I have a problem.
The Terminator, Aliens, Terminator 2, True Lies.
Common link? James Cameron, director.
It's no word of a lie that this is a man who, in his career has known what makes action films and thrillers good. Christ, T1 was his FIRST FILM, and he wrote -and- directed it, and it still stands in my mind as one of the best science fiction/action flicks ever made.
His career built up to a point in 1997 when he released Titanic.
Now, let's try to forget that time, when so many people hated the film because the girls loved Leo. Hell, tons of us hated Leo for that and now LOOK AT THE ACTOR HE'S BECOME. There was a lot of hatred geared toward the film because of its popularity, which is a fairly common occurrence in this generation - the anti-pop culture, as it were.
So let's forget that and think solely on Titanic. I've never been able to honestly say that I disliked the film. I won't mention the Academy Awards, because I understand the controversy and questionable standing of said academy, and that the Oscar argument really doesn't hold water anymore. Altogether, with Titanic, we had a well-written, well-acted, well-conceived film. And no, it's not about the ship. We all know the ship sank, but THAT WASN'T WHAT THE STORY WAS ABOUT! It was a story about a romance flourishing amid a barrage of classism, and ultimately improving the life and demeanor of one woman. It just -happened- to take place on a ship that sank.
In either case...I consider Titanic a very good film, and worthy of its awards. We all know how it did at the box office. $200 million budget, profit of over 1.8 billion dollars. THAT'S OVER 900% IN PROFIT!
Then James Cameron went all Jimmy Hoffa on us and disappeared.
Then Avatar happened.
I'll put this out right here. I saw Avatar. Once. I enjoyed what I saw. It was an absolutely gorgeous leap in the realm of digital film and special effects. I did the whole 3-D thing, got the whole experience, because that's what it was. It's an experience in technology.
THIS DOES NOT MAKE IT A GOOD FILM.
I'll put a link up here to Red Letter Media's review of Avatar.
http://www.redlettermedia.com/avatar.html
While his character, Mr. Plinkett, is...let's say, dark and terrifying, and the reviews done on this site are very much pieces of humour and satire, it provides an outstanding breakdown of the problems with this film as a film.
As far as I'm concerned, everybody should have seen it. In theaters, in 3d. BUT ONLY ONCE.
The story, characters and writing were flatter than a 3rd grade choir. There was zero substance in anything non-visual in this film. The story was a hackneyed copy of Dances With Wolves, and the characters were completely banal and one dimensional.
So what happened? How did this guy, who has written and directed some absolutely stellar films, end up creating something like Avatar? I mean, you can say that he put all his efforts into the visual aspect, which is fine for your average film/filmmaker (read: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.) But this is JAMES FUCKING CAMERON! This is not a one-trick pony! This is not a Hollywood hack! This is a great filmmaker! And he phoned in everything non-shiny?!
What this suggests to me is that he's gotten cocky. Like Marlon Brando, or George Lucas, he's gotten to the point where he feels untouchable based on his past accomplishments. Is he right? I mean, if that wasn't true, Avatar would have flopped, right?
Budget - $237 million
Gross Revenue - OVER 2.7 BILLION DOLLARS!
Not only has this film earned over ONE THOUSAND PERCENT of its budget in profits, it has almost passed Titanic's GR by an entire billion dollars. When Avatar came out, it was the 5th film in history to earn over 1 billion dollars, and now it's capped that number ON TOP of the previous highest grossing film of all time.
Of the (now 6) films that have passed 1 billion, It's my belief that only half of them deserved it. And guess what? Avatar is not part of that favourable half. People are giving James Cameron too much fucking money. That's all there is to it. There is nothing to be gained from seeing that film a second time. Absolutely nothing, because it's barely a film to begin with. It's a dancing light show.
Now...Avatar is, by this point, old news. So why am I going on about all this? Well, like the title of this entry suggests - I have a problem. And the problem is this.
James Cameron is converting Titanic, his Academy Award winning film, to 3-D for the purpose of re-releasing it theatrically in 2012.
Is this man really so bereft of ideas that he, immediately after releasing one clusterfuck of cashgrab tactics, has to re-release a film that was originally made to ACTUALLY TELL A STORY in the attempt to haul another few billion out of the moviegoing public? This man is actually in competition with himself for the top spot in terms of gross revenue.
I'll say that once again:
James Cameron holds both the #1 and #2 spots for highest gross revenue in film and is now theatrically re-releasing the #2 film to, as the only logical conclusion, re-take the #1 spot from himself. Maybe he's ashamed that the best selling film of all time is just kitten-faced blue-titted schlock that makes me think less of Giovanni Ribisi.
This man has enough money. We've all seen Titanic. Lots of us own it, and we can rent it easily. I am begging people, PLEASE don't give this fucking leech another 12 or so dollars. All it's going to do is re-affirm his belief that people will eat whatever the fuck he feeds them. And hopefully, if enough people spit it out, he'll give us something good again, like he used to.
Common link? James Cameron, director.
It's no word of a lie that this is a man who, in his career has known what makes action films and thrillers good. Christ, T1 was his FIRST FILM, and he wrote -and- directed it, and it still stands in my mind as one of the best science fiction/action flicks ever made.
His career built up to a point in 1997 when he released Titanic.
Now, let's try to forget that time, when so many people hated the film because the girls loved Leo. Hell, tons of us hated Leo for that and now LOOK AT THE ACTOR HE'S BECOME. There was a lot of hatred geared toward the film because of its popularity, which is a fairly common occurrence in this generation - the anti-pop culture, as it were.
So let's forget that and think solely on Titanic. I've never been able to honestly say that I disliked the film. I won't mention the Academy Awards, because I understand the controversy and questionable standing of said academy, and that the Oscar argument really doesn't hold water anymore. Altogether, with Titanic, we had a well-written, well-acted, well-conceived film. And no, it's not about the ship. We all know the ship sank, but THAT WASN'T WHAT THE STORY WAS ABOUT! It was a story about a romance flourishing amid a barrage of classism, and ultimately improving the life and demeanor of one woman. It just -happened- to take place on a ship that sank.
In either case...I consider Titanic a very good film, and worthy of its awards. We all know how it did at the box office. $200 million budget, profit of over 1.8 billion dollars. THAT'S OVER 900% IN PROFIT!
Then James Cameron went all Jimmy Hoffa on us and disappeared.
Then Avatar happened.
I'll put this out right here. I saw Avatar. Once. I enjoyed what I saw. It was an absolutely gorgeous leap in the realm of digital film and special effects. I did the whole 3-D thing, got the whole experience, because that's what it was. It's an experience in technology.
THIS DOES NOT MAKE IT A GOOD FILM.
I'll put a link up here to Red Letter Media's review of Avatar.
http://www.redlettermedia.com/avatar.html
While his character, Mr. Plinkett, is...let's say, dark and terrifying, and the reviews done on this site are very much pieces of humour and satire, it provides an outstanding breakdown of the problems with this film as a film.
As far as I'm concerned, everybody should have seen it. In theaters, in 3d. BUT ONLY ONCE.
The story, characters and writing were flatter than a 3rd grade choir. There was zero substance in anything non-visual in this film. The story was a hackneyed copy of Dances With Wolves, and the characters were completely banal and one dimensional.
So what happened? How did this guy, who has written and directed some absolutely stellar films, end up creating something like Avatar? I mean, you can say that he put all his efforts into the visual aspect, which is fine for your average film/filmmaker (read: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.) But this is JAMES FUCKING CAMERON! This is not a one-trick pony! This is not a Hollywood hack! This is a great filmmaker! And he phoned in everything non-shiny?!
What this suggests to me is that he's gotten cocky. Like Marlon Brando, or George Lucas, he's gotten to the point where he feels untouchable based on his past accomplishments. Is he right? I mean, if that wasn't true, Avatar would have flopped, right?
Budget - $237 million
Gross Revenue - OVER 2.7 BILLION DOLLARS!
Not only has this film earned over ONE THOUSAND PERCENT of its budget in profits, it has almost passed Titanic's GR by an entire billion dollars. When Avatar came out, it was the 5th film in history to earn over 1 billion dollars, and now it's capped that number ON TOP of the previous highest grossing film of all time.
Of the (now 6) films that have passed 1 billion, It's my belief that only half of them deserved it. And guess what? Avatar is not part of that favourable half. People are giving James Cameron too much fucking money. That's all there is to it. There is nothing to be gained from seeing that film a second time. Absolutely nothing, because it's barely a film to begin with. It's a dancing light show.
Now...Avatar is, by this point, old news. So why am I going on about all this? Well, like the title of this entry suggests - I have a problem. And the problem is this.
James Cameron is converting Titanic, his Academy Award winning film, to 3-D for the purpose of re-releasing it theatrically in 2012.
Is this man really so bereft of ideas that he, immediately after releasing one clusterfuck of cashgrab tactics, has to re-release a film that was originally made to ACTUALLY TELL A STORY in the attempt to haul another few billion out of the moviegoing public? This man is actually in competition with himself for the top spot in terms of gross revenue.
I'll say that once again:
James Cameron holds both the #1 and #2 spots for highest gross revenue in film and is now theatrically re-releasing the #2 film to, as the only logical conclusion, re-take the #1 spot from himself. Maybe he's ashamed that the best selling film of all time is just kitten-faced blue-titted schlock that makes me think less of Giovanni Ribisi.
This man has enough money. We've all seen Titanic. Lots of us own it, and we can rent it easily. I am begging people, PLEASE don't give this fucking leech another 12 or so dollars. All it's going to do is re-affirm his belief that people will eat whatever the fuck he feeds them. And hopefully, if enough people spit it out, he'll give us something good again, like he used to.