My Favorite Movies

The most important movie I've seen since "An Inconvenient Truth"

Extraordinarily beautiful, in graphics and heart that it brought me to tears numerous times. SEE IT IN THE THEATERS! My wife and I are going to see it a second time -- very rare for us.

However, I'm saddened by how much cynical criticism there is about this movie. Example here...
http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar

Why not keep an open heart and open mind, enter the show with a childlike wonder and simply revel in it and enjoy it (!) and let us be inspired to co-create a better world, by the core messages of the story....

* When the mind is full, it's like a cup that is full...it cannot take more in. It's in judging mode (and tends to reject new knowledge it doesn't understand) instead of learning

* We have little idea what value we're destroying when we disregard natural environments. There is profound opportunity in nature for spiritual growth; there's also extraordinary value for scientific advancement. We should do all we can to preserve nature (e.g. the Amazon rain forest) so we can understand what's there and advance in knowledge and culture.

* When we treat anyone (e.g. indigenous people) as a means to an end, we become cruel and callous... and we lose the opportunity to learn from them. Let's aim to live peacefully with indigenous people (what small populations remain!!) and learn from their wisdom.

* "Everything out there is trying to kill us; we are fighting to survive." -- an attitude that begets a policy of war and terror.

* So does the attitude: "If someone else's land contains resources that the natives don't know how to capitalize on, it's our right to acquire those resources by any means necessary."

Everyday the Amazon rainforest and indigenous cultures are being irrecoverably destroyed because we who have the power to speak, raise our voices, and act differently as citizens and consumers, don't do something about it! It's movies like Avatar that can awaken the mass public to awareness and action. Let's encourage people to go enjoy the movie and talk about these positive, actionable messages that can create a more peaceful world.

Highly recommended resource: Pachamama Alliance's "Awakening The Dreamer" initiative.
http://awakeningthedreamer.org

Anyone else have anything to add to this discussion? Looking forward to your comments here:
http://bit.ly/talkaboutavatar

Will Farrell does a wonderful job acting as a human raised by Santa's elves. Surprisingly good movie. About unconditional love.

A vivid portrayal of the diamond industry that inspires consumer action. (For conflict-free diamonds see BrilliantEarth.com or GreenKarat.com.) A good action film with good soundtrack.

One of the most entertaining movies I've seen. Had just about everything: epic adventure, romance, good character development, action (without gore!), suspense, good special effects, and a triumphant ending. The perfect date movie :)

Neither my wife nor I have read the book, but we really enjoyed this movie.

Themes: courage, honor, redemption from guilt and regret, unconditional love.

Also enjoyed "Words from The Kite Runner" -- a poorly named speacial feature but it turned out to be one of the most satisfying bonus features I've seen. Profound and uplifting and added a new level of meaning to this movie for me.

I definitely recommend this movie/DVD, which I rented from the public library... likely available in yours too.

One of my favorite musical movies. It's based loosely on the life story of The Supremes, Diana Ross and Motown Records.

My favorite songs were...
* We are a Family
* Patience
* Listen
...and they're made much more meaningful when they're seen in the context of the movie.

Worth watching especially if you like musicals!