Best Picture Nominee #1: Avatar

The Academy Awards are only one week away. As promised, I will review the 10 Best Picture Nominees with the exception of The Blind Side, which I didn't get the opportunity to see. The nominee that I will focus on today will be Avatar. As you all may know, Avatar shattered box office records and was the first film to ever earn over $2 billion worldwide. Avatar had finally taken the record of highest grossing film away from Titanic, and rightfully so.

Avatar would be considered by many to be the front runner for this year's Best Picture award. It's groundbreaking visual effects make it a wonder to see in 3-D and IMAX.

The film is set in the year 2154 when humans are mining for a precious mineral called unobtanium on Pandora, a moon in a distant star system. Pandora is inhabited by a tribe of 10 ft. tall humanoid aliens known as the Na'vi. In order to facilitate relations with the Na'vi as well as conduct research on Pandora, scientists grow Na'vi human hybrid bodies known as avatars operated by genetically matching humans. Jake Sully, a paraplegic ex-marine is given the opportunity to infiltrate the Na'vi and gain their trust after scientists discover that the Na'vi colony is sitting on top of the largest deposit of unobtanium on Pandora. Sully is told that if he succeeds in getting the Na'vi to cooperate, he would receive treatment for his paraplegia. Sully's loyalties are soon shaken after he becomes close to the tribe and ultimately results in a full scale war.

Avatar is without a doubt one of the best movie-going experiences I've ever had. It is definitely a front-runner for the Oscar this year.

imdb.com rating: 8.5/10
rottentomatoes.com rating: 82%

The Byrd's Eye View: 8.0/10