AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

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  • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

    Originally posted by maralyn View Post
    don't hate
    Huh?
    @TerranceMulloy

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    • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

      Originally posted by Terrance Mulloy View Post
      As someone who hates ......
      ...

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      • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

        Anyway, where's Ben. He would be celebrating this. I wonder if Ben and his cyber-entheusiam actually made this happen.

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        • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

          Originally posted by maralyn View Post
          ...
          As someone who hates ......
          I think you totally misunderstood me. I love all that stuff -- it's vmf that seems to hate comics, fanboys and genre films. Hence the reason we clash. I'm the biggest genre geek you'll ever meet.
          @TerranceMulloy

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          • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

            Avatar is now the 2nd high grossing film of all time, have recently crossed the 1.1 billion dollar mark.

            About 490 odd million to go till it takes no.1

            First page of this thread makes you laugh

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            • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

              For anyone who's interested, here's the script:

              AVATAR - James Cameron

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              • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

                I definitely didn't think it was possible that this film would make its money back, yet here we are with money back and then some.

                How the hell does he do it? The story's not that great and we've seen it before. Is the beauty of the film and the cool technology enough to make that many people see a film? Was it out of curiosity, or because everybody else was watching it? Did Cameron sell his soul to the Devil?

                How did this movie make so much money?
                Chicks Who Script podcast

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                • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

                  It's all the more remarkable considering Avatar is Cameron's own IP, it's not like Lord of the Rings, or even Titanic, it's not based on anything but his imagination, which when you consider the whole planet is now watching this film is pretty amazing.

                  He must be feeling well chuffed with himself. The reason he is so good though is that he is a filmmaker, not a writer, not a director, a filmmaker, the whole is more than the sum of the parts, that's where the magic lies IMO.

                  Thanks for the person who posted that script link, I'm pretty sure they filmed a lot of those cut scenes, should be interesting on the Blu Ray!

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                  • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

                    Here's an interesting post by Terry Rossio: http://www.wordplayer.com/forums/scr...gi?read=173756

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                    • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

                      Originally posted by emily blake View Post
                      How the hell does he do it? The story's not that great and we've seen it before. Is the beauty of the film and the cool technology enough to make that many people see a film? Was it out of curiosity, or because everybody else was watching it? Did Cameron sell his soul to the Devil? How did this movie make so much money?
                      Was Star Wars truly a groundbreaking story? No. I think the same applies here. We love our dynamic fantasies and archetype heroes and we'll reward any filmmaker that can balance the two with ingenious skill as he's done here. I think at some subconscious level we've (and a new generation) been waiting for this film since A New Hope.

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                      • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

                        Originally posted by SuperScribe View Post
                        Here's an interesting post by Terry Rossio: http://www.wordplayer.com/forums/scr...gi?read=173756
                        Is what Rossio puts forth actually a good thing in terms of the evolution of film as an art form, though?

                        What I take from Avatar is this: films used to be primarily about character and the clever manipulation of narrative (also known as storytelling). That was the entree; other elements (cinematography, star power, etc.) were the appetizers, or the condiments, or the dessert.

                        I believe today, it's the other way around. Audiences certainly appreciate narrative and character (I would cite Dark Knight especially for narrative ambition and perhaps the Pirates movies as examples of popularity of character) but ... what is more important to audiences, what is being judged, relative to quality, is something else

                        What that is I'm not sure. The moment-by-moment experience of watching the movie, perhaps? ("I'm not challenged. I'm not offended. Oh, that's pretty. I like that actor. That's a funny line. I'm not bored. I'm not lost. Wow, look at that, what a great shot. Oh, I get that." Etc.) Looking at last year's Star Trek, given the plot and the way that plot unfolded, you'd have to objectively conclude the actual content is lame, to be generous. *But only for those who care about such things.* In fact the overall experience of the film was generally pleasant; scenes move quickly from one to the other, likable actors played generally likable roles, the individual scenes were all right.
                        Going by this criteria... Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, should have been just a big a hit as Avatar. All the things he says are present in that film + 10 if we are really honest with ourselves... But it wasn't well received.

                        What's the difference?

                        I find it disturbing Rossio is actually saying good storytelling doesn't matter.

                        Granted, he is one of the writers of some of the biggest spectacle pieces in recent memory, so maybe he is laying the ground work to make his job easier...

                        But again, I question is what he is advocating a good thing for the industry, let alone audience sensibilities that are like sheep and will behave the way studios and corporations tell them to?
                        Positive outcomes. Only.

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                        • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

                          I don't believe he's advocating anything; just saying that it's a reality.

                          Then again, this is nothing new. I doubt audiences flocked to 2001: A Space Odyssey because of all the subtle motifs and underlying political arguments, even though they were the foundation of every breathtaking visual.

                          And Roger Ebert gave The Cell four stars primarily because it was so visually creative.

                          I'm going to write a movie with no visuals and title it This Is Not a Radio Play.

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                          • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

                            a good overview of the scriptment, what was excised, etc.

                            http://chud.com/articles/articles/21...WAS/Page1.html

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                            • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

                              The AVATAR treatment was pretty amazing. It's a shame it turned into what it did. (And it's all the more curious why, on account Cameron has final say on every facet of his films.)

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                              • Re: AVATAR--I have the sneaking suspicion....

                                Originally posted by emily blake View Post
                                How the hell does he do it?
                                Easy when you're King of the World.
                                @TerranceMulloy

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