I just have to get this rant off my chest. I will probably edit it and make some more comments about it later, but having just seen it. This needs to be said:

I am Sick of hearing all of this "Cameron ripped off so and so" stuff about Avatar. Do your research people. If you are citing Poul Anderson's Call Me Joe, it was done before that by a man named Clifford Simak in a book called City, and also in a book called The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks, and also a story called Manta's G...ift by Timothy Zahn, and a 1985 comic called Timespirits...

And for those citing movies, yes, Dances With Wolves, Delgo, Fern Gully and whatever else you want to lump in with it. I'm not saying it isn't true....we know he has "ripped stuff off" in the past with Terminator and Aliens and blah blah blah.

My point is that rarely are ideas original anymore - and that's fine, what matters is how he CONVEYS his version of this story. Now that is something I will talk about. But let's just drop the whole "ripped off" thing....it is probably true, but a kind of weak argument.

Hey they aren't the Oscars but they sure are fun to watch. Check out the nominees!

Best Picture (Drama)
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”
“Up in the Air”

Best Picture (Comedy or Musical)
“(500) Days of Summer”
“The Hangover”
“It’s Complicated”
“Julie & Julia”
“Nine”

Best Actor (Drama)
Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”
Tobey Maguire, “Brothers”

Best Actress (Drama)
Emily Blunt, “The Young Victoria”
Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Gabby Sidibe, “Precious”

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical)
Matt Damon, “The Informant!”
Daniel Day Lewis, “Nine”
Robert Downey Jr., “Sherlock Holmes”
Joseph Gordon Levitt, “(500) Days of Summer”
Michael Stuhlbarg, “A Serious Man”

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical)
Sandra Bullock, “The Proposal”
Marion Cotillard, “Nine”
Julia Roberts, “Duplicity”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
Meryl Streep, “It’s Complicated”

Best Director
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
James Cameron, “Avatar”
Clint Eastwood, “Invictus”
Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, “Nine”
Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
Mo’nique, “Precious”
Julianne Moore, “A Single Man”

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Screenplay
Neill Blomkampt & Terri Tatchell, “District 9″
Mark Boal, “The Hurt Locker”
Nancy Meyers, “It’s Complicated”
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Animated Film
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
“Coraline”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“The Princess and the Frog”
“Up”

Best Original Score
Michael Giacchino, “Up”
Marvin Hamlisch, “The Informant!”
James Horner, “Avatar”
Abel Krozeniowski, “A Single Man”
Karen O and Carter Burwell, “Where the Wild Things Are”

Best Foreign Language Film
“Baaria”
“Broken Embraces”
“The Maid”
“Un Prophete”
“The White Ribbon”

Best Original Song
“Cinema Italiano” from “Nine”
“I Want To Come Home” from “Everybody’s Fine”
“I See You” from “Avatar”
“The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart”
“Winter” from “Brothers”

I think I'll hold off on my thoughts on the nominees and instead wait and give you my thoughts on the winners... mainly because i've been slacking and haven't seen many of them yet.

That looks surprisingly awesome! Who knew? Plus, did you all catch the broom scene? Very cool.

As much as it pains me to subject people to this monstrosity. Having seen this before, I can assure you that it is one of the worst things your eyes will ever see.

But in time for the holidays, the ENTIRE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL has appeared online. There is no telling exactly how long this will last online (I have a DVD copy), but for those of you who haven't seen it, I suggest giving it at least one view, even if your eyes melt out of the sockets...because this is something that is kind of difficult to see and surely won't be around online for too long.

Enjoy!