I'm banning the word "Avatards" pre-emptively

[cleolinda]

So. Tired in a very lazy, self-indulgent way. I don't know if it's the holidays or the birthdays or what, but I've got to get over this dragginess--however pleasant it might be at the moment--at some point. I am, however, going to see Avatar on Sunday, and am working on some kind of zen meditation to rope off my EXTREME WEARINESS of the hype I've been hearing for an actual, literal year about how this will CHANGE THE WAY MOVIES ARE MADE. I don't know which way they mean, but if involves 3-D becoming the standard movie format I'm going to be pissed off, because it gives me headaches like whoa, and keep in mind that I have to balance those damn glasses on top of my real ones. I'm afraid to ask what other ways they might mean, because so far, "Huge effects spectacle with an overly familiar story and clichéd dialogue," "The nation divided into warring tribes of Fanboys and Haters," and "Would you like fries with your topless Neytiri figure?" kind of seem like business as usual.

@cleolinda: RT @flickchart: Director Michael Mann said of AVATAR: "There's before this movie, and after this movie."

@cleolinda: RT @flickchart: Spielberg quoted on AVATAR: "The last time I came out of a movie feeling that way was the first time I saw Star Wars."

@cleolinda: People, you realize now that I'm not going to be impressed unless Avatar delivers orgasms AND hot fudge sundaes. Knock it off.

@cleolinda: @jamevph The only thing more obnoxious than the hype would be if the movie actually turned out to be that good.

@cleolinda: @gorgeousnerd Oh, I mean, I'm going on Sunday, and I'm going to try to be zen about it and set all of that aside.

@cleolinda: Although I do wonder--"Doomed romance on the Titanic" is an easy sell. "Giant blue cat people do... something," I don't know.

@cleolinda: It could be the Second Coming, but I don't know how well it might actually do. Interesting to see how it shakes out.

@lilithsaintcrow: @cleolinda "Giant blue cat-love on the doomed Titanic! It's a sure thing!"

@cleolinda: @lilithsaintcrow Aw, man, giant blue cat-love screeching in the back of a Model T, do not want.

Then, from gfrancie: I Hate James Cameron, but I Love His Movies. Yeah... that's probably going to be me Sunday afternoon, after I recover from my 3-D headache. I will hate myself for liking it after being battered with hype for TWELVE SOLID MONTHS, but I also feel like it's intellectually dishonest to blindly hate something just for the sake of hating it. Meanwhile, I don't even know if there will be anything Not to Be Spoken Of, but I wouldn't count on it. Also, I'm still not sure if The Lovely Emily and her husband were kidding about painting their faces blue or not.



(Zomg e-book! The Annotated Movies in Fifteen Minutes: Wizards!)

Comments

[stepliana.livejournal.com]

The first few minutes of the movie are uncomfortable - but then comes the brilliance (I hate myself for saying it) of James Cameron. He eases you into the 3D. There are things that you're like, 'Ahhh things are so choppy in 3D!' and then there's a big chase! And everything is moving so fast! And then all of a sudden, you realize that everything is perfect and clear, and you haven't noticed the fact that it's in 3D for half an hour now, and then all of a sudden things are ALL OVER THE SCREEN and it's beautiful.

[maisontv.livejournal.com]

THIS. There were only a few moments where the combination of the 3D and the camera moving fast made it hard to focus my vision.

3D has improved so much. I used to avoid anything 3D like the plague because the red/blue glasses and the things on screen jumping out at you (as opposed to subtly being projected into the theatre) gave me a migraine.

[viorica8957.livejournal.com]

I went to see it with my dad this afternoon. It's basically what would happen if Ferngully and Pocahontas spawned an unholy love child, and that lovechild elpoed with Dances With Wolves. The only- and I mean ONLY- redeeming factor was the look of the whole thing. It was very pretty. But it had no plot, no real characters, and the Noble Savage trope was dialled up to eleven.

[catherinehaines.livejournal.com]

And that's exactly what I thought when I saw it on Wednesday night. We sort of referred to it as "Pocahonta in Space".

For me, it was a three hour reminder of why "pretty" and "awesome special effects" shouldn't replace the concepts of "good story" and "well-developed characters".

(And am I the only person with a fear of heights who started to experience mild panic attack symptoms with a few of the scenes of leaping off/standing on high cliff faces?)

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

I'm banning the word "Avatards" pre-emptively
Unfortunately, it appears that Avatar: The Last Airbender fandom already co-opted that ridiculous word. Unless fans of this movie will lay claim to it and insist that fans of the show call themselves The Last Airbendertards.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if it bodes well that I can't find anyone to go with me to it. I had people willing to go with me to Ninja Assassin that won't go to this one.

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

Keep in mind, though, that Ninja Assassin didn't pitch itself as anything other than what it is--big, dumb, loud and flashy, with buckets o' gore. Avatar has this whole "WILL CHANGE MOVIES FOREVER!!" hype going against it, which tends to piss people off.

For the record, and I saw--and only mildly enjoyed--Ninja Assassin, and I'm so sick of hearing about Avatar I want to boycott it on principle.

[glenvorian.livejournal.com]

I wonder how much it cost to make it?

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Something like $300 million?

[bibliotech.livejournal.com]

I'M SO TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT HOW THIS MOVIE IS LIKE NO MOVIE THAT HAS EVER BEEN MOVIED BEFORE. Also, 3-D gives me headaches too. Maybe it's because of my astigmatism or something, I'm not sure. Also the second, like in the comment above, I keep seeing references to Ferngully and Dances With Wolves, and neither of those are a good thing.

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Ironically, the story itself is like a hundred movies we've all seen before.

[jaysta-11.livejournal.com]

You know, for the longest time when I heard people talking about Avatar, I thought it had something to do with the Nickelodeon show "Avatar: The Last Airbender."

... whoops.

[madripoor-rose.livejournal.com]

There is a Avatar The Last Airbender movie coming out as well, and a lot of people are talking about it due to the racefail casting.

[wenelda.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's because I'm way more excited about Sherlock Holmes (being a Mark Strong fangirl like whoa), but I am sick to death and back of hearing about Avatar. I don't understand what the big deal even is, and I'm a sci-fi geek. The closest I can figure is it's the most expensive damn movie ever made in the history of ever, and beyond that it's like, "...so?" Because to be honest, the previews are not that impressive to me, and it took me watching Entertainment Tonight exclusives to even understand what the hell the movie's supposed to be about. So eh.

[darth-snarky.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm a sci-fi geek and a movie geek, and I don't understand quite where the big deal is, either. 3D is too inaccessible to become the norm (and call me a Luddite, but I think there's a big problem if the visuals of your movie have to be seen on IMAX 3D to be appreciated--if they're good enough, won't a regular theatre do?). And it has to be the visuals on this one, because there's no way in hell it's the story. (Couldn't they have stuck with the non-preachy classic hero story? It's not like "unorginal" always has to mean "annoyingly cliched.")

But yeah, Sherlock Holmes looks awesome. I'm so there on Christmas.

[bishsticks.livejournal.com]

I must have been living under a rock this past year because I hadn't even heard of the movie until a couple of weeks ago.

-2d6 geek points to me :(

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

but +10 quality of life points!

[showyourteeth.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I don't really know much about this movie, but a friend and I saw a trailer for it the other week when we went to see The Descent pt. 2. We both agreed that it just looked like Pocahontas but with aliens. What's the point?

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

Because everyone hasn't yet been told that they need to Live In Harmony With Nature and Stop Exploiting Earth Other Planets and Respect the Noble Savages! And so we're gonna beat you over the head with the environmentally-and-socially-conscious Message until you get it!

[yukishiido.livejournal.com]

I really, really, really don't understand the type for Avatar.

[sabra-n.livejournal.com]

Avatar was overhyped seemingly years ago. Or maybe it really was years ago. I can't remember how long I've been constantly bombarded by over-excited non-news about this film OH GOD. I reached the saturation point and stopped paying attention ages ago. I couldn't take it anymore.

Oh, and then I found out about the "white boy saves the blue people who are all played by actors of color" plot. Niiiice. Yeah. So, despite my sci-fi love, I doubt I'll see this unless someone I personally trust tells me it's worth it.

[hulamoth.livejournal.com]

I doubt I'll see this unless someone I personally trust tells me it's worth it.
You should re-evaluate your trust if that happens.

[rosewood39.livejournal.com]

I agree with you, I am tired of hearing about how amazing this movie will be. If it is good or bad there is no win. I really hope every movie won't be 3D that is not impressive to me. I am seeing it tomorrow, I will see how it is. I am hoping that once the film is out we can stop hearing about it all the time.

[t4-flirt.livejournal.com]

keep in mind that I have to balance those damn glasses on top of my real ones

I usually avoid 3D movies for this reason...I did however, go see U2-3D four times when it came out because they were worth it.

Someone needs to invent a 3D clip-on for people that wear glasses...

[rhoda-rants.livejournal.com]

Seconded. There are enough people who wear glasses and/or contacts throughout their daily life, and enough frickin' movies in 3D nowadays, that someone should have figured this out for us visually-challenged folks.

[oohasparklie.livejournal.com]

*NO SPOILERS*

I saw Avatar this afternoon and I can tell you that it DOES live up to the hype, and goes way beyond it as well. It's the most extraordinary thing I've ever seen. I suppose if people have to nitpick it to death, the reports of it being an overly-familiar storyline are true, but the film is so astonishing that you barely notice. At least I didn't, but I wasn't looking for things to discredit it either, I was too busy enjoying the holy hell out of it.

As far as the 3-D goes...it gives me headaches too, and for the first 15 minutes or so, I could feel the headache like crazy, but my eyes got used to it fast, and the headache went away. And I have terrible eyesight with astigmatism that the doctors don't know how to find me contacts for, so I have pretty constant migraines. I think you'll be okay. The technology has advanced a lot.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_ravengirl/]

It's the most extraordinary thing I've ever seen. I suppose if people have to nitpick it to death, the reports of it being an overly-familiar storyline are true, but the film is so astonishing that you barely notice.

Well said! I second this entirely. So good...

[bindabites.livejournal.com]

EPIC RACEFAIL.

http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was going around Twitter as well--very insightful, particularly towards the end.

[erinya.livejournal.com]

I literally had heard NOTHING about this movie until, like, last week. At first I thought it was the controversial Last Airbender movie, and was confused by the blueness. How did I miss the hype? Is it because I don't watch TV?

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard much about it either (also do not watch TV! Except, um, on my computer. And all that that implies. ^-^), except vague notions that somewhere, somehow, hype was happening about... something or other. I think that maybe the issue is that it's all media hype; there doesn't seem to be a large amount of fan/grassroots hype. People here and there are saying, "hey, looks cool, I plan to go see it," but not much more than they do with your average blockbuster, it seems to me, or at least not in my circles. Whereas films like Let the Right One In were all over my friendspaces on the internet. I've heard more about An Education and Bright Star from Actual People than I have about Avatar. Of course, this could also be on account of my friend circles being largely a lot of wacky geeky literary people, but, you know. ;P

[troubleinchina.livejournal.com]

Gosh, all that racism plus bitter angry crip who just wants his legs back, damn it. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to see it.

[shiegra.livejournal.com]

I reached that part of the trailer and nearly shouted OH GIVE ME A BREAK in the middle of the theater.

[cacopheny.livejournal.com]

I think part of why it's called so revolutionary was how it was made-- the actors got themselves digitized in real-time or something? Like people could watch the blue version of the actor running around on a screen while the actors were running around, instead of the blue versions being "painted on" afterwards? Plus they all had camera-helmets on their heads, or something. Sigourny Weaver talked about it on The Daily Show Monday but I was only half paying attention XD

Seeing as I tend to watch movies largely for the special effects ANYWAY these days, I'll probably wind up seeing it, even if it is bad.... I mean, I went to see 2012 even AFTER reading your review XD

[zhymmy.livejournal.com]

I have no idea if anybody's posted this or not, but there are some *excellent* articles on wired.com that actually explain why Avatar is such a tech advance. Really good reads if you are interested in the advances they made in the technology.

[robinmc.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine described the movie as "a cross between Fern Gully and The Matrix". Make of that what you will.

Honestly, I'm just so glad to know what it's about. I feel like I've been hearing about this movie for half my life, but no matter how much people said, I still had absolutely no idea what it was/is. So, Dances With Wolves-in-space...I'm intrigued.

[cmdr-zoom.livejournal.com]

The information imbalance is probably because the Process and Presentation is new and exciting and all that, but the story is 100% recycled content with a side of racefail. :/

(repost for html fix, sorry.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_ravengirl/]

I will just say that I saw it today and it made me cry with how good it was. Seriously. Try not to write it off because of all the hooplah about it. It's so amazing.

[wyz-azz.livejournal.com]

"@cleolinda: People, you realize now that I'm not going to be impressed unless Avatar delivers orgasms AND hot fudge sundaes."

Only if it's at the same time!

[baku-chan.livejournal.com]

Aaaaaand Sherlock Holmes for the win*. Suck it, Cameron.

Teh family unanimously decided to see Sherlock Holmes over Avatar

[munin-and-hugin.livejournal.com]

As far as Avatar "changing the way movies are made" it's only going to be like that for motion capture. The same way Lord of the Rings changed they way cgi armies are created. Not really going to impact the usual viewer, more those within the industry.

I'm still going to see it, though. :)