Enlighten Up! DVD

• ENLIGHTEN UP! (DVD MOVIE)

Filmmaker Kate Churchill is determined to prove that yoga can transform anyone. Nick Rosen is skeptical but agrees to be her guinea pig. Kate immerses Nick in the practice and follows him around the world as he examines the good, the bad and the ugly of yoga. The two encounter celebrity yogis, true believers, kooks and world-renowned gurus. Tensions run high as Nick s transformational progress lags and Kate s plan crumbles. Ultimately, what they find is not what they are looking for.
FEATURING: B.K.S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, Norman Allen, Sharon Gannon, David Life, Gurmukh, Dharma Mitra, Cyndi Lee, Alan Finger, Rodney Yee, Beryl Bender Birch, Shyamdas, Diamond Dallas Page and many more!

DVD Features: Audio Commentary with Director Kate Churchill; Deleted Scenes; Extended Interviews with Yoga Luminaries; Photo Gallery

Q&A with Enlighten Up! director Kate Churchill and New York journalist Nick Rosen

How did the two of you come in contact with one another? Kate, where did you locate subjects for the film?

Kate Churchill: Nick and I met each other at a think tank conference. We were seated on the same panel and afterwards starting chatting about the work we were each doing. Nick was working as a journalist at the time and interested in documentary films so he sent me some of his articles to read for a possible future project. About 4 months later when the producers and I were debating how to tell this story, he became a potential subject for the film. I liked that he was a journalist, had a good sense of humor and that he was skeptical.

Nick Rosen: Yeah, it was funny because it was a conference panel I was totally unprepared for and I didn't even know I was on, and I totally fa! ked and joked my way through it, trying to make people laugh t! o mask m y total and utter cluelessness. And then Kate fell for it! I often wonder if I had prepared for that panel, and nobody much noticed me, whether Kate would have ever introduced herself, and later pick me for the movie. Lesson for the kids: always be unprepared.

Did the making of this documentary help you to come to terms with some of the "contradictions of yoga" that you wished to explore?

Kate Churchill: When I started making Enlighten Up! I was determined to find one teacher, or one practice that would have all of the "right answers" and help me overcome what I saw as the contradictions of yoga. Through the course of making the film, and especially during the three years editing Enlighten Up! I learned that there isn’t one teacher or a single practice that will have all the answers, and therefore everyone is going to have their own take on yoga based on what makes sense to them.

Were th! ere any moments that were not captured on camera that you wished had been? Conversely, were there any moments that you did not want to relive when you saw the finished product?

Nick Rosen: I think Kate did a really good job of covering all the big important moments. But there were stretches of time that I was practicing yoga without the camera. There was one time when the whole yoga class was sitting cross legged in a circle listening to the teacher give some weighty lecture on Hinduism, andâ€"oopsâ€"I farted. The whole class heard it and the teacher thought it was someone speaking up and said, "What was that, does anyone have a question?" That would have been a pretty funny scene in the movie.The documentary Enlighten Up! takes a whimsical, skeptical, and ultimately thoughtful look at the mysteries of yoga. Taking an approach similar to Supersize Me, filmmaker (and student of yoga) Kate Churchill wants to see what happens! when someone is first exposed to this physical and spiritual ! discipli ne. She chooses Nick Rosen, a former journalist with a skeptical attitude towards religion. Their investigation--which gradually turns combative, forcing Churchill to re-examine her own assumptions--takes them from the commercial yoga studios of New York (where one student says, with a beatific smile, that yoga gives you better sleep, better sex, and will inspire new ways to make money) to a former pro wrestler's "t & a" yoga in Los Angeles and on to India--where they discover as many perspectives on yoga as there are yogis. Rosen, with his open but down-to-earth attitude, proves an excellent lens to view a subject all too often treated with blissful and vapid reverence. The movie is sprinkled with humor and people twisting themselves into astonishing shapes, as well as stimulating and often contradictory ideas and metaphors that paint a very diverse picture of the world of yoga. Enlighten Up! blends philosophical discourse, personal drama, and a beautiful travelogue-! -the result is a satisfying film that doesn't pretend to have any answers but grapples with intriguing questions. --Bret Fetzer

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Avatar (Three-Disc Extended Collector's Edition)

• Condition: New
• Format: DVD
• DVD; Special Extended Version; Color; Dolby; DTS Surround Sound; Dubbed; NTSC; Subtitled; Surround S

A reluctant hero. An epic journey. A choice between the life he left behind and the incredible new world he’s learned to call home. Return to James Cameron’s Avatarâ€" the greatest adventure of all time. Please note: This edition of the film is not in 3D.

Versions of Avatar on Blu-ray, DVD, and Video On Demand

Edition	Format	Release Date	Special Features
A! vatar (Extended Collector's Edition)	Three Blu-ray Discs	Nov. 16, 2010	Three versions of the movie including the previously unreleased extended cut, plus more than eight hours of bonus features including over 45 minutes of deleted scenes, interactive scene deconstruction, Pandorapedia, documentaries and featurettes, and BD-LIVE content (requires compatible player and Internet connection)
Avatar (Extended Collector's Edition)	Three DVDs	Nov. 16, 2010	Three versions of the movie including the previously unreleased extended cut, plus more than three hours of bonus features including documentaries and over 45 minutes of deleted scenes
Avatar (Original Theatr! ical Edition)	Digital Purcha! se	Apr. 22, 2010	None
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	Digital Rental	May 9, 2010	None
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	Two-disc Blu-ray/ DVD combo	Apr. 22, 2010	None
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	DVD	Apr. 22, 2010	None

Stills from Avatar (Click for larger image)

Aft er 12 years of thinking about it (and waiting for movie technology to catch up with his visions), James Cameron followed up his unsinkable Titanic with Avatar, a sci-fi epic meant to trump all previous sci-fi epics. Set in the future on a distant planet, Avatar spins a simple little parable about greedy colonizers (that would be mankind) messing up the lush tribal world of Pandora. A paraplegic Marine named Jake (Sam Worthington) acts through a 9-foot-tall avatar that allows him to roam the planet and pass as one of the Na'vi, the blue-skinned, large-eyed native people who would very much like to live their peaceful lives without the interference of the visitors. Although he's supposed to be gathering intel for the badass general (Stephen Lang) who'd like to lay waste to the planet and its inhabitants, Jake naturally begins to take a liking to the Na'vi, especially the feisty Neytiri (Zoë Saldana, whose entire performance, recorded by Cameron's co! mplicated motion-capture system, exists as a digitally rendered Na'vi). The movie uses state-of-the-art 3D technology to plunge the viewer deep into Cameron's crazy toy box of planetary ecosystems and high-tech machinery. Maybe it's the fact that Cameron seems torn between his two loves--awesome destructive gizmos and flower-power message mongering--that makes Avatar's pursuit of its point ultimately uncertain. That, and the fact that Cameron's dialogue continues to clunk badly. If you're won over by the movie's trippy new world, the characters will be forgivable as broad, useful archetypes rather than standard-issue stereotypes, and you might be able to overlook the unsurprising central plot. (The overextended "take that, Michael Bay" final battle sequences could tax even Cameron enthusiasts, however.) It doesn't measure up to the hype (what could?) yet Avatar frequently hits a giddy delirium all its own. The film itself is our Pandora, a sensation-satura! ted universe only the movies could create. --Robert Horton!

Please note: This edition of the film is not in 3D.

Versions of Avatar on Blu-ray, DVD, and Video On Demand

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Edition	Format	Release Date	Special Features
Avatar (Extended Collector's Edition)	Three Blu-ray Discs	Nov. 16, 2010	Three versions of the movie including the previously unreleased extended cut, plus more than eight hours of bonus features including over 45 minutes of deleted scenes, interactive scene deconstruction, Pandorapedia, documentaries and featurettes, and BD-LIVE content (requires compatible player and Intern! et connection)
Avatar (Extended Collector's Edition)	Three DVDs	Nov. 16, 2010	Three versions of the movie including the previously unreleased extended cut, plus more than three hours of bonus features including documentaries and over 45 minutes of deleted scenes
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	Digital Purchase	Apr. 22, 2010	None
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	Digital Rental	May 9, 2010	None
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	Two-disc Blu-ray/ DVD combo	Apr . 22, 2010	None
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	DVD	Apr. 22, 2010	None

Stills from Avatar (Click for larger image)

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KIDS FIRST! Review: Director/screenwriter/producer James Cameron brings his science fiction roots to DVD with the award-winning film, "Avatar." The almost three-hour epic is considered by many as the most beautiful movie ever produced thanks to its groundbreaking 3-D and graphics technology. Set in the far future, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), travels to Pandora, a lush, jungle-covered extraterrestrial moon and home to a sen! tient humanoid race, the Na'vi. The 10-foot tall, blue-skinned! Na'vi f ight when a human corporation attempts to remove the indigenous people from their native lands. Human scientists create genetically-bred human-Na'vi hybrids known as Avatars to overcome the fact that they can’t breathe Pandora air. Jake participates in this program and encounters many dangers and beauties on Pandora as he scouts around. “Avatar” exhibits cinematographic and artistic excellence and creates interest in issues such as the environment. KIDS FIRST! Child Juror Comments: This DVD had great cinematography and amazing visual effects. One of my all-time favorite parts of the film was when Jake was walking through the forest of Pandora - everything lit up and looked amazing. The movie had a great soundtrack. It had a new age feel that felt like it was inviting you into a new world. It made the whole thing seem tangible, which is great. I wanted to be part of that world. The acting was great, too! You could tell which characters were bad and which were good with ! some bad sides. Overall one of the best movies I've seen. The actors roles fit their appearance, and there was a lot of foreshadowing and hinting throughout the movie.After 12 years of thinking about it (and waiting for movie technology to catch up with his visions), James Cameron followed up his unsinkable Titanic with Avatar, a sci-fi epic meant to trump all previous sci-fi epics. Set in the future on a distant planet, Avatar spins a simple little parable about greedy colonizers (that would be mankind) messing up the lush tribal world of Pandora. A paraplegic Marine named Jake (Sam Worthington) acts through a 9-foot-tall avatar that allows him to roam the planet and pass as one of the Na'vi, the blue-skinned, large-eyed native people who would very much like to live their peaceful lives without the interference of the visitors. Although he's supposed to be gathering intel for the badass general (Stephen Lang) who'd like to lay waste to the plane! t and its inhabitants, Jake naturally begins to take a liking ! to the N a'vi, especially the feisty Neytiri (Zoë Saldana, whose entire performance, recorded by Cameron's complicated motion-capture system, exists as a digitally rendered Na'vi). The movie uses state-of-the-art 3D technology to plunge the viewer deep into Cameron's crazy toy box of planetary ecosystems and high-tech machinery. Maybe it's the fact that Cameron seems torn between his two loves--awesome destructive gizmos and flower-power message mongering--that makes Avatar's pursuit of its point ultimately uncertain. That, and the fact that Cameron's dialogue continues to clunk badly. If you're won over by the movie's trippy new world, the characters will be forgivable as broad, useful archetypes rather than standard-issue stereotypes, and you might be able to overlook the unsurprising central plot. (The overextended "take that, Michael Bay" final battle sequences could tax even Cameron enthusiasts, however.) It doesn't measure up to the hype (what could?) yet Avatar frequently hits a giddy delirium all its own. The film itself is our Pandora, a sensation-saturated universe only the movies could create. --Robert Horton

Experience the spectacular world of James Cameron's Avatar as never before with this all-new three-disc extended collector’s edition. The journey begins with three movie versions: the original theatrical release, the special edition re-release, and the exclusive extended cut not shown in theaters. And that's just what's on the first Blu-ray disc. The set's bonus feature run more than eight hours and include over 45 minutes of deleted scenes; actor's screen tests; on-location footage; feature-length documentaries on the film's groundbreaking production; an interactive scen! e-deconstruction feature that lets you explore different level! s of pro duction for 17 scenes; a comprehensive guide to the world of Pandora; and more. The greatest adventure of all time just got bigger and better.

Here's what we had to say about the original theatrical edition of Avatar after seeing it on the big screen:

After 12 years of thinking about it (and waiting for movie technology to catch up with his visions), James Cameron followed up his unsinkable Titanic with Avatar, a sci-fi epic meant to trump all previous sci-fi epics. Set in the future on a distant planet, Avatar spins a simple little parable about greedy colonizers (that would be mankind) messing up the lush tribal world of Pandora. A paraplegic Marine named Jake (Sam Worthington) acts through a 9-foot-tall avatar that allows him to roam the planet and pass as one of the Na'vi, the blue-skinned, large-eyed native people who would very much like to live their peaceful lives without the interference of the visitors. Although h! e's supposed to be gathering intel for the badass general (Stephen Lang) who'd like to lay waste to the planet and its inhabitants, Jake naturally begins to take a liking to the Na'vi, especially the feisty Neytiri (Zoë Saldana, whose entire performance, recorded by Cameron's complicated motion-capture system, exists as a digitally rendered Na'vi). The movie uses state-of-the-art 3D technology to plunge the viewer deep into Cameron's crazy toy box of planetary ecosystems and high-tech machinery. Maybe it's the fact that Cameron seems torn between his two loves--awesome destructive gizmos and flower-power message mongering--that makes Avatar's pursuit of its point ultimately uncertain. That, and the fact that Cameron's dialogue continues to clunk badly. If you're won over by the movie's trippy new world, the characters will be forgivable as broad, useful archetypes rather than standard-issue stereotypes, and you might be able to overlook the unsurprising central pl! ot. (The overextended "take that, Michael Bay" final battle se! quences could tax even Cameron enthusiasts, however.) It doesn't measure up to the hype (what could?) yet Avatar frequently hits a giddy delirium all its own. The film itself is our Pandora, a sensation-saturated universe only the movies could create. --Robert Horton

Versions of Avatar on Blu-ray and DVD

Edition	Format	Release Date	Special Features
Avatar (Extended Collector's Edition)	Three Blu-ray Discs	Nov. 16, 2010	Three versions of the movie including the previously unreleased extended cut, plus more than eight hours of bonus ! features including over 45 minutes of deleted scenes, interactive scene deconstruction, Pandorapedia, documentaries and featurettes, and BD-LIVE content (requires compatible player and Internet connection)
Avatar (Extended Collector's Edition)	Three DVDs	Nov. 16, 2010	Three versions of the movie including the previously unreleased extended cut, plus more than three hours of bonus features including documentaries and over 45 minutes of deleted scenes
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	Two-disc Blu-ray/ DVD combo	Apr. 22, 2010	None
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	DVD	Apr. 22, 2010	None

Contents of the Blu-ray Extended Collector's Edition
What follows is the back-of-the box summary of the Blu-ray set's contents and then a complete listing of everything that's included.



Disc 1: Three Movie Versions

Original Theatrical Edition (includes family audio track with objectionable language removed)

Special Edition Re-Release (includes family audio track with objectionable language removed)

Collector’s Extended Cut with 16 additional minutes, including alternate opening on earth

Disc 2: Filmmaker's Journey

Over 45 minutes of never-before-seen deleted scenes

Capturing Avatar: Feature-length documentary covering the 16-year filmmakers’ journey, including interviews with James Cameron, Jon Landau, cast and crew

A Message from Pandora: James Cameron’s visit to the Amazon rainforest

The 2006 art reel: Original pitch of the Avatar ! vision

Brother termite test: Original motion capture t! est

The ILM prototype: Visual effects reel

Screen tests: Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldana

Zoë’s life cast: Makeup session footage

On-set footage as live-action filming begins

VFX progressions

Crew film: The Volume

Disc 3: Pandora's Box

Interactive scene deconstruction: Explore the stages of production of 17 different scenes through three viewing modes: capture level, template level, and final level with picture-in-picture reference

Production featurettes: Sculpting Avatar, Creating the Banshee, Creating the Thanator, The AMP Suit, Flying Vehicles, Na’vi Costumes, Speaking Na’vi, Pandora Flora, Stunts, Performance Capture, Virtual Camera, The 3D Fusion Camera, The Simul-Cam, Editing Avatar, Scoring Avatar, Sound Design, The Haka: The Spirit of New Zea! land

Avatar original script

Avatar screenplay by James Cameron

Pandorapedia: Comprehensive guide to Pandora

Lyrics from five songs by James Cameron

The art of Avatar: Over 1,850 images in 16 themed galleries (The World of Pandora, The Creatures, Pandora Flora, Pandora Bioluminescence, The Na’vi, The Avatars, Maquettes, Na’vi Weapons, Na’vi Props, Na’vi Musical Instruments, RDA Designs, Flying Vehicles, AMP Suit, Human Weapons, Land Vehicles, One-Sheet Concepts)

BD-Live Extras

BD-Live extras require a BD-Live-enabled player and an Internet connection. The following extras may be available a limited-time only and are subject to change over time: Crew Short: The Night Before Avatar; additional screen tests, including Stephen Lang,! Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, and Laz Alons! o; speak ing Na’vi rehearsal footage; Weta Workshop: walk-and-talk presentation

Experience the spectacular world of James Cameron's Avatar as never before with this all-new three-disc extended collector’s edition. The journey begins with three movie versions: the original theatrical release, the special edition re-release, and the exclusive extended cut not shown in theaters. The set's bonus feature run more than three hours and include over 45 minutes of deleted scenes and a feature-length documentary on the film's groundbreaking production. The greatest adventure of all time just got bigger and better.

Versions of Avatar on Blu-ray and DVD

Edition	Format	Release Date	Special Features
Avatar (Extended Collector's Edition)	Three Blu-ray Discs	Nov. 16, 2010	Three versions of the movie including the previously unreleased extended cut, plus more than eight hours of bonus features including over 45 minutes of deleted scenes, interactive scene deconstruction, Pandorapedia, documentaries and featurettes, and BD-LIVE content (requires compatible player and Internet connection)
Avatar (Extended Collector's Edition)	Three DVDs	Nov. 16, 201! 0	Three versions of the mov! ie inclu ding the previously unreleased extended cut, plus more than three hours of bonus features including documentaries and over 45 minutes of deleted scenes
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	Two-disc Blu-ray/ DVD combo	Apr. 22, 2010	None
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	DVD	Apr. 22, 2010	None

Contents of the DVD Extended Collector's Edition



Review of the Original Theatrical Edition
Here's what we had to say about the original theatrical edition of Avatar after seeing it on the big screen:

After 12 years of thinking about it (and waiting for movie technology to catch up with his visions), James Cameron followed up his unsinkable Titanic with Avatar, a sci-fi epic meant to trump all previous sci-fi epics. Set in the future on a distant planet, Avatar spins a simple little parable abou! t greedy colonizers (that would be mankind) messing up the lus! h tribal world of Pandora. A paraplegic Marine named Jake (Sam Worthington) acts through a 9-foot-tall avatar that allows him to roam the planet and pass as one of the Na'vi, the blue-skinned, large-eyed native people who would very much like to live their peaceful lives without the interference of the visitors. Although he's supposed to be gathering intel for the badass general (Stephen Lang) who'd like to lay waste to the planet and its inhabitants, Jake naturally begins to take a liking to the Na'vi, especially the feisty Neytiri (Zoë Saldana, whose entire performance, recorded by Cameron's complicated motion-capture system, exists as a digitally rendered Na'vi). The movie uses state-of-the-art 3D technology to plunge the viewer deep into Cameron's crazy toy box of planetary ecosystems and high-tech machinery. Maybe it's the fact that Cameron seems torn between his two loves--awesome destructive gizmos and flower-power message mongering--that makes Avatar's pursuit of i! ts point ultimately uncertain. That, and the fact that Cameron's dialogue continues to clunk badly. If you're won over by the movie's trippy new world, the characters will be forgivable as broad, useful archetypes rather than standard-issue stereotypes, and you might be able to overlook the unsurprising central plot. (The overextended "take that, Michael Bay" final battle sequences could tax even Cameron enthusiasts, however.) It doesn't measure up to the hype (what could?) yet Avatar frequently hits a giddy delirium all its own. The film itself is our Pandora, a sensation-saturated universe only the movies could create. --Robert HortonHere's what we had to say about the original theatrical edition of Avatar after seeing it on the big screen:

After 12 years of thinking about it (and waiting for movie technology to catch up with his visions), James Cameron followed up his unsinkable Titanic with Avatar, a sci-fi epic meant to! trump all previous sci-fi epics. Set in the future on a dista! nt plane t, Avatar spins a simple little parable about greedy colonizers (that would be mankind) messing up the lush tribal world of Pandora. A paraplegic Marine named Jake (Sam Worthington) acts through a 9-foot-tall avatar that allows him to roam the planet and pass as one of the Na'vi, the blue-skinned, large-eyed native people who would very much like to live their peaceful lives without the interference of the visitors. Although he's supposed to be gathering intel for the badass general (Stephen Lang) who'd like to lay waste to the planet and its inhabitants, Jake naturally begins to take a liking to the Na'vi, especially the feisty Neytiri (Zoë Saldana, whose entire performance, recorded by Cameron's complicated motion-capture system, exists as a digitally rendered Na'vi). The movie uses state-of-the-art 3D technology to plunge the viewer deep into Cameron's crazy toy box of planetary ecosystems and high-tech machinery. Maybe it's the fact that Cameron seems torn betw! een his two loves--awesome destructive gizmos and flower-power message mongering--that makes Avatar's pursuit of its point ultimately uncertain. That, and the fact that Cameron's dialogue continues to clunk badly. If you're won over by the movie's trippy new world, the characters will be forgivable as broad, useful archetypes rather than standard-issue stereotypes, and you might be able to overlook the unsurprising central plot. (The overextended "take that, Michael Bay" final battle sequences could tax even Cameron enthusiasts, however.) It doesn't measure up to the hype (what could?) yet Avatar frequently hits a giddy delirium all its own. The film itself is our Pandora, a sensation-saturated universe only the movies could create. --Robert Horton

Versions of Avatar on Blu-ray and DVD

!

Edition	Format	Release Date	Special Features
Avatar (Extended Collector's Edition)	Three Blu-ray Discs	Nov. 16, 2010	Three versions of the movie including the previously unreleased extended cut, plus more than eight hours of bonus features including over 45 minutes of deleted scenes, interactive scene deconstruction, Pandorapedia, documentaries and featurettes, and BD-LIVE content (requires compatible player and Internet connection)
Avatar (Extended Collector's Edition)	Three DVDs	Nov. 16, 2010	Three versions of the movie including the previously unreleased extended cut, plus more than three hours of bonus featur! es including documentaries and over 45 minutes of deleted scenes
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	Two-disc Blu-ray/ DVD combo	Apr. 22, 2010	None
Avatar (Original Theatrical Edition)	DVD	Apr. 22, 2010	None

Cont ents of the Blu-ray Extended Collector's Edition
What follows is the back-of-the box summary of the Blu-ray set's contents and then a complete listing of everything that's included.



Disc 1: Three Movie Versions

Original Theatrical Edition (includes family audio track with objectionable language removed)

Special Edition Re-Release (includes family audio track with objectionable language removed)

Collector’s Extended Cut with 16 additional minutes, including alternate opening on earth

! Disc 2: Filmmaker's Journey

Over 45 minutes of never-before-seen deleted scenes

Capturing Avatar: Feature-length documentary covering the 16-year filmmakers’ journey, including interviews with James Cameron, Jon Landau, cast and crew

A Message from Pandora: James Cameron’s visit to the Amazon rainforest

The 2006 art reel: Original pitch of the Avatar vision

Brother termite test: Original motion capture test

The ILM prototype: Visual effects reel

Screen tests: Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldana

Zoë’s life cast: Makeup session footage

On-set footage as live-action filming begins

VFX progressions

Crew film: The Volume

Disc 3: Pandora's Box

Interactive scene deconstruction: Explore the stages of production of 17 different scenes through three viewing modes: capture level, template l! evel, and final level with picture-in-picture reference

!

Prod uction featurettes: Sculpting Avatar, Creating the Banshee, Creating the Thanator, The AMP Suit, Flying Vehicles, Na’vi Costumes, Speaking Na’vi, Pandora Flora, Stunts, Performance Capture, Virtual Camera, The 3D Fusion Camera, The Simul-Cam, Editing Avatar, Scoring Avatar, Sound Design, The Haka: The Spirit of New Zealand

Avatar original script

Avatar screenplay by James Cameron

Pandorapedia: Comprehensive guide to Pandora

Lyrics from five songs by James Cameron

The art of Avatar: Over 1,850 images in 16 themed galleries (The World of Pandora, The Creatures, Pandora Flora, Pandora Bioluminescence, The Na’vi, The Avatars, Maquettes, Na’vi Weapons, Na’vi Props, Na’vi Musical Instruments, RDA Designs, ! Flying Vehicles, AMP Suit, Human Weapons, Land Vehicles, One-Sheet Concepts)

BD-Live Extras

BD-Live extras require a BD-Live-enabled player and an Internet connection. The following extras may be available a limited-time only and are subject to change over time: Crew Short: The Night Before Avatar; additional screen tests, including Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, and Laz Alonso; speaking Na’vi rehearsal footage; Weta Workshop: walk-and-talk presentation

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Casino Jack and the United States of Money

• This portrait of Washington super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, from his early years as a gung-ho member of the GOP political machine to his final reckoning as a disgraced, imprisoned pariah, confirms the adage that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.  A tale of international intrigue involving casinos, spies, sweatshops and mob-style killings, this is a story of the way money corrupts our polit

Two-time Academy Award® Winner Kevin Spacey delivers a “bravura performance” (The New Yorker ) in this “uproarious, riveting and wickedly hilarious” (Elle ) film inspired by a true story. Spacey stars as Jack Abramoff, the real-life Washington power player who resorted to jaw-dropping levels of fraud and corruption. High-rolling excess and outrageous escapades are all in a day’s work for Abramoff, as he goes to outrageous lengths to promote the Indian gambling industry, earning him the nickna! me “Casino Jack.” But when Jack and his womanizing protégé Michael Scanlon (Barry Pepper) enlist a dimwitted business partner (Jon Lovitz) for an illegal scheme, they find themselves ensnared in a web of greed and murder that explodes into a worldwide scandal.The sordid tale of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his greedy, felonious power plays during the glory days of the W. presidency are fine fuel for the antic romp Kevin Spacey turns out in Casino Jack. Spacey's signature twist of smug sincerity and self-satisfaction perfectly suits the portrait of a man whose morals are so corrupt and ego so glorified that he truly believes he's doing God's work at the same time he's swiping cash from every opportunistic situation he can wrangle. As a companion piece to Alex Gibney's equally entertaining documentary Casino Jack and the United States of Money, this comic rendering of a political life led with such impolitic indiscretion ramps the ridiculousness of Abramoff'! s schemes up several notches thanks to a liberal dose of drama! tic lice nse. Nevertheless, the events portrayed are real--the ploys to defraud Indian tribes, the bumbling forays of entrepreneurship, the ballsy attempts at misdirection once misdeeds spiral out of control--as are many of the major players. Director George Hickenlooper (who died at age 47 just days before the film's opening in late 2010) has no compunction about magnifying the ethical warts of historical players such as Tom DeLay, Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist, and Karl Rove as they act out the real-life sketch comedy of what really happened in the corridors of the Capitol and the conference rooms of K Street. Because it does come off as high-end sketch comedy, Casino Jack sometimes feels a little sketchy in its execution, but the cast is uniformly excellent in making scenes crackle with hilariously vituperative flair. Especially good are Barry Pepper as Abramoff's oily cohort, Jon Lovitz as a doltish, mobbed-up mattress salesman, and the late Maury Chaykin as a seemingly harm! less mafia functionary who's way more dangerous than his clownish exterior betrays. But the movie belongs to Spacey as a man obsessed with his own importance. This Abramoff, who worked as a C-list producer early in his career, still fancies himself a Hollywood-type player even as the A-list plots he scripts in Washington end up filled with holes. Spacey apes and mugs with typically borderline-manic panache, giving masterful insight into the master of a universe that exists almost entirely in his own avaricious mind. --Ted FryThis portrait of Washington super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, from his early years as a gung-ho member of the GOP political machine to his final reckoning as a disgraced, imprisoned pariah, confirms the adage that truth is indeed stranger than fiction. A tale of international intrigue involving casinos, spies, sweatshops and mob-style killings, this is a story of the way money corrupts our political process. Oscar®-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney illu! minates the way politicians' desperate need to get
elected ! and the millions of dollars it costs may be undermining the basic principles of American democracy. Infuriating, yet undeniably eye-opening and entertaining, CASINO JACK is a saga of greed and corruption with a cynical villain audiences will love to hate.As he proved in Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney knows how to transform creative bookkeeping into compelling drama without dumbing things down. In his follow-up to Gonzo, a portrait of rabble-rouser Hunter S. Thompson, Gibney takes on disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Stanley Tucci provides his voice in readings). Gibney begins with the Mob-style murder of a one-time associate before backtracking to Abramoff's days as chairman of the College Republicans, where he rubbed shoulders with Karl Rove and Ralph Reed--and impressed Ronald Reagan. Even as a student, however, there were signs of trouble as he laundered money through charities, a pattern he would repeat throughout the d! ecades, always on the lookout for new loopholes. Gibney proceeds through his dealings with the Contras, an Angolan dictator, Saipan sweatshops, and Indian casinos (the debacle in Angola led him to produce the right-wing shoot-'em-up Red Scorpion). Along the way, Abramoff ensnared lawmakers and government officials in his web as they traded political favors for campaign financing. As Bob Ney's chief of staff, Neil Volz, puts it, Abramoff "could talk a dog off a meat truck." When his house of cards finally came crashing down, Reed, Ney, Volz, Tom DeLay, and numerous others fell with him (all but Reed appear in the film). As in his other documentaries, Gibney juices the action with music cues that keep things lively, even if some of his choices are a little too on the nose, like Howlin' Wolf's "Back Door Man." --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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