[QuickTidal]

Gorefest, on 16 February 2023 - 03:10 PM, said:

Problem is that the story so far isn't exactly what pulls crowds to the cinema for this, so if 1 and 2 already are not able to entice on a story-level, why would people keep coming back for more? Just because Cameron claims he has a cool reveal in film 5 that dropped a Disney exec's pants off? Sounds like a weak draw. "Honest, guys, just hang in, I've got something cooking three films down the line."

I mean, gestures broadly at "James Cameron's sterling filmography of CONSTANT success and box office gold"...the man is responsible for like 3 of the top 5 films of all time for "draw".

People naysayed any AVATAR sequels AT ALL and wrote this one off as probably a bomb that "no one wanted"...and it's currently on its way to unseating its predecessor in the top spot of all time...so I don't think "weak draw" is how I'd term anything to do with this franchise just because some vocal people out there don't care for simple stories.

[Mezla PigDog]

QuickTidal, on 16 February 2023 - 01:32 PM, said:

Mezla PigDog, on 16 February 2023 - 06:44 AM, said:

I saw Avatar 2 yesterday as well. IMAX 3D. The story was so weak.

This is such a strange take to me.

It's a simple, but engaging story about family and unity and belonging, while also fitting in the notion that the humans have not given up on grinding resources out of the planet. Is it simplistic? Maybe. But heartwarming goes a long way in my books I guess.

I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it. I shed a tear at the end but the Do You Cry thread will show you that doesn't mean a lot. But there are nice stories and then there are plots that blow you away and keep you guessing.

[QuickTidal]

Mezla PigDog, on 16 February 2023 - 06:13 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 16 February 2023 - 01:32 PM, said:

Mezla PigDog, on 16 February 2023 - 06:44 AM, said:

I saw Avatar 2 yesterday as well. IMAX 3D. The story was so weak.

This is such a strange take to me.

It's a simple, but engaging story about family and unity and belonging, while also fitting in the notion that the humans have not given up on grinding resources out of the planet. Is it simplistic? Maybe. But heartwarming goes a long way in my books I guess.

I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it. I shed a tear at the end but the Do You Cry thread will show you that doesn't mean a lot. But there are nice stories and then there are plots that blow you away and keep you guessing.

I think that James Cameron has figured out the sweet spot between overly complex narratives and simplistic ones that resonate with a much wider audience than might do otherwise, if that makes sense?

Like BLADE RUNNER 2049 is one of the finest written films of the last decade (maybe even the BEST), it's complex and poignant, and just a really stunning achievement in moviemaking...but you wouldn't know it from the box office receipts. As such I think the broader audiences just respond to stuff like this where it's a dazzling spectacle and is simply not asking a lot of the viewer on a complexity/story level.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 16 February 2023 - 06:40 PM

[Mezla PigDog]

I know what you mean. It is a real skill. And his technical skills are amazing. As a movie fan I prefer to live in a world where these movies exist than they don't.

Also, as a fan of the James Cameron back catalogue did you enjoy the call backs to Titanic? And the youngest Sully kid goes down a chute and screams in precisely the way Newt does in Aliens when she falls down a vent because Vasquez blows up herself and Gorman.

[QuickTidal]

Mezla PigDog, on 16 February 2023 - 07:16 PM, said:

Also, as a fan of the James Cameron back catalogue did you enjoy the call backs to Titanic? And the youngest Sully kid goes down a chute and screams in precisely the way Newt does in Aliens when she falls down a vent because Vasquez blows up herself and Gorman.

Indeed, and not just Titanic, every single one of his previous movies is repped in some way in AVATAR 2:

A list....probably not all:

Spoiler

Spaceships burning the forest/Sarah’s nuclear nightmare (Terminator 2)

Raid on the maglev train/Fighters destroying the bridge (True Lies)

Spider trying to smash the interrogation room window with a chair/Helen trying to smash the interrogation room window with a chair (True Lies)

Anything with the recombinants/Marine banter (Aliens)

Humans in exosuits/Powerloader (Aliens)

Tsireya to Lo’ak “I see you”/ Jack to Rose “I see you” (Titanic)

Sinking of the sea dragon/Sinking of the Titanic (Titanic)

Lo’ak and Kiri (I think - I forget)climbing to escape the sinking/Jack and Rose climbing to the top of Titanic (Titanic)

Tuk slipping away from Neytiri/Newt slipping away from Ripley (Aliens)

Seeing the dead humans in the wreckage of the sea dragon/seeing the dead crew on the wreckage of the Montana (The Abyss)

Lo’ak and Jake trapped in the flooding sea dragon/Bud and Lindsey trapped in the flooding submersible (The Abyss)

The "moon pool" escape and chains from the finale/ mirrored in the trapped good guys on the Sea Dragon the second time they get caught with a very similar opening to the sea (The Abyss)

And for good measure and an homage to a fellow filmmaker: when Lo'ak is being hunted by the shark creature, the sequence is a shot for shot storyboard match of Chrissy being chased by the shark in JAWS.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 16 February 2023 - 08:21 PM

[worry]

I watched Fall, the movie about two ladies who climb up a 2000 foot tower and get stuck. Beat for beat it's almost the exact same movie as 47 Meters Down. Which means it's pretty dopey but also kinda good at the thrills part. I have an intense fear of heights and a lot of the shots in this got me good. If you got that same issue, that'll make this movie most effective, cuz otherwise it's a pretty boilerplate survival thriller.

[Chance]

Saw it yesterday and usually I'm a harsh critic of this kind of movies (with plot holes the size of mountains), but not this time. My only serious criticism is the story which isn't all that impressive and I would have liked a about five minutes of "what the fuck?!" is happening on earth to both make it wealthy enough to launch a space armada and shitty enough to consider relocation of some part of the population, and for whatever policies think genocide of sentient aliens for fun and profit is a good idea. Rogue corporate or criminal ventures sure but obviously state sponsored and perpetrated by a "civilized" military?

All of that is more then made up for it being a stunning film, that make me hope that within a few decades more films like it can be made. It is basically the essence of fantasy taking us somewhere else and giving us an adventure tour of that place.

[QuickTidal]

Chance, on 19 February 2023 - 08:45 AM, said:

My only serious criticism is the story which isn't all that impressive and I would have liked an about five minutes of "what the fuck?!" is happening on earth to both make it wealthy enough to launch a space armada and shitty enough to consider relocation of some part of the population, and for whatever policies think genocide of sentient aliens for fun and profit is a good idea. Rogue corporate or criminal ventures sure but obviously state sponsored and perpetrated by a "civilized" military?

In the first movie it’s set out that by 2154 earth has depleted its natural resources, and the RDA is a government corporation tasked with getting the Unobtanium resource from Pandora, that mineral on earth is worth more than any other commodity earth has ever dealt in….it’s this that funds the second excursion a decade or more later, to not only set up a colony to expand from on this lush unspoiled world, but for the whale brain commodity too.

And from what I understand Neytiri will visit earth in the 3rd or 4th film where it shows that most of humanity is widely against what’s been happening, and for her to see the situation those normal citizens are in on a wasted world.

[Chance]

QuickTidal, on 19 February 2023 - 01:47 PM, said:

In the first movie it’s set out that by 2154 earth has depleted its natural resources, and the RDA is a government corporation tasked with getting the Unobtanium resource from Pandora, that mineral on earth is worth more than any other commodity earth has ever dealt in….it’s this that funds the second excursion a decade or more later, to not only set up a colony to expand from on this lush unspoiled world, but for the whale brain commodity too.

That just doesn't make sense on so many levels.

Well...i nearly started nitpicking, but I'm not doing that one this one I enjoyed it

QuickTidal, on 19 February 2023 - 01:47 PM, said:

And from what I understand Neytiri will visit earth in the 3rd or 4th film where it shows that most of humanity is widely against what’s been happening, and for her to see the situation those normal citizens are in on a wasted world.

Sounds interesting, thought I think the entire series has 99% of its current draw due to the nature animations of pandora.

This post has been edited by Chance: 19 February 2023 - 07:26 PM

[worry]

That’s an accomplishment. James Cameron has directed the greatest screensaver of all time.

[worry]

Three Thousand Years of Longing -- I thought this was really good! It's romantic, the stories are all interesting and imaginative, the visual effects are mostly good (I'd say there's standout great stuff, and standout not-so-great stuff in terms of execution). And Tilda Swinton & Idris Elba really nail their performances. It's not as good as Fury Road or Babe, but most things aren't. I dunno, the general response to this seemed pretty tepid, and I found it a lot better than that. I'd give it a B+. Like a really good, if not great, entry in the vein of The Fall or Baron Munchausen.

[Tiste Simeon]

Well, this looks suitably insane!

http://youtu.be/2NnPzpuU5ao

This post has been edited by Tiste Simeon: 27 February 2023 - 11:02 AM

[worry]

That looks like a hoot and a half.

[Mezla PigDog]

I watched The Northman.

Viking ultraviolence? Yes please.

[Tsundoku]

Mezla PigDog, on 03 March 2023 - 10:17 PM, said:

I watched The Northman.

Alexander Skarsgaard shirtless, covered in blood and sweat? Yes please.

FTFY.

[Maark Abbott]

Saw Treasure Planet the other night with wife. Now, I'm no Disney fan, but I am a huge fucking simp for anything involving galleon-looking airships of any sort. And watching it, I don't really get how or why it bombed at the box office, unless it was down to burnout on Disney stuff at the end of their revival?

Visually it ticked a lot of boxes, I enjoyed the way the story fit the space setting and quite enjoyed the characters, too.

[worry]

Treasure Planet (and for that matter Atlantis) are both pretty "underrated" as far as these things go imo.

[Tiste Simeon]

Maark Abbott, on 04 March 2023 - 07:13 AM, said:

Saw Treasure Planet the other night with wife. Now, I'm no Disney fan, but I am a huge fucking simp for anything involving galleon-looking airships of any sort. And watching it, I don't really get how or why it bombed at the box office, unless it was down to burnout on Disney stuff at the end of their revival?

Visually it ticked a lot of boxes, I enjoyed the way the story fit the space setting and quite enjoyed the characters, too.

As I understand it, things were happening at Disney at the time and the people responsible for this movie were on the other side of whatever was happening and the people who ended up in power were on the other side. Hence it never got the support that others do.

Possibly why the animation is quite different too. But yeah it's a great film. My 4 year old is obsessed with pirates so loves this one.

[Mezla PigDog]

Tsundoku, on 03 March 2023 - 11:13 PM, said:

Mezla PigDog, on 03 March 2023 - 10:17 PM, said:

I watched The Northman.

Alexander Skarsgaard shirtless, covered in blood and sweat? Yes please.

FTFY.

Now we know what Sombra's type is!

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Tiste Simeon, on 04 March 2023 - 09:01 AM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 04 March 2023 - 07:13 AM, said:

Saw Treasure Planet the other night with wife. Now, I'm no Disney fan, but I am a huge fucking simp for anything involving galleon-looking airships of any sort. And watching it, I don't really get how or why it bombed at the box office, unless it was down to burnout on Disney stuff at the end of their revival?

Visually it ticked a lot of boxes, I enjoyed the way the story fit the space setting and quite enjoyed the characters, too.

As I understand it, things were happening at Disney at the time and the people responsible for this movie were on the other side of whatever was happening and the people who ended up in power were on the other side. Hence it never got the support that others do.

Possibly why the animation is quite different too. But yeah it's a great film. My 4 year old is obsessed with pirates so loves this one.

It and Atlantis were among the first films to abandon the "muiscal" element of the Disney Renaissance. I always wondered if that hurt them a little as well, after a good decade of well-trodden formula.

I remember enjoying Atlantis but never feeling the need to watch it more than once. Treasure Planet however is a really underrated but excellent film.

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 04 March 2023 - 08:13 PM