If you haven’t already, treat yourself to a holiday present and watch Avatar.

Is it the best movie ever made based on the best screenplay ever written? No, of course not. But it’s certainly one of the better movies I’ve seen in a long, long time. Though it’s wrapped in the most mind-blowing special-effects package, the true gift inside is the no-gimmicks heart-felt action-packed story — it’ll satisfy your mind and heart long after you toss the goofy-looking 3D glasses that the box-office attendant hands you before you enter the theater.

If you’ve been living under a rock lately or swamped with holiday shopping, here’s a rundown: Avatar is set in the far future when humans have consumed Earth and is looking to extract minerals from the planet of Pandora for fuel. But aliens called Na’vi live there and refuse to make way for bulldozers. Enter Jake Sully, a paraplegic ex-Marine (played by Sam Worthington) who volunteers to control a Na’vi-human hybrid to inflitrate and influence the natives. One problem: Jake realizes he’s playing for the wrong team when he falls in love with a Na’vi princess.

Writer-director James Cameron has been working on this movie for 12 years, and his hard work and persistence pays off plenty of dividends. His script combines so many great elements (action, sci-fi, romance, politics, and history) in one unified, poetic tale.

It’s not Cameron’s most subtle script (the aliens in Avatar are clearly a parallel to Native Americans), but it’s certainly his most ambitious. Twelve years and $300 million later, he still doesn’t let that all that overshadow the action-packed love story.

Sure, I’m a little biased, as Cameron is probably my favorite writer-director out of the myriad of filmmakers I admire. Aside from also being a Canadian-born Southern Californian like me, Cameron is one of the rare auteurs who can handle both visuals and story, action and drama.

He’s never made a bad movie. (OK, I’ve never seen his first one, Piranha Part Two, but I’m certain if I did watch it, I’ll think it’s the greatest B-movie ever.) From the original The Terminator to Aliens to Terminator 2: Judgment Day to Titanic, every one of Cameron’s movies are epic entertainment.

Why?

Because he understands how to use intense action to further a compelling story, rather than the other way around.

So sprinkle a little holiday cheer on yourself and watch Avatar.

True, humans love to talk, but all (good) psychologists will tell you that the majority of human communication is nonverbal. We gather far more information from a person through his body language than by what he says.

For example, lets say you have an older teen as your main character. Let’s call him Timmy. He happens across a gorgeous young woman in her 20s. Let’s call her Betty. Our Timmy decides to ask this beauty out on a date and her response is simply “No thanks.” Not practicularly dramatic and fairly predictable right?

Well, let’s add in three different nonverbal cues to Betty’s single-line response and see how it plays:

RESPONSE #1

Betty laughs in his face, nearly brought to tears.

BETTY
No thanks.

RESPONSE #2

Betty looks Timmy up and down then crosses her arms.

BETTY
No thanks.

RESPONSE #3

Betty clutches her purse, pulls her jacket shut, and scuttles off.

BETTY
No thanks.

Notice how each nonverbal response gives the line “No thanks” a whole new meaning and puts a different spin on the tone of the scene?

So next time you’re contemplating giving your character a long speech to explain her feelings, think first about what information you want to give the audience and try expressing that info through the character’s actions, not her words.

Remember the classic mantra: show, don’t tell!

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