Dropping Off The Radar

Well, can I do it? Can I really disconnect myself from all internet socializing until January 4th? That's the goal and it would be REALLY good for me, but we'll see what actually happens!

Until January 4th, this is Paeter Frandsen signing off and wishing you a Merry and deeply purpose-filled Christmas!

Avatar (Movie Review)

With movies like Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2 and Titanic under his belt, James Cameron has the right to command hype with any film he releases now. And Avatar has had it’s fair share. But how does it stack up after it’s 2 hours and forty minutes are finished and the 3-D glasses come off? That depends entirely on what is important to you in a movie.

Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation) plays a paralyzed marine who is chosen to remote control an alien body in order to communicate with the native people on an alien planet. There are two human forces at work. The scientists(good guys), who want to study the planet and it’s people, and the businessmen and their heavily armed mercenary forces(bad guys), who wish to get rid of the aliens and mine the planet for its valuable minerals.

From beginning to end, this flick is a visual feast. I’ve seen a lot of movies, but never before have I watched one with this many visual effects. The credits boast a handful of visual effects studios employed to make this movie happen. Nearly every shot has some element of CGI, not including the constant 3-D effects. The world of Avatar is exotic and lavishly detailed. I have no doubts that this film will get the Oscar in visual effects. For the full experience, do not neglect seeing this movie in 3-D. It will cost a little extra, but you can keep your glasses for the DVD/Blu-ray release and it makes for a much more absorbing experience.

There is also quite a bit of action in the movie. The spirit of adventure and exploration is constantly at work. But try as it might, it won’t carry the movie for some. The plot is very predictable and the entire movie will be charted out by some within the first 20 minutes. This wouldn’t be such a problem if the performances were captivating, but there is not a single character I became invested in. (Very bad for all those action scenes that I’m supposed to be on the edge of my seat for.) The problem is that the movie is being carried by characters rendered by visual effects. Despite this film breaking ground in the shear quantity of visual effects, it makes little progress in the quality of motion capture. CGI characters still look animated in their mouth and facial movements. We miss the subtlety found in a flesh and blood actor’s performances that the digital wizards of the industry haven’t been able to duplicate or capture yet. Without relatable characters to ground me, I became numb to the barrage of eye-candy after only about 30 minutes.

The movie has a few concepts and themes that may lead to worthwhile conversation. The “bad guys” are greedy businessmen and a military force anxious for war. The bad guys loosely refer to the aliens as terrorists and the good guys describe the mercenaries as using a “shock and awe” campaign. The movie also draws from a familiar well with its theme of nature preservation. Given these clues, you can probably guess the political affiliations of the filmmakers.

You can also draw comparisons to early American settlers and their conflicts with the Native Americans. Though I can’t tell if the writers are trying to preach a particular message with this theme, or if they are simply drawing from history for inspiration.

It’s also hard to pin-point whether or not this movie supports Pantheistic theology, or is merely using it for inspiration. The alien natives have a clear mental/psychic connection to their planet. Their Deity is synonymous with their planet and they go to their planet in their afterlife. This certainly smells like pantheism. But it is pointed out by one of the scientists that, unlike similar pagan human beliefs, the aliens in this movie actually have a provable biological, neural connection to the vegetation of their planet. So technically, it’s not a spiritual concept, but a physical concept inspired by a theological concept. Either way, it certainly presents opportunity to dissect pantheism if you’re looking for a conversation starter.

So this movie is a mixed bag that some will be content to rent in a few months, particularly if they have a large television. The plot and characters are far from captivating, but those who want to see Hollywood pulling out every stop to demonstrate the cutting edge of the visual effects industry should not miss seeing this movie in 3-D.

Avatar is rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking.

Quality: 8.5/10

Relevance: 8.0/10

www.spiritblade.net/paeter

Forsaking Television?

Okay, "forsaking" may be overstating things. Alot. But I'm a little amazed at how easy it has been to stop watching Heroes, Legend Of The Seeker, V, and any other show currently on TV that might normally have me fixated.

I don't think I like television less. Maybe I just have less time, and there aren't any shows currently on that are worth giving an hour to. (Or even 40 minutes with cut commercials)

Instead, I find myself reading fiction even more than has been typical of me over the last two years. That and playing video games, but I've been a pretty consistent gamer for a decade or so now.

Maybe I'm just waiting for the next "Farscape" or "Battlestar Galactica" to demand my attention. Or maybe my interests are just changing.

Anyone have thoughts on the state of sci-fi/fantasy/horror fiction in the world of television? Is it losing polish, remaining the same, or getting better?

Forced Vacation

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to some time off! Not to mention a few things each year that I look forward to in the Christmas season!

We will be getting together with my family a few days before Christmas, and I'm itching for my Mom's lasagna, which she makes every year on Christmas Eve, though we'll get it early this year!

For Christmas itself, and the week following, we'll be out in Pennsylvania visiting my wife's family for a week. Then, I'm most looking forward to the "forced vacation". It's hard for me to take time off, but since we will be out of town and away from my desktop computer and recording/mixing equipment, I will be completely
cutting myself off from work (except for any possible technical assistance e-mails) for the entire week. I can already smell the pages of my book as I bury my nose all week long! Woohoo!

Oh yeah, and family and stuff, that'll be cool too, blah blah blah...

Just kiddin' Corbetts!

I've Been Cast In The "Farscape" Spin-off!!

Awesome news! I will be playing John Crichton's younger, flabbier, weirder brother in the upcoming "Farscape" spin-off tv show! I just spent the first week on the set last night from about 11:30pm to 7:45am this morning. Not sure how I got the part, but I think it's because I can fly. I'm hoping to be back on the set filming soon, but I have no idea when my next call time is, so I'll just have to keep you posted as the studio communicates with me.

To Claudia, Ben and the rest of the cast, I just want you to know what a tremendous honor it's going to be to work with you. And to the studio and writers, feel free to write scenes into the script that involve me flying around the room and stuff. I seem to be able to do that best when I'm on the set and can save you a ton of money on special effects and wire rigging.

Christmas Caroling With A Purpose!

For those who live in the Mesa/Phoenix area, I'm extending an invitation to you!

Once again this year I'm putting together a caroling group, made up mostly of folks in my church, to visit some people that could use some love this Christmas Season! The "Caring Ministry" at Red Mountain Community Church has selected 20 names for us. More than we’ve EVER attempted before! So the need for involvement is great and the potential for ministry even greater! So if you love to sing, or just love to SHOW love, it would be GREAT to have you along! And let me state clearly: You don't have to be a "singer". If you like having fun and want to cheer up some people that could use it, you will never forget this experience!

There are three ways to get involved and you can do one or all three if you'd like:

1. Meet us at the church at 6:30 pm on December 17th, 18th, 21st or 22nd (Thursday, Friday, Monday Tuesday) to go caroling! (We will be done each night by or before 9pm.) Forward this post to folks you know and invite a friend, too! And you’re certainly welcome to come on more than one night!

2. Donate 5 bucks (or more if you’d like) to help buy baskets and goodies for those we visit. If you go this route, please e-mail/message me how much you will be donating ASAP so I know what we have to work with. You can bring your donation on any night of caroling or e-mail me to schedule a time I can pick it up.

3. Bake some goodies to put in the baskets! Two-dozen of anything yummy would be great and we could always use more if you enjoy baking! I will primarily collect goodies December 15th and 16th (Tuesday and Wednesday), though if you can’t make that deadline and would still like to contribute, I can still collect your goodies up until Saturday the 19th. Please e-mail/message me and let me know what you'd like to make, how many, and when I can pick it up.

The need is greater than ever this year and I can tell you from personal experience that the small effort involved has a surprisingly massive impact on those we are expressing love to!

Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks so much for your consideration and I hope you'll join the fun this year!

Paeter Frandsen

New Book Search Coming

I can feel it in my bones. It's almost time to start looking for a new fantasy author. I've been enjoying Robert Newcomb's "Chronicles Of Blood And Stone", even though he's guilty of a little too much exposition and "tell don't show". I'm on book three of the trilogy now and may be ready for a break before his follow-up trilogy. Then again, if he ends this book in the same anti-climactic way in which he ended "The Gates Of Dawn", I may just look for a new author altogether. I don't know.

Good news is, I've got a Terry Brooks trilogy on my bookshelf I've never read before, The Genesis Of Shannara, which should hold me over long enough to find a solid new author if I need to.

Get My Free Christmas Song!

For those of you who don't follow the Spirit Blade Underground blog, I thought you might be interested in checking out the free song I'm letting folks download this month. It's my dark, electronic rendition of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" and you can download it for free at www.spiritblade.net/freestuff all month long!

Enjoy!