Avatar 2

[Digby]

lol, so what does that make rightwingers? Emotionless robots or worse, humans who get high on suffering?
Yes, the movies are OTT popcorn movies but we actually are a really OTT destructive species too. Without humans life on this planet would flourish, instead we are the ones causing mass extinction, and yes it's for profit. Maybe there is something to actually learn here?

Let's not get carried away with ourselves (the political aspect of all this). There are better films about not damaging the ecology of the planet; even Ferngully, which was mentioned upthread, does a better job of this than Avatar.

When I see a film, I don't want to be preached to. If I wanted that, I'd go to a lecture or a sermon. I want to be entertained or, better yet, enthralled. If there is a moral aspect to the film and it can be incorporated without being patronising or damaging the story, all the better. If the ONLY aspect of the film is saying things better said in lectures or sermons, then I'm checking out.

P.S The Sci-Fi film I really enjoyed about our environment and why it is worth concerning ourselves with is Silent Running. Not patronising, not heavy handed and a good story to boot. I recommend it to those that haven't seen it.

 

[Bleib]

Let's not get carried away with ourselves (the political aspect of all this). There are better films about not damaging the ecology of the planet; even Ferngully, which was mentioned upthread, does a better job of this than Avatar.

When I see a film, I don't want to be preached to. If I wanted that, I'd go to a lecture or a sermon. I want to be entertained or, better yet, enthralled. If there is a moral aspect to the film and it can be incorporated without being patronising or damaging the story, all the better. If the ONLY aspect of the film is saying things better said in lectures or sermons, then I'm checking out.

P.S The Sci-Fi film I really enjoyed about our environment and why it is worth concerning ourselves with is Silent Running. Not patronising, not heavy handed and a good story to boot. I recommend it to those that haven't seen it.

The bad guys are such stereotypes that it should not be possible to see yourselves in them and thus not patronized either.
The sad thing as that a lot of those who should get a message from this movie actually continue to vote in certain ways which ends up shortening their actual lives.

A movie like Dark Waters which is more grounded in reality will be seen by far fewer people and even fewer of those who will see it will care. Sadly it is easy to say that humans are quite stobbornly stupid and self-destructive, especially if they are told it hurts the economy which often just means it hurts the upper class who should take far more responsibility.

 

[Blumlein 88]

The bad guys are such stereotypes that it should not be possible to see yourselves in them and thus not patronized either.
The sad thing as that a lot of those who should get a message from this movie actually continue to vote in certain ways which ends up shortening their actual lives.

A movie like Dark Waters which is more grounded in reality will be seen by far fewer people and even fewer of those who will see it will care. Sadly it is easy to say that humans are quite stobbornly stupid and self-destructive, especially if they are told it hurts the economy which often just means it hurts the upper class who should take far more responsibility.

Thumbs down .

 

[Bleib]

Thumbs down .

Yeah, reality sucks. Even making that movie made things worse.
And here we are a page which supposedly embraces science. Bah, let's embrace fairy tales, because we never actually grow up.
And this viewpoint is of course more common in countries that are the major polluters, the major consumers.

 

[Digby]

Dude, it is a pretty, if we take away the fancy visuals, average film at best. IMO it is dross. The message may be a good one, but what is the film like as a film, rather than a propaganda piece?

Do you really think the majority of the people that saw it thought about the environment for more than 15 minutes afterwards? Those of us inclined to think about these things are doing it anyway and most of us would appreciate something a bit more, uh, intellectually stimulating than Avatar. This doesn't necessarily mean a Ingmar Bergman style film about the environment, but just something that treats me like an educated adult (and with a decent story) would do the trick.

 

[Bleib]

Dude, it is a pretty, if we take away the fancy visuals, average film at best. IMO it is dross. The message may be a good one, but what is the film like as a film, rather than a propaganda piece?

Do you really think the majority of the people that saw it thought about the environment for more than 15 minutes afterwards? Those of us inclined to think about these things are doing it anyway and most of us would appreciate something a bit more, uh, intellectually stimulating than Avatar. This doesn't necessarily mean a Ingmar Bergman style film about the environment, but just something that treats me like an educated adult (and with a decent story) would do the trick.

How is one film propaganda and not what media and most parties feed us? Which is looking out after corporate interests at first.
At least Cameron has some credibility as he spends so much time in the ocean.

 

[Digby]

I'm sure it is, but you're going off at tangents a bit. I am concerned whether it is a good film. I don't think it is and have had the misfortune of having to sit through it twice, which is two times too many for me.

I have seen other films that have been excellent with a very similar message. It is possible to make a good film while retaining an important 'message'.

 

[Sal1950]

I hear folks trying to read all sort of meaning into this film???
All I did was have a hell of a lot of fun.

 

[GXAlan]

I hear folks trying to read all sort of meaning into this film???
All I did was have a hell of a lot of fun.

Agreed and so did $1.7B worth of movie goers.

If you make a movie with a deep storyline, it’s not going to appeal to “everyone”. To make a big budget movie, you basically have to make a movie that appeals to Democrats, Republicans, men, women, non-binary individuals, Boomers, Gen Z, etc.

That’s the challenge of threading the needle and admittedly why James Cameron is pretty good at what he does. He has to make sure that no one is 100% happy but still make sure that everyone is at least 50% happy.

 

[Gibsonian]

Most folks could care less about the environment, just give me a 65" screen with my soda and fries.

I've yet to see the movie, hope it is similarly good as the original, which carried a similar message, those that destroy the environment are dicks. I'll watch it no matter the reviews here.

 

[Digby]

All I did was have a hell of a lot of fun.

It takes all sorts, Sal.

If you make a movie with a deep storyline, it’s not going to appeal to “everyone”. To make a big budget movie, you basically have to make a movie that appeals to Democrats, Republicans, men, women, non-binary individuals, Boomers, Gen Z, etc.

and today, Chinese, Indians, Papua New Guineans. This is probably more the reason you cannot have anything more than puddle deep in Hollywood, it has to translate to so many different languages/cultures.

That’s the challenge of threading the needle and admittedly why James Cameron is pretty good at what he does. He has to make sure that no one is 100% happy but still make sure that everyone is at least 50% happy.

He has made good films, it is within him. Avatar is no Terminator 2 or Titanic (his last good film?)

 

[GXAlan]

This is probably more the reason you cannot have anything more than puddle deep in Hollywood, it has to translate to so many different languages/cultures.

Agreed. You still can have controversial films — they just cannot be tentpoles with big budgets. In a way, Top Gun Maverick is puddle deep but it shows that you can make a big blockbuster that ignores China.

He has made good films, it is within him. Avatar is no Terminator 2 or Titanic (his last good film?)

I think *he* enjoys Avatar, which all that really matters. Imagine being in his position. You love the ocean and tech for tech’s sake. You get to play with someone else’s money…

They did all sorts of cool stuff like UV light for their underwater mo-cap beads instead of IR.

I agree that his older films were better — but T2 is rated R and just doesn’t have the mainstream appeal. Titanic will always be his pinnacle, but it’s unreasonable to expect an “athlete” to perform as well in the tail end of a career as opposed to their peak.

Based upon the roadmap that has been leaked it will be interesting. So far, we have only seen the N’avi as good guys and humans as mostly bad guys. But the leaks say that you’ll start to see the dark side of the N’avi in future films.

 

[mhardy6647]

Speaking of movies and their motives -- I've always thought that Titanic was a great example of brilliance in movie conception
It's a soppy romance and an action/disaster movie at the same time! Will appeal to men and women at the same time, for diametrically different reasons!
... and Celine Dion for everyone else!!!

 

[Newman]

<<sigh>>

 

[RenSong]

Fun film, amazing visuals, kinda corny, definitely worth the 3D tickets. This isn't Apocalypse Now and I don't expect it to be.

 

[Sal1950]

Titanic (his last good film?)

??? We're all different, I thought Titanic sucked, the ultimate chick-flix.

It's a soppy romance and an action/disaster movie at the same time!

That's calling a spade a spade. LOL

Top Gun Maverick is puddle deep

If I wanted something "deep", I'd go to our big swimming pool.

 

[Digby]

??? We're all different, I thought Titanic sucked, the ultimate chick-flix.

If I wanted something "deep", I'd go to our big swimming pool.

Sal, you're like the archetype of the All American Boomer and I love it . Seriously, we can always count on you to cut to the chase and tell it like it is. It's great, never change!

 

[Keith_W]

??? We're all different, I thought Titanic sucked, the ultimate chick-flix.

I agree, Titanic was awful. The best part of Titanic was watching a frozen and dead Di Caprio sink into the ocean. There were sobs in the audience but I wanted to cheer.

 

[birdog1960]

I thought Titanic was ok entertainment. But here's one to jump on: Beauty and the Beast. The animated version is better imo but the recorded play is very good especially with Emma Watson as Belle. She's over 21 now so I guess it's ok to say that.

 

[Sal1950]

Avatar - 'Way of the Water' is raining money for everyone involved.
It is currently the biggest IMAX release ever in 44 countries including South Korea, Mexico, and Denmark.'The Way of Water' is currently the biggest IMAX release ever in 44 countries including South Korea, Mexico, and Denmark.
Avatar 2 tops box office numbers for fifth week in a row.
Here's hoping 3 and 4 will do more of the same!

https://collider.com/avatar-the-way-of-water-imax-global-box-office-214-million/