tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post6498951889821055662..comments2024-03-22T14:44:41.519+00:00Comments on Checking On My Sausages: Avatar (2009), James CameronUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-16916615285753512682010-01-01T07:23:15.910+00:002010-01-01T07:23:15.910+00:00"A great point I wish I had made in my own re..."A great point I wish I had made in my own review"<br /><br />Thanks for the comments Tony. You made plenty of great points yourself.<br /><br />I think Avatar will live on in the popular consciousness, but only time will tell of course. It went beyond being an "fx test reel". When the technology is everywhere the beauty and visceral impact of some of its excellently crafted scenes will endure.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07036103762441216161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-208598481757413142009-12-31T14:44:55.768+00:002009-12-31T14:44:55.768+00:00"Neytiri is Snow White's great granddaugh..."Neytiri is Snow White's great granddaughter. She too is drawn over and from a human performance... The technology is able to discriminate too. We can see that Zoe Saldana's performance is more nuanced than Sam Worthington's."<br /><br />A great point I wish I had made in my own <a href="http://www.cinemaviewfinder.com/2009/12/movie-review-avatar-2009.html" rel="nofollow">review</a>.<br /><br />"What prevents <i>Avatar</i> from being an unqualified masterpiece and the film of the year are two not insignificant qualms.<br /><br />Firstly, for a film that shows us things that we have never seen before it is mired in what we have seen too much of.<br /><br />A lonely man in a strange place, an untouched paradise, forbidden love and trials of strength; these are things that we have all seen before going further still into the past than Pocahontas... It is stirring but transient... [Cameron] does, from time to time, fall upon the habits of recent blockbusters made by inferior film-makers: the blankly humorous one-liners that stand in for credible emotion ("let's dance", "outstanding") in Christopher Nolan's <i>The Dark Knight</i> and the sweeping camera moves over insubstantial CGI hordes of Peter Jackson's the <i>Lord of the Rings</i> trilogy.<br /><br /><br />Secondly, for a film that is in so many ways so big-hearted it can also be mean-spirited and one-eyed."<br /><br />Ultimately your opinion is not that different from mine. I liked the movie, definitely recommend it as a must-see "experience," but as a well-rounded film it suffers from many self-imposed limitations... which by the way, I think is fine with Cameron.<br /><br />I imagine Cameron was more invested in the R & D aspect of the project, and produced the most exciting visual fx test reel in history. Seen as that, I'm impressed. But I have a hunch about how it will be judged by posterity.Tony Dayoubhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04632329277519635858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-25684530338270342232009-12-30T10:35:50.464+00:002009-12-30T10:35:50.464+00:00Thank you JAFB.
I'm glad you liked this as w...Thank you JAFB. <br /><br />I'm glad you liked this as well as my piece on Inglourious Basterds.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07036103762441216161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-3430032640690373062009-12-30T10:33:26.593+00:002009-12-30T10:33:26.593+00:00Thanks Sam.
What I mean by 'playing it safe&#...Thanks Sam.<br /><br />What I mean by 'playing it safe': Avatar shows us a new world that feels so fresh and yet the myth on which the spectacle is far from new.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07036103762441216161noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-21315494017623477472009-12-30T04:53:11.475+00:002009-12-30T04:53:11.475+00:00Stephen,
This is fabulous stuff. You have put fort...Stephen,<br />This is fabulous stuff. You have put forth so many good arguments - both pro and con. Although my own stance falls ont eh extreme, I find this analysis to be undeniably wonderful.<br /><br />This is 2/2, after Inglourious, for you!<br /><br />Cheers!just another film buffhttp://theseventhart.infonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8035434747786768960.post-12949390666132235312009-12-30T01:31:45.520+00:002009-12-30T01:31:45.520+00:00Well Stephen, this is quite an approach, and I hun...Well Stephen, this is quite an approach, and I hung with every word of this review. The two major issues you have (that prevent this from being the film of the year for you) are not within my own radar, as neither remotely affects the overwhelming emotional epiphany I experienced, and frankly I will only site such disclaimers if I am less than enraptured. You do a great job of building the entire reviews around you central themes, and I do think you nailed the film's most extraordinary aspects, but I really didn't think Cameron even remotely played it "safe" as you contend. It's a bold an dvisionary film, methinks.<br /><br />Again, a tremendous piece of writing.Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.com