tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post5683048485232844898..comments2023-10-24T01:19:24.492-04:00Comments on Little Worlds : James Cameron's AvatarRichard Bellamyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-64556468097070240592010-01-10T20:57:41.668-05:002010-01-10T20:57:41.668-05:00Yes, lots of cringe-worthy dialogue - but whenever...Yes, lots of cringe-worthy dialogue - but whenever a bad line came up, I just immersed myself more in the visuals.<br /><br />Unobtainium is a term that has been used before - in actual scientific circles as a speculative substance - and in the film <i>The Core</i>, so it's not a Cameron invention.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-13747505389414023632010-01-10T17:45:11.995-05:002010-01-10T17:45:11.995-05:00Get it – Selfridge?
Oh, yeah. I got it. I also go...<i>Get it – Selfridge?</i><br /><br />Oh, yeah. I got it. I also got Unobtainium. Ugh.<br /><br />I had fun at this movie (in 3-D), but, wow, the writing.<br /><br />Alas, I cringed at the number of times Neytiri growls -- there's a racist non-whites-as-animals tone to it. But better than than Cameron's dialogue, I guess.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-41007791981759145912009-12-26T21:09:39.972-05:002009-12-26T21:09:39.972-05:00Craig -
Thanks. Actually, once the film gets int...Craig - <br /><br />Thanks. Actually, once the film gets into all the hocus pocus about the Sacred Tree and the ritual that allows them to transfer a soul to another body and then the animals charge to the rescue - it struck me as such a Japanese anime view of nature.<br /><br />As for the CGI - there's a lot that involves battle (which is the chief purpose of CGI in most movies) but most of it depicts a world we've never seen, and that's one of my favorite elements of film - the power to take me to a world I haven't seen before.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-27705345860810545162009-12-26T15:39:54.679-05:002009-12-26T15:39:54.679-05:00Excellent review. It's nice to read someone wh...Excellent review. It's nice to read someone who goes beyond the obvious "Dances with Wolves" comparisons and finds some original analogies ("Princess Mononoke," "The Emerald Forest," etc.) Like you, I'm not the biggest fan of CGI. But I have to give credit where credit is due and say that Cameron still uses it to serve the story rather than the reverse.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-77376668037089592532009-12-21T15:14:15.553-05:002009-12-21T15:14:15.553-05:00Jake and Daniel - Thanks for the comments. It was ...Jake and Daniel - Thanks for the comments. It was certainly an eyeful - and the stills look like preliminary images not fully rendered compared to the final product. <br /><br />Daniel - Funny you should mention LOTR because the scene in which Legolas stands on top of one of those elephant creatures looks so fake - and in <i>Avatar</i>, as I noted, Cameron presents the same sort of image - Jake on the top of the flying fortress - but it looks so convincing. <br /><br />Tell me how the 3-D experience is. I got enough visual stimuli as it was.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-14067813120397172762009-12-21T10:39:49.228-05:002009-12-21T10:39:49.228-05:00I'm with you all the way on the CGI. The sitti...I'm with you all the way on the CGI. The sitting-around-the-tree looked, well, bad - but only relative to the magic of everything else. I think the worst parts of Avatar looked as good as or better than the best parts of the LOTR movies.<br /><br />Still haven't seen it in 3D, but am considering abandoning my 3D anxiety to do so. It's just always so much more distracting for me than in 2D.<br /><br />Also, great call on The Mission!Danielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05222052132452709301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5929352816561809263.post-71162580535643229872009-12-21T00:00:40.527-05:002009-12-21T00:00:40.527-05:00Man, it's so weird to look at stills from the ...Man, it's so weird to look at stills from the film and see the animation. When watching the actual film, it all looked so real. As many problems as I had with the story, I will gush like a fool over the visuals.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.com