Avatar in IMAX

[dar512]

Originally Posted by Flint

Of all the things I've said, one off-the-cuff comment made in jest (in reply to the immediately preceeding post) is what you're getting from this?

Ok. Here's hos it seemed to me:

Flint: I'm not going to see Avatar because it's been advertised too much.
Dar: So you realize that means you are still being affected by the advertising
Flint: Well, I wouldn't like it anyway because I can guess how the story will come out.

So what you're saying is that a work of art is guaranteed to be no good if you can tell where the story will go? Novelty is the only attribute that matters to you in a movie?

[Flint]

What I said was that the overly-specific framing of the movies attributes would make viewing the movie itself into an excercise in comparative analysis, thus a completely out-of-the-moment experience for me. It wasn't my decision to be bombarded by a rigid preconception of this movie, I am placing blame where it belongs--the decision to execute an unrelenting media blitz.

The fact that seeing a preview of the plot was such a shocking disappointment was fueled by this same level of over-hyped expectations.

I'm saying that the quality and quantity of media attention created conditions which preclude me being able to give an honest, fair chance to this movie. Again, this wasn't my decision. I am not claiming immunity to the advertsing campaign, I am saying it had consequences they did not intend.

[dar512]

Originally Posted by Flint

What I said was that the overly-specific framing of the movies attributes would make viewing the movie itself into an excercise in comparative analysis, thus a completely out-of-the-moment experience for me. It wasn't my decision to be bombarded by a rigid preconception of this movie, I am placing blame where it belongs--the decision to execute an unrelenting media blitz.

The fact that seeing a preview of the plot was such a shocking disappointment was fueled by this same level of over-hyped expectations.

I'm saying that the quality and quantity of media attention created conditions which preclude me being able to give an honest, fair chance to this movie. Again, this wasn't my decision. I am not claiming immunity to the advertsing campaign, I am saying it had consequences they did not intend.

Ok. I'm glad you explained that again, 'cause that's not how I read this:

Originally Posted by Flint

That, and when I actually saw a preview of the movie, it looked dumb. The recently-reformed, reluctant hero fights against impossible odds to save the idyllic utopian society from being destroyed by the military-industrial, shoot-em-up bad guys? Wow. My life won’t be complete until I see how that turns out.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by dar512

Ok. I'm glad you explained that again, 'cause that's not how I read this:

Oh, that's an easy fix. Read the full post, not just the second part. Here:

Originally Posted by Flint

I’m not trying to be non-conformist, I simply don’t think I can enjoy the movie when the act of watching it has been forced to be an analysis of what I am seeing on the screen versus the expectations created by an unrelenting, overly specific media campaign. The entire movie will be an out-of-the-moment experience. A meta-movie, about itself.

That, and when I actually saw a preview of the movie, it looked dumb. The recently-reformed, reluctant hero fights against impossible odds to save the idyllic utopian society from being destroyed by the military-industrial, shoot-em-up bad guys? Wow. My life won’t be complete until I see how that turns out.

See? Two different points. You are correct in noticing that if you chop the post in half, half of it will be missing.

[dar512]

Originally Posted by Flint

Oh, that's an easy fix. Read the full post, not just the second part. Here: See? Two different points. You are correct in noticing that if you chop the post in half, half of it will be missing.

Yabbut it was the second point I had a problem with. Knowing-the-story = movie bad. I don't buy it. But I respect your right to miss a kickass scifi movie.

The world needs curmudgeons too.

Hey! You kids get offa his lawn.

[Cloud]

Originally Posted by dar512

But I respect your right to miss a kickass scifi movie.

nerdiness/It's "SF" -- NEVER "scifi"/nerdiness

[dar512]

Originally Posted by Cloud

nerdiness/It's "SF" -- NEVER "scifi"/nerdiness

I'll see your nerdiness and raise you one geekiness. I grew up reading asimov, clarke, and heinlein. I've continued to read scifi and watch scifi throughout my life. In all my conversations with other geeks, sf and scifi have been interchangeable.

syfy is, however, completely hokey.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by dar512

I grew up reading asimov, clarke, and heinlein.

Wrong, those people never grow up.


btw, here's what the theaters look like after they showed avatar.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by dar512

Knowing-the-story = movie bad.

It wasn't so much that the story looked predictable (that's any movie, pretty much) but that the story looked dumb.

Originally Posted by dar512

The world needs curmudgeons too.

Hey! You kids get offa his lawn.

When I first announced "I will never see this movie." my wife said I was like a grumpy old man. But after we saw the preview, she agreed with me.

Originally Posted by Cloud

nerdiness/It's "SF" -- NEVER "scifi"/nerdiness

Don't you mean Syfy???