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Taxious · Post by **Taxious** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 1:16 pm

I'll start it, w/e~

Anyone seen this yet? This is the first movie I've been excited about in a while - I think it's been a year or something since I've been to the theater.

Seeing it on the imax tonight.

Alluveal · Post by **Alluveal** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 1:18 pm

Ebert likes it . . .

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbc ... /912119998

Fallakin Kuvari · Post by **Fallakin Kuvari** » Fri Dec 18, 2009 5:53 pm

I've heard it was good. Personally I don't care to go see it in the theater.

Alluveal · Post by **Alluveal** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 9:41 am

uhh, Taxious, get your lazy ass up and give us a report.

Taxious · Post by **Taxious** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 12:29 pm

Alluveal wrote:uhh, Taxious, get your lazy ass up and give us a report.

Haha

I liked it, everyone I went with liked it, and everyone coming out of the theater seemed to have positive things to say. The movie was kinda long but the whole thing was so pretty that it wasn't a big deal. We didn't go to the 3D version because one of my friends has a bad eye and can't wear the glasses, I'd be interested in seeing it again in 3D though.

If you are interested in seeing this, definitely go see it in the theaters. The big screen and volume add a lot to the whole experience.

Arathena · Post by **Arathena** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 5:19 pm

Fuck, yes. Good movie. Very, very long, and you start to feel it about when he gives the speech from the trailers. We did see it in 3d - They did a fairly good job of it, leaving the 3d as an enhancement to a lot of already VERY impressive animation, rather than trying to play gimmicky bullshit with it the way directors seem to like to do. When it hits the shelves, planning on picking it up on Blu-Ray. Don't think standard res will do it any justice whatsoever.

Select · Post by **Select** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 12:24 pm

I was reading some talk backs and it seems most of the hype is about the visuals. When people are saying 'good movie', it seems to mostly be about the prettiness. For me, I need both for a 'great' movie. I haven't seen much commenting on the story, but when I do, I read that it's crappy and the dialogue is empty with cliche phrases. Unoriginal doesn't necessarily make for a bad story, but I'm hearing in this case that it does. Like Fallakin, I'm not interested in spending money to be fed the same old in a prettier package. And with how long it is, seeing this in a theater would bore me to tears if my eyes didn't roll out of my head. This is likely just me, since looking amazing is enough for most people, but I've just become so resistant to cliche and gimmicks. I guess I was holding this to a higher esteem than, say, Transformers where it's silly to expect a good story.

Kulaf · Post by **Kulaf** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 10:26 pm

It's a good movie. Great artistry in the visuals and a decent plot even if there are some glaring holes. We were going to go see it in IMAX 3D but my friend was bringing the family and the sticker shock of some $17 per ticket was a bit much.

Regarding critics of the story.....meh. There hasn't been anything "new" to write about for a long time. There are only so many variations on plot lines.

Select · Post by **Select** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 12:24 am

Unoriginal doesn't necessarily make for a bad story, but I'm hearing in this case that it does.

Post by **Ddrak** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 4:42 am

There hasn't been anything "new" to write about for a long time. There are only so many variations on plot lines.

I'd debate that. There's plenty of new stories to tell - hell, any half-decent GM can invent a story that's interesting and fresh enough to be good. What is really at issue is there's only so many variations on a plot that filmmakers think they'll get a guaranteed ROI on, and so they lean towards plots that had a good ROI before. Then they shove it through audience focus groups until they find something so bland and unsurprising that there's only mild positives left from the mush being fed.

Fundamentally it's a problem with the industry, not a lack of stories.

Dd

Taxious · Post by **Taxious** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:02 am

I liked the story and the visuals. I didn't really find the plot lacking anything and am probably going to pay to see it again.

Harlowe · Post by **Harlowe** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:35 am

I thought it was good. It wasn't what I'd call a great movie, but you'd definitely want to catch it in a theater vs. waiting for it to come out on DVD because the visuals are awesome. The storyline is decent, but the dialogue was pretty cheesy. I felt that was where the movie fell a bit flat.

Kulaf · Post by **Kulaf** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 2:12 pm

Ddrak wrote:
There hasn't been anything "new" to write about for a long time. There are only so many variations on plot lines.
I'd debate that. There's plenty of new stories to tell - hell, any half-decent GM can invent a story that's interesting and fresh enough to be good. What is really at issue is there's only so many variations on a plot that filmmakers think they'll get a guaranteed ROI on, and so they lean towards plots that had a good ROI before. Then they shove it through audience focus groups until they find something so bland and unsurprising that there's only mild positives left from the mush being fed.

Fundamentally it's a problem with the industry, not a lack of stories.

Dd

You can tell a new story....but there are only so many variations on plot themes. Any book anyone can think of that is from the last 100 years has already been told in a different way. Think J.R.R. was original? Check Arthurian legend and the Bible. Think R.K Rowling is original? First I would have to kill you, but she draws on the same old plot just with younger characters.

Basically this is a new story......with an old native people theme and story of land under threat, ancient prophesy, new hero for the age......blah, blah, blah.

Just because plot lines are recycled doesn't mean you still can't have a great story. There are only so many ways to present a "hero".

Taxious · Post by **Taxious** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 2:33 pm

I think I've posted this before, but I love this quote referring to originality.

Angels In America wrote:Imagination can't create anything new can it? It only recycles bits and pieces from the world and reassembles them into visions. So when we think we've escaped the unbearable ordinariness and, well, untruthfulness of our lives it's really only the same old ordinariness and falseness rearranged into the appearance of novelty and truth. Nothing unknown is knowable.

I actually thought Avatar did a great job with being creative and presenting some new (for me) ideas. Not so much with the plot, but with the world and how the traditions of the natives went. I liked how they could plug themselves into the animals of their world. I liked the "brain tree" that they all connected themselves into and how their spirit and memory lived on through it.

Kulaf · Post by **Kulaf** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 7:10 pm

I was another variation on the Gaia story like the one presented in the Final Fantasy movie.

Alluveal · Post by **Alluveal** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:21 pm

Joseph Campbell and Jung are your friend.

Archetypes will always recycle.

It sounds like this is a great take on the whole monomyth. Always a thumbs up from me.

Minute · Post by **Minute** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 5:16 am

Going to see it Thursday & then Holmes on Friday. Really looking forward to Holmes.

Select · Post by **Select** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 10:30 am

I keep hearing it's heavily Dances With Wolves/Pocahontas based.
I haven't seen the former or read a more accurate story of Pocahontas.

I am more excited to see Holmes.

Taxious · Post by **Taxious** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 10:40 am

Dances With Smurfs~

Garrdor · Post by **Garrdor** » Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:03 pm

Excellent movie. Great take on a super-common storyline.

See it in 3D or don't see it at all.

... and by the way: Since when does Sherlock Holmes dive sideways through the air firing two musket pistols, run on top of a moving barrel, have an array of gadgets that'd make Inspector Gadget blush? And snarky facetious Robert Downey Jr. is probably the worst pick to play Sherlock.

GG Hollywood. I wonder what other franchises can be turned into The Mummy? I saw the trailer for Sherlock Holmes, and It was like TURN OF THE CENTURY SHENANNIGANS. WOAH, CHECK OUT ALL THE FUN STUFF WE CAN DO WITH THIS OLD TECHNOLOGY!!!

Steampunks should eat it up.

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