Avatar

[Wintermute]

Avatar was nothing special. Movie of the year? Jesus christ, I hope not. I thought District 9 was WAY better than Avatar.

Avatar is hype. I saw it in IMAX 3D with my family on New Year's so I didn't have to pay for it; I wouldn't waste my money going to see it in IMAX 3D, or at all. How much does that cost? Isn't it around 30-40 bucks a ticket? Yeah, fuck that bullshit. I'd just buy some pot and get high instead.

Wait for it to come out on DVD so you can rent it and watch it in the comfort of your own home, with whiskey and pills.

[Saya]

Originally Posted by Despanan

Apparently this movie is causing people to contemplate suicide, and not for the reason I'd expect.

Oy, these people need to rent Planet Earth and if they're that angry with the way things are going, start caring about it.

And of course if you want to kill yourself so you can be reborn on Pandora, you obviously have deep problems that Avatar is not responsible for.

[Despanan]

Anyone who's going to go on about how earth isn't as beautiful as a CGI recreation of the Night Elves kingdom, has clearly spent too much time in their parent's basement. If they did die and wind up on Pandora, they'd probably still end up with a tech support job in a basement somewhere.

[Malice In Wonderland]

Originally Posted by Still Jack

I never got the whole WoW thing. It just never seemed interesting enough for me to try it.

Imagine paying for something as shitty as Runescape.
No less creepy ********** either.

[Naked Lunch]

I saw it on the weekend. It was amazing! The 3-D was awesome, and I liked the plot line. I'd easily see it again. It was a long movie though.

[Devil Tiger]

Originally Posted by Naked Lunch

I saw it on the weekend. It was amazing! The 3-D was awesome, and I liked the plot line. I'd easily see it again. It was a long movie though.

Thanks for the review. I have not got the chance to pop in and see that one yet. From what you said it sounds like it is worth the $10 or so that it will cost to have a peek. Despite what the first poster said I willgo have a look. Thanks

[Alan]

I read too much into the movie. The premise of the planet bothers me too much. All the animals have an innate and actually physical connection to each other and yet they evolved into being much more competitive and vicious than those in our world?
That's biologically impossible. The complex interconnection of the organisms would have created such a symbiosis that they never would have needed to evolve into being competitive, and certainly not that competitive. They would have probably evolved into something more akin to a giant rhizome or, for lack of a better example, the bad alien from the movie Evolution.

This brings a whole new level of preoccupation for people that feel depressed about Avatar. Also because mountains don't fly.

[Altemese]

I loved it. Cause in the middle of all the war that is going on, is a beautiful love story.

[Alan]

Yeah, that's why Star Wars and Harry Potter are also masterpieces.

[Naked Lunch]

Originally Posted by Devil Tiger

Thanks for the review. I have not got the chance to pop in and see that one yet. From what you said it sounds like it is worth the $10 or so that it will cost to have a peek. Despite what the first poster said I willgo have a look. Thanks

Just calling it like it is, but you’re welcome all the same.

[Wintermute]

I'd also like to add...

'Unobtanium"...? Fucking really? Seriously?

Stupidest name for a sci-fi substance EVER. I mean... get the fuck out. That's just retarded.

[Malice In Wonderland]

Originally Posted by Wintermute

I'd also like to add...

'Unobtanium"...? Fucking really? Seriously?

Stupidest name for a sci-fi substance EVER. I mean... get the fuck out. That's just retarded.

Get the fuck out.
Have you never fucking watched sci-fi before?
Fuck off, now.

[Devil Tiger]

:: Just Dies laughing ::

[Devil Tiger]

" Unobtainium" I thought that was the scientific name for the concept of peace in the middle east.

[Ben Lahnger]

First, Wintermute - Unobtanium: Engineers have long (since at least the 1950s) used the term unobtainium when referring to unusual or costly materials, or when theoretically considering a material perfect for their needs in all respects save that it doesn't exist. - WIKIPEDIA

It was actually a clever not-so-insider's joke, and everyone else got it.

Second, it turns out there are at least five different formats you can see Avatar in, including Imax 3d, Digital "Real 3D", Dolby 3D or non-3D. Each format has different requirements for screen and glasses, and IMAX 3D is the oldest 3D technology of the group (and starting to show it's age.) I wanted to find out which was the best viewing experience, and after some research I found THIS WEBSITE. Many posters on that site claimed that the 2.5 hour film caused headaches, tired eyes and other side effects, particularly in the IMAX 3D format ... while the REAL3D format was the most comfortable. Also, the IMAX 3D techology is older and is known for having a dim display, while the REAL 3D is bright and clear, and does not suffer from blurring when you shift your head. So I decided to see Avatar in the digital Real3D format.

So I went to see Avatar at a matinee on Monday. The story is that Cameron has been wanting his whole professional like to make his own "Star Wars". He's done it, and revolutionized the industry the same way Lucas and ILM changed the look of film forever. He'll deserve that Best Director oscar when he gets it. And the film might pick up the Best Cinematography award too (the SAG's and Golden Globes are usually pretty good predictors.) But the criticisms about the plot are fair, which is why it won't win Best Picture. That's okay.

I got incredibly immersed in the film and couldn't believe how the depth of field view (so carefully realized without a preponderance of garish "pop-out" moments meant to scare and thrill the kiddies) subtly, gradually pulled me in and made me feel like I was on the alien planet Pandora. I had foreknowledge of the film's deficiencies and chose to ignore the simplistic plot and the moralistic preaching, as I've done with other great sci-fi action flicks from Star Wars to Terminator 2 (which is why I think the people with complaints about the plot protest too much.) After all, I didn't give a flip that "Use the force" was a laughable concept, so floating mountains aren't really a problem either.

I had a blast watching it. What a thrill ride! It's the first time I've really felt like seeing a movie over and over again in the theater since Raiders of the Lost Ark!

Also, my SO saw it with me. She's never been able to actually "see" the 3D in any movie before ... but she saw it this time for the first time in her life! Maybe it was the glasses that relied on polarized lenses instead of different colored lenses. But when the tree fell she felt like waving the dust away from her face. I was so happy for her. Amazing!

[Man In Room 5]

Avatar taught me an important social lesson about judging others: corn rows look ghetto even on blue people.

[Wintermute]

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

First, Wintermute - Unobtanium: Engineers have long (since at least the 1950s) used the term unobtainium when referring to unusual or costly materials, or when theoretically considering a material perfect for their needs in all respects save that it doesn't exist. - WIKIPEDIA

It was actually a clever not-so-insider's joke, and everyone else got it.

As a matter of fact, I was already aware of this. Nice assumption, but you're trying too hard. Go fuck yourself.

EDIT: Whoops. I almost forgot your post Malice.

Yeah, you can go fuck yourself too. In fact, you two can fuck each other while I fuck both of you up the ass with a pair of shotguns, and right before you guys climax I can pull the triggers.

[Alan]

Wait, so you think it's retarded that a movie used the actual name of a theoretical perfect metal, for the name of its desired perfect metal?

[Wintermute]

Originally Posted by Alan

Wait, so you think it's retarded that a movie used the actual name of a theoretical perfect metal, for the name of its desired perfect metal?

Yes. It's a ridiculous name. It's not fucking clever. It only seems clever to people who are so easily entertained they also get their jollies watching Glenn Beck talk about the economy.

Avatar was a piece of shit movie, and your reactions to my statements are like watching a bunch of stupid monkeys ape out and hurl sticks at the Monolith.

Whatever you do, don't fucking touch me.

[Ben Lahnger]

Originally Posted by Wintermute

As a matter of fact, I was already aware of this. Nice assumption, but you're trying too hard. Go fuck yourself.

EDIT: Whoops. I almost forgot your post Malice.

Yeah, you can go fuck yourself too. In fact, you two can fuck each other while I fuck both of you up the ass with a pair of shotguns, and right before you guys climax I can pull the triggers.

Nice. You've just proved yourself the physical definition of a social disease. Fan-fucking-tastic overreaction, you ass-hat.

Originally Posted by Wintermute

Yes. It's a ridiculous name. It's not fucking clever. It only seems clever to people who are so easily entertained they also get their jollies watching Glenn Beck talk about the economy.

Avatar was a piece of shit movie, and your reactions to my statements are like watching a bunch of stupid monkeys ape out and hurl sticks at the Monolith.

Whatever you do, don't fucking touch me.

Despite your rant, the term is clever and funny, and has been amusing some of the best and brightest of our race for over 50 years (most of whom I'm reasonably sure don't watch Glenn Beck, if they are even aware of who he is.)

And why the fuck did you bring up Glenn Beck? What, you got a raging hard-on for that guy so you feel you need to bring him up as if he's the ultimate insult to anything you don't like? Since no one here is talking about him, this just makes you look like a whack job.

In fact, all of this make you look like a whack job. Since you joined this site in January 2010 (whoa, that's this month!) AND have less that 80 posts total to your name so far, I did a little search and reviewed all your posts. Lots of buggery and insults, a complete lack of impulse control as well as some anti-social tendencies ... peppered with the occasional relevant social or cultural comment. Few enough of those to make your entire body of work forgettable and easy to ignore.

Yeah, I think when you come back with the inevitable "fuck you and the horse you rode in on" retort, I'll just be adding you to my ignore list in response.

[Wintermute]

Originally Posted by Ben Lahnger

Yeah, I think when you come back with the inevitable "fuck you and the horse you rode in on" retort, I'll just be adding you to my ignore list in response.

Works for me. While you're at it, get over yourself.

[blood_raven88]

i really hope avatar isn't movie of the year...besides, all it is, is Pocahontas with blue people

[Ben Lahnger]

Since they're nominating 10 films for Best Picture this year, it will almost certainly get nominated and almost certainly won't win. Because there will be at least 7 or 8 films nominated that will deserve "Best" more. So everybody should be happy with that. But the film is deserving of Best Cinematography and Best Director honors, for creating a landscape we've never seen the likes of before.

BTW, everybody keeps parroting that "Pocahontas" line. While the story is a parallel, that's not really that relevant. Plots are retread all the time and we don't uniformly criticize it ... in fact, we usually embrace it. George Lucas has never sued, but Christopher Paolini's Eragon books, also known as The Inheritance Cycle, are widely acknowledged as a Star Wars ripoff. The 1922 film Nosferatu movie could be generously called an "unauthorized remake" of Dracula, because F.W. Murnau and company couldn't get the rights to Stoker's novel. Kurt Vonnegut said he "cheerfully ripped off" the plot of Brave New World for his Player Piano - and Aldous Huxley, in turn, stole it from Eugene Zamatian's We. Plenty of other examples exist. I suspect Joseph Campbell was right ... there IS only one story.

I wasn't bothered by that aspect so much as the appearance once more of humans as non-thinking, simplistic, greedy bad guys. it's just too easy. Like writing a screenplay for an action film and deciding your antagonist will be terrorists. So it's disappointing, but it's not as if Cameron is the first to do this ... nor will he be the last.

And I'm not interested in trying to find too much fault with Cameron as a film-maker. "Avatar" just broke the all-time record for worldwide box-office revenue, a record that was previously held by James Cameron's previous film "Titanic." When a picture sets a record like that, it's caused in part by a preponderance of people going to see the film repeatedly. Which make the small cadre of vocal critics seem pretty insignificant by comparison.

[Geoluhread]

I just finished it FINALLY because it was on for so long! You`d think that the story is gonna kill time, but it didn`t!

I have lots of things in mind I wanna say but the major thing is: They wasted millions of dollars on showing us something we already know, people are jerks. And by doing so, they only strengthen that point of view. People are dying everywhere for lack of money wasted on this piece of crap!

[Ben Lahnger]

Geoluhread,

1) You didn't like it. Okay, that's fair. You watched it on pirated DVD so any money it cost for you to see it in that format is on you. You can bitch that it wasted 2 hours and 30 minutes of your life. That would be fair. But you have also acknowledged elsewhere on this site that you think movies suck in general, so our reception of your opinion on this should be tempered by that fact.

2) The movie showed a lot of people being jerks. My complaint was it was too simplistic and a bit of a science-fiction stereotype, like using Arab terrorists as the bad guys in an action film. But some humans in the film opposed the bad guys. So if you want to claim the film is terrible because it's portraying humans as being jerks, you are saying the same thing about Star Wars and most other science-fiction films (and most action films for that matter).

3) The film cost about 500 million dollars to make, and has turned a right royal profit. So 20th Century Fox did not "waste" their investment. And the tickets are being purchased out of peoples entertainment budgets. If they weren't buying these tickets they'd have gone out to dinner or watched a different movie or purchased a DVD or bought some MP3's. It's not as if had Avatar not been made that all this money would be pouring into charity now.

4) You are entitled to your opinion. You didn't like the movie. You thought it royally sucked. It wasted your time. All valid points of view, but just your opinion. Don't try to increase the worth of your point of view by stating these generalizations and broad untruths.