On the spur of the moment we went to a late afternoon showing of Avatar. We are on vacation in the West Valley and saw it in a new Ultra something theater in Surprise.  Not sure if the name of the theater UltraMax, UltraPricy or UltraStar.  Nice small and quiet crowd.    Make sure you have comfy seats for this 2 hour 40 minute 3D spectacle.  3D and computer effects are remarkable.  Cameron tells a creative sci-fi story.  The action and story move quick so when you walk out of the theater you then realize that you just killed three hours in the movie house.  Entertaining.

Fascinating to me were the preview commercials, insurance companies and military recruitment ads.  I guess if you sign up you won’t need the umbrella policy.  A skin lotion had a creative ad with performers on strings, acting as moisturizer molecules, bouncing through the layers of skin (should have been filmed in 3D).   The next wave of 3D films is coming next spring and the trailers indicate to me that Springtime will be better spent outside.    The best promo was for the new 3D ultra sound interactive movie chair.   Sit in this chair and watch the movie with the full experience, feel the ocean waves, sonic booms, car crashes and caressing touches…all with your cheeks in this high tech seat.

Eleven

Negativland – Time Zones.

Miguel Soares did an amazing video to Time Zones. It is not even funny how perfect this video is for the song. Check out his page for Time Zones and see some of his other works.

Video for Negativland’s Time Zones

YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE. AT THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL
TIME BUREAU, COMMENCING AT TWENTY-THREE (23) HOURS, FIFTY-NINE (59)
MINUTES, SIXTY (60) SECONDS UTC, AN EXTRA SECOND WILL BE INSERTED INTO THE
NVS TIME SCALE. THIS ADJUSTMENT IS REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN INTERNATIONALLY
COORDINATED UNIVERSAL TIME AS BROADCAST FROM THESE STATIONS, IN CLOSE
AGREEMENT WITH UT1, OR ASTRONOMICAL TIME.

Slumdog Millionaire. Saw it for a second time. Make this your next movie to watch. Great story, cinematography and music. The visual elements and camera angles are very smart.

Doing Business in China. I just received this series in the mail. Watched two episodes. This series is very tight and efficient in presenting a high density of information on history, culture, people and business.

An interesting question that was asked in the second episode: Can you name three famous Chinese people, historical or living?

James Fallows posted a “member code” Atl-Fallows for a $50 discount on the Doing Business in China set.

Man on Wire – See it!

From the archives, WTC Ticket from 1984.