Avatar and the Avatar Cadence (James Cameron, 2009-2028)

[Oedipax]

Amusing interview with Cameron (on the Avatar DVD and its lack of extras) in which he comes off as even more of an egomaniac than usual.

[Markson]

What a tool. His compensatory mix of self-congratulatory bluster and bitterness about not getting any major awards is bizarre. And his "reasons" about triple-dipping (at least!) on the Avatar disc are pretty lame, too.

[zedz]

Hah! So, what, he and Fox never realised that this film might, you know, have a home video release six months down the track that might benefit from some extra material? How can this clown say that sort of thing with a straight face? And expect anybody to believe that he's doing it for his audience, not as some cynical triple dippery frippery?

Actually, I'm just bitter because I bought a Mother's Day present last week and ended up with a free BluRay of this steamer. Didn't cost me a penny and I still feel ripped off!

[HarryLong]

Amusing interview with Cameron (on the Avatar DVD and its lack of extras) in which he comes off as even more of an egomaniac than usual.

I'm no fan of Cameron, but I have to applaud this:

Any movie I make that makes over a billion dollars goes out without a bunch of crap trailers for your other movies.

I'm getting a little sick of the studios' new gambit whereby you cannot get past these stinking trailers. The FF will not speed you through them. The Next Chapter button will not get you past them and pressing the Menu button has no effect. I first noticed this on the most recent Harry Potter disc & had to sit through what must have been half an hour of promos for HP merchandise & I've since encountered a few other DVDs similarly formatted.

[zedz]

Well, I have to agree with you (and, grudgingly, Cameron) on that count. My BluRays were pretty much limited to BFI, MoC and Criterion until recently, so I was surprised and chagrined to plug in a Disney disc and have to wade through acres of crap. And at least I could skip through it! If there are discs out there where this stuff is unskippable, that's appalling.

Back to the Cameron bashing - even though he's right in a limited and local sense, the reason the practice is unacceptable has nothing to do with Avatar and certainly nothing to do with it making a billion dollars. The only thing modest about this guy is his filmmaking talent.

[Zot!]

I won't bother defending Avatar, as it certainly not neglected, but he doesn't sound immodest to me, just fan-boyishly enthusiastic about his work. His remarks concerning director revisionism and advertising on purchased DVDs/Blu-Rays are very respectable, and from recent posts would resonate with forum members.

[Gregory]

I just happened across the news that the new Blu-ray and DVD releases will feature a "family audio track with all objectionable language removed." I wonder if this has been done with a high-profile release before -- it could set quite a precedent.

[Gregory]

They could follow up the family-friendly special edition with:

Avatar: The Special Edition For People Who Hated Avatar (We've hired script doctors and dubbed in all new dialogue -- please give the film another chance! And that ugly Papyrus font? Gone, we promise. Plus: hundreds more of the original film's crimes against good taste now corrected!)

'The Ultimate Intimacy': The Non-Family-Friendly Avatar SE (including the deleted sex scene and the porn spin-off)

Linked Avatar porn trailer is completely SFW, by the way.

[HarryLong]

Linked Avatar porn trailer is completely SFW, by the way.

Alas, my company's firewall does not agree...

[Polybius]

Maybe one day, if we're all good and hope hard enough, we can hear Hudson say "Well that's great, that's just doggone great, man. Now what the fudge are we supposed to do? We're in some real pretty pudding now, man... "

[MyNameCriterionForum]

They should replace each objectionable epithet with the cha-ching of a cash register.

[mfunk9786]

Cameron shooting three sequels simultaneously.

[HistoryProf]

Double You Tee Eff.

[MichaelB]

Am I the only one who'd bust a gut laughing if Avatar 2 turned out to be a calamitous flop?

I suspect not.

[Cold Bishop]

Especially since it'll be 2015/6 until the sequel's released. Still, it's too much to dream for.

[Alan Smithee]

Oh man could this possibly be worse than the Matrix sequels?

[Matt]

Considering the first Matrix was actually a good movie, I'd say it's already got a head start.

(Full disclosure: I've seen a total of 5 minutes, tops, of Avatar.)

[Roger Ryan]

Considering the first Matrix was actually a good movie, I'd say it's already got a head start.

(Full disclosure: I've seen a total of 5 minutes, tops, of Avatar.)

Having seen all of AVATAR and in all dimensions, I can't imagine how three additional films (9 hours?!) could be dedicated to such a banal, hackneyed premise. AVATAR has nothing like the cyberpunk philosophy of THE MATRIX to exploit nor even the political machinations of the STAR WARS prequels to stitch a story to. Cameron is going to have to come up with a completely new story/conflict just to get the first sequel made; more LAST OF THE MOHICANS or FERNGULLY is not going to cut it.

[colinr0380]

That in a way is why I perhaps naively hope the sequels might be better, since the plot will need to go into different areas. Although I thought that about the Pirates of the Caribbean films and look how they turned out. Maybe the Na'vi could meet the Engineers from Prometheus and realise the pointlessness of existence and of living in harmony with their environment?

[Max von Mayerling]

Predator vs. Aliens vs. Na'vi vs. Engineers vs. Avengers vs. Hobbits?

[domino harvey]

The second sequel is actually another Spiderman reboot

[flyonthewall2983]

Roger Dean suing James Cameron, rightly so.

[mfunk9786]

Do you have some examples of why you'd say this he's in the right?

[flyonthewall2983]

Here's a start. And a brief article with interviews from Dean and production designer Robert Stromberg.

[hearthesilence]

Awesome. Not a Yes fan, but I'd much rather sit through five straight listens of Fragile than Avatar. That pile of s- probably did more harm to cinema than anything else in the past 5 years. Meanwhile, media companies have finally wised up, albeit too late. Good riddance to 3D.