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Now Available from RiffTrax…91 Replies to “Now Available from RiffTrax…”Commenting at Satellite News
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Oh, James Cameron will get plenty of more money from the fans that he’s screwing over by releasing such a cheap-o DVD and Blu-Ray now and a better one later on.
The ending should be a great callback to Space Mutiny….and his eyesssss…open! Open! His eyyyyyeesss…Open!!
I saw “Avatar” in the theater in 3D. It was bascially a 3 hour showcase for the latest in 3-D technology. It was fine for what it was…a thinly plotted film, featuring a ton of cool visuals, and I’m not quite sure why folks seem to hate the film with such passion? I doubt I would ever watch it again, simply because the DVD won’t be able to duplicate the theater’s 3-D experience, not because of some odd anger issues directed at Cameron or the film. I’m guessing most of the backlash to the film is due to the massive haul at the box office???
To Pete from Canada: Wow, I had no idea that Cameron would still be rich without my money. Darn, my plan failed! :cry: Okay sarcasm off now. You spend your money your way and I’ll spend my money mine. For me, I chose not to stroke the already overinflated ego of a mediocre director. As a college student paying my own tuition in full, I’m careful about how I spend and every dollar matters.
To Graboidz: I had no interest in seeing Avatar mainly because I don’t care for modern scifi films. They just aren’t as fun as the ones from the 50s and 60s. Of course I’m certainly not going to begrudge anyone seeing the film or belittle them because they don’t have the same taste as me because, at least for now, we still live in a free country.
Graboidz: “I’m guessing most of the backlash to the film is due to the massive haul at the box office???”
Actually, in my case at least, I found the sheer amount of hype very off-putting. It didn’t look too interesting at first (mostly because I don’t care about effects, 3D or otherwise), but once people (ESPECIALLY the director himself) appeared whenever possible to talk about this is the greatest, most revolutionary movie ever and will change society as we know it, that was when it began to annoy me. By the time we got clips of it used in the opening of the World Series for no discernible reason other than to remind you that the future greatest-movie-ever was about to be released, I had every reason to avoid it.
I have little to no respect for those who try to defend it, dismissing the fact it’s a lazy story shored up by SFX because “OMG, I actually SAW it!” or “It’s just a fun movie, what’s your problem?” My “problem” is that I resent any movie/director/producer who assumes I’m stupid and will tolerate a gussied up episode of “Captain Planet” simply because it’s really good 3D. I guess if you’re a movie viewer with a shred of intelligence & dignity, then it’s a problem. :roll:
I wanna be a 9-foot tall blue cat-person with electric dred-locks! *sob* Hey, maybe if I make that my religion I’ll go to James Cameron Heaven when I die!
Mela, I am a movie viewer….but I left my last shreds of intelligence and dignity laying in a heap a LONG time ago (probably around the time I stood in line to see “Friday the 13th VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan”…of course the line consisted of….me…and yes, I enjoyed that film) so watching Avatar wasn’t a problem for me.
Who knows maybe you’ve hit the nail on the head?
As a mech-suit fan, I am offended by Avatar. We finally get a movie where people are using mech-suits and they have to be the bad guys. :sad:
I had no desire to watch Avatar and attempted to avoid it. That is until my good friend asked me to join him. Since he hung out with me to see The Men Who Stare at Goats, the least I could do was check out yet another Cameron crapfest (yes, I can’t stand watching Titanic or Terminator 2).
I loved it in spite of myself. Sure it’s a retread of Dances With Wolves, but that’s an ingenuous argument as Dances With Wolves and every other film ever made with a plot is a retread of another storyline.
The special effects were not just pretty, but the shots, the locales were all gorgeous. The world was so beautiful, I didn’t feel that this was the work of a cynic, but an outpouring of artisty.
The dialogue was insipid, there was zero subtlety, and the characters were as fleshed out as printer paper; but, that said, it would have made an excellent silent film. And the film itself was enough to win me over.
Can’t wait for the riffing!
So, this movie is really akin to the Russo-Finnish epics that were used on MST3K; lavish production but stupid.
I enjoyed the movie for what it was, a special effects extravaganza with some pretty sweet 3-D effects. The design of the film is actually very impressive as well. But, as others have mentioned it’s story and characters are typical and predictable. Without the 3D coat of paint, I doubt the movie will be as enjoyable. I’m curious to see it again.
As for Rifftrax tackling it, I think it’s great news. The movie takes itself deadly serious, which always helps. There are lots of great images and scenes for mocking fodder and some of the dialogue is very ripe. I was on the fence about picking this up because I wasn’t sure how often I’d revisit it – but with Rifftrax on board, it’s easy to purchase.
Alternate universe Mela acquaintance #1: “Hey Mela, there’s this great show called Mystery Science Theater 3000. I think you’d really like it”
Alternate universe Mela acquaintance #2: “Yeah it’s hysterical”
Alternate universe Mela: “Oh right, I’ll get right on that. *to herself* Suckers, trying to tell me to watch things, I’ll show them and never watch that show”.
The pod-people just don’t quit, do they?
Avatar=Dances w/ Wolves + Final Fantasy; It should be a good riff like the Twilight movies, however do I really want to sit through the movie after seeing the red letter review?
A friend of mine said this movie was like Disney’s Pocahontas.
Not too far off; except we are spared having to hear Neytiri sing ‘Colors of the Wind.’
“The hippie bead vines and the floating rocks are my brothers”
“Those six legged horse things and those space hyenas are my friends…”
I saw Avatar, and it is indeed highly overrated. Ridiculously formulaic and predictable story that is just a connect the oh so obvious dots event where you sit back and watch exactly what you expect to happen unfold before your very eyes with no surprises at all. And the characters are such obvious and tired cliches that you can pretty much guess exactly what will happen to almost every one of them within their first few minutes on screen. The aliens are very lame and obviously precisely designed to tug at your heartstrings. A film like District 9 is infinitely better than Avatar for that reason alone. In Avatar you feel for the aliens because they look like sexy blue cat people with big wet tear soaked puppy-dog eyes, and have a culture almost exactly like Native Americans. In District 9 you feel for the aliens because they have actually been fleshed out within the story and made to seem real, even though they look like monsters and dig through garbage dumps to eat. As for effects Avatar is nothing all that impressive. I’m not blown away by 3D, I find it more of a distraction than anything else, and I didn’t see anything in the CG that I haven’t seen done before, and even better. The CG characters were no more emotive than many others who have come before. Cameron may have created some interesting new behind the scenes technology to help in shooting mostly CG scenes, but he used it to craft a somewhat boring and lazily written film.
It’s no surprise that Avatar was so successful. It was expertly crafted to be as appealing as possible to as wide an audience as possible. But that meant it was practically guaranteed to be incredibly shallow and boring to anyone looking to be challenged in any meaningful way.
All that being said I will say that Avatar is no where near as bad as something like 2012 or anything Michael Bay has done or will ever do. Avatar is lazy and afraid to do anything different or challenging in it’s writing and storytelling, but those other such movies are down right stupid and insulting to any viewer with half a brain.
If calling people out for passionately hating things they’ve never seen makes me a pod person then give me a kicky Donald Sutherland afro.
By the by, I’ve not once defended the movie Avatar in any of these responses. Because I haven’t seen it to know if it’s good or bad. I’m merely pointing out how ridiculous it is that people are so froth-at-the-mouth against it without having actually seen it.
Hmmmm….I liked “2012” too….I’m getting insulted all over the place in this thread!! :lol:
Aw gee, Travis, I apologize. I keep forgetting you haven’t seen it. Whatever you do, don’t get a Donald Sutherland afro. That’s not even a good look for pod people.
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“Didn’t I tell you, Zolon, that if we financed this movie for Mr. Cameron, we’d have these unsophisticated earthlings at each others throats in no time at all ?????????”
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“Yes, Baritha-242, it seems your plan is working to PERFECTION !!!!!!! And soon it will be time to begin phase two of your divide and conquer strategy………” (evil laughter) :twisted:
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Weregeek has the truth about Avatar.
http://www.weregeek.com/2010/02/10
So glad this movie didn’t win Best Picture. I was rooting for District 9 but seeing The Hurt Locker, yeah, that one was the best.
Ick. Just watching the sample clip makes me hate the movie already. I don’t think I could stand the whole thing, even with the riffing.
I loved the movie for purely fetishistic reasons. That being that I simply love any type of fiction involving a transformation of one character(human, preferably) into a different type of being, something that reflects greatly in my preferences of literature, especially.
Also, it’s too bad for people who can’t watch a movie, even with riffing. Personally, riffing turns any movie into a completely different type of experience, thus I can always enjoy it.
Cool. I’ll definitely have to buy this one. Avatar has plenty of Riff potential.
I gotta say, though: I did enjoy seeing it in the theaters. The 3D special effects made for a neat piece of eye candy.
I can’t comment on the movie itself, as I never got around to seeing it. I was a bit turned off by the hype, but it was mainly because I had other things to spend my money on (like a new TV for my Mom). I think I’ll spring for the Rifftrax, though, especially since I can borrow the DVD from the Library.
Ah, a personal attack – how classy. Travis, here’s the difference you don’t seem to grasp.
If my friends, not mere work acquaintances but actual friends whose tastes I trust, told me to check something out, I’d consider it. We know each other’s tastes and intelligence levels, so anything we recommend to each other should be at least interesting.
If work acquaintances with suspect taste, every interview outlet ever, interviews repackaged as news, random clips inserted between highlight footage for sports shows, and every ad break on every network told me to check something out, I’d be highly suspect of it. Anything that crazily sold assumes its audience is stupid (which the “2012”-loving coworker shows isn’t entirely in the wrong), and I know I’m not. If everything I see & hear about a series shows that it runs counter to my tastes and insults my intelligence, then I’m avoiding it. The more people like you try to say otherwise, the more convinced I get that I’ve made the right choice.
What I’ve seen of Avatar shows that Cameron assumes his market needs to be told that (1) fighting might be entertaining but it’s bad, (2) we should all be tolerant of each other except for old white guys, and (3) save the trees like all of these trite morals are a new revelation that only he can deliver. And let’s not get into the naked sympathy grab that is making the alien species suspiciously attractive instead of truly alien. It was popular because it was aimed at stupid people, but it tried to to pretend that it was deep & important & not horribly cliche. It’s watchable SOLELY with Rifftrax.
This thread is bad and the posters should feel bad.
Loved Avatar! Fantastic movie. Not something I want to watch on a 55 inch screen…..but if I do buy it ,I’ll get this Rifftrax for sure! Should be a hoot!
Whoever compared Avatar to the Russo-Finn Four, did the latter a disservice. I believe those movies probably were just fine for their original audience (no editing by US Distributor or Best Brains, original language/cultural context, etc.) Second they had heart, particularly Jack Frost.
The problem with Avatar is that is just corporatized plastic sludge. I am not even sure if Rifftrax can make that funny over large swaths of the movie. When something has no character, soul or quirkiness (good or bad flavors of such elements), then getting to grips with it is pretty hard. They can get in a few well timed zingers here and there, but no sustainable vibe. I found Twilight 1 almost unwatchable even with Rifftrax for the same reason. (Twilight 2 for some reason was actually a bit weirder and campier; so the Riffers actually got some “bite” on that one.)
Sorry,
I cringed through this whole film.
The effects were great, but it reminded me of “Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow.”
Great effects wasted on a bad movie.
I don’t think I could suffer through it again.
I probably would not have minded Avatar nearly as much if the art design weren’t completely and utterly godawful at every single moment.
Aw, go read Isaac Asimov.
Watched it last night. One of the best Rifftrax ever (but don’t quote me on that because the movie is 2:40 long which means I need to watch it again to really review it properly). It sounds like they took their time writing it as the riffing covers many topics and styles. A number of jokes had me laughing out loud. Seeing the movie again highlighted how strong the first half-hour is, and how hopeful I was that this would indeed be a masterpiece. But the longer Jake stays a Na’vi, the sillier it gets. Seeing as how Cameron released the DVD with no extras, this will have to suffice as the commentary track until the deluxe version comes out. And we get to hear Disembaudio sing the awful song at the end. Recommended for lovers of science fiction films and haters of Hollywood excess.
“The pod-people just don’t quit, do they?”–the guy who posted nine times in one message board.
As Riff aficionados I’m surprised many of you don’t see things that are popular, since many, many riffs are callbacks to popular movies. How many references to something like Top Gun and Days of Thunder were in MST3K? The way i look at it half the time there’s something to be said for just seeing what everyone else is watching.
That is true. Sometimes just to understand running callback riffs one does need to see what all the media sheep are watching. But it’s just not feasible to waste a couple hours on a movie I can’t get into while there are stacks of things I WANT to watch but just don’t can’t get the free time to watch.
As I said before, I did actually walk out of this one (really pretty easy, as I knew *exactly* what was going to happen about five minutes into the film, without ever seeing anything else written about it. It’s that predictable).
And I LIKE Cameron films, so it was a surprise this one was so stinky, Yet I am looking forward to the RT of this one (although I’m not buying the movie — I’ll just rent it) because that’s essentially what I was doing during the film (riffing) but it was getting so hard not to do it outloud (see the thread on unintentional riffing where “2012” did me in) that I had to leave the theater not to anger some other folks.
So it will be interesting to see how it ends (I assume the bad guys actually win and take over the planet, right? Because worse comes to worst they could just stand off in space and nuke the whole thing into a parking lot and there’s no way the natives could defend against that. The only way the natives could win would be if they killed all the bad guys and not do anything stupid like just let them get back into their spaceships so they could indeed bomb their planet from above).
I’ve got it!: Pandoran-skin Boots!
*This Post Approved by the Pod Collective. SLEEEEP!*
I saw Avatar in the theatre and it sucks! No, you don’t have to see it to know it sucks! You just have to have a brain…And I’m tired of hearing about the great visuals. They suck!
Still, might be fun to watch the rifftrax version…
I like the Little Mermaid bit sung by Kevin in the free sample…
Avatar is eye candy, and is brainless, campy fun, so it makes for good riffing fodder. Its length, though, will make it difficult to watch in one sitting, even with RT. Still, no comment on this thread is dumber than what I saw this weekend – CNN.com has an article trying to explain some of the stuff on Pandora like floating islands and such as based in real science. Is CNN becoming the Weekly World News?
And his eyes open… and his eyes open… come on, dead people know what’s going to happen next…
“…looks like the poster section of any head shop”, the truth of why this movie is so popular REALLY comes out ;-)