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66.74.85.223
PAINTING: "The Temptation of William Blake"
Mates,
At Christmas dinner with my attorney "Bruiser" and family and friends, we had the impulse to see "Avatar" and saw it in 3D (not Imax) at a cinema in Woodland Hills, CA.
I had not seen a movie in a cinema since the Napoleonic era seagoing "Master and Commander" in 2003 and the AMC Promenade Woodland Hills was a good reminder why- the 350 lb. woman on my right was eating boiled hot dogs dripping in catsup, popcorn, and slurping Coke the whole movie and in contrast to the light-footed Na'avi alien warriors, my feet were stuck to the floor. The man on my left took three cel phone calls before turning off his phone, and there was hoard of talkers, screamers, clappers, and wrapper-rattlers. However, Avatar is so lusciously visual and immersively involving in the look, after about 30 minutes, I had no trouble eventually ignoring the cud-shewing cow on my right and trained rectum on my left. I even began to stop thinking all the time about how something was accomplished and let it all soak in. The main problem was trying to take in all the details flashing by. Even in moments of apparatne repose in the action, there is still so much happening visually there’s no respite- I was forced to pay attention every second in case I’d miss some interesting feature.
As others have written, the story is in places semi-trite, and demi-cliched- and the plot is quite similar to "Dances with Wolves" in which the sensitive white man swoops in and saves the child-like natives from capitalist/military imperialism, an extreme and quite simplistic form of allegory. However, in this case, the familiarity of the general structure does allow a liberation to allow concentration on the visual cornucopia- a plethora of cornucopias- multitudinous plethoras of cornucopias.
There's a consistency of Cameron's movies- so far, they have progressively intensified a theme of the hubris of technology- in the "Terminator" , robots designed for war decide humans are superfluous, the "Abyss" shows aliens perfectly adapted to their environment through a kind of organic technology, "Aliens" show the problems associated with colonization, and we now know to never proclaim that any ship is "unsinkable". In some way, technology- especially the the grander the scale and narrower of purpose- seems to turn on it's creators.
And, consistently, it's strong females who are the heroes. Linda Hamilton ultimately saves the Human world from Schwarzenegger's Terminator, Kate Winslett rescues DeCaprio, and Sigourney Weaver defeats the Alien- several times- even after her death. In "Avatar" it's a tall blue female alien who inspires and instructs Jake on how to defeat the encroaching military/imperialist/capitalists. This presents a philosophical problem for me. Like Costner in "Dances", the newly-minted warrior Jake becomes superior to those who lived in that mode their whole lives and in their own environment. And one may notice that Jake does in the final battle supplement the Na'avi archers with a huge machine gun.
Still, while "Avatar" has been criticized for being derivative and somewhat forced, this kind of story-telling is somewhat of a relief as the familiarity allows one to concentrate instead on the relentlessly amazing images. I sometimes feel with Cameron movies that he begins with images he wants to make and then makes a story that can include them. And , he has of course made astounding and memorable images far greater in proportion to memorable dialogue.
Ironic too, as of course, it is capitalism- it is said to have cost $300,000,000 for the movie and $150,000,000 to distribute and promote- and over-the cliff technology that made the movie possible. The 3D affects are astounding- the 3-D planes, including the subtitles sit in front of the characters and, like other Cameron movies, the detail is impeccable, the editing tight as hell, the music ethereal and pounding at the same time. For my taste there was a sometimes too much emphasis on highlighting various technologies of 2154, like the 3D terrain models used for battle planning. This aspect was reminiscent of "2001" and does serve to heighten the intrusiveness/dominance of technology into natural environments, the way in which this also emphasizes the differences between the Na'Avi tribe- something akin to Hopis whose hair can talk to trees and flying dragons- and the U.S. military who are single-mindedly brutal and robotic operatives on the orders from large corporations- much like their behaviour in 2009. In "Avatar", Pandora's Box is a stand-in for Afghanistan and Iraq.
One quibble I have with Avatar is that while there is an elegant language invented by a Ph.D for the Na'avi, the Americans 150 years form now still speak in delusional, gung ho military jabber from 1989 talking mission objective parameters and "Let's kick some ass for Halliburton" I mean, "Let's go get that "Unobtainium" under the tribal village that we deserve". The term "Unobtainium" too is surprisingly weak for the endlessly inventive Cameron- it's a comic term used by engineers for impossibly perfect materials. Architects and structural engineers refer to "skyhooks" in the same way- to hold something up by grappling hooks on clouds.
Cameron movies do suffer a bit from the kind of staccato, mechanical dialogue and this I attribute to Cameron's desire to sublimate dialogue to image. As well, there is an apparent need to control every single aspect of his movies- he writes everything that he films and one gets the sense that he is rejects outside creative input except the necessary division of labour necessary in support of his vision. Like Orson Welles, Cameron strives to be the complete auteur- besides writing, producing, directing, and editing, he designed the Na'avi personally as well as many other details of the machines. He also designed the 3-D digital video camera system- which is really brilliant, as it uses two cameras spaced apart the distance of human eyes and then the cameras tilt angle in towards each other when focusing on near objects- thus creating a realistic sensation of depth of field. More technology imitating natural processes, another incarnation (remember the Terminator was a mecho-electonic robot with skin over it) of a desire to see technology meld with the organic.
All in all, I recommend seeing Avatar highly, just for the visual miracle and with the dialogue and story being familiar, one need only relax the analysis portion of the brain and luxuriate in what you see and the stunning way the movie was put together.
Cameron’s success seems to depend on his meticulous control of everything that happens. His brother, a former Marine in the Gulf War, in conversation once mistakenly referred to him as "dictator" instead of "director" and his other brother said that he was the actor in "Abyss", portraying a dead sailor in a sunken submarine from whose mouth a small, live crab emerges- a scene which Cameron felt needed to be done 41 times,..
Cameron's general attitude seems to be to reject anything he didn't think of himself, is too energised to waste any time on play and humour, and semi-permanently irritated that the whole World is just too slow-witted and slow moving for him- which is it ! Cameron is one of the most brilliant and creative engineer-artists and the fact that only three weeks out "Avatar" has already taken in $1 Billion speaks to the intense interest and wide appeal his movies generate.
See "Avatar" in Imax 3-D and is you're like me, you'll come out of the theater feeling this poor Planet Earth is just too terribly dull- why, in my area code, human footsteps aren't even phosphorescent!
Cheers,Bambi B
Edits: 01/06/10Follow Ups:
Bonjour Bambi B.
So I had the courage to go and see it.
The cinema was counting with me ten people. The best cinema in town, in 3D of course.
The sound is terribly harsh digital and not even in the better DTS format.
The picture luminosity is dark and without the glass much better.
Then there those moment, few for God sake, where the camera zoom, in a very unprofessional way, like TV films of the eighties.
Most un-powerful.
Only few moment of touching tenderness, of humanity who goes down in the visual and sounding chaos.
When Jack Sully is in his let me call it " Solar transformation coffin " it is us, who dream another life that Avatar will take on us.
There are some magic moments with the effects, really baffling, but most of the time, artificial and not fluid, the background look and is like painted paper wall.
The actors well is there acting here beside the word " CUT " in between two scenes, I doubt it.
Then the political message is mix, and I had my own quarrel with myself because of I had to wait until the end to make it clear to myself.
Is it anti - American or only anti Bush?
Is it un-democratic to think for oneself?
So following the orders without thinking is placing yourself in a Nazi context, yes it is.
BUT like Titanic it sunk into a melo melo-
The bad colonialists just get a dictactor...And that is it. Who could ever dare to compare that to the real US situation?
Laughable. As for the story....It is just a cheap pop corn movie who lives for it ( mostly bad ) effects.
I wish I would have seen the future and believed in it.
PAINTING: "Welcome to Oklahoma"
Mon Ami Patrick,
I can't argue with many of your comments concerning Avatar as I too felt the plot was familiar without anything unepected and the (Human) dialogue overly familiar. This is why I qualified my recommendation for you to see Avatar by emphasising that this is a movie for children- it has a plot easy enough for 13-year olds, and depicts a neat and clear Good and Evil, with Good winning after a heroic struggle. Thinking about it, there may be method in having the plot and dialogue simple enough for the kids and as it’s so recognizable, it releases audience attention to the stunning visuals.
That " Avatar " was crafted to a young, fantasy-orientated audience was true of "Titanic" as well. I had no patience with the love story until I realized that the entire movie was made as the flashback/memory of an 18 year old woman- it tells the sinking story from the viewpoint of a protected, romantic young woman. And, James Cameron must have guessed correctly as to what 13- year old girls fantasize as Titanic made $2.4 Billion- so far.
"Avatar's" political content though has apparently greatly enraged a lot of conservatives because it is from start to finish a anti-imperialist and anti-greed message- the bad guys are the members of the 20th C. military/corporate greed machine that Eisenhower warned us about in 1958. The Pope- I just love his movie reviews!- considers it a dangerous promoter of the worship of nature and paganistic. We know of course, that the Pope has to deride and diminish any challenge to Christian and particularly Catholic authority. In dact, it’s about the Pope’s only job to protest anything showing people who rebel against the established hierarchy as Jake does by changing sides in a miltary struggle- the definition of “traitor”.
Politically, I see "Avatar" as the answer to another very political movie for children, "The Lion King"- it's the "Anti-Lion King". If one is reductive of this childrens' movie plots, "The Lion King" tells the story of the responsibility of inherited royalty to rule- never questioning whether inherited royalty is a proper form of government. And, it's interesting that "The Lion King" introduces racism into nature- the black wolf-creatures are the evil predators- while the blond lion- who as a lion is actually more predatory than wolves is the "good" animal. As a Bambi myself, I didn't care for the fact that the deer can't speak and don’t have any human personality- they're mute, herd animals in contrast to the humourously anthropomorphic pig sidekick. There’s a hierarchy then in the animal world as to the right of expression and individualism. So, where "Avatar" is intensely naturalistic, showing cooperation between not only the animal species but with plants, and in oppostion to meny driven dominance and genocide by technology, the Lion King is a skewed un-naturalistic promotion of the rights of an inherited royalty- automatic right to rule by birth. As America fought a revolution against this concept, "Lion King" is making a severely anti-American statement. By contrast, on Pandora, even your hair can trees, it's a meritocracy without hierarchy, and things are so serene and non-economic there is no written language or need for accountants and attorneys. I'm not sure there is any hot water or any bathrooms either,..
If you read Locke, Jefferson, Goethe, Emerson, Thoreau, Ruskin, and Pugin, I believe therein lay the antecedents of "Avatar"- a naturalistic, environmentally integrated meritocracy, fueled by an acknowledgment of human interdependence and reliance on the natural world. A very dangerous message in the eyes of those who have to reinforce hierarchy, dominance, fear, alienation, and consumerism.
I still maintain that "Avatar" is an important movie technically and in terms of the visual inventiveness, and important as the strongest of Cameron's series of reminders of the horrors of technology when it becomes so expertly destructive, as well as the importance of paying attention to signs put out by the environment. On another level, there is a quite subtle depiction- of the way in which environment through selection and adaptation affects evolution.
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy “Avatar” -it seems on any level. If you’d care to fly to Los Angeles, I should like to treat you a very good cup of coffee and key lime pie at a place called 72 Market Street in Venice.
Cheers,
Bambi B
The human footage—which resembles nothing so much as the full-motion video games of the early ’90s—is distracting for its relative drabness. (There’s a sense of actors constrained by having to hit their marks, to make way for special effects.) And the various levels of allegory—in which the peace-loving, preservationist Na’vi are eventually equated with Iraqi insurgents—compete to the point of incoherence. Cameron once again proves he’s a visionary, but the mythmaker who gave us The Terminator remains MIA.
What I meant with this bad cuts.
Bonjour mon ami,
I want to point out that not only in this film, but in all of the genre, I get weary of the bad cuts.
Let me explain, bad actors in bad action scenes, after say, a crash get out of a given situation and you can fully see the cut, it just feel un-realistic. And mostly amateurish.
The action is under cut in many movements.
See what I mean?
Titanic had one magic moment. When the camera gliding unto the sunken ship and slowly come to life. Nothing new but well executed.
The Pope as with other films like " Sacrilege " is doing his duty. His job. He would do maybe a better one in shutting his voice and learn his lesson in history as time change in time.
But are we not in a children´s play?
Lion King I did see. But I can hardly remember, and it was at the time no worth in my eyes of any kind of analysis!
The hierarchy is in every form of life a steady companion in the order of things to be.
And ...questioning belong ...to it.
Who is the boss...Whose rang do I have.
We are made of the same imprint.
Now for the living planet see " Gaya ".
GAIA is also a hypothesis which was developed in 1960's by James Lovelock who was working for NASA and by the help of Lynn Margulis. In the book "Gaia: a new look at life on earth" , which was written by Lovelock, he for the first time, told about his hypothesis and claimed that world is an alive organism in real. The life on earth was called Gaia and according to this, the lands constitutes the bones of GAIA, the oceans, seas and rivers are the circulation system, and the athmosphere is its respiration system and the living things which are living on earth constitutes its nervous system.
GAIA which grow out of Mythology was become philosophy by Lovelock and this philosophy became a source of inspiration for a lot of intellectuals, writers and activists. Isaac Asimov, delineated GAIA as a planet in which all of the things and living things shares common senses and in there, every body told him/herself as "I, we, gaia" .
I cite. So nothing new here, but for the teen age public "une relation a effet " worth to be point out.
My dear friend, what you see is you, the Bambi whose inside has that certain beauty, I, I am far more darker and got what I deserve, like we all do. Even this Nazi parole!
But this film is not worth your epitaph. In the end. From my point of view.
Well not quite right there where a few moments that did touch me. Love interaction, moment of tenderness.
I once was in Los Angeles, too big to me, I felt lost. San Francisco was to my size.
I wish I could eat that pie with you!
But if you ever travel to Germany, after poisoning my America friend Victor I sure would give you the same treat!
So now Avatar is long gone of my mind and a sure sign of its volatility in my mind, any kind of any discussion you are more than worth, in fact it is a pleasure, one of the few real one on this Forum to have with. With you.
For always wanting to have the last word ( yes stupid me ) here is a review that touch more than my feelings.
Patrick
PAINTING: "Farm of the Future"
Bonjour M. Patrick,
Aa always, very insightful comments. Thank you for your time in considering so carefully a movie that you didn't like!
I was surprised too at some of the editing- which seem intended to constantly keep the action moving. However, these are nowhere in the league of the "Batman" series where the point of view changes every 1/8 second such that nothing is coherent.
Yes, the Pope I think is not a reliable movie critic. His his job is tough- to automatically hate anything that challenges Medieval Christianity!
As for "The Lion King", I never thought of it until much later, when watching "Harry Potter" which I find as troubling as Lion King. This is because Potter was famous and respected before he did anything- like Srah Palin!, is asked to join a special protected elite- go to an elite school a la Eton, has seemingly achieved unlimited powers without effort. Mainly I'm troubled by the talk of the magic elite in comparison to "muggles" who don't possess the "blood"- necessary to be in the magic ruling elite. This talk of rights by blood and "half-blood"- or an impure heritage smacks of Nazi racism. Harry Potter is a middle class fantasy of becoming the ruling class by right of blood line. I don't think this is good message to children that a person of a special heritage need only wave a stick to alter matter and space by wishing!
I'm attracted to the concept of GAIA- imagining the integration of all nature.
As for "Avatar", with all it's flaws- the criticisms in the salon.com review you cite can't be dismissed, it remains intriguing to me as an example of complexity arising from components that at first seem simplistic. This I attribute to Mr. Cameron's personality which has such intense focus of purpose.
Again, I always enjoy your comments and insights on these subjects- art is big and life is short!
Moeglicherweise konnten wir eines Tages uns treffen. Ich bin nicht in Deutschland seit 1993 gewesen. Ich hoffe, meinen Freund Eckehart zu besuchen- Herr "Hard Corner" Ich rufe ihn- auf dem Bodensee folgender Sommer an. Er baut alte Autos wieder auf- nur altem Mercedes- und ist das ich bekannt 25 Jahre habe.
Bitte, schickst du mir eine email durch das Asylum. Ich moechte mehr Sachen in Bezug auf Herrn Cameron erklaeren.
Cheers,
Bambi B
Well all the pleasure is mine. To correspond with a nice an well mannered person can only be a joy and on top a whipped fresh cream, as the figure for respecting another point of view, what ask for more?
I found that the last Harry Potter also getting dark in the way the first Batman where, more baroque.
The reminiscence of the Third Rich phrases are certainly to no good.
GAIA is also part of an ancient philosophy if I remember well. And the later years I felt that every thing on earth is someone bound to each other.
Like one personal body, in a body who itself is in one.
Sometimes I find it more foolish not to believe in a God as to.
Anyway the nature´s plan is...the way it is shaped, can only make you knee down.
Ich hoffe sehr!
Patrick
Mon tres cher,
I am on the run and I will go more thoughtfully for an adequate response tomorrow. But I could not wait to tell you that if Avatar did not bring much emotions out of me,-pressed out of me-, your words did.
A demain.
Those mercenary soldiers from earth appear to salute the occupiers flag of Grey Poupon self-righteousness (grin).What I took away from James Cameron's film that you apparently missed:
Avatar is about a less technologically advanced alien race with simple values being suppressed by a theoretically superior force, resisting it and beating the odds. It's about the difference between right and wrong when cultures clash and objectives differ. It is a cautionary with historical precedent about the unfortunate long term impact of nations consuming to the point where they perceive themselves entitled. It is about the "chickens which come home to roost" when a technologically superior force is overwhelmed by a less sophisticated one, and it's about those who try to justify taking by force what can't be obtained through negotiation.
Now no one is saying that Avatar is one of the most artfully crafted films from a dramatic or dialogue standpoint; it isn't even that original story-wise, being inspired from a number of clearly defined sources as has been pointed out by several folks here.
HOWEVER, Avatar is visually breathtaking! More importantly, it's a powerful movie going experience for those with the eyes to see beyond it's groundbreaking effects; especially folks with the imagination to empathize with it's digitally composed native culture.
Just so we're crystal clear on this: the 3D effects and digital wizardry is awe-inspiring in spite of your condemnation, and the world apparently agrees judging from the impressive box-office grosses. Sadly, you seem to be in the minority, along with the mercenary soldiers marching off in defeat at the end! ;^>
Edits: 01/14/10
What I took away from James Cameron's film that you apparently missed:
Avatar is about a less technologically advanced alien race with simple values being suppressed by a theoretically superior force, resisting it and beating the odds. It's about the difference between right and wrong when cultures clash and objectives differ.
Why must be the superior force wrong? Is that a rule. So America is wrong.
Yes Right and wrong like in a children´s book.
It is a cautionary with historical precedent about the unfortunate long term impact of nations consuming to the point where they perceive themselves entitled. It is about the "chickens which come home to roost" when a technologically superior force is overwhelmed by a less sophisticated one, and it's about those who try to justify taking by force what can't be obtained through negotiation.
Yes America the hypocrite.
Now no one is saying that Avatar is one of the most artfully crafted films from a dramatic or dialogue standpoint; it isn't even that original story-wise, being inspired from a number of clearly defined sources as has been pointed out by several folks here.
One of the worst acting dialog ever. Just for kids not over 12. And not the bright sort. Shameful.
HOWEVER, Avatar is visually breathtaking! More importantly, it's a powerful movie going experience for those with the eyes to see beyond it's groundbreaking effects; especially folks with the imagination to empathize with it's digitally composed native culture.
Some moments are breathtaking, but way too dark on the whole. And the 3D effects are just untrue to real life, the sound terribly harsh and un-natural. Nothing sounds like in real life.
Just so we're crystal clear on this: the 3D effects and digital wizardry is awe-inspiring in spite of your condemnation, and the world apparently agrees judging from the impressive box-office grosses. Sadly, you seem to be in the minority, along with the mercenary soldiers marching off in defeat at the end! ;^>
Yes they agree. mental age under 12.
The only mystery is Bambi B loving this film.
He must have been in love this day...
No offense, but that underdeveloped mental age 'foo' seems to fit you better than OJ's glove, junior.
Insulting folks tastes is an interesting approach for winning allies among film enthusiasts who enjoyed Avatar (let me know how that kind of personal invective works for ya), but since you linked your sophomoric review Outside I think we can surmise who you really wanted to impress. ;O)
BTW, your criticisms won't lower James Cameron's box-office receipts one iota!
Food for thought.
AuPh
I don´t like this film, and get adult, accept it.
You like it and I accept it.
You are just a faschist.
Forest " copy- You can place it tight in...Well let not be impolite.
(nt)
-------------
We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
But you gave and still give 'TDK' high marks and claim it to be a very important and entertaining film when in fact it is quite weak and features some atrocious writing.
To each their own and all of course but this is another case of some people being unable look at art and entertainment honestly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Much of the writing in 'The Dark Knight' is pathetic:
Bruce Wayne: "Targeting me won't get their money back. I knew the mob wouldn't go down without a fight, but this is different. They crossed the line."
Lt. James Gordon: "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight."
Etc etc etc.
J.B.
Neytiri: You have a strong heart; no fear. But stupid, like a child.
Eytukan: My nose is full of his alien smell.
Col. Quaritch: Well, well, well - looks like diplomacy has failed.
Soldier: Hey, check it out - meals on wheels.
Dr. Grace Augustine: Does anyone see what's wrong with this picture? Where's my cigarette?
Selfridge: Find out what those blue monkeys want.
Jake Sully: I have already chosen. But this female; she must also choose me.
Neytiri: She already has.
Jake Sully: One life ends; another begins
-------------
We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
...transcend mediocre writing.
Better go back to your foreign films.
c
Well done. I laughed and got informed. Two for one! NPR this morning touched on the scripts weakness and comparison to DWW. It's official I won't be seeing Avatar in the theatre or renting it on DVD. OK, it was already a sealed deal. I haven't seen a movie in the theatre since Borat.
ET
Question "Authority", the mainstream media sucks - Go Independent and hold BOTH parties accountable instead of just the other guys!
Well I am a little irritated at and about you.
A so good review?
Well I have not seen the film so I can only say: Patrick go for it, even in my mind a voice is saying " perfect waste of time "-
Bernardo won´t even made a try to watch it, and I think he may be right.
Now I will go tomorrow.
PAINTING: "The Alchemical Trickster"
PatrickU,
Je crois la meilleure maniere de voir le " Avatar" est laisser la connaissance adulte du cerveau et tout de critique de film de Bergman, de Kurosawa, et de Godard dans votre maison. Voyez que le film la meme maniere un enfant entend une histoire d'heure du coucher.
Leave disbelief, intellectualism,- and history at home. Just have fun as would a child.
Cheers,
Bambi B
great adult fare?
PAINTING: "Design for a Study for Prospero"
tinear,"
I honestly can enjoy a movie of any genre, and intended for any demographic as long as there's a noticeable intelligence- and hopefully some good craftsmanship. This is why I think some childrens' movies to be highly worthy of serious attention: I know I 'll think of 20 more examples later but consider in this regard only "Pinocchio", Tom and Jerry, Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast", the many Warner Brothers Bugs Bunny and Co. cartoon, "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "The Princess Bride", more recently, "Shrek", "The Incredibles". These movies all are attractive and memorable for me because they are all really smart - they don't pander to what adults believe children want- or should want or what adults believe children can and can not understand. Adults almost always get it completely wrong when they underestimate kids' understanding of how thing work. Strange how so many seem to forget what being a child was like.
Whatever we may feel is lacking or mis-proportioned in James Cameron movies, there is no doubt that they are among the finest crafted and visually memorable- and smartest. Of the most important contributions Cameron has made in my view is in the realm of internal logic- which with Cameron is impeccable. This amazing tightness of concept- possible only when one person can devise a integrated, total work of art- what the German's call a Gesamptwerk . < [I wish English had such a good word for this.] Further, the totality of vision in turn means that within the hierarchy of plot structure to image, every tiny detail is contributing to the big picture- telling the story.
And, certainly Cameron knows how to tell a story! Cameron is just not nearly as verbally orientated as he is bursting with visual inventiveness. And while some quibble that the plots and/or dialogue are derivative and not refined or mature, there's a simplistic politic statement and so on but that there's no denying that there's a giant brain and engineer/craftsman/artist shining through and with all the faults elsewhere, that creative intelligence on it's own is enough to pay attention to his work.
Cheers,
Bambi B
And too egomaniacal to let an actual verbally oriented writer take a stab at... you know.. the writing.
"The man is only half himself, the other half is his expression." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
PAINTING: "Man pulling his Beard" (Rasputin)
sjb,
Yes, the ego of the "King of the World" is massive enough to generate it's own gravitational field and Cameron is short-tempered with those who don't keep up with his vision, but that is the lonely path of the auteur- those lucky creators of personal universes, for example, Newton and Wagner, didn't rely on others creatively (and probably didn't any friends either). In the end, whose judgment can geniuses trust other than their own?
And as it seems that Cameron aspires to the highest possible level of movie-making, he apparently acts on the axiom that great art was never made by a committee- with which I completely agree.
Cheers,
Bambi B
not seriously?
tinear,
As you seem to be closed to any hint of positive comments about James Cameron, it seems futile to continue to list the good and the bad. Every artist has their weaknesses- Beethoven was not the best composer for the human voice, Picassos sometimes seem crude technically, Rothko did the same painting from 1949 to 1971. Shakespeare could be a political opportunist skewing history. If you have the inclination- and you seem to have a special negative niche for Cameron, you can find flaws in any artist and their work.
Cameron's relative weakness in my view tries is that he tries to do everything and he is simply not very verbal, nor interested in complex emotional structures, and even intimacy can be mechanical- preferring everything to be of an epic scale and as dynamic as possible. I read that there was a sex scene between the aliens finished that was cut from the movie- it probably was too quiet and interrupted the pace.
But, on the other side, movie- lovers should become aware of how amazingly complex making a movie is. The nearest analogy I think of to movie-making is architecture: the artistic, client relations, technical, bureaucratic, craft, and financial demands make accomplishing any good work almost a miracle. Think of coordinating the hundreds of people and hundreds of millions of Dollars involved over 18 years that required to make "Avatar". In that effort, there was substantial, important craft innovation and that ll this could be juggled into producing such a detailed, integrated work is quite amazing.
No, I don't think of Cameron as a "great artiste" but more a brilliant engineer/craftsman/logician combined with a remarkable visual inventiveness with attention to internal logic and detail. It's a small wonder
Come to Los Angeles and visit a movie set. I think if you saw first hand how extraordinarily complex movie-making is, you would probably appreciate what Cameron accomplishes even if the content is not to your taste. And, we have to keep in mind that we are not anywhere near the intended demographic for these movies- after all, they're intended for an audience 40 years younger.
Cheers,
Bambi B
Wagner was the greatest swine in history.
Pfui.
I´ll leave me home...
When someone is convinced that a particular restaurant uses dog poop in all of their dishes, they will taste dog poop if they try the restaurant. That's the way the human mind works.
You have spent some months now decrying Avatar as the nadir of human culture. So that is exactly what you will see when you view it.
You might as well go see something you might enjoy.
Well Someone is not Bambi B-
I very like the guy and he also knows a lot about cinema and the behind the scene.
But my main reason to go is to see what the possibility of modern cinema can offer.
A way to keep in touch with.
And I also knows that what is the fade of today will kook tomorrow awfully old, like the one I recently saw. king- Kong.
I will try not go with too much prejudices when i´ll be be screening it, tomorrow.
The trailers I saw were just disgusting.
But thank you for your outcry, I would have done the same.
I also hated King Kong (newest version). I was prepared to hate Avatar. But I found it somewhat magical. Try to remember your childhood again, before everything had to be criticized. I really hope you enjoy this. If you have IMAX screen, I highly recommend that experience.
No Imax around but an excellent theater. THX and all the rest.
I missed the most part of your first missive. ( my negligence )
Sometime one read what he wants to.
But it do not matter are things felt into place. In the end.
But that's just wishful thinking.
Thing about Cameron’s movies is that many people forget to turn the critical, political and analytical parts of their brains off when they enter the theatre. Once one lets the experience of Avatar take control it's actually quite an engrossing and fun experience.
BTW, when my friend and I exited the theatre he was talking about how much he enjoyed 'Dancing with Na'Avi'
J.B.
> > Avatar Blu-ray to Feature Deleted Na'vi Sex Scene
In a recent group interview, James Cameron has revealed that, when making 'Avatar', he shot a sex scene between two Na'vi characters. "We had it in and we cut it out," said Cameron, "so that will be something for the special edition DVD, if you want to see how they have sex." < <This Cameron guy takes himself way too seriously for someone who can't coax anything but the most wooden performances from his actors and writes with all the subtlety of a 12 yr old on ritalin.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
Edits: 01/05/10
;O)
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