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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

"I just saw Avatar" Thread

Holy... Avatar passes the 1$ billion mark in just 17 days and dethrones Dark Knight:

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/ :eek6:

No doubt now that Avatar will become the # 2 alltime box office champ. Only question remaining is will it "sink" Titanic?

Avatar opens in China tomorrow.
 
Haven't seen it yet, but I read the scriptment twice.
The review by the Psychotherapist made me laugh.

I saw a movie where woman both embodied fierce warrior and tender lover. Originality, check. I saw a movie where feelings and intuition must trump logical thought.
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Originality are not what comes to mind when reading those particular aspects. Fierce warrior and tender lover - not particularly unusual for the female roles in action/sci-fi films (though the words fierce and tender aren't necessary). Not only is "feeling and intuition triumphing logical thought" a thematic component in much of Cameron's body of work, it is a theme that exists in many films.
 
I'd like to see what Cameron could pull off with a 10k budget. We know what we can do with the largest budgets in the business, but I'd be curious to see what he'd put together.

In fact, I'd love to see some kind of reality show where it takes a few top directors and gives them a 10k budget and lets them go. Be very educational I bet.
 
Saw Avatar again last night to see if my first viewing was a blissful anomaly. It wasn't! Loved it just as much and appreciated the detail and artistry even more.

I allowed myself to watch it with a critical eye this time, where the first time purposely just let it wash over me.

Only noticed 1 second where the action felt animated. Where Jake was choosing his Banshee and falls.

Other than that, still can't fault it. Yes the zooms were a bit overused, but it took my breath away and choked me up the second time, just as it did the first.

My family has invested about $160 in Avatar viewings so far. Never done that before. Money well spent!

EDIT - One more thing, the theater was sold out, three weeks into the release.
 
Tom L said:
Holy... Avatar passes the 1$ billion mark in just 17 days and dethrones Dark Knight:

http://boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/ :eek6:

No doubt now that Avatar will become the # 2 alltime box office champ. Only question remaining is will it "sink" Titanic?

Avatar opens in China tomorrow.
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Didnt you predict it would do 2x Titanic's numbers? :-)
 
jimhare said:
Saw Avatar again last night to see if my first viewing was a blissful anomaly. It wasn't! Loved it just as much and appreciated the detail and artistry even more.
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The performance capture is extraordinary. Check out this scene from Avatar, and notice how much detail is in their expressions. Just simply amazing, phenomenal, unbelievable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQrnIU_n8-0
 
Excuse my ignorance, but can someone tell me how box office takings ($1 billion) relate to the cost/profit of a film? :huh:

Do they relate to the actual takings, a percentage of which are destined for the studio, or does it actually mean the studio has already made $1 billion from a $400 million investment?

Probably obvious to most of you but I've never studied it. :blush:
 
jimhare said:
Excuse my ignorance, but can someone tell me how box office takings ($1 billion) relate to the cost/profit of a film? :huh:

Do they relate to the actual takings, a percentage of which are destined for the studio, or does it actually mean the studio has already made $1 billion from a $400 million investment?

Probably obvious to most of you but I've never studied it. :blush:
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Not quite. It's Gross Revenues. So that's before they take out the theater's cut. You can read more on the official explanation: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/about/boxoffice.htm

According to the above link distributor gets more than half. And I'm not sure if the $400m figure includes promotion or not but if not you generally need to add another $100m on top of the cost for advertising.
 
Shawn Nelson said:
Didnt you predict it would do 2x Titanic's numbers? :-)
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Lol nice try. But I was one of the few who went out on a limb and predicted it could "sink" Titanic. After I read Rudi's posts about it here in June, I was convinced.
 
Then it must have been Ace predicting greater than 2x Titanic, gotta find that
 
Shawn Nelson said:
Then it must have been Ace predicting greater than 2x Titanic, gotta find that
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Yeah it was me..4-5 billion worldwide was my estimate. I think avatar is just warming up..

Also, when you account for the fact that movie tickets have nearly doubled in price since 1997, 4-5 billion isnt all that far off... The word of mouth on this film is unprecedented.
 
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I wonder how the Chinese version of Avatar will be censored, since it essentially contains many stories of the Chinese losing their homes and communities for government infrastructure... (eg. the Dam displacing of over a million tribes and ancestral villages)
 
Okay, I figured I need to get this off my chest and see what others think, so here goes.

I liked Avatar; the 3D kicks ass. I was simply blown away by the technological achievement. BUT, I was really really disappointed with the dialogue for one, and while the overall intent of the story is good, Jake's character arc left me disappointed. Let's get to the heart of Avatar, well, the heart of Jake really, as that's who it's about.

Dialogue: All of the one liners missed the mark completely...I mean nobody laughed. And I'm talking about a PACKED IMAX theater with people of all ages and backgrounds; this is San Francisco. It was very awkward for moments that were clearly there for a comedic save, but failed. Obviously the film is far from a comedy, but you need quality comedic saves in a dramatic epic like this, and unfortunately, we didn't get them. Maybe it was simply the absence of a contrasting duo ala Pippin and Merry, or R2 and C3p0 perhaps. Too much of the dialogue was overly cliche, and everything out of the bad ass heli pilot chick fell flat on its face. She had so much potential too, at least I thought. Not ALL of it was bad of course, as there were many strong moments and character interactions, but the really bad ones just stood out too much is all.

Story wise: the human militants/villains were too shallow in their quest. Who WOULDN'T want to betray those insensitive douche bags? The film as a whole would have been much more powerful if there was more at stake for Jake; more of a challenge for him to eventually combat/betray the human militants. What about a human love interest, or a need to send money back to his dying mother? ANYTHING! I actually initially thought the heli pilot would be a human love interest for Jake, causing a conflict for him somehow. He had no qualms about giving key strategic information to the Colonel early on which showed his commitment as a marine to do the mission, and I hoped there would be something stronger to keep "on the fence" of the issue at hand until much later in the film. But once he fell in love with Neytiri, there was nothing else to challenge his character at that point; it just became "Stop the bad guys, being a tall blue alien kicks ass. I kick ass. Neytiri is hot."

Basically, there wasn't much of a difference between Jack Sully we saw in the beginning, and Jakesully the Navi hero. Sure, obviously he become one of the Navi, which is a huge change on the face of it, and he helps defeat the humans yada yada saves the day. BUT; was he actually deeply challenged to do so, or was he simply given the time and opportunity to do so? I'm open minded about this, so here's my question; what was really at stake for Jack Sully in this film? How was he deeply changed at his core by the end of the film? What did he discover and learn? At the moment, this is how I see it;

START:
--Jake is a paralyzed marine and is given the task to fulfill his deceased brothers mission to be accepted into Navi culture and to possibly negotiate a treaty. He has a gung ho attitude about the mission, but is also open minded about the task of learning the Navi culture.

MIDDLE:
--Jake learns Navi culture and all the spiritual stuff, and falls in love with Neytiri. It is clear that he now thinks the mission won't work, and is a bad idea.

END:
--Jake helps the Navi defeat the humans by controlling the large dragon thing, and then becomes a Navi permanently. He saves the day by using his inside knowledge about Marine technology, and his new found knowledge as a Navi.

Now I ask: was there really any deep challenge for him? The humans were so corrupt and greedy, it was a no-brainer. Who wouldn't trade being a paralyzed human for being a slick Blue alien with a hot gf? Again, my qualm is that it just seems like Jake was given the chance to do something he was always capable of, without being internally challenged to his core. All of the choices he had to make were obviously choices that didn't require any real debate.

Maybe I'm being a bit critical for a film like this. Clearly, it's about a bigger picture issue. I get that. It's clear. But if we're in the business of telling powerful and moving stories about people, then I feel this one didn't deliver something strong enough, especially when everyone is calling it the best thing since the internet.
 
Hrvoje Simic said:
Avatar impression from a Harvard trained psychotherapist:

" I saw a movie where the deity is female. Originality, check. I saw a movie where woman both embodied fierce warrior and tender lover. Originality, check. "





...
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He must not be familiar with the female deity Kali Ma, who in Hindu culture represents the nurturing mother and the destroyer, who was often seen gobbling up her male deity counter part.
 
Tom L said:
Lol. This reminds me of some of the angry letters the Spanish conquerors of South America sent back home to the Christian leaders in Europe. They complained that the local "savages" were deliberately mocking Christianity, because they worshiped a god born of a virgin who died and was resurrected. These "savages" were tortured and killed to punish them for mocking Jesus.
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That's fascinating, where can I read about this? Not challenging you, Conquistadors were bastards, (that I like to research when possible).
 
Shawn, if you've never read Campbell, he is AMAZING! It can change your life. Start maybe with the Joseph Campbell Companion, then Hero with a Thousand Faces, then Myths to Live By, and so on.
 
I've read him, well Hero With a Thousand Faces anyways. I'm deeply grateful to him for the discovery of shared myth. Though I found his obsession with the Oedipus Complex to be tiresome after so pages dedicated to it.

I'd like a source for your quote I listed above, I want to read those letters from ( I presume) the Catholic Priests detailing that the natives believed those things.
 
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