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Avatar: Inspiration for reflection and contemplation

Cover of "Avatar (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Co...
Cover via Amazon

Much has been said of the Avatar, since the first information about the film already cried it would be a revolution of the 7th art.The film was released and already holds the record for highest grossing film of all time. According to the movie enthusiasts the great banner of this revolution was the result of the incredible CGI technology applied to the work. I agree.And I would also say that marketing used to leverage the film was extraordinary.

But is that Avatar is just technology and advertising?

Maybe this deviates a little visual excellence viewers’ attention to the messages contained in the film. I’ve been watching film reviews from fellow bloggers and viewers of the film and most agree that the film’s plot is fairly simple, with many cliches.Indeed it is. But so what? A film with simple plot and clichés can not contain important messages? I think that from the moment we have a movie where everything is new, I can not say the movie cliches that have committed to work. Imagine AVATAR with a complex plot and no cliche, that is, with no bridge to what we already knew the movie. Would you be good?Would you be understood? Does that arouse people’s interest? These are points that deserve consideration. Still, I consider each issue raised in the film, which reaches many people and that subtly transcends the simplicity of the plot and its unique universe.

Criticism of the war in Iraq
There is a very symbolic phrase in the movie, spoken by Colonel Quaritch:  We’ll win. The plan was to invade the human Pandora to occupy the sacred territory of Na’vi and to explore the rare ore unobtanium , worth a fortune for many companies earthlings and generate profits for their shareholders. For this they needed to vacate the place, for good or evil. Military mercenaries allied firms to take advantage of this occupation and brought all their know-how and equipment for this war. For those who know well, that’s exactly what caused the war in Iraq under the false justification that Saddam Hussein manufactured bombs of mass destruction and that this would be a threat to humanity. And what is Avatar? A great allegory on the conflict created by the Americans. In fact the criticism is not against imperialism and against the Americans.They are the star because they are facing these conflicts and are the most powerful nation on earth.

Concept of multiple realities
Despite all the drama involved, AVATAR explores a subject much studied in metaphysics: the theory of multiple realities or dimensions. Imagine that your mind reaches different types of reality. Just realize that you only one: that you experience now. There are some people who gain access to other levels of reality, as the spiritualist mediums (interact with the spiritual world), to sleepwalk, so the telepaths. But most are not. This skill requires a high sensory sensitivity. And this kind of situation is curtailed by empirical knowledge. In AVATAR, it is clear that science has mastered this skill and have your proof through the traditional scientific method. The film not only deepens the technology used by scientists to make this transmigration. Moreover, transmigration is a term already known to scientists and researchers metaphysical. The word transmigration (or metempsychosis, for the Greeks) is a process for the behavior of incoming beings. Enterer is the name used to determine origin of spiritual beings, not using the means Divine (Cosmic Law = Law of the Incarnation), to establish and use a body caused by physical, incarnate in our midst.

Avatar and Spiritualism
For the spiritualists and supporters, it is easy to identify a correlation between the reality of Na’vi with the theory of higher plane Kardecists. In the spiritual philosophy, there are several spiritual planes (also called colonies). In one, the disembodied spirit (or even red in some cases as in the dream) has access to the plan. In this plan, be living in a constant harmony with nature that surrounds him, as if it were an extension of its essence. Live harmoniously among its peers and is devoid of feelings as materialism and worldly desires. The connection between this plan and Pandora is too obvious to anyone who knows these teachings. And the relationship itself between the reality of the reality of human Na’vi is also a way to associate the concepts of the spiritual and the earthly plane.

So realize that Avatar is much more than a cliché love story, a movie or a technologically perfect big case of marketing. It is a tasty philosophical journey, full of signs and issues unpretentious, packaged in a perfect soundtrack, a lush photography and a unique idea in the film industry. I tip my hat to James Cameron and all his brilliant team.

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internet tv Netflix

Instant Netflix’s Internet Takeover

For several years, it seemed like Netflix was in the process of merely killing off the brick and mortar video rental store. As it turns out, this was an understatement: Netflix is in the process of consuming not just video rental stores but the entire internet. With 16 million subscribers as of this October, Instant Netflix is now responsible for 20% of all primetime internet traffic. The service streams video to computers, handheld devices such as the iPad, video game consoles, set-top boxes, televisions, and just about anything and everything else with a screen and an internet connection. Furthermore, out of the 16.9 million people subscribed to Netflix, only 1.8 percent are responsible for this huge amount of bandwidth being consumed every month.

Most signs point to this trend continuing as time passes. To watch Netflix develop as a business in the 2010s will be to watch Netflix cease to be a provider of physical media, moving entirely to the streaming media system it has made so popular recently. As of November 22, Netflix now offers a low cost, DVD-free rental policy for users solely interested in streaming the website’s online content, a marked transition from when the service was a convenient bonus of having a Netflix DVD or Blu-Ray rental account.

In addition, Netflix has raised the cost of its shipping plans, built on how many discs at a time one has (plans can range from 1 disc at a time to upwards of 10) by $1 for lower tiers and by several dollars for plans offering large amounts of physical media. All of this points to the fact that Netflix will gradually phase out the DVDs that it built its reputation (and remarkable selection) on and instead solely function as a provider of online content, an ultimately more cost-effective, environmentally sound, and—for many customers—preferred means by which to receive content.

As a consequence, Netflix will quite possibly face two major hurdles in the next several years. The first is the company’s risk of losing customers who opened Netflix accounts in order to receive actual DVDs. Many users prefer the fidelity and bitrates of DVD (and especially Blu-Ray) over streaming video which lacks the definition and resolution.  There are also those who will find themselves alienated by price increases and perhaps by increasing unavailability of certain films. Losing access to Netflix’s huge selection of films may quickly drive users to other similar services or to specialty physical stores where such shops still exist (I, for example, joined Netflix in 2005 originally so that I could rent movies that I otherwise couldn’t ever find in the town of 3,000 in which I was living at the time).

The real struggle for Netflix’s growth, however, will be the one over bandwidth. As Netflix’s streaming service’s market share continues to grow, its users will continue to move huge amounts of data—a problem considering the increasingly restrictive internet access policies that attempt to meter bandwidth.

Despite these potential hurdles, however, Netflix has found a way to capitalize on emergent streaming media and plentiful bandwidth, leading to a service that its customers have found more useful than the one that the company once offered, and one that still has a fair amount of room to grow. The company’s change in strategy has so far worked extremely well for them, and it’s likely to keep them going well into the next several years.

Andrew Hall is a guest blogger for Pounding the Pavement and a writer on the subject of technical schools for the Guide to Career Education.

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Home Rental Trials Indie Netflix

Netflix Adds Hundreds of Indie Films to Watch Instantly

Netflix Adds Hundreds of Indie Films to Watch Instantly

According to a recent Netflix press release, the mail DVD and streaming movie provider will be adding hundreds of Indie or Independent films to it’s Watch Instantly catalog. Six leading distributers of Indie films have signed agreements to allow Netflix non-exclusive rights to offer their movies instantly to customers at home through set-top boxes, game consoles, and other devices that are Netflix ready.

Netflix is already considered a leading source of Indie films through its home delivery service and now furthers that reputation with newly released movies available through its streaming service. Over 300 movies will be available from this new agreement for customers to watch. For the low price of $8.99 a month, these customers can stream unlimited movies to their homes while also receiving as many home delivered DVDs as they desire.

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Top Top DVD Movies This Week

Top Top DVD Movies This Week

Rank:     Prev Rank:      Movie Title

1.     New     G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

An elite military unit tries to bring down an arms dealer. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Christopher Eccleston.

2.     New     The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

A New York City subway train is high jacked and held for ransom. Denzel Washington and John Travolta.

3.     1     Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Sid is abducted by a dinosaur mother while his friends come to the rescue. Eunice Cho and Karen Disher.

4.     2     Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

The Decepticons return to earth for another epic battle. Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox.

5.     3     Orphan

A 9 year old is adopted and brings misery to a young couple. Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard.

6.     New     Aliens in the Attic

Protecting a vacation from aliens becomes a task for a group of children. Carter Jenkins and Austin Robert Butler.

7.     4     The Proposal

An aggressive boss forces her male assistance to marry her to avoid deportation to Canada. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.

8.     New     I Love You, Beth Cooper

A nerd makes an awkward valedictorian speech buts it turns out worthwhile for his love life. Hayden Panettiere and Paul Rust.

9.     5     Land of the Lost

Researches are sucked back in time and find their exploration in a world of dinosaurs like nothing before. Will Ferrell and Anna Friel.

10.     6     Year One

A prehistoric hunter eats some bad fruit and is banished. Jack Black and Michael Cera.

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Netflix XBOX 360

Netflix and XBOX 360 Offer Movies Instantly to Homes

Netflix and XBOX 360 Offer Movies Instantly to Homes

In a press release earlier this month, Netflix announced that 1 million XBOX Live Gold users have activated Netflix on the XBOX systems. This occurred over the past three months since XBOX Live became available in November of 2008. The service allows these members to instantly watch movies and television episodes directly through their video game devices.

Netflix New Releases
Netflix New Releases (Photo credit: stevegarfield)

Thousands of Titles and More Coming

So far 1.5 billion minutes of content has been downloaded and watched through the XBOX 360 Netflix agreement. Netflix is offering over 12,000 movies and tv episodes for immediate viewing through download. The number of titles available is expected to group along with the number of high definition (HD) titles offered.