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| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 27 2009, 05:33 PM (926 Views) | |
| Frank Hale | Dec 27 2009, 05:33 PM Post #1 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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I give it a B (in 2-D). Leaving aside the issue that you could have cured cancer for what this film cost, it’s a brilliantly realized science fiction world. And yet…Too long, predictably plotted (A E Van Vogt would have snorted), and the last half hour depressingly in James Bond territory. But overall, definitely worth a look as a picture that may turn out to be important. (Based on the 4 or 5 previews of indistinguishable pictures I sat through, I'm beginning to wonder what place we mere human beings have in movies anymore.) |
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| Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer | Dec 27 2009, 06:08 PM Post #2 |
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Sapient Balconeer
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I sure am glad I own a bunch of movies from the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s I've yet to see. |
| It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong." | |
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| Black Tiger | Dec 27 2009, 07:56 PM Post #3 |
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Charter Member
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From the trailer, it looks an awful lot like the Outer Limits episode "The Chameleon" was a heavy influence. Robert Duval is a soldier surgically changed into an alien to infiltrate them and destroy them. Plot twists follow. |
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| Bonga | Dec 30 2009, 07:14 PM Post #4 |
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Charter Member
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I saw it a couple of day ago. Very pretty to look at, with beautiful colors filling every corner of the screen. The 3D process was pleasant to watch, and didn't tire your eyes or lose effect half an hour into the film--it's acutally more interesting in the conventional humans-in-the-metal-pod scenes than in the scenes set in the alien jungle. The backgrounds are rendered in beautiful detail and a rich pallette of colors. It really does look diffferent than any film I've seen. I guess I think the guy said it best who said, "It's the most awesome ordinary movie ever." The script is dull and derivitive--even self-derivitive for Cameron, though half a dozen inspirations suggest themselves during the movie, mostly sci-fi flicks and big chunks of Dances With Wolves--and the dialogue is forgetable: the most memorable spoken statement is an alien hiss of contempt that the main character give the chief villain. If it didn't look so cool, there would be little fuss about its release. But in 3D on a big screen, the trip is worth the fare. Don't know if this is being released on IMAX screens, but that would be the ideal immersion. |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Dec 31 2009, 06:15 AM Post #5 |
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Mouth Breather
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As usual for Cameron, visually amazing but at least a half hour too long. This guy needs an ego deflation in the worst way, and maybe this will be the one that flops. It's dull and cliché-ridden enough, but that interminable handcuff scene in Titanic proved that people actually like tedious would-be suspense, so who knows? |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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| Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer | Dec 31 2009, 09:21 AM Post #6 |
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Sapient Balconeer
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Titanic had to have SOME suspense, 'cause everybody (film viewers) knew the boat was goin' down! |
| It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong." | |
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| Black Tiger | Dec 31 2009, 09:43 AM Post #7 |
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Charter Member
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Well heck, Stony. Thanks for ruining the ending
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| Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer | Dec 31 2009, 09:48 AM Post #8 |
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Sapient Balconeer
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Let me double whammy ya BT: the owner of the White Star Line made it ok! *L* |
| It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong." | |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Dec 31 2009, 11:30 AM Post #9 |
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Mouth Breather
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I admit it; I don't care for Cameron's movies. He drags things out. Hitchcock's suspense sequences didn't last forever the way that handcuff sequence did, and I can point to several such scenes in Aliens too. His films are just long strings of manipulative sequences, many of 'em irrelevant to the plot. The old masters like Griffith put the big set pieces at the end of the film so you walk out with a pleasant feeling you've been through the wringer, but it all came out OK; Cameron puts 'em everywhere, so his movies feel overblown, fatiguing and, in the case of Titanic, vaguely depressing. But that isn't my biggest criticism: his movies are like the cheapest exploitation flicks in that absolutely anything can happen at any time. The stories lack logic or progression. Some might call that modern, but I call it sloppy and unsatisfying. A big-budget picture with a lousy script may make a lot of money, but it's still a piece of heck.
Edited by panzer the great & terrible, Dec 31 2009, 06:12 PM.
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| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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| The Batman | Jan 4 2010, 09:08 AM Post #10 |
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Charter Member
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Sorry, Mr P, at a $1-billion worldwide box office and counting, this one is definitely not a (financial) flop. Haven't seen it myself, yet, I don't want to brave those early crowds, but I do plan on seeing it in 3-D (and IMAX) just to see what the fuss is. |
| Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman! | |
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| Barcroft | Jan 12 2010, 06:43 PM Post #11 |
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Charter Member
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I finally got around to seeing Avatar yesterday in IMAX 3D and was quite impressed with the visuals. Storywise typical Cameron with a couple of great action sequences with a definite anti Military bent to the story. I agree with Panzer it could have been shortened by 10-15 minutes. Another thing some of the visuals on Pandora reminded me of the paintings done by an artist named Roger Dean who did the inside covers for a group of Albums by the Rock Group "Yes" back in the early 70's. Who know's maybe Cameron was a "Yes" fan. Barcroft Edited by Barcroft, Jan 12 2010, 06:43 PM.
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| cinemalover | Feb 15 2010, 08:48 AM Post #12 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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I waited a long time before finally going to see this, and my wife was actually the catalyst as part of our Valentine's day spent together. We saw it in IMAX 3D (the first time I've ever gone to an IMAX movie). Even though we had purchased our tickets in advance and arrived 45 minutes early we still got stuck in the second row. The promiotnal mush that they throw on the screen before the actual previews start was giving us both eye strain and we almost decided to walk out. In the end we waited for the film to roll and were glad we did. The 3D glasses were much less intrusive than any others I've experienced and we were soon immersed in this high-tech fairy tale. The length of the film didn't bother us at all as it seemed to fly by. Yes, it wasn't the most origial plot ever with very heavy-handed messaging, but so what. The design and detail of this film is incredible. This was truly a movie "experience", the type I haven't enjoyed since I was lucky enough to see 1922's Robin Hood playing with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra performing a live score many years ago. Utterly enjoyable. At some point in the future I'll see this on the home screen and be able to better evaluate the film as a "movie", but for now it was one heck of a fun evening with the lovely mrs. |
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| Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer | Feb 15 2010, 09:51 AM Post #13 |
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Sapient Balconeer
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I find that sitting in the last row at the IMAX is most beneficial... ya get to see more of the screen. |
| It's like Rodney King used to say, "Can't we all get a bong." | |
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| panzer the great & terrible | Feb 15 2010, 07:08 PM Post #14 |
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Mouth Breather
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The first time I went to IMAX I was in the last row and I agree. For Avatar, though, you had to take what you could get. I've got to say, it's the most visually beautiful movie I ever saw, and the story is brilliantly thought out.. They might have spent a little more money on the dialogue though. |
| Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious... | |
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| cinemalover | Feb 16 2010, 09:35 AM Post #15 |
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Balcony Gang, Foist Class
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I would of loved to be able to sit further back than the second row, but that was all there was. One of the employees told me that the line for the show started 2 hours before they started seating even though this theatre was showing Avatar constantly on two of their screens. I waited this long to avaoid these crowds, quess I didn't wait long enough. Once our eyes adjusted it was actually fine. We were close enough that you never saw the edge of the screen which just totally immersed us into this world. We were most likely the only two in the theatre who were seeing it for the first time with as many tickets as it has sold in its first 9 weeks of release. |
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