Avatar

[leo-rcc]

Don't know or care.
Funnily enough Shawshank Redemption, which is most of the people I know in real life's favourite film, isn't even in the top 389 films! And I really mean almost every single person I know regards that as their favourite film (in real life). Which leads me to think the nerds are infiltrating on the sly.


EDIT: La Haine and City of God aren't on the list but Wild, Wild West is. Effectively meaning the argument from popularity is totally redundant.
2nd EDIT: Neither is Casablanca or Citizen Kaine.

So people have seen "Titanic" in the theatre and on video for years, and "Avatar" has been out for a few weeks. It's hardly surprising that you know more people that have seen "Titanic". That is officially an non-fact for this discussion.

Thereby skipping over all the other examples Ami put forward.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Don't know or care.
Funnily enough Shawshank Redemption, which is most of the people I know in real life's favourite film, isn't even in the top 389 films! And I really mean almost every single person I know regards that as their favourite film (in real life). Which leads me to think the nerds are infiltrating on the sly.


EDIT: La Haine and City of God aren't on the list but Wild, Wild West is. Effectively meaning the argument from popularity is totally redundant.
2nd EDIT: Neither is Casablanca or Citizen Kaine.

So people have seen "Titanic" in the theatre and on video for years, and "Avatar" has been out for a few weeks. It's hardly surprising that you know more people that have seen "Titanic". That is officially an non-fact for this discussion.

Thereby skipping over all the other examples Ami put forward.

I asked him about "Titanic".

[Elessarina]

It's still an amazing achievment that Avatar has beaten Titanic's takings in less than 6 weeks - it took Titanic around 9 to 10 months to make its $1.842billion.

[Elessarina]

Does Avatar really deserve the Best Picture award?

It bugged many when Avatar won Best Picture at the Golden Globe on Monday, prompting a speculation that the James Cameron's "riff on Pocahontas" will win the Oscar on March 7. Detractors sneer at the film's shallowness, hooey hippydom, and its patronising view of the "native" population, which is emancipated by a brave white person.

This view is the minority, since Avatar has struck the sizzling billion-dollar worldwide box office mark and earned near-universal glowing reviews from fans and critics.

I'm aware of all the shortcomings, the allegedly covert "imperialism" of Cameron's script, yet I count myself as an admirer of the film _ and the filmmaking. And though I wouldn't vote for it to win the Globe or the Oscar, I'm struck by the strong reaction of some of my acquaintances who thrashed the Golden Globe for awarding this "undeserved, mawkish propaganda". They despise the film, but when it won awards, the dislike is elevated to something like hatred.

I'm surprised at these outpourings not because I think the film should have won; I'm surprised because it's so obvious and logical why the film has won.

Above all, the Globe and the Oscar are NOT critics' awards. They are film industry awards. To be more precise, they are Hollywood awards. When critics give out awards, it's their cultural duty and social responsibility to champion films that most people overlook but that display unique or superior artistic quality. But when Hollywood gives out awards, it's their duty, likewise, to recognise films that celebrate the might of Hollywood, that reinforce the strength of the US film industry to the global audience.

Cameron invests his energy in the right component of Avatar _ that is, the technology that enabled him to produce this spectacle and that, to a degree, successfully convinces audiences that the only worthy place to see a movie is on the big 3D screen, and not on your home theatre.

Remember that technology has become a driving force of the Hollywood industry for at least 30 years. New, innovative technology has cemented Hollywood dominance in the world market; Cameron, if not a good storyteller, has always been a maverick innovator since the day he stopped driving trucks and apprenticed with B-movie master Roger Corman.

Of course, film awards aren't science awards, but when applied science and visual technology draw millions to the cinema and send them out in awe, Hollywood rubs its fat belly and smiles. Avatar confirms Hollywood's hegemony, and it's no surprise that it has won the Globe, and will maybe win the Oscar. Conspiracy theorists surmise that Avatar won because it has elevated the profile of 3D movies, which now represent the future of the US film industry. But this is no conspiracy; it's just an order of the sphere, as plain as a half-naked Na'vi hunter.

Only four years ago, the Oscar gave Martin Scorsese the best director prize from The Departed, a good film that was definitely not his best film, and which was a remake of a Hong Kong picture. The Departed also happened to be Scorsese's highest-profile production that was a hit worldwide, and the timing of Scorsese's recognition, late in his career, added to the myth and lore that are inseparable part of Hollywood.

Awards should be watched for fun, not for benchmarking. Yet we often look for confirmation of our taste, and we get upset when different opinions gain momentum, or are backed by the majority. Constructive criticism starts when different camps of opinions throw ideas and arguments on the table, not necessarily to prove that they're right, but to add up the meaning and dimension of the art, the movies, the music being discussed.

Avatar naysayers seem to prefer films like The Hurt Locker, Precious or Up In the Air. And indeed those films have won several awards from critics's associations in the US and other countries. But I've also heard negative comments about Precious and Up In the Air. Awards, in the end, say more about the people who hand them out than about the people who're chosen to receive them.

I have no problem with Avatar winning the Globe or the Oscar; but if it'd won, say, an arthouse film trophy at Cannes or Venice, whose idea of cinema is dissimilar to Hollywood, then I'd join in the ruckus. For now, let Avatar be.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/entertainmen ... ture-award

[Elessarina]

China renames a mountain the "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain"


http://ca.reuters.com/article/entertain ... N920100125

[Gawdzilla Sama]

china.jpg (79.55 KiB) Viewed 440 times

[CJ]

You may be 36 yeas old but your more than 36 in other ways

Not for long!

Does that mean it's nearly your birthday or you're going on a diet

[Elessarina]

You may be 36 yeas old but your more than 36 in other ways

Not for long!

Does that mean it's nearly your birthday or you're going on a diet

I doing weightwatchers I started a thread about it - lost 7lbs in my first week!

[tattuchu]

Link above has BO adjusted for inflation IMDB doesn't take inflation into account.

Another point though that i would like to make in respect of this film - James Cameron wanted to make a film that EVERYONE could enjoy (from all over the world) it was called Project 880 because he wanted people from 8-80 to be able to enjoy it. For a film to be successful to a mass mass audience you can't write as if you're writing War and Peace..

You may complain that the film was predictable and so forth BAA but not everyone in this world is as intelligent as you.. if you want to create something with mass appeal you can't alienate 80% of your potential audience.

You can create a film with mass appeal without dumbing it down to the lowest common denominator (not that I think Avatar is that bad). A film can have a broad appeal and still be intelligent and well written. It's not like its target audience needs to be Mensa members or anything. Look at the Pixar films for instance as an example of movies with a wide appeal that don't insult one's intelligence.
I don't think anyone is denying that the film is a commercial success. It obviously is. Of course that doesn't mean it's a great film. And I don't think it's a terrible film either. Certainly not a terrible film. I just think it could have and should have been much better. With the amount of time and energy and money spent on this endeavor, the least Cameron could have done was create a script equal to the visuals. Hell, not even equal, necessarily, because that would be a tall order. But just a script that didn't seem so awful by comparison. If he needed to hire a script writer to help him, then that's what he should have done.

Your staunch defense of Avatar reminds me, though, of when I was attacked for saying I loved the Harry Potter books and films. A lot of people here think they're utter crap, but I quite like them and think they're really rather well done.

[Elessarina]

Your staunch defense of Avatar reminds me, though, of when I was attacked for saying I loved the Harry Potter books and films. A lot of people here think they're utter crap, but I quite like them and think they're really rather well done.

The things is I am well aware of Avatar's failing and reading the scriptment for Project 880 makes me lament how much better the film could have been but alas it's not - it is what it is. And for me I enjoyed the escapism it provided me for that 2.5 hours that, for me, just flew by. I wanted to be taken to another world and I was. I thought it was a pleasant film and it kept me entertained for its duration.

I know a lot of people didn't like it and it seems that they look down on people who do (and in some cases are quite abusive to them). But just because I like Avatar does not make me stupid it means I like this as i like many films..

[leo-rcc]

I know a lot of people didn't like it and it seems that they look down on people who do (and in some cases are quite abusive to them). But just because I like Avatar does not make me stupid it means I like this as i like many films..

I don't believe anyone here either believes or said you are stupid or berated those that liked the movie. I really wanted this movie to be so much better, but I was just disappointed by the predictability of the story. No amount of admittedly stunning imagery stacks up to that.

[GeneticJen]

Wasn't as predictable as his last film. Well, that being said, there was a guy in the cinema who shouted, "It's not going to hit that is it?"

[Trolldor]

'Attacked' my arse. You're not being persecuted, you're just speaking about a movie which elevates it above what it really is for no discernable reason, and I happen to disagree.

[Elessarina]

'Attacked' my arse. You're not being persecuted, you're just speaking about a movie which elevates it above what it really is for no discernable reason, and I happen to disagree.

Doh - I wasn't talking about here

[devogue]

I saw it the other night and I thought it was brilliant.

However, the Jake Sully avatar looked and sounded like a giant blue Mel Gibson.

I was waiting for it to call the girl "Sugar tits".