The North Idaho lifestyle has its benefits. Diverse moviegoing is not one of them. Some of the best movies of any given year never play in our area, and many take their sweet time getting here.

“Crazy Heart,” the indie drama starring Oscar hopeful Jeff Bridges, finally opened in Spokane last week after months of media buzz.  Bridges stars as has-been country singer Bad Blake, a raging alcoholic who survives on the crumbs of a few good, sad songs. It’s a performance that will no doubt earn Bridges a long overdue Academy Award.

Blake travels hundreds of miles in his beaten truck to play half-empty bowling alleys and dive bars. Still a great musician (in between puking up his whiskey meals), Blake hasn’t written anything new in years. Too bad, because former protégé Tommy Sweet (a terrific Colin Farrell) has hit the big time and wants the industry’s best drunken songwriter to pen a few hits.

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Everyone else can love it, but the mega-blockbuster “Avatar” is certainly NOT one of my favorite movies of 2009.

James Cameron’s science-fiction epic continues to shatter box office records, and three weeks after its worldwide release, word of mouth seems to be stronger than ever. Critics have gushed over it, and many consider it to be the front runner in this year’s expanded Best Picture race at the Academy Awards.

To all of this, I say, “Eh.”

I’m not here to bash the popular kid. I’ll give “Avatar” the credit it deserves in that it’s easily the most spectacular looking movie I’ve ever seen. The special effects are seamless, and the motion-capture animation is revolutionary and realistic. Gollum in “Lord of the Rings” is nothing compared to the subtle performance by Zoe Saldana as Na’vi warrior Neytiri.

The problem is everything else.

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