I did give you a heart, athough I couldn't get over the shock and horror of someone who admits to not eating ice cream for dinner which you admitted to in your first sentence. Well I certainly hope that you still eat it for breakfast.
Ha, calling them cat people makes me picture how good Nastassja Kinski would have looked in blue body paint.
Otherwise, I’m in general agreement. I didn’t get the 4d experience, but IMAX 3d was really impressive. It was like a big stage not three feet in front of me. And I enjoyed the world building scenes that didn’t do much to advance the narrative. I think it would have been better if the story would have been a longer form version of the kid saving the whale.
One thing I noted about the big battle scene was that the green Navi abandoned the blue once they rescued their kids. I guess they were sick of them being bad guests and left the to their fate in order to avoid the awkwardness of having to throw them out.
"...ideas about life on this planet that are not total Hollywood stoner yoga instructor eco-gibberish" is a thing of descriptive beauty.
Just to be clear, I will never, ever see this movie, you would have to Clockwork Orange me to a chair to get me to watch it, but I thoroughly enjoyed Roy's review.
I'll probably sit through this and grudgingly enjoy it. There are plenty of times when I want something that will just rot the old brain for a few hours. Just wait a couple years until I can stream it cheap and drink beer. I can pause it for a bathroom break and not miss any of the "plot."
Still, I have a problem with the James Camerons of the world, especially when people start throwing the word "genius" around. Cameron is a technical master who can spin a yarn. But he's the fucking Antonio Salieri of front line directors. He gives the audience exactly what they want, with a nice BANG at the end so they know when to clap.
"Aliens"- (Now with more Space Marines!)
"Titanic"- Because a ship without enough lifeboats sinking into a freezing sea isn't dramatic enough. So insert a shootout on the flooding Grand Stairway. Oh and turn Lightoller into spittle-flecked loony...because why not.
"True Lies"- What the FUCK did I just watch? Much as I appreciate Jamie Lee Curtis in various states of undress, that scene snuck in from from some creepy Mitteleuropan art house shocker.
"Avatar"-So I was listening to my Yes albums and got really stoned. Like, the Roger Dean cover art came to life, man. It mixed up in my head with a mid-period Godzilla movie. Rodan was trashing Yokohama and there was an ecological message in there somewhere.
"Le Trou" is a fantastic film! Jaques Becker, the director, is great. " Casque d'Or , another of his films , is a classic.
Can't too highly recommend.
I gave up on Cameron with " True Lies" .
"Terminator" was greatest drive-in action adventure ever. "" Aliens" was the perfect
Squad level combat film. "True Lies " was ugly and gross. "Titanic" I ended up seeing on TV. Needed a bigger TV. He fell off my " make sure I watch " list before the first "Avatar."
Been wondering if this was worth trying to see in a theater, something that's been problematic for me in recent years.
Around the time I hit my mid 50s, I started having trouble staying awake in movie theaters. Once the lights go down and I recline that plushly upholstered seat, I'm usually gone in 5-10 minutes.
You name it, I've slept through it. Pretty much all the big hits of the last couple of decades. I'm to the point where I rarely even bother to make the attempt. I can take a nap at home and save myself the trip and the $7 soda.
Anyway, it sounds like this might be entertaining enough to keep me awake. Guess we'll see. Thanks for the review, Roy. You put Siskel and Ebert to shame.
A perfect review for someone like me. I had a similar tits-and-lizard Frazetta design on a Nazareth t-shirt back in 79. I got suspended from school for a day after my chemistry teacher (a hardon just like Sully's nemesis!) demanded I take it off b/c it was obscene.
Thanks man: I had thought the first Avatar was a candy coated thrill ride that sought validation from a vague "environmental message". I found it empty and manipulative.
If you want to go that route, the Disney Strange World is the fantasy for you: great graphics, thin plot, anvilicious message.
Never planned to see the next Avatar, though I bet the BF will insist on watching it.
I haven't been to a movie theater in years because audiences behave horribly, there's always some asshole on a cell phone, or a group of people talking through the movie or rattling plastic junk food wrappers and I just can't stand it. Plus the sticky floors and the combo smell of disinfectant and popcorn in the air. I'm over movie theaters. I did love the community theaters that offered double features of older movies but those have mostly died out. And I will never see Avatar 1 or 2 because fuck no I am not sitting through the film version of what a rich guy who has everything gets for Christmas and in this case the rich guy is James Cameron gifting himself this indulgence. But I have to say I enjoyed reading your review and feel it is probably much more entertaining than the film would be for me.
"...it’s wild that Cameron came down so hard on American militarism and imperialism— and made literal billions doing it!"
I had the same thought when the first one came out, maybe it's the "billions" part that immunized him from criticism? After all Capitalism is our real God, the military is just a tool.
Now I'm thinking all CRT needs is a way to show you can get rich doing it.
I rarely see movies in the theater any more (Professional obligations [& the prospect of Dev Patel's bare flank] coaxed me to "The Green Knight" in 2021 [well, three times, but once I was paid to give a talk afterwards about the experience]).
It's the offensive pricing that no manner of hi-tech seating or whatever can amend. I don't even mind audience participation -- the right crowd in the right moment reminds me that my white suburban life can be much too isolated from others -- and that heckling bad movies gives me LIFE.
It was when I realized the tickets were $15 (or whatever, I haven't been in a while) not because the theater was making a killing but bc the distributors & studios were extorting huge kickbacks (for mostly trash product) -- and that snacks were so expensive (for $10 a "large" bucket of popcorn I could bring three bags of unpopped kernels & hire a guy to make it for me right there in the theater...) because the theater makes nothing at all.
I did give you a heart, athough I couldn't get over the shock and horror of someone who admits to not eating ice cream for dinner which you admitted to in your first sentence. Well I certainly hope that you still eat it for breakfast.
Ha, calling them cat people makes me picture how good Nastassja Kinski would have looked in blue body paint.
Otherwise, I’m in general agreement. I didn’t get the 4d experience, but IMAX 3d was really impressive. It was like a big stage not three feet in front of me. And I enjoyed the world building scenes that didn’t do much to advance the narrative. I think it would have been better if the story would have been a longer form version of the kid saving the whale.
One thing I noted about the big battle scene was that the green Navi abandoned the blue once they rescued their kids. I guess they were sick of them being bad guests and left the to their fate in order to avoid the awkwardness of having to throw them out.
"...ideas about life on this planet that are not total Hollywood stoner yoga instructor eco-gibberish" is a thing of descriptive beauty.
Just to be clear, I will never, ever see this movie, you would have to Clockwork Orange me to a chair to get me to watch it, but I thoroughly enjoyed Roy's review.
So it’s a Disneyworld ride without the standing in line in the heat with dozens of whiny kids. Or “Dances with Smurfs - 2.”
"I didn’t laugh, and if you know me that’s saying something."
And that's why we love ya, Boss!
Gave up jeans? I never though of you as a cargo pants guy, Roy, but I guess here we are…
I think that's about all I need of that movie.
I'll probably sit through this and grudgingly enjoy it. There are plenty of times when I want something that will just rot the old brain for a few hours. Just wait a couple years until I can stream it cheap and drink beer. I can pause it for a bathroom break and not miss any of the "plot."
Still, I have a problem with the James Camerons of the world, especially when people start throwing the word "genius" around. Cameron is a technical master who can spin a yarn. But he's the fucking Antonio Salieri of front line directors. He gives the audience exactly what they want, with a nice BANG at the end so they know when to clap.
"Aliens"- (Now with more Space Marines!)
"Titanic"- Because a ship without enough lifeboats sinking into a freezing sea isn't dramatic enough. So insert a shootout on the flooding Grand Stairway. Oh and turn Lightoller into spittle-flecked loony...because why not.
"True Lies"- What the FUCK did I just watch? Much as I appreciate Jamie Lee Curtis in various states of undress, that scene snuck in from from some creepy Mitteleuropan art house shocker.
"Avatar"-So I was listening to my Yes albums and got really stoned. Like, the Roger Dean cover art came to life, man. It mixed up in my head with a mid-period Godzilla movie. Rodan was trashing Yokohama and there was an ecological message in there somewhere.
"Le Trou" is a fantastic film! Jaques Becker, the director, is great. " Casque d'Or , another of his films , is a classic.
Can't too highly recommend.
I gave up on Cameron with " True Lies" .
"Terminator" was greatest drive-in action adventure ever. "" Aliens" was the perfect
Squad level combat film. "True Lies " was ugly and gross. "Titanic" I ended up seeing on TV. Needed a bigger TV. He fell off my " make sure I watch " list before the first "Avatar."
Great review as always.
Been wondering if this was worth trying to see in a theater, something that's been problematic for me in recent years.
Around the time I hit my mid 50s, I started having trouble staying awake in movie theaters. Once the lights go down and I recline that plushly upholstered seat, I'm usually gone in 5-10 minutes.
You name it, I've slept through it. Pretty much all the big hits of the last couple of decades. I'm to the point where I rarely even bother to make the attempt. I can take a nap at home and save myself the trip and the $7 soda.
Anyway, it sounds like this might be entertaining enough to keep me awake. Guess we'll see. Thanks for the review, Roy. You put Siskel and Ebert to shame.
A perfect review for someone like me. I had a similar tits-and-lizard Frazetta design on a Nazareth t-shirt back in 79. I got suspended from school for a day after my chemistry teacher (a hardon just like Sully's nemesis!) demanded I take it off b/c it was obscene.
Thanks man: I had thought the first Avatar was a candy coated thrill ride that sought validation from a vague "environmental message". I found it empty and manipulative.
If you want to go that route, the Disney Strange World is the fantasy for you: great graphics, thin plot, anvilicious message.
Never planned to see the next Avatar, though I bet the BF will insist on watching it.
Sooooooo glad you watched this, Roy. Because now I don’t have to.
I haven't been to a movie theater in years because audiences behave horribly, there's always some asshole on a cell phone, or a group of people talking through the movie or rattling plastic junk food wrappers and I just can't stand it. Plus the sticky floors and the combo smell of disinfectant and popcorn in the air. I'm over movie theaters. I did love the community theaters that offered double features of older movies but those have mostly died out. And I will never see Avatar 1 or 2 because fuck no I am not sitting through the film version of what a rich guy who has everything gets for Christmas and in this case the rich guy is James Cameron gifting himself this indulgence. But I have to say I enjoyed reading your review and feel it is probably much more entertaining than the film would be for me.
"...it’s wild that Cameron came down so hard on American militarism and imperialism— and made literal billions doing it!"
I had the same thought when the first one came out, maybe it's the "billions" part that immunized him from criticism? After all Capitalism is our real God, the military is just a tool.
Now I'm thinking all CRT needs is a way to show you can get rich doing it.
I rarely see movies in the theater any more (Professional obligations [& the prospect of Dev Patel's bare flank] coaxed me to "The Green Knight" in 2021 [well, three times, but once I was paid to give a talk afterwards about the experience]).
It's the offensive pricing that no manner of hi-tech seating or whatever can amend. I don't even mind audience participation -- the right crowd in the right moment reminds me that my white suburban life can be much too isolated from others -- and that heckling bad movies gives me LIFE.
It was when I realized the tickets were $15 (or whatever, I haven't been in a while) not because the theater was making a killing but bc the distributors & studios were extorting huge kickbacks (for mostly trash product) -- and that snacks were so expensive (for $10 a "large" bucket of popcorn I could bring three bags of unpopped kernels & hire a guy to make it for me right there in the theater...) because the theater makes nothing at all.