Avatar (movie)

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Not really an excuse. The average moviegoer seems to be willing to shell out lots of money for anything pretty and shiny, which would not actually preclude using more sophisticated plot and characters; you lose nothing by mixing the shiny with a nice story to back it up, and everyone walks out of the theater happy. Actually, I'd argue that good storytelling and interesting characters are more important to the longevity (and continued profitability) of a franchise than the visual effects, because the former allow it to remain interesting over the course of generations (and keep the door open for sequels, prequels, and tie-ins), while the latter will be hopelessly out of date within a decade.

In this vein, I think Avatar has the potential to become the next great sci-fi universe, following in the footsteps of Star Wars and Star Trek, but only if James Cameron stops trying to carry a pedestrian plot through sheer spectacle; if he doesn't change his approach, interest in Avatar will wane as the novelty of the effects and the world wears off, and there's nothing more substantial beyond them to hold the audience's interest.

So who thinks Avatar should or will win Best Picture at the Oscars? Personally I would pick Inglourious Basterds, The Hurt Locker, or District 9 over it, but it probably has a better chance than any of those except The Hurt Locker.

I'm guessing that The Hurt Locker will kick Avatar's derriere in the Best Picture award. Ironic, considering the directors used to be married. I hope District 9 gets Best Adapted Screenplay, though.

I do NOT think it should win best picture. I sure hope it won't. I haven't yet seen The Hurt Locker, but I feel that Inglourious Basterds or District 9 were better movies overall than Avatar. I would DIE if The Blind Side won.

My money is on The Hurt Locker for Best Picture.

On a related note, I have reviewed the Avatar tie-in book for my book-reading blog/thread. If you care to see my opinion and rating for it, go ahead.

Ugh, that's not encouraging to read. It seems apparent that James Cameron doesn't intend on taking Avatar anywhere really interesting; we'll probably see two more movies just like the first one before everyone simply gets bored with it and moves on to the next shiny franchise.

Well, thanks for reading the review, anyway. But it is possible that Cameron might improve things. Otherwise, people won't like rehashing the same plot.

The book itself was more interesting to read than the film's plot, but I hated the anvilicious margin notes.

Okay, last night, I just watched a half-hour documentary (a repeat) on the making of Avatar. It was rushed and pretty poor, to be honest. The documentary, I mean. But the sheer technological achievement...the documentary has done nothing to have me want to see the movie, but it has me hungry for those special features on the inevitable big DVD release.

I haven't seen Avatar yet, but someone recently recommended that I should see it.

I liked Avatar - well, I saw it three times, so something about it must have appealed to me - but I definitely don't think it should win Best Picture. The technology it uses is very spangly and clever, to be sure, and I liked how the 3D was used in a very understated way a lot of the time, but the actual meat of the story is not enough to really set it apart from Cameron's other movies - it's basically Pocahontas in space, with bits taped onto it from films like Aliens (the evil corporate executive is just like the slimy, traitorous Carter Burke, and the fight between Colonel Scarface's badass mech-suit and Jake Sully at the end has clear echoes of Ripley's power-loader-assisted fight against the Alien queen, only here the roles have been reversed). It also plays with two very over-used and creaky tropes: the Noble Savage and Mighty wh***y. The Na'vi are the very epitome of the Noble Savage, what with being all in tune with their environment and spirituality, but they are nevertheless unable to defeat the bad guy without help from a white guy gone native (hence Mighty wh***y). Hell, Jake actually manages to be a better Na'Vi than most of the Na'Vi by taking control of the giant dragon-thing on his first attempt!

It's a fun film and I enjoyed it greatly, but I don't think it should win any big awards other than for its technical achievements, which are indeed immense.

If Avatar wins anything besides awards for technical excellence I'll be declaring the death of narrative cinema.

Don't be hasty. One, I reckon it's a dead cert that Hurt Locker will pick up Best Picture. Not that I would put money on it, but Avatar is popular rather than a critical achievement, despite its high RT rating. Two, narrative cinema survived the likes of other such threats.

If nothing else positive comes from Avatar, it will be this: it will be an important paradigm shift in movie making. Imagine what would happen with a better screenplay, but the same, or rather, improved versions of those special effects.

What makes a good film?
Sure the Critics can marvel over this or turn their noses up at that, but in the end it is a product for the consumers. If Joe Public like a film and are happy watching it, it is a "good film".
If it is fanciful and with a brilliant plot but people are not interested in it and don't recommend it, it is a "bad film".
I think Critics of film like to think that their opinions hold sway in the minds of others and form a power to be reckoned against , but it isn't true. People will see what they want to see and like what they like irrespective of what the film may or may not be seen as lacking.

It sounded solid when I first heard of it, but as release came closer things put me off seeing it.
For one thing there's the alien love story - like it's the Twilight of nerdy guys.
For another - not a big CGI fan. It always looks cartoony. I don't mind if it's used to enhance what's already on film, but on its own, it's just a cartoon to me.
And while I liked Aliens and Terminator 2, I sorta gave up on Cameron after True Lies and Titanic.
Do I even need to mention the parallels to Dances with Wolves? South Park did. Nevermind I'm not a Costner fan to begin with.
Finally the trailers don't make this look any better than any other garbage from the past decade.

I thoroughly enjoyed Avatar. Best movie I have seen since Fantastic Mr. Fox. There was many things that I enjoyed: shiny things, lots of colors, explosions, not much of a plot.

I sure hope 3D destroys plots in Hollywood.