should get into a baseball museum. The entire purpose of Cooperstown is to commemorate the game for the fans, who without the game would cease to exist. Well you have an entire generation of fans who grew up watching Mark McGwire and his peers of the steroid era create baseball memories. And now, these players will not have representation in the Hall?

Well, I make my statement today. I will not return to the Hall of Fame until the players I grew up with are represented in the Hall of Fame. I don't care if their plaques have an asterisk, a paragraph describing their steroid use, or a red circle with an X through it over their face. They just need to be there, because this is a baseball museum, and they are a part of history. My history.