James Cameron's "Avatar"

Apparently Cameron seriously considered casting Michael Biehn as the colonel in Avatar and having him scarred and unnamed implying that he's actually Corporal Hicks from Aliens and Alien 3 never happened (a lot of the technology etc in Avatar is reminiscent of the Colonial Marines in Aliens whilst Michelle Rodrigeuz's character is a dead ringer for Vasquez). In the end he decided against it because him and Sigourney in the same movie would be too much for most people to buy. Shame!

Beat the Gibson movie.

Beat the rom-com Kristin Bell movie.

Still No. 1.

Still over 30 million dollars for a weekend.

Dear John.

damned teenage girls.

Yeah, it's those damned teenage girls that first put Cameron in the billion dollar club in the first place with Titanic.

Interesting article on the environmental angle of Avatar, which bored me to tears.

Cameron battled Fox over green theme

The Two Towers
The Birds
Jurassic Park
The Day After Tomorrow
The Host
Godzilla
Ferngully
The Perfect Storm
you know what: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_eco-horror_films

And that's going off the top of my head.

I guess Cameron doesn't get out to the movies much these days.

Palestinians = The Na'vi?

Protesters take on blue hue

We've probably said just about all there is to say about Avatar, pending any Oscars it may or may not win. But I thought it would be interesting to note that, by the end of February, Avatar will have earned more money worldwide than all three Star Wars prequels combined.

i was just gonna write more about avatar but now i'm getting shy have we really said it all already?

It still amazes me to see this movie on the box office charts raking in a few million, after all the success it has already garnered.

You would have thought every person in the world would have seen it by now, right?

Fresh perspectives on the mega-hit. Four Avatar FAILS according to one writer.

Trouble on Pandora

So the four biggest failures of the movie are things beyond the movie itself???

Yes, but I think it either shows: a) that the movie isn't as 'popular' as people think and the expensive tickets are what got it where it's at or b) outside of the plot there are even crappier parts to Avatar.

That aside my issue is with a critique of a film that doesn't actually critique a film...

Yeah, that is pretty trigged.

And when you adjust the box office for inflation, by the end of the weekend, it should be #15 all time. In the last 30 years only 4 other movies have grossed higher, and only 7 in the last 40. By the time all is said and done, it should overtake Return of the Jedi which will mean, only 3 in the last 30 and 6 in the last 40. That's a damn impressive box office run.

All Tim adjusted for inflation

The musical score really is one of Avatar's few weaknesses as a film. It doesn't have anything remotely comparable to the iconic score of the original Star Wars or even the not quite so iconic Titanic score. It's nearly impossible to overestimate the role John Williams' programmatic orchestral scores had in the success of movies like Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and it's frankly surprising that a film as good as Avatar doesn't have the music to match.

does anyone have a good reading on why the na'vi call the invaders 'dreamwalker'?

Because the human driving the Avatar is essentially asleep and dreaming when in the Avatar body.

oh...! i must have understood it as a name for all humans. thanks a lot.

This was Cameron's master stroke as it relates to the essence of what cinema is...to me, many movies are "dreams" on some level.

When a movie is working and completely engaging an audience's attention, it's as if the audience is "asleep" and experiencing the dream within the frame. Cameron bumps this up a notch by having his main character experience his adventure in a dream state, duplicating the audience's experience of watching it. And for the 3D viewers, even more so.

That's the first thing I noticed when I heard the story and for me it's the most interesting aspect of Avatar. Very crafty Mr. Cameron.

All of the greatest filmmakers have always been interested in the subconscious relationship between the audience and the film, people such as Hitchcock and David Lynch.

It's nearly impossible to overestimate the role John Williams' programmatic orchestral scores had in the success of movies like Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and it's frankly surprising that a film as good as Avatar doesn't have the music to match.

Truer words were never written. It's also nearly impossible to imagine Lucas and Spielberg's career without the contribution of John Williams.

How John Williams scores a film

i thought it's a comment on what is real as well. pretty explicitly so, when jake begins to feel that what his avatar goes through is more real.
jake's experience seems to mirror that of some fans who felt that they wanted to live on pandora and became depressed over its lack of availability.

i think there is an interesting discussion to be had somewhere there but i cannot put my finger on it quite yet.