Looks like James Cameron is going to be making three Avatar sequels - all at once...

http://www.showbiz411.com/2012/06/26/james-cameron-will-film-three-avatar-sequels-at-the-same-time

Um...I'm not sure how much of that to believe.

Is she going to be Obi Grace Kenobi?




The Jedi Master

Comment below the article sums it up nicely:

"Apart from the visuals, I hated the first one for its simplistic Cameronesque moralizing. The mind boggles how completely unbearable the sequels will be."

People try to read too much into movies. Sometimes you should let the cigar be just a cigar.
Grace was "uploaded" to the network, definitely Obi Wan-like, but at least they did cover it better than Star Wars.
Shooting all at the same time is a good thing IMO. Good for a more consistent story, actors that don't noticeably age between flicks and fans are assured that the story will have an end and not just get dropped mid-stream.

Unfortunately in this case a cigar isn't a cigar and there were underlying messages in it. Even Cameron admitted it during an interview. If I watch the others it will be by borrowing the DVDs off of a friend since I don't want to spend money on watching Pocahontas in Space/Intergalactic Fern Gully parts 2-4.

I'll wait until they come out on HBO - since I already have a subscription it won't cost me extra. Like many others, I was caught up in the pre-release marketing hype of the first one and couldn't wait to see it. Turned out to be a D- story wrapped in A+ CGI. Even the Academy was duped into nominating it for Best Picture and Best Director. I'm glad The Hurt Locker won...

Here's what I would like to know. Previous Cameron films like "The Abyss", "Aliens" and "Terminator 2" were full of political themes dealing with war, corporate greed and power run amok, humans proclivity for violence, etc. but yet somehow "Avatar" got a lot more attention for its political undertones than any of those other films.

Perhaps it's just a sign of the times?

I think that in Aliens, The Abyss, etc., the controversial themes were part of the backstory and not a continual, driving theme of the movies themselves; it merely set the stage. In Avatar, it comes up quite a lot. I think it's an easy target because the targets are much clearer, and present themselves quite a lot. Plus with all of the green issues and middle-eastern hotspots being much more prominent these days than back then (especially the green thing), it's a lot more topical.

Perhaps, but even if the cigar is NOT just a cigar, it's really not hard to just pretend that it is. Makes lots of things more enjoyable!

I did the same thing when I read Faulkner's books The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying in school. You ignore all the subtle things and just read it in a straightforward manner and they're EXTREMELY unappealing, as I intended them to be. So the inverse happened there...



The Jedi Master

I just don't see where the story goes from where they left off. Yes, the political messages in Avatar were annoying to anyone right of center, but what is the next story going to be? Obviously, the RDA or some other goverment organization or corporation will come back to reclaim the facility and the mine. Then what?

Cameron has mentioned two things so far that I recall about the furute Avatar movies.

1. At least some of it will take place under water. Boooring...

2. Arnold will be in at least one. Get to the choppa...

Jason

Bingo!
Sometimes good movies can be great if you switch your brain off and just enjoy the ride. LOL
When you look to movies for political views etc, you'll just be disappointed most of the time. Movie makers and actors aren't qualified any more than anyone else. I'll let them entertain me though, that's what they're really for IMO.

Film makers and actors may not be more qualified than us ordinary folk when it comes to expressing political views but they sure get a lot more attention than us when they do.

And as for turning your brain off and not searching for political undertones in a movie, that would work or not work depending entirely on what movie it is. You don't think that a movie like "Wall Street" or "V for Vendetta" has a political ideology behind it? By the same token, it would be absurd to try and find a political agenda behind "The Hangover" or "Thor".

I believe the future films will take place in the same "universe" and actually the same solar system as Avatar, but not the same actual moon.

My guess is that the tech that allowed them to make human/Na'avi hybrid avatars would allow them to make human/whatever hybrid avatars elsewhere, especially if they're water-breathers. So perhaps we'll see a new trilogy separate from Avatar.




The Jedi Master

I mean I still enjoyed watching it in 3D because the CGI and tech is impressive and it's an immersive visual experience, but the story is cheap fluff, acting indifferent, themes tired and unoriginal. Thus it does annoy me when something like Avatar gets hailed as a "great film". In the special effects / minor technical categories, perhaps; otherwise completely underwhelming.

Wouldn't be lining up to pay money for at the theatre again though, unless perhaps I was taking my young kid to look at the pretty butterflies and flying dinosaurs.

Over-hyped and under-delivered; some of the same criticisms could be levelled at Prometheus of course. Although I do wonder how much the superior and relentless marketing we have these days is to blame for unrealistic expectations.

There's probably something ageist to be said about director's better years being behind them, too.

On the "political messages are everywhere" thing, perhaps, but when there's nothing else of substance to distract you from it, it just grates. Not as if there was a dull moment in Aliens or T2 to be distracted by such!

It's fair to say Avatar wasn't a grand space opera with deep characters and a complex plot, but then movies like Dune just don't do it for the average movie-goer. 2001 was a rare bird. Even the story in Blade Runner wasn't REALLY all that deep, it's the environment it's told in that makes that movie so incredible. I would imagine that's what they were going for in Avatar, it just wasn't as interesting an environment. LOL Deep and complex rarely works in 2-3 hrs.
It sure would be nice to see the deep and amazing sci fi books get made into movies of LOTR quality, but I don't know if that will happen, or if it's really possible on the big screen.

The problem of politics in movies, for me, is that my own views and politics are almost ALWAYS under attack...not by the fictional character, but by the writers and producer's "message" they want to deeply imbed in the movie. I wouldn't mind so much if it was only SOME of the time, and my own views got roughly equal coverage in other pieces...but that just doesn't happen anymore.

It's EASY to dismiss such notions if the messages don't insult you. But for me, before I go pay for a movie, I check online to see if I'm gonna be getting suckerpunched by the "message". And if the answer is "probably", I absolutely REFUSE to pay for that movie in any form.

Why wouldn't I pay for a movie I'd disagree with politically? First, because it's exposing me to propaganda I do not wish to see. Second, I earned my money through hard, difficult, dangerous and unpleasant work...AFTER TAX...why should I pay some Hollywood lackeys who sit in air-conditioned rooms all day long with some of the easiest jobs in the world, to lecture me about how I'm supposed to feel about a situation?!? Third, paying for a propaganda piece I don't agree with, will only encourage them to make more such propaganda. Fourth, and by FAR the most important reason I will REFUSE to pay for a movie that's going to push a political message...they WILL take part of my money and donate it to a political party and campaign that I don't want to support. Hollywood today IS a "Super-PAC"!

I used to not mind it in the 80's and 90's, but that was VERY mild when they did that back in those days. Today it's like they are beating you over the head with a hammer...no, I will NOT pay for that. No matter how glittery and shiny the latest 3D effects are.

Avatar was shiny and glittery...and yes, I watched it in the theatres because we went to it opening night. That's the last time I'm paying money for Hollywood to scold me and my beliefs.

I'd never see a movie if I did that. Or read a book, watch a tv show, play a game, talk to anyone...
What some may call propaganda, I may view as a farce instead. Again, that's why I just go to be entertained.

I understand your point but wouldn't you agree that different types of films are made with different intentions? For example, would you say a film like "Kingdom of Heaven" or "W" were made purely for entertainment? Both of these films have very specific political and ideological viewpoints that they are presenting.

The unfortunate fact is that most people who work in Hollywood and entertainment in general are left of center and that applies especially to film script writers. The bias is there no doubt but I think in general that bias is kept to a minimum in most films. Of course, it all depends on what kind of film it is. Any film that has a premise set in the modern day Middle East is pretty much guaranteed to have a left of center tilt. See "Green Zone", "The Kingdom", "Lions for Lambs".

I don't go to see movies like that--we don't get to go that often, so any movie better be a good bet for a fun night. Rarely watch them at home either though. Couldn't tell you which way those two swing on whatever topic. I think I saw the start of Kingdom, but can't remember the rest. W just not my kind of movie, like most Oliver Stone movies. Not that I'm a simpleton, but if I'm going to sit through a couple of hours, I want to be entertained, not merely subjected to someone's opinion. Apocalypse Now managed to be a good war movie, but surely has other facets. Mainly, it's entertaining, which is why it's good--you can take from it what you want. Not due to being some vehicle for Coppola to preach to the audience.
Some consider movies to be art, but I'm not so sure when it comes to big budget flicks. The idea of hundreds of people working for a year or more merely for a director to convey an opinion to the public is a little absurd to me.

Most certainly NOT all films are art. That would be like saying all music albums are art. To me at least, your summer block buster/big budget films are not art because their primary purpose is to make money. You then have your art house and independent type films where you can clearly see that the primary intent was to make audiences think and question themes of the human condition.

Just my 2 cents.

Meh. I think all this "ecopolitics" stuff is just a jaundiced lens reflecting the
guilt of industrialized proles who know damn well deep in their hearts that they're
screwing the planet to death, and their grandchildren will curse them as they watch
all their time bomb catastrophes unfold. I don't think it has much to do with the
plot of the picture. when I saw it, all I could think was "this is every Andre Norton
book ever written". I bet Cameron was reading them in his childhood. I mean, we're
talking 1950s here.

Yes, too bad that wasn't outlawed. Super-PACs are now the ultimate way for elections to be corrupted legally. What a wonderful system.

Not that I see why they even need the money anymore, when both parties have dedicated so-called "independent" networks trumpeting their narrow views of who is right and wrong and How Things Should Be, 365/24/7. Yes, they "independently" climbed into bed with their respected parties' ideologies, and whether you're right or wrong is solely based on whether there's a (D) or (R) after your name, it no longer matter WHAT is said.
When you can find the same people alternately outraged at and then defending something 100% identical, the only difference being which party did it, it's a joke.

For all the umpteen "War On XYZ" the networks love to parade about, I wish there was a "War on the Media". The media cannot be trusted. They say only what they think their audience wants to hear to the extent that there's no point paying attention to them anymore. I think the tipping point was when presidents started getting blamed for natural disasters. Really? So our elected 4 yr term human is now a minor god? I don't think so.

I'd like every reporter/anchor/analyst that presents a biased outlook like that to have a big "LIAR" tattooed on their forehead. At least the politicians you KNOW will do it, they have the letter D or R permanently attached to their name.
"Accused of rape? In the other party? This is an outrage! No cover ups will be tolerated! Prosecute to the fullest extent...oh, what? Our party? This is a frame up! A desperate attempt by the other side to besmirch a good name!"


The first thing we do, let's kill all the reporters.



The Jedi Master

Love the post Jedi. Full of intense angst and sarcasm.