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[Ollie Pooch]

Yeah it is...turned the epic battle into some sort of cartoon with the music.

for me that's really the only low point in the score - i love the rest of it. the music on the opening ship scenes is fantastic too.

 

[Vic]

Yeah it is...turned the epic battle into some sort of cartoon with the music.

any youtube link of the piece?

 

[Snaku]

Don't know if you read my spoiler earlier about the book, but whats your thoughts

Spoiler

On the potential of Eywa having brought us to Pandora to help save Earth? The first chapter goes into it a bit about how select people dreamed about forests and at the beginning of the movie how Jake said he started dreaming of flying. Also mentions how plants on Pandora could cure diseases and how they could potentially save the oceans on Earth because of Pandora. We as people would have to change our ways, but the life on Pandora could help us. After reading that and having seen the movie a few times it seems very possible that Eywa somehow brought Jake to her.

Oh yeah, it's fairly obvious between reading the scriptment, the Guide, and watching the film that

Spoiler

Eywa did play a hand in, and wanted to bring humans to Pandora. I don't think it made a mugger shoot Jake's brother, but it knew Jake was coming and wanted to use him (hence the visions in cryo).

It'll be interesting to see if this is expanded upon in the extended cut, or in Avatar 2.

 

[Stinkles]

Oh yeah, it's fairly obvious between reading the scriptment, the Guide, and watching the film that

Spoiler

Eywa did play a hand in, and wanted to bring humans to Pandora. I don't think it made a mugger shoot Jake's brother, but it knew Jake was coming and wanted to use him (hence the visions in cryo).

It'll be interesting to see if this is expanded upon in the extended cut, or in Avatar 2.

That would have been a more satusfying way to deal with the dangling problem of, "well what if they just come back with more guns?"

And did anyone else wish the coproration had been Weyland Yutani? No reason why it couldn't have been.

 

[J2 Cool]

Official Source? You are too kind. :lol

Hey DanielPlainview, change it to best 3rd weekend, beating Spider-man. Not Spider-man 3. Then it's official.

 

[Chichikov]

And did anyone else wish the coproration had been Weyland Yutani? No reason why it couldn't have been.

You know who works for that corporation?
Paul fucking Reiser.
You want him in a movie?

Sure, you might say "it's a huge corporation and fuck you man, he's just an actor, they don't have to cast him".
All true, but sorry, that's a risk I'm unwilling to take.

p.s.
Fuck Paul Reiser.

 

[Stinkles]

You know who works for that corporation?
Paul fucking Reiser.
You want him in a movie?

Sure, you might say "it's a huge corporation and fuck you man, he's just an actor, they don't have to cast him".
All true, but sorry, that's a risk I'm unwilling to take.

p.s.
Fuck Paul Reiser.

Giovani Ribisi is the Paul Reiser of the now generation.

 

[Raistlin]

I agree. The crew did an amazing job with carrying over the real life performances into the film.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean? What was there to 'carry over'? Everything was motion captured.

A GAFFER wrote that article, that's why it sounds like a GAF post

:lol

I just meant seeing the headline on an actual site. Not the content

Official Source? You are too kind. :lol

Is The Film Stage not a real site?

 

[Somnia]

Oh yeah, it's fairly obvious between reading the scriptment, the Guide, and watching the film that

Spoiler

Eywa did play a hand in, and wanted to bring humans to Pandora. I don't think it made a mugger shoot Jake's brother, but it knew Jake was coming and wanted to use him (hence the visions in cryo).

It'll be interesting to see if this is expanded upon in the extended cut, or in Avatar 2.

Spoiler

Ya I agree it didn't have a mugger shoot his brother or anything, but it knew about Jake before all that I think. He was dreaming of flying after his injury not in cryo. I took it that eywa was calling to him and it just sorta worked out. When he got to pandora eywa did what she could to move Jake along to the NA'Vi with Neytiri's help.

 

[J2 Cool]

Giovani Ribisi is the Paul Reiser of the now generation.

No, he's a fairly good actor usually, but he just did his best Ari Gold impersonation in Avatar more than anything.

 

[Chichikov]

Giovani Ribisi is the Paul Reiser of the now generation.

I am shocked with shame that this thought has not crossed my mind.
Seriously.

Though in his defense <pukes all over the keyboard>
Wait, let's trey it again.

Deep breaths...
Deep breaths...

Though in his defense, he most likely doesn't have the stink of Helen Hunt all over him.

 

[G-Fex]

Tobey McGuire must be pissed.

 

[Expendable.]

Is The Film Stage not a real site?

It's my site, I just thought it was funny talking about official headlines..I guess it counts!

 

[B.K.]

Am I the only one that thought the movie was too long? I've seen it twice and each time, it definitely felt like a three hour movie. It really needed 30 or 45 more minutes cut from it. I don't know where they could have done any cutting though.

 

[Expendable.]

Tobey McGuire must be pissed.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

Am I the only one that thought the movie was too long? I've seen it twice and each time, it definitely felt like a three hour movie. It really needed 30 or 45 more minutes cut from it. I don't know where they could have done any cutting though.

I think you mean its about 30 - 40 minutes too short, like it needs those 30 to 40 minutes added back in.

 

[Dead]

I think you mean its about 30 - 40 minutes too short, like it needs those 30 to 40 minutes added back in.

Very much so

 

[B.K.]

I think you mean its about 30 - 40 minutes too short, like it needs those 30 to 40 minutes added back in.

There's no way I could watch Avatar if it was any longer than it already is. I didn't think it was ever going to end the first time I watched it.

 

[Ollie Pooch]

I think you mean its about 30 - 40 minutes too short, like it needs those 30 to 40 minutes added back in.

absolutely. will be interesting to see what is added back in on the BR release.

 

[Giolon]

Am I the only one that thought the movie was too long? I've seen it twice and each time, it definitely felt like a three hour movie. It really needed 30 or 45 more minutes cut from it. I don't know where they could have done any cutting though.

Yep, you're the only one. I've seen it four times and it didn't seem long any of the times. It's always flowing, and everything you see that has time taken on it has a purpose - whether its following Jake's training with Neytiri or the incoming dragon and scorpions. As you say, there's not really anything left for them to cut. If anything, it could use more time.

 

[Jangaroo]

I think you mean its about 30 - 40 minutes too short, like it needs those 30 to 40 minutes added back in.

Seriously, I would love to see all of the stuff cut from the film. It definitely would help flesh out the movie a bit more.

 

[Dead]

Yep, you're the only one. I've seen it four times and it didn't seem long any of the times. It's always flowing, and everything you see that has time taken on it has a purpose - whether its following Jake's training with Neytiri or the incoming dragon and scorpions. As you say, there's not really anything left for them to cut. If anything, it could use more time.

Yeah, the movie really seems like it was cut to the bare minimum.

With all the money the movie is making, JC should have no problem funding a 30+ minute longer Extended Edition

Doooooooo it Cameron. Doooo it.

 

[SCULLIBUNDO]

James Cameron Responds to Critics of ‘Avatar’ Smoking Scene
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
James Cameron, the director of “Avatar,” is not one to do things half-way. Asked for a response to those who objected to the movie’s scenes, in which the scientist Dr. Grace Augustine, portrayed by Sigourney Weaver, puffed on a cigarette, Mr. Cameron wrote this:


“I wanted Grace to be a character who is initially off-putting and even unpleasant. She’s rude, she swears, she drinks, she smokes. She is not meant to be an aspirational role model to teenagers, in fact our young protagonist, Jake, through whom we experience this story, finds her to be obnoxious at first. Also, from a character perspective, we were showing that Grace doesn’t care about her human body, only her avatar body, which again is a negative comment about people in our real world living too much in their avatars, meaning on-line and in videogames. In addition, speaking as an artist, I don’t believe in the dogmatic idea that no one in a movie should smoke. Movies should reflect reality. If it’s okay for people to lie, cheat, steal and kill in PG 13 movies, why impose an inconsistent morality when it comes to smoking?

I do agree that young role-model characters should not smoke in movies, especially in a way which suggests that it makes them cooler or more accepted by their peers. In the same way that I would never show lying, cheating, stealing, or killing as cool, or aspirational, I would never portray smoking that way. We need to embrace a more complex set of criteria than simply the knee jerk reaction “smoking is bad, therefore cannot be shown.” It should be a matter of character, context, and the nature of the portrayal. I think the people who are earnestly trying to do some good in this area would be more supported by the artistic community if they were less black and white in their thinking. Smoking is a filthy habit which I don’t support, and neither, I believe, does Avatar.”

Stanton A. Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, argues that “Avatar”’s smoking scenes amount to millions of dollars in free advertising for cigarette manufacturers. Besides, the very notion of a chain-smoking environmental scientist strikes Mr. Glantz as a gratuitous bit of fantasy.

“I know lots of environmental scientists like the Sigourney Weaver character,” he said in a phone interview last week. “Not a single one of them smokes cigarettes.”

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2...-responds-to-critics-of-avatar-smoking-scene/

 

[Stinkles]

Though in his defense, he most likely doesn't have the stink of Helen Hunt all over him.

We all have the stink of Helen Hunt on us. I think Sartre talks about this.

the very notion of a chain-smoking environmental scientist strikes Mr. Glantz as a gratuitous bit of fantasy.

“I know lots of environmental scientists like the Sigourney Weaver character,” he said in a phone interview last week. “Not a single one of them smokes cigarettes.”

What an amazingly stupid thing for an adult to say. It's worse than pre-NPD anecodtes.

 

[Blader]

Am I the only one that thought the movie was too long? I've seen it twice and each time, it definitely felt like a three hour movie. It really needed 30 or 45 more minutes cut from it. I don't know where they could have done any cutting though.

Yes, it was definitely too long.

 

[Raistlin]

It's my site, I just thought it was funny talking about official headlines..I guess it counts!

Hmm ... haven't had a chance to really look through out, but the site seems pretty good.

Nice job.

Am I the only one that thought the movie was too long? I've seen it twice and each time, it definitely felt like a three hour movie. It really needed 30 or 45 more minutes cut from it. I don't know where they could have done any cutting though.

I've only seen it once (so far), but at least upon my first viewing, I thought the opposite. Move seemed to fly by pretty damn quickly.

 

[Spotless Mind]

Saw it a second time last night. My problems with the one dimensional villains and portrayal of the humans still stands, yet the movie overall worked a lot better for me on second viewing. I was taken with the sheer spectacle of it all. The action direction is just amazing and adrenaline pumping. Really loved it, though it did drag a little. More character fleshing scenes were needed.

Jake, Neytiri and Grace are well enough written characters to carry the film for me and the performances of Sam and Zoe are fantastic.

The "Like a baby" scene and what follows however? Terrible.

The delivery of "You have a strong heart, no fear." was so incredibly corny. I snickered at it both times i've seen it.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Fuck the haters regarding that scene. It was shot very well and you could see what she was doing the entire time. I liked how she quickly reacted when he said that the other female hunter was good. Quick ass "WHAT?!" kinda look.

I just got back from seeing it again. Each time I've been focusing on different things, looking at details. This time around I was really focusing on Neytiri, and spotted all kinds of details like that in her performance. One that went by me before was during Jake's pep talk near the end. She's very tentative, not sure where he's going with it. When he starts talking about

Spoiler

sending for the other tribes

, she starts to get excited, getting fired up. And when it's done and Jake grabs her hand, she gives him an unmistakable, "You sure you know what the hell you're doing?" look. I could tell from that one glance that she was fired up and terrified at the same time. Just an insanely nuanced performance.

Another moment was when she's talking about (gonna mis-spell this) Tarook Macktu. Her body language and facial expression convey so much about that story. Zoe should be up for best actress, IMO.

As for the crowd tonight, the afternoon show sold out. My show (6:40) likewise sold out. I could tell from the chatter than the nature of the crowd had changed a bit: there was a lot of discussion about what people had heard about it going in, and in the audience before it started. Talk about how it looked, how the final battle was, etc. Clearly a lot of word of mouth driving attendance.

It also got the biggest applause of any showing I've seen so far.

Coming out, the theater was pretty quiet. The line for the late show was pretty tiny, maybe a quarter of the earlier one, which is probably an indication the hit Avatar will take now that school's in session.

I still need time to think about it, and to see it at home. But I think Avatar will settle in as one of Cameron's best movies; the emotional gauntlet it puts me though is potent.

Oh, and:

So, totally would.

 

[aznpxdd]

I'm probably gonna catch it after work one of these days for my 3rd time. Now to decide...LieMax or RealD. I've already seen it in IMAX 3D.

 

[Snaku]

Read something interesting about the AMP Suit in the Survival Guide. It has an emergency automated back up system that in the event of the pilot's incapacitation will return to base on its own. So Quaritch's body would not have been left out in the middle of the jungle to rot. Just thought that was interesting, with all the Quaritch returns lunacy that was being discussed some pages back.

 

[fireside]

1. I'm going to work on my quartich doesn't give a shit-jpg, and change it to Dark Knight version.

How's this?

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

I hope he does Battle Angel next. If the next Avatar comes out within the next 3 years, it wont seem as such an event like the first one was.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Read something interesting about the AMP Suit in the Survival Guide. It has an emergency automated back up system that in the event of the pilot's incapacitation will return to base on its own. So Quaritch's body would not have been left out in the middle of the jungle to rot. Just thought that was interesting, with all the Quaritch returns lunacy that was being discussed some pages back.

damn, I need to get that book..

but regardless, he still would have been dead from the poison arrows.

 

[saiftk]

I hope he does Battle Angel next. If the next Avatar comes out within the next 3 years, it wont seem as such an event like the first one was.

Avatar 2 I think will follow a more blockbuster route. Big opening weekend and then keep falling like TDK. This was a movie everyone had to see because of the 3d and I'm sure some people will not like it and never want to try it again so Cameron would not have the benefit of giving the audience something they haven't experienced before.

 

[Shrennin]

but regardless, he still would have been dead from the poison arrows.

Do not read if you don't want to know a possible spoiler for the second movie:

Spoiler

Lang talked about the possibility of DNA cloning because they have Quaritch's DNA. It's possible he will return for the sequel, it just won't be the original (or it could, who knows because Lang wasn't really sure as it is ultimately Cameron's decision).

 

[Blablurn]

The "Like a baby" scene and what follows however? Terrible.

i loved this scene especially her accent in the german version. it's pretty cute

 

[GhaleonEB]

i loved this scene especially her accent in the german version. it's pretty cute

Me too. And it's deliberately awkward - Jake is taken aback and kind of weirded out by Neytiri's response. And then she pops the moment with her follow-up. It's also a good introduction to her character, who is honest and speaks her mind - and follows her heart over her brain - to a fault.

 

[Jangaroo]

i loved this scene especially her accent in the german version. it's pretty cute

I really liked the scene actually. Thought it was kind of cute, even though I saw it in English.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

Found this gif over at ONTD. Even though I've seen the movie four times, it still shocked me. The motion capture in this movie is so beyond everything:

Spoiler

I want to see the movie for the fifth time. This week, hopefully!

So stunning! Neytiri = <3. Add me to the list that thought that scene was great.

AVATAR will knock Titanic down and become the highest grossing movie of all time! So who else wants to join me in this prediction?

You have my sword.

And my bow.

Haha.....nicely done guys. :lol

 

[duckroll]

Okay, watching this again on Wednesday. Third time for me.

 

[LeMaximilian]

Holy shit. Wes Studi plays Eytukan in Avatar, who is also a main character in Dances with Wolves. Crazy for Jim to cast him in this roll, with all the similarities to that existing plot. Also kinda awesome...

 

[Dead]

Holy shit. Wes Studi plays Eytukan in Avatar, who is also a main character in Dances with Wolves. Crazy for Jim to cast him in this roll, with all the similarities to that existing plot. Also kinda awesome...

I doubt he gives a shit :lol Hes never shyes away from the DWW comparison either.

Also, Studi was in The New World as well

 

[GhaleonEB]

for me that's really the only low point in the score - i love the rest of it. the music on the opening ship scenes is fantastic too.

Yeah. He really biffed it with a number of the action cues at the end, which I find myself noticing more and more.

But by the same token, I'm finding a lot of the rest of the music to be increasingly effective. This theme really got to me tonight; perhaps it was because I was so focused on Netiri's character this time around. But every scene this played in got me kinda weepy, especially at the scene from the .gif above.

 

[NeoUltima]

Finally saw this yesterday. I had intended to see it opening weekend put plans kept falling apart. Still, well worth the wait . Plot played out exactly as I figured it would, but I don't give a shit. It's not the most original plot, but it is a timeless one that can be oft reused and still enthralling if done right like in Avatar.

I wasn't all that impressed with the 3d. It had great perspective, but there wasn't as much 'poping out' as I thought there'd be. I saw it in Dolby 3D if that matters. Don't get me wrong, I'd still take it over 2D anyday.

 

[LeMaximilian]

Finally saw this yesterday. I had intended to see it opening weekend put plans kept falling apart. Still, well worth the wait . Plot played out exactly as I figured it would, but I don't give a shit. It's not the most original plot, but it is a timeless one that can be oft reused and still enthralling if done right like in Avatar.

I wasn't all that impressed with the 3d. It had great perspective, but there wasn't as much 'poping out' as I thought there'd be. I saw it in Dolby 3D if that matters. Don't get me wrong, I'd still take it over 2D anyday.

I've seen it in 4 different formats, RealD, IMAX, Dolby and 2d. Retry it at a RealD or Imax. Dolby really is garbage, 2d > Dolby.

 

[fireside]

I've seen it in 4 different formats, RealD, IMAX, Dolby and 2d. Retry it at a RealD or Imax. Dolby really is garbage, 2d > Dolby.

Why is Dolby so bad?

 

[NeoUltima]

I've seen it in 4 different formats, RealD, IMAX, Dolby and 2d. Retry it at a RealD or Imax. Dolby really is garbage, 2d > Dolby.

No Imaxes even close to me...Strange I went to look up RealDs close to me and it listed the same theater I was at today...but it was definitly Dolby(Dolby search also shows same theater so I'm not mistaken). Is it possible for a theater to have both formats, or is RealD site lying to me lol.
edit: Now that I recall, when I saw Beowulf there it was in RealD. So I guess they do have both or switched formats.

 

[mrkgoo]

There's a possibility I'll be going to see it a third time (with someone). I'm not as gushy about it as most of gaf seems to be - I enjoyed it, but thought twice was more than enough.

 

[LeMaximilian]

Why is Dolby so bad?

The 3d effect is almost fake in comparison to the other two 3d formats. Terrible focusing issues, extremely dark and I felt like I was working overtime trying to watch the movie. Gave me a tremendous headache as well, and the glasses were god awful. RealD is almost as good as the IMAX tho.

No joke, if the movie wasn't as good as it is, it would've been torture in Dolby 3d.

 

[AniHawk]

Just saw it entered the $1B club... and a day ahead of schedule.

Right on schedule.