James Cameron's AVATAR

[MyNameIs]

LMAO, ok this is basically perfect.

SPOILER SPOILER you may want to refrain from reading it if you haven't seen Avatar. As it reveals the extremely original story of Avatar.

SPOILER

failblog

 

[Ophelia_Immortal]

It's not really like Pocahontas, it's more like Furngully but so what....really.

 

[simons]

i can understand the argument about "staying power" but look at classic movies.. some are in black and white with bad special effects yet still resonates with people.

 

[MyNameIs]

But that's my point. Most of those classics are still relevant because they usually go deeper than just the visuals. They have writing, acting, originality, etc. So even if they lose the visual appeal, people can still find some value in the rest of it.

 

[roisin]

Personally, I loved it. It's an immensely entertaining movie which is a lot more than I can say about the majority of films today.

 

[Ophelia_Immortal]

^ agreed

 

[tn08]

congrats to James Cameron and the rest of the production team on winning the Golden Globe for Best Picture- Drama of 2010 !

 

[Birkin]

and best director

 

[ScarlettLover]

yayy! I'm happy they won. And even though the storyline might not be 100% original it did resonate with me. I don't feel it was all special effects....

 

[sarehak]

Congrats!! Well deserved.

 

[ponytrot]

I'm very happy they won - obviously the special effects were absolutely mindblowing, but I'm a sucker for slightly cheesy, sci-fi, epics and this had all the elements to make me watch it twice! Definitely gets my vote.

 

[Jared]

Inglourious Basterds and Quentin Tarantino were robbed. Sure it had great 3D, but the story was formulaic and predictable.

 

[*Bianca*]

Agreed. I can't even believe it was nominated tbqh

I haven't seen Up In The Air, or Precious, but Inglorious Basterds and The Hurt Locker were amazing and it seems somewhat ludicrous for Avatar to even be mentioned in the same sentance as those two.

Lets hope the Academy have more sense.

 

[tongueinchic]

(i didn't really like it)
not so much that it was exactly like pocahontas + fern gully, but because it just wasn't that good.

 

[Harumi]

Agreed. I can't even believe it was nominated tbqh

I agree that, if best picture was really about awarding the best movie, Avatar should not have been nominated.
In a perfect word, a Best Picture (BP) candidate should have one standout performance in both acting categories (main and supporting), a flawless screenplay and great direction.
Avatar had only one of these (i.e. direction; Zoe's performance was great but doesn't qualify) and thus should not have been considered.

However, as I said in the Golden Globes fashion thread, BP is a populist award.
It consistently awards movies that have met with both critical and commercial success (with few exceptions) and are the flavor of the year, so to speak. People getting on their high horse saying the GG have lost credibility are ridiculous, as credibility was lost a long time ago.
Look at the BP winner list, it's pretty much a joke. Last year was Slumdog Millionaire (!!!!), which was running against movies such as Frost/Nixon and The Reader. Please, where is the credibility there?
It's time people stopped taking this award so seriously.

Lets hope the Academy have more sense.

It will be the same thing at the Oscars, for the same reason, baring a major backlash (and judging by the grim faces in the GG audience when Cameron won, it could happen).

That said, the Best director award (which is to be taken a bit more seriously), was absolutely deserved by Cameron, imo.

I feel people who belittle his achievement and dismiss Avatar as CGI do it out of ignorance.
The work he has accomplished with Avatar is monumental. Cameron didn't just throw a script to CGI artists and then went on a Holyday: he was involved in absolutely every aspect of the movie including the new technology that was developed with his intimate co-operation and to suit his vision. In the end, he simply delivered a new way to do movies.
C'mon, the man has worked for over a decade to deliver a product that brought people back to the movie theatres in a way that hasn't been seen since... wait for it... Titanic.
How could anyone think Cameron's exceptional work is not worth the highest distinction is beyond my comprehension.

Inglorious Basterds was the better movie (although Avatar was the better overall experience and entertainment), but Quentin didn't do anything groundbreaking, I'm sorry. It was work as usual for him, not his crowning achievement. IB will age better but Avatar will have the most lasting impact to the movie-making industry and will come to be acknowledged as a turning point (for bad or good? The jury is still out).

It's well worth a Best Director award, imo.

Rant over. I need to learn to be concise.

 

[irulan]

If you have to get up your lazy *** and shoot another movie just to top your last one because nobody in a whole, big industry seems to be able to even touch your first grand success, then you deserve another nod for your directing. It's lonely at the top but the view is nice.

Plus I also think the best drama was well deserved but that is kind of personal taste. I've seen Up In The Air and The Hurt Locker and Inglorious Basterds, I liked them all, but imho the first two are rather forgettable, only the latter would have deserved a nod.

 

[tn08]

However, as I said in the Golden Globes fashion thread, BP is a populist award.
It consistently awards movies that have met with both critical and commercial success...

i think it may have to do with it being an media event as opposed to an industry event

 

[Ophelia_Immortal]

I loved this movie, so what if it wasn't the most original thing on the planet but neither were the others pointed out.

It was beautiful it was powerful, I left a movie theater feeling breathless in the first time since..well since Titanic. A storyline does not have to be of epic proportions to effect people, it just does.

I saw Inglorious Bastards and can't honestly remember more then 5 minutes of it, ok, so Brad Pitt finally changed into an accent...WOW he deserves an award! It was like watching a deviation of Hogans Heroes with my Grandpa.

This is my opinion...lets not kill me for it lol

 

[Harumi]

I've seen Up In The Air and The Hurt Locker and Inglorious Basterds, I liked them all, but imho the first two are rather forgettable, only the latter would have deserved a nod.

I too have found both Up in the air and Hurt Locker to be overrated. Up in the air a character driven movie so I understand the acting nominations but yeah, the direction was nothing special (plus the plot gets absurd toward the end, and kind of spoils everything). The Hurt Locker didn't do anything more for the realistic war psychodrama genre than Generation Kill, Apocalypse Now, Save Private Ryan or even the ultra commercial Black Hawk down did before it. It was very well directed but not as big a deal as critics made it sound.

i think it may have to do with it being an media event as opposed to an industry event

Like most Hollywood award competitions, it is both an industry and media event. The fact the GG are awarded by journalists doesn't make them any less of an insider awards.
They are considered the second most prestigious in Hollywood and are a good indicator of what the Oscars will be like.

More to the point, Titanic swept the Oscars back in the day, and mediocre but popular Slumdog took 8 Oscars last year, so they are just as populist as the GG. I still maintain Avatar is this year's favourite for BP.

 

[Belowen]

I had low expecations going in to see Avatar 3D today, and I was pleasantly surprised. For a 3 hour long movie, it was certainly entertaining and watchable. I didn't get bored, or want it to end at all. I was moved, and thought the storyline and the visuals were absolutely beautiful.

Sam's forced accent was annoying though They should have let him speak with his Aussie accent instead.