Still On Pandora

I saw Avatar for the fifth time yesterday, officially making it the movie that I have seen the most at the theater. I'm not sure whether or not I'll see it again on the big screen, but I highly doubt that I won't. Even though my body was in Theater 10 at 12:00pm on 1/18/2010, every other part of me was 4.4 light-years away on 8/23/2154. Yet again, Pandora has continued to refuse to let my imagination and my soul go. I have become lost in that world, in the breathtaking sensation of the day and within the bioluminescence of the night. Among the Omaticaya People and the creatures that also call Pandora home. My heart still lingers 4.4 light-years away, and the very core of me refuses to lift off Pandora.

Somewhere 4.4 light-years away from where I sit now, there is a moon called Pandora, orbiting the planet Polyphemus near the star Alpha Centauri A, that has stolen my imagination and captured my mind. I doubt if I'll ever get either back, but as far as I'm concerned, they can remain on that moon for as long as I live.

Golden Globes - Best Motion Picture Drama

Avatar was awarded the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama this evening, and heads into the Academy Awards as a short priced favorite for Best Picture. The award for Avatar followed director James Cameron picking up the best director award earlier in the evening. Even if Avatar isn’t successful at the Academy Awards, the picture is heading for new records, and is currently set to become the highest grossing film of all time. Director James Cameron took the opportunity to say that those in the room had the best jobs in the world, and said that he believed that Avatar represented the best of cinema.

Photo, left to right: Sam Worthington (Jake Sully), James Cameron (director), Zoe Saldana (Neytiri), Jon Landaupose (producer), Sigourney Weaver (Dr. Grace Augustine)

Golden Globe - Best Director

The winner of the Best Director Golden Globe is James Cameron for his work on the groundbreaking epic, Avatar. Cameron accepts his award from his real life neighbor, Gibson, saying, "I'm going to try to make this as brief as I can because frankly I have to pee something fierce. I'm actually not well-prepared because frankly I thought Kathryn [Bigelow, director of The Hurt Locker] was going to get this so I'm kind of winging it here. She richly deserves it, but make no mistake, I'm very grateful." Cameron then thanked and recognized the work of his fine cast, thanking them for their outstanding work by speaking Na'vi.

"Avatar" Hits 1.6 Billion

James Cameron's Avatar has now earned $1.6 Billion. In an unprecedented display of strength, Avatar led the worldwide box office for a fifth consecutive weekend, fast catching up on all-time champ Titanic, distributor 20th Century Fox said on Sunday (1/17/10). Cameron's sci-fi epic has now earned $1.6 Billion, just $237 Million short of the $1.8 Billion record set by the filmmaker's Titanic in 1998. "Titanic was a ship. Avatar's a rocket ship," said Chris Aronson, Fox's senior vice-president of domestic distribution. The North American contribution stands at $491.8 Million (the third-highest tally of all time) thanks to a $41.3 Million weekend. Fox, a unit of News Corp, expects it to hit $500 Million on Monday, when business will get a boost from the U.S. Martin Luther King holiday. That will mark the Avatar's 32nd day of release. By contrast, Titanic took 98 days to reach that tally on its way to a record $601 Million. Keep in mind, Avatar sales are inflated by higher ticket prices in general and premium pricing for 3-D screenings. Avatar is enjoying strong holds every weekend. In the current period, it was off just 18%. Titanic was the last movie to lead the box office for five consecutive weekends, although Avatar might struggle to reach its record of 15 unbroken weekends. The foreign total stands at $1.1 Billion after a $125 Million weekend. Avatar trails the Titanic overseas haul of $1.2 Billion by just $127 Million. Avatar, the tale of a disabled ex-Marine sent from Earth to infiltrate a race of 10-foot (3-meter) blue aliens and persuade them to let his employer mine their homeland for natural resources, is reportedly the most expensive film ever made, with a budget of at least $300 million.



For all those who didn't believe that Avatar could surpass Titanic's $1.8 Billion first place trophy spot, think again. For all those who believed in Avatar's inevitable domination (includes myself), thank you for helping that becom a reality. All we can do now is wait for Avatar to dethrone Titanic, something that even James Cameron himself has said will happen.