James Cameron’s Avatar is now the number one highest grossing international release, surpassing the 1.8 billion dollar record that James Cameron’s previous film, Titanic, set.
This is an incredible feat, and it is even more amazing that both of the films had the same director. Patrick made the comment that Cameron could retire now, and his family would probably never have to work again for at least 3 generations!
While that may be possible, I don’t think Mr. Cameron should stop any time soon. If anything, I’ll bet he’s already got another project underway as I write this.
I think that it is safe to say that James Cameron has set a film precedent that will be very difficult for anyone else to reach. Avatar remains the number one film for the sixth week in a row, once again shadowing a myriad of new releases. I don’t care who you are, because that’s freakin’ impressive. End of story.
Congrats, Mr. Cameron, your success is well-earned. I personally enjoy quality over quantity, and I think you subscribe to the same school of thought.
Unobtanium, the most precious and desired mineral in the entire known universe, is mined and sold from Pandora, a fantastic yet dangerous moon in the in the closest system to the planet Earth, the Alpha Centauri galaxy. A private company runs the mining operation on Pandora, and has both military and science personnel. Relations with the native population, the Na’vi, has been strained. A operation that allows humans to control a genetically-engineered Na’vi body, called an Avatar, are used to promote relations between the two races. Newcomer Jake Sully, a paraplegic, is recruited to join the Avatar program to replace his murdered twin brother. Since his DNA is similar to that of his brother’s, he will be able to use the Avatar body.
Once Jake Sully gets his legs back, he becomes torn between helping the company and helping the Na’vi, which complicates everything after the largest unobtainium deposit on Pandora is found to be under the Na’vi settlement. (more…)
Bob Munro (Robin Williams) is a husband and father of two. He works for Pure Vibe, a large soft drink manufacturer. When one of his daughter’s friends attacks his boss at a company event, his job is on the line. He has to attend and present at a merger meeting with Alpine Soda Co., an independent company that wants to be part of Pure Vibe’s distribution and reach. The only problem is that this meeting coincides with his family vacation to Hawaii.
Bob decides to take an RV trip to Colorado under the guise of a family vacation, but in reality an attempt to do work. He and his family deal with various problems along the way as RV newbies. From broken parking breaks, backed up sewage lines, and a troublesome family from the RV park, this is one trip they may never want to take again!
Dialogue:
RV has some of the best lines in all of the comedies I have seen. The comedy of RV and most of the comments thereof are related to RVs and their surrounding stigmas. The parks with the strange people, the complication of draining the sewer line, avoiding vermin, living in close quarters, and navigating traffic are all part of the act and part of the bigger joke in RV.
Acting:
This is a perfectly-cast film. The Munros were great, consisting of Robin Williams as Bob, Cheryl Hines as Jamie, Joanna Levesque as Cassie, and Josh Hutcherson as Carl.
Equally amazing was Will Arnett as the creepy and germophobic leader of Pure Vibe, Todd Mallory.
The Gornike clan was led by Jeff Daniels as Travis Gornike, his wife Mary Jo (Kristin Chenoweth), and children Earl (Hunter Parrish), Moon (Chloe Sonnenfeld) and ‘Not Earl’ or Billy (Alex Ferris).
Plot:
RV consists of a plot similar to that of The Lampoon’s Vacation. Bob Munro wants to take his kids, who are seemingly growing up too fast for Bob’s liking. He wants to have a family vacation where he can spend quality time with his kids, which is something that won’t happen in Hawaii. He is also torn between his family and his boss, who threatened Bob’s job if he didn’t come to board meetings in Colorado.
Bob embarks with the family in the RV, which is dubbed the ‘Rolling Turd’. Tensions are high and everyone is at each other’s throats as the trip goes on. Somewhere along the way, everything is resolved, and the family begins to enjoy the outdoors and adventure. The only problem is that the bliss is broken when Bob’s secret business meeting is discovered by his wife and family. It will take a moment of redemption to earn the affection of his family once again.
Music:
There was a lot of humor in the music that was throughout RV. It really added to the experience and hilarity of the plot. Classics like ‘G.T.O.’ by Ronny and The Daytonas peppered the score from composer James Newton Howard.
Overall:
I really enjoyed RV, and I love the fact that the premise was really original! Once again, if you are a regular on SquidFlicks, you know I applaud originality. RV has that originality, and combines it with a lot of humor. I saw this in theaters back in 2006, and I own it on DVD. I have seen it at least 10+ times and it hasn’t gotten old yet. Some RVers may be offended, and Robin Williams’ sense of humor isn’t for everyone, but RV delivers a solid performance that is family-friendly and fun!
Hello everyone. You remember all those times I said a new SquidFlicks was coming? Well finally, after months of designing and redesigning, I have finally made my final choice, and with some new-found freetime late on this Friday night, (now technically) Saturday morning, I decided to get to work.
There are still some minor things to tweak here and there, but it works, and that’s the most important thing here. Sorry for all that delay, SquidFlickians – Shelby does deliver!
This was also one of my resolutions, so boo-yah! 🙂
I’m not one to rant, but recent events regarding late night comedy have got me pretty agitated. How about you? I just want an entertaining late night comedian, not drama.
Once again, NBC shows that big networks truly have no soul. Conan O’Brien has quit after basically being a guinea pig as Jay Leno’s replacement, as Leno got a primetime comedy show. The show is folding fast and NBC wants Leno back in his old spot, which Conan wants nothing to do with, so he’s done.
Congrats. NBC has ruined two pretty decent comedians in this giant shell-game.
Edit: NBC has apparently offered to pay Conan $30 million to leave, and negotiations are underway. We’ll see how well that turns out.
Edit 2: Things seem to have panned out well, looking at this article two years later – Conan has a hit show on TBS and Jay Leno has continued success with the Tonight Show. Hopefully NBC (and other major networks) will refrain from making such switcheroos with primetime entertainment. Had this not been resolved, it could have been very bad for the network.
I hope everyone had a safe and fun celebration last night with family and friends! Since it is the first day of 2010, a new year, it is time for the unveiling of the footage from the SquidFlicks New Year’s Bash!
I think it’s one of out best videos yet, and let us know if you enjoyed it too!
SquidFlicks received a submission back in November from filmmaker Ronald Jackson, who wanted us to review some of his work that he was entering as examples in his film school application. Without further ado, let the reviews begin!
So there are, it seems, hundreds of thousands of Christmas-themed movies. There are independent productions, feature films, made for TV movies, and even claymation. Out of all of those thousands, which are the best? Well, it makes sense to break down the best by their respective categories, ranging from comedy to horror, classics to drama.
Part of the Christmas festivities in many families is to watch a certain Christmas movie every year. In my family, our Christmas movie of choice is Christmas Vacation. I have already viewed it three times this month, and I’ll see at least three more by the time the 24th gets here! (I love that movie, and I really could watch it all year!)
Also, please comment with you favorites or movies you’d like to see added to the list!
Do you know where your food comes from? Maybe it would be better if you didn’t, because there are some scary things happening out there in the American Food System. What was once a free market full of variety, safety, and choice is now a dangerous and misleading sham controlled by a few large corporations. Remember, You are what you eat, and when you find out what you’ve been eating, you may just want to stop.
