Up & Coming Weekly

20 UCW JANUARY 6-12, 2010 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM It's been done. Plot wise, Avatar (162 minutes) does not bring any- thing new to the table. If you've seen Dances with Wolves, Battle for Terra, or even Ferngully: the Last Rainforest, you already know the story and how it will end. Director James Cameron readily acknowledges these similarities because, despite the derivative nature of the narrative, he is (as always) head and shoulders above the rest on the special effects. Simply put, Avatar is spectacularly breathtaking. The slightest detail is given the art- ists treatment, and Cameron can expect to break box office records on style alone. The film begins in 2154. As you would expect from a lush science fiction epic, space travel is now advanced sufficiently to allow corporate exploitation of other worlds. This much used science fiction trope guides the central conflict of the plot, the ubiquitous clash between sci- ence and profit. The scientists want to study and work with the native population, while the suits want to crush the slightest bit of opposition with decisive force. The main suit is Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) who employs former Marines and soldiers as mercenaries in an attempt to exploit the planet Pandora's reserves of the rare mineral "unobtanium" (which I thought was a joke name used by the characters, but is apparently the actual name of the fictional substance in the fictional universe, which, eye roll). Humans need futuristic air masks to survive on the planet's surface, which leads to the creation of the titular Avatar program, led by Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver). A human who shares genetic material with an Avatar can download their consciousness into the hybrid body, and mingle among the native Na'vi population; although the Na'vi know the hybrids are different. The hero of our tale is Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), who is allowed to play with the delicate and expensive specialized scientific equipment despite a complete lack of training or even the barest amount of prepara- tion for the extremely dangerous and technical mission he is immediately sent on. Of course, this lack of preparation immediately bites everyone on the nose, since Sully's first trip planet side is interrupted by the native fauna. He is separated from his team, and with no more than the slightest knowledge of the local language, native, or planet needs to be rescued by Neytiri (Zoë Saldana). It seems a little shortsighted that the vast scien- tific minds that created a hybrid body for a completely untrained human to download his consciousness to were not able to develop a knowledge download as well. They might have saved themselves a ton of trouble if they spent less time calling Sully an idiot and more time training him on how to avoid annoying local wildlife. Of course, his commanding officer, Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) was more concerned with his elaborate plot to blow things up than he was with actually training people to deal with the native population. Overall, this is one to pay the ticket price for. Chances are the elabo- rate visuals will not translate well to the small screen. And yes, it is worth the extra money to see the 3D version. Dances with Na'Vi Avatar (Rated PG-13) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com Even if you adore Sam Cooke songs like "Bring It on Home to Me," "You Send Me" and "Chain Gang," you might not know how culturally important they were in the late '50s and early '60s. As a singer who crossed from rhythm 'n' blues to pop, Cooke breached the color barrier and left an opening through which other African Americans could follow. American Masters makes a strong case for the importance of Cooke's short career (Monday, 9 p.m., PBS). He brought gospel spirit to pop music, pioneering the genre called soul. He also brought a political consciousness, inspired by his work in the civil right movement. And he created new business opportunities for his community as the first African American to own a record label. Cooke's death in 1964 was so seamy — involving a prostitute, a pistol and a no- tell motel — that it tends to taint his memory. This documentary puts the focus in the right place: his politics, his innovations and his incomparable voice I Get That A Lot Wednesday, 8 p.m. (CBS) This series allows stars to play pranks on passers-by. Paris Hilton poses as a gas-station employee; Rachael Ray as a dry-cleaning worker; and Snoop Dogg as a parking-lot attendant. It's supposed to be funny when people think they recognize ce- lebrities doing menial labor. But is it? Given the state of the economy, the series' tone seems wildly off. With so many Americans unable to find work, it's hard to enjoy the spectacle of celebrities doing jobs that are supposedly beneath them. What if the celebrities returned to their mansions after production wrapped to find real-life parking-lot attendants and gas-station employees living there, and the locks changed? They'd have to go out and find low-paying 9-to-5 jobs to make ends meet, just like the rest of us. Now that would be funny. People's Choice Awards Wednesday, 9 pm (CBS) 2009 cast serious doubt on the people's ability to choose. First they picked simpering Kris Allen over smoldering Adam Lambert on American Idol, then showed a shocking degree of support for the preposterous Tom DeLay on Dancing with the Stars. People's Choice Awards, can you restore my faith in democracy by honoring Green Day, Lady Gaga, The Office and Tina Fey? Or is it time to establish a Soviet- style Politburo to make these pop-culture decisions for us? The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3D on Ice Sunday, 8:30 pm (Fox) The quirky documentarian Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) directs a 20th an- niversary special about America's representative nuclear family. To do justice to this pop-culture phenomenon, the special will have to put 20 years of comic genius in con- text while also being genius-level funny in and of itself. No pressure, Morgan. Chuck Sunday, 9 pm (NBC) Chuck is the droll tale of a nerd (Zachary Levi) who's transformed into a secret agent. It's one of TV's best series, but it almost got cancelled last spring. NBC grudg- ingly ordered a partial season, which starts this week; but less-than-stellar ratings will spell the end. My New Year's resolution was going to be about losing weight, but I think I'll change it to watching every episode of Chuck, starting now. I hope you'll join me so we can make this thing a hit. I can live with a little flab in 2010 as long as Chuck sur- vives the season. Soul Man Celebrating the short, influential career of Sam Cooke TV by DEAN ROBBINS

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