Marshall and the Movies

This is a big post.  A huge post.  So big it had to involve “Avatar.”

IT’S MY THOUSANDTH POST!!!

It’s been a fun 489 serious posts and 511 days blogging for/with you, so let’s keep the good times rolling.

Now, for those of you not looking to read about a milestone, here’s the “Avatar” part of the factoid.  The Hollywood Reporter released a list of 2010’s most pirated movies, and by far and away the winner was James Cameron’s “Avatar.”  It was downloaded a whopping 16.5 million times.  If each of those pirates saw the movie in 3D, the highest grossing movie ever would have added another $190 million to its $2.7 billion dollar worldwide haul.

While I understand that since it was such a massive hit, it makes sense that it would be the most pirated.  But “Avatar” was such a true cinematic experience so enhanced by theatrical viewing that it seems strange all those people would pirate it.  I’m not into the whole pirated movie gig because I respect filmmakers’ right to earn money off their creative products, but I just don’t think that “Avatar” is a movie worth watching on a small screen.

I’ve probably talked about the value of the theatrical experience too many times to count, yet I find myself with a renewed vigor to defend it after hearing this report.  Theaters are where movies were born, and it’s the community that makes them feel exciting.  I’m sorry that technology has brought us to this point where it becomes so individual.