I loved Avatar. To me, it was everything the movies should be. It's not the greatest script, it's similar in many ways to Cameron's earlier movies and to other ecowarrior movies, and it is frankly a little corny.
None of that matters. For two and a half hours I basked in its visual spleandour, I enjoyed the earnest performances, and I was regularly awestruck with the scale of the achievement.
The only thing I was a little underwhelmed with was the score, which somehow lacked the majesty of LotR and Gladiator. To be fair, I'm not a big fan of James Horner, so it's hardly a suprise that I didn't like his score here.
My point, since I'm clearly no film reviewer: it hadn't occurred to me how difficult the digital 3D would make the lives of shakycam tapers. ('Pirate' is such an idiotic term in this context, don't you think?) I wonder if that fact alone is how Cameron got the green light for such an incredible spend on his movie. It must have really pissed the studios off to see animated features (to whom 3D is almost trivial) getting effective copy protection, yet not be able to use it for live action. No more, thanks to scuba boy.
I also wonder when we'll see a first 3D-only picture? I don't think it will take very long.
I think taping is a difficult issue. It's hard to sympathise with giant corporations who routinely gouge their customers and persistenly fill the theaters with low-brow shit because it's easier to keep movies rubbish than to take a risk. It's very easy, on the other hand, to see that shakycam taping is not helping that situation. If a movie has to make almost all of it's money on the first weekend because after that it'll be downloadable, the studios are going to take fewer risks because otherwise they'll be out if business.
The liberal part of me wants to believe that people are better than the studios portray them, that most people will pay a fair price for their entertainment, because that's the only way it can ever really work. Unfortunately, I can't really say that my (unscientific) observation of people's behaviour backs that up in any meaningful way. There are a lot of freeloaders in this world, and despite my fervent wishes to the contrary I really do believe that they just don't give a fuck one way or the other.
This is, of course, a somewhat negative assessment. Perhaps it's related to the recent experience with Borders bookstore in the UK. I rather liked my local store, with its Starbucks and even it's Game store. I bought from there even though I could have saved a few quid using, say, Amazon, because it's just common sense.
When Borders went into administration, the store was rammed. I will go out on a limb and say that many of the people so ramming were not your typical bookstore types. The promise of a discount from a stricken retailer was enough to tempt the vultures, exactly as it was with Woolworths the year before. Sickening. I don't imagine that many felt they were doing anything in any way distasteful, an impression reinforced by the number of 'sale' faces I saw. The regulars were walking around with sad eyes, but the mob were picking the carcus clean.
So no, I don't think most people care at all where their entertainment comes from. It's a commodity which, like the Internet, is viewed as an infinite pool of stuff from which fun is extracted. The people at the top are highly paid, so what the hey - fuck everyone else and give me that shakycam DVD right bloody now, Mr. Pub Seller Bloke.
The studios have made almost unbelievable mistakes when dealing with new media, but let's not burn the message with the messenger. Way to go James Cameron! Keep the vultures away for a little while, maybe you've given the moguls time to stop treating legitimate, paying customers like pikeys, because they're not smart enough to be able to tell the difference.
None of that matters. For two and a half hours I basked in its visual spleandour, I enjoyed the earnest performances, and I was regularly awestruck with the scale of the achievement.
The only thing I was a little underwhelmed with was the score, which somehow lacked the majesty of LotR and Gladiator. To be fair, I'm not a big fan of James Horner, so it's hardly a suprise that I didn't like his score here.
My point, since I'm clearly no film reviewer: it hadn't occurred to me how difficult the digital 3D would make the lives of shakycam tapers. ('Pirate' is such an idiotic term in this context, don't you think?) I wonder if that fact alone is how Cameron got the green light for such an incredible spend on his movie. It must have really pissed the studios off to see animated features (to whom 3D is almost trivial) getting effective copy protection, yet not be able to use it for live action. No more, thanks to scuba boy.
I also wonder when we'll see a first 3D-only picture? I don't think it will take very long.
I think taping is a difficult issue. It's hard to sympathise with giant corporations who routinely gouge their customers and persistenly fill the theaters with low-brow shit because it's easier to keep movies rubbish than to take a risk. It's very easy, on the other hand, to see that shakycam taping is not helping that situation. If a movie has to make almost all of it's money on the first weekend because after that it'll be downloadable, the studios are going to take fewer risks because otherwise they'll be out if business.
The liberal part of me wants to believe that people are better than the studios portray them, that most people will pay a fair price for their entertainment, because that's the only way it can ever really work. Unfortunately, I can't really say that my (unscientific) observation of people's behaviour backs that up in any meaningful way. There are a lot of freeloaders in this world, and despite my fervent wishes to the contrary I really do believe that they just don't give a fuck one way or the other.
This is, of course, a somewhat negative assessment. Perhaps it's related to the recent experience with Borders bookstore in the UK. I rather liked my local store, with its Starbucks and even it's Game store. I bought from there even though I could have saved a few quid using, say, Amazon, because it's just common sense.
When Borders went into administration, the store was rammed. I will go out on a limb and say that many of the people so ramming were not your typical bookstore types. The promise of a discount from a stricken retailer was enough to tempt the vultures, exactly as it was with Woolworths the year before. Sickening. I don't imagine that many felt they were doing anything in any way distasteful, an impression reinforced by the number of 'sale' faces I saw. The regulars were walking around with sad eyes, but the mob were picking the carcus clean.
So no, I don't think most people care at all where their entertainment comes from. It's a commodity which, like the Internet, is viewed as an infinite pool of stuff from which fun is extracted. The people at the top are highly paid, so what the hey - fuck everyone else and give me that shakycam DVD right bloody now, Mr. Pub Seller Bloke.
The studios have made almost unbelievable mistakes when dealing with new media, but let's not burn the message with the messenger. Way to go James Cameron! Keep the vultures away for a little while, maybe you've given the moguls time to stop treating legitimate, paying customers like pikeys, because they're not smart enough to be able to tell the difference.
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