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Avatar: Movie Review
Neoavatara ^ | December 18, 2009 | Neoavatara

Posted on 12/18/2009 7:15:12 AM PST by Neoavatara

ames Cameron decade long production of Avatar finally came to the big screen on Friday. With the cutting edge technology and 3D special effects, Cameron tried to bring the alien world of Pandora from his mind's eye to the movie theater.

(Excerpt) Read more at neoavatara.com ...


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment; Society; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: 3d; avatar; hollywood; jamescameron; moviereview; propaganda
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It’s “Dances with Blues”

It’s a Kevin Costner epic film without Kevin Costner.


81 posted on 12/20/2009 6:49:25 AM PST by libertarian27 (Land of the FEE, home of the SHAMED)
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To: Neoavatara

Like your site & loved the movie.. thanks


82 posted on 12/20/2009 7:14:24 AM PST by DollyCali (Don't tell God how big your storm is...Tell the storm how big your God is!)
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To: supremedoctrine

I dont agree. I think it will be very impressive in the box office both here & in foreign markets. Once the residuals are in & the DVD sales done, I think there will be a nice little profit on the table. Time will tell. OUr movie houses (24 plex) are always packed. Parking difficult. People are doing movies rather than trips in this economy I have noted. A lot cheaper & less time & little wear & tear on car.

The industry just posted its best year ever


83 posted on 12/20/2009 7:17:27 AM PST by DollyCali (Don't tell God how big your storm is...Tell the storm how big your God is!)
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To: aruanan

True, I haven’t seen the movie. But a prediction can be based on lots of things. And the ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of a movie, or play, is based on lots of things, box office receipts among them. In my world, hundreds of movies made for a fraction of what Avatar cost to make, will always stand higher............basically, include in that category, uh, say, any movie made for under 50 million dollars, which might still be the great majority of films made anywhere in the world. In the world of AVATAR, however, megaproductions like AVATAR aim to be nothing if not a ‘shock and awe’ worldwide phenomena, and they expect that gross receipts will exceed what they read in the tea leaves, as they , eyes closed, broke the ribbons at the hundred million and twohundred million dollar mark.

No, I don’t have to see Avatar, whose ‘message’ I am told,
embodies just about every puerile Leftist conceit still getting face- or screen-time in the culture. I don’t have to see AVATAR to know what it is and what its carefully sold ‘appeal’ is, and to what audiences it appeals.
Stuff like AVATAR is interesting as a cultural phenomenon , ultimately, rather than an abiding example of cinematic art.
AVATAR seems like a dare, an envelope pushing expansion of cinematic “form”. You can have it. Everything I know about life and art tells me not to waste my money, OR my time.


84 posted on 12/20/2009 7:22:37 AM PST by supremedoctrine
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To: Neoavatara

I didn’t think it was all predictable Neo.(although some was) I had a few surprises & kept waiting for magic trees (like LOTR?) to join the battle! or departed spirits (like Pirates of Caribbean)

The colors were amazing. The manager at the movie said they are almost always sold out in the 3Ds but the 2D is half filled.

I really wish only those who saw the movie actually would chime in.. not those who are moralizing etc to others about something they aren’t interested in.

There are a lot of Tiger, football, Obama, Healthcare threads available for those who do NOT like cinema & think it is a waste of time & money. I have enjoyed Cinema since childhood.

I recall one thread in which someone .. who is a regualar at bashing most movies.. said they would not waste their hard earned money on this a movie. Upon further questioning it appears they had not wasted their hard earned money at any movie for 18 years - other than renting.

Maybe there should be an ongoing thread titled: I HATE MOVIES & DON’T SPEND MONEY THERE?

Have a great weekend all.. Football today, snowman making for many & Christmas preps for most. God Bless! dolly


85 posted on 12/20/2009 7:28:41 AM PST by DollyCali (Don't tell God how big your storm is...Tell the storm how big your God is!)
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To: cerberus; malkee

I enjoyed Titantic also .. saw it many times at theater & own the DVD.

(and I am over 60 Malkee)

okay, gotta fly out here & get busy.


86 posted on 12/20/2009 7:31:53 AM PST by DollyCali (Don't tell God how big your storm is...Tell the storm how big your God is!)
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To: DollyCali

I’ll probably go see Smurf Guarnica this afternoon - I enjoy movies; the good and the bad.

Still, can’t wait for this little sci fi gem to come out. “Iron Sky”: Nazis flee to the moon in Hitler’s secret haunebu, chill for a few generations, then re-invade Earth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KEueJnsu80


87 posted on 12/20/2009 7:32:24 AM PST by InternetTuffGuy
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To: aruanan

AMEN


88 posted on 12/20/2009 7:34:18 AM PST by DollyCali (Don't tell God how big your storm is...Tell the storm how big your God is!)
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To: aruanan
My family asked to go see this movie so I took them and saw it. I took Cameron at his word when he said he has had the idea for this movie for the last 15 years. Should have known better. The entire movie was one big Bush hit piece, with phrases like "shock and awe", "pre-emptive strike", "winning hearts and minds", "daisy cutter", "fighting terror", and many more peppered throughout. Dont take my word for it?

Let's see what Cameron had to say about it at the London opening:

From the Times Online:

Cameron said yesterday that the theme was not the main point of Avatar, but added that Americans had a “moral responsibility” to understand the impact that their country’s recent military campaigns had had.

“We went down a path that cost several hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives. I don’t think the American people even know why it was done. So it’s all about opening your eyes.”

After the Na’vi homes collapse in flames the landscape is coated in ash and floating embers in scenes reminiscent of Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks.

Cameron, who was born in Canada, said yesterday that he had been “surprised at how much it did look like September 11. I didn’t think that was necessarily a bad thing”.

Referring to the “shock and awe” sequence, he said: “We know what it feels like to launch the missiles. We don’t know what it feels like for them to land on our home soil, not in America. I think there’s a moral responsibility to understand that.

Dude, this guy is sick. So before you continue attacking everyone who has a differing viewpoint of this piece of trash, how about doing a little research about the real meaning of this abomination. I wish I had, before handing over my hard earned dollars to this loon.

89 posted on 12/20/2009 7:39:52 AM PST by flair2000
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To: BradyLS
...to the point where Jake and Nateri mate...

Let me guess... in the back seat of a car a la _Titanic_? Thanks for the heads up as to the family friendliness of this film.

If they're mercenaries, which the movie goes to pains to state, let's hear some foreign military idioms to round out the force as "from Earth" and not "from America." The French Foreign Legion has some, I'll bet.

And don't forget that the name of the "mercenary group" in the movie was SecFor, a direct take-off from US military jargon. As to why no foreign military idioms were used, the answer lies in the nature of propaganda and how a propaganda film "constructs" its target. And it's pretty obvious what the target is here; you don't have to be a hippy-dippy with pinko leanings to get the message.

I wouldn't have wanted to see Reifenstahl's _Triumph des Willens_ until after the Nazis were soundly deafeated in '45; looks like I might have a looong wait before I would feel right about watching this "Al-Gore-Seal-of-Approval" piece of sh.. I mean, work.

90 posted on 12/20/2009 8:00:26 AM PST by Poe White Trash (Wake up!)
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To: libertarian27

If you read the press releases, Cameron admits that “Dances with Wolves” was an inspiration for “Avatar.” No surprise there.


91 posted on 12/20/2009 8:03:49 AM PST by Poe White Trash (Wake up!)
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To: Poe White Trash
Let me guess... in the back seat of a car a la _Titanic_? Thanks for the heads up as to the family friendliness of this film.

I have to admit, I thought the scene itself was sensitively handled. And when it happens, it's a logical conclusion to everything that happens before it. I'll only say that there is zero pre-marital sex in the movie and no real hint of sex at all until then.

However, that scene and a couple of others where the Na'vi's homes are destroyed was enough for me to warn my brother that he and his wife should screen it before taking their kids.

And don't forget that the name of the "mercenary group" in the movie was SecFor, a direct take-off from US military jargon. As to why no foreign military idioms were used, the answer lies in the nature of propaganda and how a propaganda film "constructs" its target.

There's enough of the cynic in me to understand that, to make 20th Century Fox Corp.'s money back, a lot of tickets will have to be sold overseas. Nobody outside the US minds if the Americans want to beat themselves up in a block-buster movie, so that's not an angle that would block ticket sales.

Still and all, I'd recommend it to any adult who is even curious about it. (Just tired of the same ol' targets and cut-out characters in these movies.) If folks don't want Cameron getting their money, just accept an invitation to watch it with friends or family who offer to show it when it finally hits the DVD stands.

92 posted on 12/20/2009 8:44:28 AM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: DollyCali
The colors were amazing. The manager at the movie said they are almost always sold out in the 3Ds but the 2D is half filled.

I've seen at least three 3-D films in the last couple of years: Beowulf, the new Christmas Carol, and now Avatar. I have a "lazy eye", so 3-D is largely lost on me. Loved the movie, but would suggest to anyone that wants a seat now and to save a few bucks to go to a 2-D showing. Come to think of it, I'd suggest seeing the movie in a theater with a great sound system over 3-D if there is a choice between the two!

93 posted on 12/20/2009 8:55:18 AM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: flair2000

Man, I wasn’t even aware that Cameron said those words! He sounds exactly the way Lucas did when “Revenge of the Sith” came out back in ‘05. That line is old, easy to tell, and easy to sell because it gets said over and over...and over!


94 posted on 12/20/2009 9:05:19 AM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: Neoavatara
Well the preliminary opening numbers don't bode well for this being anywhere the hit this movie needs to even break even.
Avatar needs to gross about $800 to break even and the domestic gross so far is about $72 Million. Not a stellar opening for a picture with the Hype it has had.
Looks like Tax write-offs next year for Fox and Partners.
95 posted on 12/20/2009 10:06:12 AM PST by Captain Peter Blood
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To: Neoavatara; aruanan
Watched it in Kenya ...going to watch it again. Wow! Totally different from what the many 'critics' on this thread (who trashed it without watching it) said. A great movie through and through. It is not anti capitalist (saying so would be like claiming Saddam was only being a capitalist wheb he invaded Kuwait!!!!). It is an amazing movie, and in the same way that the early patriots in the colonies fought against the British, so happens here. Oh wait ...those brave Americans were merely 'anti capitalist' when they stood up against the King's Dominion....right?

Bollocks.

It is a great movie, and an instant classic.

96 posted on 12/20/2009 10:58:27 AM PST by spetznaz (Nuclear-tipped Ballistic Missiles: The Ultimate Phallic Symbol)
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To: spetznaz

Just saw it. It was good. Yeah the “white guilt” is going to be uncomfortable for some, but it’s just a movie. Sit back and enjoy it. Some people were freaked out about another utopian, cliche ridden-movie called “Lost Horizon” in 1937.

The plot was pure adult-swim anime, but the effects were more impressive than Jurassic Park.


97 posted on 12/20/2009 1:11:00 PM PST by InternetTuffGuy
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To: spetznaz
It is not anti capitalist (saying so would be like claiming Saddam was only being a capitalist wheb he invaded Kuwait!!!!). It is an amazing movie, and in the same way that the early patriots in the colonies fought against the British, so happens here. Oh wait ...those brave Americans were merely 'anti capitalist' when they stood up against the King's Dominion....right?

You really must be kidding us. Adam Smith didn't even publish Wealth of Nations until 1776. Colonial grievances against George III were building long before that. Excessive taxation without representation was what set off the War of American Independence.

Religiously, culturally, and politically we were the same as any Englishman: Practiced Christianity, celebrated Christmas and Easter with them, drank the health of the same King and served under his colors. Only we wanted our voice heard in Parliament, too, and fought to go our own way when they wouldn't let us have it.

Do FReepers a favor and don't even draw that comparison.

98 posted on 12/20/2009 2:04:36 PM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: aruanan; BradyLS; flair2000
The plot didn't fail. This should be obvious if you had bothered to watch the movie.

Okay, we get it. Based on all of your comments, you think this was the greatest action movie since Spielberg made Saving Private Ryan. But I'm not so sure that you read the commentary of James Cameron as quoted in The Times, posted by Freeper flair2000:

The Times:

Cameron said yesterday that the theme was not the main point of Avatar, but added that Americans had a “moral responsibility” to understand the impact that their country’s recent military campaigns had had. “We went down a path that cost several hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives. I don’t think the American people even know why it was done. So it’s all about opening your eyes.”

After the Na’vi homes collapse in flames the landscape is coated in ash and floating embers in scenes reminiscent of Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks. Cameron, who was born in Canada, said yesterday that he had been “surprised at how much it did look like September 11. I didn’t think that was necessarily a bad thing”. Referring to the “shock and awe” sequence, he said: “We know what it feels like to launch the missiles. We don’t know what it feels like for them to land on our home soil, not in America. I think there’s a moral responsibility to understand that."

Also, I think you may have missed Spielberg's remarks after Revenge of the Jedi. And the elegant evisceration of that partisan left-wing Hollywood slant by Freeper BradyLS:

Post by BradyLS

So you see, others can recognize that while the film was a masterpiece of animation technology, the plot was so burdened with left-wing partisanship that it sucked.

No, I haven't seen it. But my comment referred to previous cameron films I've seen. Unless he talks the left-wing talk and walks the left-wing walk, he'll be blackballed in Hollywood (or, at the very least pigeonholed) by the likes of Spielberg, Rob Reiner, Lucas etc.

99 posted on 12/20/2009 5:25:53 PM PST by Philo1962 (Iraq is terrorist flypaper. They go there to die.)
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To: aruanan
I'm guessing that you're someone who hasn't bothered to see the movie and wants to make a comment QUICKLY before your reason for it dies.

My comment was based on a pattern I've seen in other movies. It was a guess, and I said as much.

100 posted on 12/20/2009 7:09:37 PM PST by TChris ("Hello", the politician lied.)
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