So I finally saw that Avatar movie on Saturday in IMAX 3D. I highly recommend seeing this film in this format for the pure spectacle it becomes. It’s like a soup made of candy, and not just visually. Should you watch Avatar on DVD or even in a traditional movie house, the experience will be less than overwhelming. As other reviewers have pointed out, the story is a fairly conventional tale of industry-vs-nature, invaders-vs-natives, greed-vs-harmony, etc. There are no plot twists, just safely banked bends with warning signs well in advance.

I believe that if the story had been developed slightly differently, it could have come off as a witty inversion of all the clichéd alien invasion tropes— they look like us, they want to kill us for no reason, and they are no match for the common cold. Oh, and they also want to mate with our women. Well, some of them do. Okay, only one of them does.

The only other problem I had was with the 3D effect itself. I’m not sure exactly why, but the first few minutes of it made my eyes hurt. I must need glasses.

Speaking of glass, I think I may have noticed a trick used by the animators to avoid the Uncanny Valley. I suspect they might have used the breather masks to disguise the pasting of real footage of actors’ faces onto computer-generated dummies in some scenes, particularly the spaceport scene. But that’s really just my speculation, and I’ll probably never know for sure until I watch the “Making Of” bonus feature.

I believe that I’ve already shared my theory that movies come in pairs. For example, one year, there may be the Sitcom Remake and the Other Sitcom Remake. There may be the Action Figure Movie and the Other Action Figure Movie. The Pixar Animated Movie and the Not-Pixar Animated Movie.

I just hope that Avatar isn’t the Other Backward Space Invaders Movie, and that it isn’t the Other Telepresence Android movie… because I’d really like to see the Other Powered Battle Suit Movie.

Much has been said already about the departure of David Tennant from Doctor Who. I suspect that, like many viewers, Tennant’s Doctor was my favorite. But, who knows? Perhaps the Eleventh Doctor will blow us away in an unexpected and exciting way. I guess we’ll have to wait for Spring to find out.

However, I don’t think as much has been said about writer and producer Russell T. Davies also leaving the show. This could have much larger repercussions than swapping out the lead actor. Taking his place will be Steven Moffat, writer of such episodes as “Blink,” “Silence in the Library,” “The Girl in the Fireplace,” and “The Empty Child.” Each I count among my favorite episodes, though all these episodes had a definite air of horror to them. So perhaps a spookier, eerier Who. Again, I guess we’ll have to wait for Spring to find out.

As for “The End of Time” itself, I’m sad to say I’m very slightly disappointed with the episode. Mainly in that after the build up of the main situation, it seemed quickly resolved (though with appropriate dramatic tension). But perhaps I should expect that the most interesting situations presented will be perfectly tidied up and swept under the rug, as this seems to happen quite often. Examples: the Cybermen were banished to the Void twice (or was it three times?), the Human Daleks were exterminated, the Master refused to regenerate (though this was apparently part of his Evil Plan), et cetera.

In the past, I have found Star Trek: The Next Generation to be particularly notorious for this, pressing the Reset Button of the Universe with zeal at the end of each episode. Why, I even called it a “Star Trek Ending” when the Big Button was pushed at the last possible moment (usually, but not necessarily, accompanied by a speech from the Captain.)

I understand this makes things easier for a writing team (as well as for casual viewers.) Also, the idea of everything returning to normal just seems to go naturally with the escapist types of Sci-Fi.

I guess I’m just one of those people who likes to speculate on possibilities left open.