When asked people who saw 'Avatar' what made them like it soo much, the answer is always the effects and some the 3D... Nothing about the gripping story, or the amazing actors. Just the effects. Which is why I haven't watched it. Playing too many video games and watching too many cartoons, kinda desensitized me to the awesomeness of watching it on the big screen. To me what makes a great movie is the story and the believability of the actors. A genuinely fresh and creative plot doesn't hurt either.

As much as I deny the mushiness within, I loved 'Pride & Prejudice', 'Juno', 'Elizabeth' and so on... Those grab my heart. If they were CGI, they would lack the *human connection, and subsitute it with awe over the amazing CGI. I do think Sci-Fi, Action and horror movies loaded with CGI have there place, and should be recognized for the supperb CGI creators. The actors only source of recognition is their voice, how well they convey the emotion their avatar is showing. It's a tough thing to do, and should be recognized also... I suppose. But, with out seeing the glimmer in the actors eye, the emotion on their face, the body language.... I feel no emotional connection.

*Pseudo-disclaimer: For the record, I have teared up a bit while playing a Final Fantasy game, but could attribute it to lack of sleep, very moving music and gripping story... ;)

:):):)

Great points Jeff and I too love movies like Pride and Prejudice- I can watch them over and over again, so I don't discount their worth as emotional resonators, but I'm just trying to get to the heart of why big movies like Avatar and Titanic with such simple stories are having such massive reach and take on a life of their own...

I cried when I watched Armegeddon, there I admit it...don't judge me it was a moving film... that Michael Bay knows how to tug at the ol' heart strings.

new to your blog (actually got linked over from danny at TRS). Very interesting topic. It reminded me of a thought I have been struggling with ever since I grew the brain cells to think it; is there any such thing as free will or am I controlled by the need and desire to continually receive these "hits of happy" as you referred to them. Even when I do things that would be counter intuitive to my benefit for the sake of others, I constantly struggle with the thought of am I really doing this for the greater good, or am I doing this for myself.
I find the concept of boiling down everyday activities to concepts of neural anatomy and function very intriguing, but then again I am a huge geek...

Also, really enjoyed your writing style and noticed you mentioned you're a sci fi writer? What have you published? I would be interested in reading it/them (?)

Thanks Mehdi for checking out my blog! Interesting thought about what really defines free will- Seth Godin posted something similar about that this morning on his blog.  I don't have any scifi fiction posted- I have a few projects in the works but they are scripted series and still in the development/pre-production phase.  Will try to write more posts with a scifi. 'futurist' bent, and not just a new media one in the future!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted here!  It's good to be back.  ^_^

I've definitely found the Avatar phenomenon an interesting one.  I definitely relate to Jeff in a lot of ways, in that a movie (and as he points out, games as well) with genuinely sympathetic characters is virtually always more enjoyable and memorable that one that's a paragon of CGI.  Now that's something that's particular to story-telling, but that I don't think it entirely applies to art in general.

Some art, though it has no real human aspect, can be beautiful enough to be emotionally moving whether it's a certain chord progression or especially striking image.  I think that's a good way to describe Avatar.  It wasn't necessarily the story that was told or the relateability of the characters - it was the beauty of the world that had been created.  That was my - and I believe many people's - response to it.  As a film, it was good.  As a visual experience, it was amazing.