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Rottenwatch: AVATAR (82%)

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I love the fact that veteran film makers are interested in pushing cinema even until now.
It's because of people like them that films are so much more advanced then they now are.

fuck everyone who hates this sort of progression. And I'm looking at Reitman, with his oscar bait, I only care about my own shit attitude. fuck him.
I'll still watch his next flick though
 
XMonkey said:
Up in the Air is Oscar bait? Hmm... no.
A film starring George Clooney, who plays a man who fires people for a living, released during a recession, just in time for Oscar season? Also, the look on his face when JC won the golden globes was telling of this man's true intentions.
 
Jibril said:
A film starring George Clooney, who plays a man who fires people for a living, released during a recession, just in time for Oscar season? Also, the look on his face when JC won the golden globes was telling of this man's true intentions.

Up in the Air was great. Believe me when I say that anybody who uses the term 'Oscar bait' freely has no understanding of the effort that goes into making a film.
 
Scullibundo said:
Up in the Air was great. Believe me when I say that anybody who uses the term 'Oscar bait' freely has no idea of the effort that goes into making a film.



Well, I still see it as bait. You can't change my opinions!

damn son, I thought you would be on my side, we're reppin' JC here mang
ryutaro's mama said:
Up in the Air is the most Oscar bait of Oscar bait.


Tag team action!
 
Jibril said:
Well, I still see it as bait. You can't change my opinions!

damn son, I thought you would be on my side, we're reppin' JC here mang



Tag team action!

Support for JC aside, Reitman is still a great filmmaker, regardless of his evident personal aspirations or jealousies. I can't shit on him just because he isn't fit to lick Cameron's balls because then I would hate almost everybody.
 
Scullibundo said:
Support for JC aside, Reitman is still a great filmmaker, regardless of his evident personal aspirations or jealousies. I can't shit on him just because he isn't fit to lick Cameron's balls because then I would hate almost everybody.
Good one. :lol
 
Jibril said:
A film starring George Clooney, who plays a man who fires people for a living, released during a recession, just in time for Oscar season? Also, the look on his face when JC won the golden globes was telling of this man's true intentions.
So a film can't be released during the fall or else it's just Oscar baiting? Give me a break. It's not a surprise that most of the critically acclaimed films are released during the fall because believe it or not, people do want to win the big awards. That doesn't make it oscar baiting. You're also gonna tell me that the film is oscar bait because Reitman was pissed off at not winning an award? Shocking.
 
XMonkey said:
So a film can't be released during the fall or else it's just Oscar baiting? Give me a break. It's not a surprise that most of the critically acclaimed films are released during the fall because believe it or not, people do want to win the big awards. That doesn't make it oscar baiting. You're also gonna tell me that the film is oscar bait because Reitman was pissed off at not winning an award? Shocking.

That is the most immediate contradiction I've seen in a while.
 
ryutaro's mama said:
That is the most immediate contradiction I've seen in a while.
So pretty much every critically acclaimed film that comes out in the fall should be considered oscar bait? Got it.
 
XMonkey said:
So a film can't be released during the fall or else it's just Oscar baiting? Give me a break. It's not a surprise that most of the critically acclaimed films are released during the fall because believe it or not, people do want to win the big awards. That doesn't make it oscar baiting. You're also gonna tell me that the film is oscar bait because Reitman was pissed off at not winning an award? Shocking.
And that is pretty much the definition of Oscar bait. It has more to do with how the film is positioned than the film itself.

Invictus, for example, is basically the exact mold of what I consider Oscar bait.
 
I'm not arguing that the term oscar bait shouldn't apply to films. Invictus is a good example, Up in the Air is not IMO.
 
Scullibundo said:
But you're pinning a studio's release plan to the director's intention for making the film, which is a mistake to make.

Reitman knows exactly what's he's doing/looking to achieve when he makes these films and so does the studio.

Thanks you for Smoking in the only exception.

He did the same thing with Juno that he did with Up in the Air.
 
If you want an example of Oscar Bait see A Beautiful Mind

I don't know if Up in the Air is Oscar Bait...It really doesn't look like it is imo, though I don't care to find out, not interested in the movie at all.
 
Dead said:
If you want an example of Oscar Bait see A Beautiful Mind

I don't know if Up in the Air is Oscar Bait...It really doesn't look like it is imo, though I don't care to find out, not interested in the movie at all.

Then why not release it in the spring (post Oscar) like he did with TYFS?
 
ryutaro's mama said:
Then why not release it in the spring like he did with TYFS?

The studio decides the release date. If the studio decides a film is in the vein that it could garner oscar votes and thus more publicity, then THE STUDIO will decide to release it around December. Is AVATAR Oscar bait because it was released in December, trying to emulate Titanic's release date run?
 
ryutaro's mama said:
Then why not release it in the spring (post Oscar) like he did with TYFS?
Thats the Studios choice.

Just because the Studio sees it fit to promote the film as an Oscar type, doesn't mean that that was the filmmakers intention.
 
XMonkey said:
It's not the case.

Oh really?

Once again:

XMonkey said:
So a film can't be released during the fall or else it's just Oscar baiting? Give me a break. It's not a surprise that most of the critically acclaimed films are released during the fall because believe it or not, people do want to win the big awards. That doesn't make it oscar baiting. You're also gonna tell me that the film is oscar bait because Reitman was pissed off at not winning an award? Shocking.

If they are released in the fall because, "believe it or not, they want to win the big awards", why are they releasing the film at that time?

What is the the biggest award of the awards season?

What are they hoping to win?
 
Dead said:
Thats the Studios choice.

Just because the Studio sees it fit to promote the film as an Oscar type, doesn't mean that that was the filmmakers intention.

Sure, but that still makes the film Oscar bait, even if is on the part of the studio.

And as far as the release date and Reitman are concerned, I'm sure he didn't object.
 
ryutaro's mama said:
Sure, but that still makes the film Oscar bait, even if is on the part of the studio.

And as far as the release date and Reitman are concerned, I'm sure he didn't object.

So you're saying AVATAR is an Oscar bait film. Okay.
 
Scullibundo said:
So you're saying AVATAR is an Oscar bait film. Okay.

Nope, I said:

ryutaro's mama said:
Artsy/Historic/Period piece film released around Christmas is hoping to get Academy notice.

Sherlock Holmes wasn't oscar bait.

Neither was Bedtime Stories the year before.

You know exactly what I mean when I use that term, Sculli. ;)
 
ryutaro's mama said:
Nope, I said:



Sherlock Holmes wasn't oscar bait.

Neither was Bedtime Stories the year before.

You know exactly what I mean when I use that term, Sculli. ;)

I know what you mean. But I'm just letting you know that I think you're using it wrong. Oscar bait is typically associated with the director's intention. Oscar bait is usually a calculated production that is often guided by the criteria of what the academy has awarded to best film in the past. I can't look at a film like Up in the Air and say it was written or directed in a manner that was calculated to appeal to Oscar voters. There was nothing forced about the film and I thought it was a film that genuinely touched on human ideals.

If you look at a film like The Soloist you will see what I consider to be Oscar bait.
 
If Up in the Air is Oscar bait then Avatar is a blatant cash grab, which is worse?

(just for the record, I don't believe either, just Avatar is a fantastic movie made to make money and Up in the air is a fantastic movie that the studios thought could get some awards)
 
dasein said:
Any chance the IMAX 3D version will be back?

Imax theaters currently showing avatar, (there are probably more in non-English speaking countries).

4411614343_2def5ddb1a_o.jpg


Just notice there is a DOME theater, how would Avatar look like there?
 
Scullibundo said:
I know what you mean. But I'm just letting you know that I think you're using it wrong. Oscar bait is typically associated with the director's intention. Oscar bait is usually a calculated production that is often guided by the criteria of what the academy has awarded to best film in the past. I can't look at a film like Up in the Air and say it was written or directed in a manner that was calculated to appeal to Oscar voters. There was nothing forced about the film and I thought it was a film that genuinely touched on human ideals.
This.

Oscar bait has a narrow definition in my opinion, and usually I apply it to a film that's nominated based more on the specific subject matter of the film rather than a great script, great acting, etc. Basically, period dramas, often involving some kind of war/atrocity are what I typically look for as oscar bait because the Academy shows a penchant for nominating these films over and over. The Reader is probably the best example of this recently. This isn't to say they aren't good films, but the studios do tend to craft them to fit a certain Academy mold. Up in the Air hitting on the topic of layoffs/recession isn't oscar baiting, it's just a movie made to reflect the times we're living in right now and I find it hard to really consider any dark comedy oscar bait since that kind of humor can be very hit and miss. The script is fantastic (and easily deserving of best adapted in my mind), and so is the acting, so it isn't the subject matter alone that the film is riding on.

As for fall releases... if I'm a filmmaker and I have a great script that I think can win awards you can bet that I want to try and have it released in the fall so it gets noticed. This doesn't mean I'm oscar baiting, it just means I have to work within the system to try and get my film noticed. I'm particularly impressed with what The Hurt Locker has done considering it was a limited summer release.

This is all I'll say on the matter, since we aren't really talking about Avatar anymore :lol
 
XMonkey said:
This is all I'll say on the matter, since we aren't really talking about Avatar anymore :lol

Eh, like all long-running threads, we get off-topic and then find our way back.

This thread is always entertaining for that reason.

That's how we roll 'round here.
 
And this has been a long thread. Damn. So much history in this thread already. Go back and read your hype to first reviews released, your own impressions. Yeesh.
 
So a lot of rumors are going around that Avatar will release on DVD and Blu-Ray (single disc, no added scenes, bare bone) on April 22nd. James Cameron is apparently spear heading this release day due to it being Earth Day.
 
Somnia said:
So a lot of rumors are going around that Avatar will release on DVD and Blu-Ray (single disc, no added scenes, bare bone) on April 22nd. James Cameron is apparently spear heading this release day due to it being Earth Day.
Cameron said so himself in an interview recently
 
Scullibundo said:
And this has been a long thread. Damn. So much history in this thread already. Go back and read your hype to first reviews released, your own impressions. Yeesh.

GhaleonEB ran out of adjectives around 50 pages in.

The re-supply never arrived either.

:(
 
zoom29 said:
Just notice there is a DOME theater, how would Avatar look like there?

I imagine there is a screen that isn't dome shaped in there that's playing Avatar, I can't watching it on a ceiling for 2 1/2 hours...
 
Obligatory LOLAVADAH post.

I'm kind of sad that it didn't win, The Hurt Locker didn't deserve it. I thought the movie was great but it was worse than Avatar. If Basterds had taken it... oh well.

Still, I wonder if the haters will stream in.
 
Dresden said:
Obligatory LOLAVADAH post.

I'm kind of sad that it didn't win, The Hurt Locker didn't deserve it. I thought the movie was great but it was worse than Avatar. If Basterds had taken it... oh well.

Still, I wonder if the haters will stream in.
:lol :lol :lol :lol blue people
 
I gotta say I'm really surprised Avatar didn't win the best picture Oscar or best director Oscar, I tuned in to the last part of the show, in part just to see Cameron's acceptance speech and Bam nothing...
 
Alphahawk said:
I gotta say I'm really surprised Avatar didn't win the best picture Oscar or best director Oscar, I tuned in to the last part of the show, in part just to see Cameron's acceptance speech and Bam nothing...
I'm happy that The Hurt Locker won for best picture since it's definitely a better movie than Avatar, but I think Cameron should have won for Best Director.
 
Tigel said:
I'm happy that The Hurt Locker won for best picture since it's definitely a better movie than Avatar, but I think Cameron should have won for Best Director.

The fundamental problem that Cameron may have been facing was a lack of understanding regarding the filming technology Avatar used.

On the surface, it seemed like a lot (most?) of it was CG and, generally speaking, you wouldn't consider a Pixar-esque film director for the top honor because they aren't generally thought to drawing full, emotive performances from their cast. This technology is different in that respect in that the full performances ARE being given and then overlayed with a CG coating.

Having said that, ultimately, I think the rather pedestrian story and writing of Avatar were it's limitations and, while a technological marvel, the cause of it's downfall towards winning best picture and best director...
 
I'm ashamed to say that The Hurt Locker had no impact on me whatsoever. I would have given it to Avatar because, as Kevin Smith says, "This motherfucker changed the game! From now on there is only one movie and its name is AVATARRRR!"
 
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