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AVATAR (2009) - January 2, 2010
James Cameron!  Though it's been about twelve years since his last movie, James Cameron proves that he's still got it, and his streak of awesomeness remains unbroken (well, I haven't seen the Abyss, but I'm just going to assume that it's good).  About a soldier who finds himself living among a group of tree-dwelling aliens on a strange planet, the first thing you really have to say about this movie is that it's visually dazzling.  The alien planet is rendered in awe-inspiring detail, and the Na'vi themselves are always convincing; they're not quite photorealistic -- at least not all the time -- but they're not distractingly weird a la Robert Zemeckis' mo-cap fiascos.  In fact, James Cameron proves here that mo-cap can be a worthwhile technology when used appropriately, unlike Zemeckis' creepy zombie-filled boondoggles.  Cameron is at the top of his game here, at least as a director -- aside from how good everything looks, the action is all impeccably directed, with Cameron reminding us why he's regarded as one of the masters of the genre.  The action-heavy third act is one of the most exhilerating things I've seen in a while, and unlike something like this year's Transformers movie, the film actually earns its copious action, and it never feels overwhelming or too action-heavy -- it seems completely organic to the story.  As for the story and the characters, there's absolutely nothing here that we haven't seen many times before, but it's excecuted with such craft and aplomb that the familiarity of the story never feels like a significant detriment.  James Cameron!  ****