Monday, August 31, 2009

Uh, ok . . .

I was starting to lose hope. After thinking that this summer might be end up being another big bust, I'm so glad to have finally seen a good film this summer. (although it was still kind of a bust anyway) Well, I should be honest. Make that THREE good films this summer. Oh, shoot. I just remembered Lorna's Silence too.

OK. Let me start over. I am glad to have seen a few good films this summer, even though some of them don't fall into the traditional "summer movie" category. I happily skipped a lot of those, .

I have a question for you. Am I the only one who is underwhelmed by the Avatar trailer? After hearing about the response from Con, I waited for the first real trailer eagerly. I watched it as soon as I could the first day it was up. . . and was pretty disappointed by the VFX. For all their supposed realism, the big blue people looked pretty fake, particularly in the footage when they're on board the ship or whatever it is. Maybe it'll be different in 3D, I don't know. It did look better when I saw it before Inglourious Basterds through a projector as opposed to seeing it in HD on my computer screen. Apparently, based on what I've heard from people that I know, the free footage played in IMAX a week and a half ago was pretty impressive. I'm not completely sure if I'll go see it in 2D or 3D. I do know that I'll be there opening weekend, because anything that purports to change the way movies are made should be taken seriously, particularly when it's being attempted by someone of Cameron's considerable talent.

The big blue guys still seemed fake. Who's with me?

---Also, I'm going to consider my review of Inglourious Basterds my contribution to this month's feature: Thoughts on Tarantino. I've tried to think of something new to contribute on the subject, but I put a lot of my thoughts on QT in that article and couldn't really think of something new that would be worth your time.

7 comments:

Megan said...

OK, one thing you have to remember is that you are seeing roughly a minutes worth of context-less footage in 2D. At Con we saw about 30 minutes of full scenes in HD 3D - bit of a different experience and something a teaser (that's right not a trailer) will never capture.

More than anything what I have from AVATAR is that it will be completely unique. Every time Cameron gives us sci-fi he delivers us something that is unimagineable, so I am willing to hope that no matter what a teaser might not convery that the film will be worth it.

:)

Chris W said...

Adam we were doing so good agreeing with each other but I've got to break the trend. While I will admit that the teaser is NOTHING compared to what we saw or what apparently everyone else saw on "Avatar Day" I still think it looks amazing and everyone else that I know who has seen the trailer agress with me. Now I will admit that it doesn't look quite as good in 2D but that's because I think Cameron really made this movie specifically to be seen in 3-D. It's going to be really interesting because I think if Cameron had his choice no one would ever be able to see this outside of a 3-D theatre.

Adam said...

I have heard from other people who were also underwhelmed by the trailer.

Megan said...

As have I Christopher. You have selective hearing.

I would actually be happier if they were working on billing this as a movie not a technological feat. People will always find flaws with technology or something that should be done better, something else they were expecting, etc.

Sell me on the story.

Adam said...

"You have selective hearing." Well, that certainly explains a lot. I have wondered when I keep reading that every single person you've talked to has adored something or other. Leave it to Megan to bring things back to size, right?

I also agree about the story. At the end of the day, the technical innovations don't matter much if there isn't a great story to match. Then, it'd just become an exercise in style without substance. I've got to think that the guy who captured the hearts of people the world over with the story of Jack and Rose ought to be able to come up with something compelling, but it just isn't apparent yet. Maybe the theatrical trailer will shed some more light on this.

Megan said...

That's actually why I am dead set against 3D in general Adam, besides it being a fad that didn't take of once... I think too many studios or filmmakers get caught in the marketing and trendiness something like 3D gives them and then they have a steep drop off after a week or two in theatres because they don't have a good movie on their hands, they have a trendy movie.

Anonymous said...

I'm keeping my expectations low for Avatar, I just don't want it to become another Episode I.