I liked the movie Avatar. The animation was fantastic, and the colors vibrant. The plot was an old one, but we all like a hero's tale.
I don't generally like animation but I'll have to watch Avatar. I have heard a lot of good things about it.
Either "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy (The Hobbit trilogy was alright, but it didn't stand a chance against the original trilogy) or the Star Wars originals (I guess the prequels were alright too). For newer films, I'd definitely say John Wick from last year, and I know I can certainly name that as the best action movie I've ever seen.
The Shawshank Redemption has to be up there for me. I love any film that has a great story, and this one was just that. A story that spanned almost a lifetime. It really had everything, except for the romance I guess, but I've never been into the romantic kind of film anyway. Some other notables are 12 Angry Men and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Those two are exceptions, I like them for their insight into the human condition, not necessarily the story, although I can't say it's bad!
I'm a fan of James Bond movies because of the surprises and twists that keeps me entertained and the beautiful places, houses, and high tech gadgets that are common ingredients of a Bond movie.
I generally do not like animated movies either (WALL-E is an exception); but both Avatar and Life of Pi are movies that are an excellent blend of real actors and CGI effects, and it gets hard to tell which is which, especially the wild tiger in Life of Pi. Sometimes, they used an actual tiger, and sometimes, it was the computerized one, and it was very realistic. Avatar is basically the same kind of thing. Sometimes you are watching real people, and sometimes CGI, and it all blends together perfectly, to make the unreal seem very real. Here is the trailer, in case you have not watched it.
I wonder how long it will be before the "actors" we see in the movies will not be real people at all, but composites based on what focus groups have determined people would like to see in a specific role.
Given the spectacular advances in CGI, I don't think it'll be much longer until then. Sure, it would cost a lot, but it would be possible pretty soon.
I've never really wanted to see "Avatar", and after the trailer I'm still not convinced. It looks a bit too violent for my liking. I loved "Life of Pi" though. I have no idea what the costs of CGI is, but it might not be a bad thing if they could reduce costs that way. Some actors are grossly overpaid and going to the movies has become really expensive as a result.
I don't know what the prices are like in the US, but in here, it's only about 3$ per movie ticket. What does cost a lot is the snack bar snacks - 5$ for a popcorn bucket, 2$ for a small Coke. I find those prices outrageous, but I think we're having it way better than you guys are in the US.
Cut-rate theaters here, showing movies that are a few weeks behind the latest shows, are from $1-4, but first-run theaters generally run from $12-18. Prices went up quite a bit after the requirement that theaters go digital. That was a significant expense for the theater owner, and it came at a time when fewer people were attending theaters, given cable, DVDs, and all of the streaming options available. Several theaters closed, and those that remained had to raise their prices. My wife and I go to a first-run theater in Bangor once every couple of weeks, and sometimes we're the only people in the theater, and it's been a long while since I've seen more than ten people.
I'm not in the US, I'm in South Africa. The regular prices at our cinemas are a lot more than $3, but there are certain days when one can go to movies at discount prices, so we only go on those days. Yesterday, with discounts, three of us went for less than $10. I imagine our snacks cost less than yours, but I may be wrong as we never buy them. We don't have cut-rate theatres, only days when there are discounts, but the full price is a lot less than your first-run theatres. But then again our currency is so weak that very few people could pay that. Relative to what people earn here, our prices are bad enough.
I have a hard time answering the all time favorite posts, whether it's food, song, movie or whatever. For one thing there are just too many of each, especially when we've been on this planet so many years. Another thing is that tastes change over the years. I was in my late teens and early 20s when the James Bond movies first came out and could hardly wait for the next one. Now I don't care much for them.
We also have all kinds of discounts in certain days. There are days where only ladies get a free ticket, days when couples get 2 tickets for the price of one, days when you get free popcorn and all kinds of things meant to make more people go to the cinema.