7 ms·

First look at James Cameron's Movie: Avatar

17 points by thrawn 17y ago

jerryji 17y ago
If it takes ten years to truly learn a programming language, it might as well take ten years to make a true movie.
- zimbabwe 17y ago
  Perhaps it takes ten years to learn the language of film. In fact, it almost certainly does. But if you're spending ten years developing every product you launch, you're doing it wrong.
  - chime 17y ago
    I disagree. If it takes me 10 years to make something that is truly unique and useful, then so be it. I would rather make something that is wonderful and amazing than a thousand half-baked attempts. There is something to be said about the dedication behind a decade-long masterpiece, regardless of its public reception. The launch-early, launch-often mentality works great in some fields, not all. Dali took years to paint each of his large paintings, like The Hallucinogenic Toreador ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hallucinogenic_Toreador http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hallucinogenic_Toreador ). I would definitely want Apple to release updates to iPhone often and web apps to crank out new features frequently. But I wouldn't be so demanding when it comes to other fields, especially art.
  - anigbrowl 17y ago
    James Cameron has earned the right to take as long as he wants on his projects; he has one of the highest signal to noise ratios in Hollywood.
    - zimbabwe 17y ago
      What other films has he made, out of curiosity? This is the first I've heard of his name.
      - jf 17y ago
        Notable films from: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000116/#director http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000116/#director Titanic (1997) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) The Abyss (1989) Aliens (1986) The Terminator (1984)
        zimbabwe 17y ago
        Ugh. Not the sort of person I'd expect to suddenly turn around and release a good movie. This story re: the graphics was interesting, though. I might give Avatar a shot.
        shiranaihito 17y ago
        > Not the sort of person I'd expect to suddenly turn around and release a good movie. Well, you shouldn't dismiss his movies just because some of them fall into the action/horror category. In fact, you might want to consider watching them.
        zimbabwe 17y ago
        I've seen a few of the movies on that list. Titanic in particular stands out as a non-action/horror film on the list that was resoundingly mediocre.
        anigbrowl 17y ago
        The thing about a film like Titanic (and most other films in the epic genre) is you know the ending: the boat sinks, almost everybody dies. 'Personal heroism overwhelmed by unfortunate circumstances' is a pathetic narrative, in the most literal sense of the word pathetic: pathos is a literary device of reflecting a characters problems in their environment, eg it starts raining to show someone is sad. Normally this is terminally cheesy, but when its set in the context of a real event it's rather different. Films like this are not meant to leave you feeling satisfied. You're welcome to email me if you want to vent on what you disliked about it. I work in film/TV so I'm quite interested in people's point of view.
DanielBMarkham 17y ago
I know movies run on hype, and I know that I'm feeding the monster. But still -- I'm really looking forward to this movie. Cameron is an excellent director, and the new technology angle is potentially jaw-dropping. If nothing else it should be a great flick. Maybe it will be totally incredible. There's no downside to this.
DTrejo 17y ago
I don't like to read about movies that are supposed to be good. It raises my expectations, and then I enjoy the movie less when I see it. I think there are some in the movie world who take note of this. I think the previews for The Dark Knight were made with this in mind. In the first trailers there is very little pre-view and much more building of anticipation without building expectation.
antidaily 17y ago
The problem with CGI is that it (almost) always looks fake. Cloverfield was a good movie until that goofy CGI monster came into frame. If Cameron figured out how to make CGI look real and I mean really real, Avatar will truly be a breakthrough.
- tolmasky 17y ago
  Jurassic Park succeeded I felt.
  - amalcon 17y ago
    Jurassic Park didn't make CGI look real; it just used real-looking models that happened to move.
heed 17y ago
It sounds like Cameron may have beat the uncanny valley...

17 points by thrawn 17y ago

jerryji 17y ago

If it takes ten years to truly learn a programming language, it might as well take ten years to make a true movie.

zimbabwe 17y ago
Perhaps it takes ten years to learn the language of film. In fact, it almost certainly does. But if you're spending ten years developing every product you launch, you're doing it wrong.
- chime 17y ago
  I disagree. If it takes me 10 years to make something that is truly unique and useful, then so be it. I would rather make something that is wonderful and amazing than a thousand half-baked attempts. There is something to be said about the dedication behind a decade-long masterpiece, regardless of its public reception. The launch-early, launch-often mentality works great in some fields, not all. Dali took years to paint each of his large paintings, like The Hallucinogenic Toreador ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hallucinogenic_Toreador http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hallucinogenic_Toreador ). I would definitely want Apple to release updates to iPhone often and web apps to crank out new features frequently. But I wouldn't be so demanding when it comes to other fields, especially art.
- anigbrowl 17y ago
  James Cameron has earned the right to take as long as he wants on his projects; he has one of the highest signal to noise ratios in Hollywood.
  - zimbabwe 17y ago
    What other films has he made, out of curiosity? This is the first I've heard of his name.
    - jf 17y ago
      Notable films from: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000116/#director http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000116/#director Titanic (1997) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) The Abyss (1989) Aliens (1986) The Terminator (1984)
      - zimbabwe 17y ago
        Ugh. Not the sort of person I'd expect to suddenly turn around and release a good movie. This story re: the graphics was interesting, though. I might give Avatar a shot.
        shiranaihito 17y ago
        > Not the sort of person I'd expect to suddenly turn around and release a good movie. Well, you shouldn't dismiss his movies just because some of them fall into the action/horror category. In fact, you might want to consider watching them.
        zimbabwe 17y ago
        I've seen a few of the movies on that list. Titanic in particular stands out as a non-action/horror film on the list that was resoundingly mediocre.
        anigbrowl 17y ago
        The thing about a film like Titanic (and most other films in the epic genre) is you know the ending: the boat sinks, almost everybody dies. 'Personal heroism overwhelmed by unfortunate circumstances' is a pathetic narrative, in the most literal sense of the word pathetic: pathos is a literary device of reflecting a characters problems in their environment, eg it starts raining to show someone is sad. Normally this is terminally cheesy, but when its set in the context of a real event it's rather different. Films like this are not meant to leave you feeling satisfied. You're welcome to email me if you want to vent on what you disliked about it. I work in film/TV so I'm quite interested in people's point of view.

DanielBMarkham 17y ago

I know movies run on hype, and I know that I'm feeding the monster. But still -- I'm really looking forward to this movie. Cameron is an excellent director, and the new technology angle is potentially jaw-dropping. If nothing else it should be a great flick. Maybe it will be totally incredible. There's no downside to this.

DTrejo 17y ago

I don't like to read about movies that are supposed to be good. It raises my expectations, and then I enjoy the movie less when I see it. I think there are some in the movie world who take note of this. I think the previews for The Dark Knight were made with this in mind. In the first trailers there is very little pre-view and much more building of anticipation without building expectation.

antidaily 17y ago

The problem with CGI is that it (almost) always looks fake. Cloverfield was a good movie until that goofy CGI monster came into frame. If Cameron figured out how to make CGI look real and I mean really real, Avatar will truly be a breakthrough.

tolmasky 17y ago
Jurassic Park succeeded I felt.
- amalcon 17y ago
  Jurassic Park didn't make CGI look real; it just used real-looking models that happened to move.

heed 17y ago

It sounds like Cameron may have beat the uncanny valley...