_Avatar_, directed by James Cameron

it corrupts whatever it touches.
Leona sounding very enya at first and then very bad tina after

ugh, then just bad leona

mcguffinanium

http://kotaku.com/5419824/conan-obrien-now-picking-on-60+metascore-games

For Abbott -- Michelle Rodriguez talks about things.

The only reason I might ever watch this is for Michelle Rodriguez, but I doubt that's enough.

Only if Michael shows up and shoots her.

we can only hope that the movie is at least funny

Oh man Ned thanking you so much.

Eckhart gives a slight chuckle of disbelief upon hearing the name Unobtanium. There will be no such chuckles in Avatar. I have a feeling it will be filled with chuckles of a whole other nature (a gimme for the 30 Rock fans in our audience).

And in today's news:

'Coke Zero hopes to ride ‘Avatar' hype':

“Our Coke Zero drinkers go to the movies all of the time,” York said.

Mm.

More amusing, though, is this. Consider:

What is 20th Century Fox thinking? Have you seen the marketing for Avatar? As one colleague recently ruminated, “Fox has never known how to sell a good movie.” Sad but true. They do know how to sell the living hell out of bad ones like this summer’s remake of Universal Soldier, titled X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Their tactic is simple: Oversaturate the market so people cannot possibly miss knowing when the opening weekend is, then cross your fingers and pray the negative buzz doesn’t overwhelm the advertising. But this time around, someone has set a bunch of monkeys with typewriters loose in the staff room, turning out incredibly terrible ideas like rebranding a popular soda can with the name "AVTR" and running embarrassing, completely nonsensical pieces of footage at highly questionable times.

Well then.

Later on in this, ah, interesting piece:

After all, this is this year’s Lord of the Rings, the season’s Harry Potter; its Star Wars. A ton of money went into this thing, regardless of which estimate you believe, and the film lacks the one component all of those properties have in common: brand recognition. People know what Lord of the Rings is. They know Harry Potter. They don’t know what the heck an Avatar is supposed to be. They have no idea what to expect – unless, of course, Fox rams the ideas down their throat so hard that once it is in theaters people need to run and see it just to find out what all the fuss is about, like they did in droves for Harry Potter, The Dark Knight and Twilight. Once there, the film can speak for itself, and on that front I am acutely aware that the studio is confident.

Fox, well known for keeping the Internet press at arm’s length, this time is giving the the full court press. For years I have been on a banned list from seeing their films at screenings, but now I’m receiving invites for interviews and an invite to an early, press-only, no-friends screening. Studios only hold “no +1” screenings when they are very, very confident that everyone will want to pay to see it and that press will pay to see it again with friends and family.

So is the bad advertising indicative of a bad film? I think not. The studio isn't worried about what the alpha filmgoers think about their advertising. They know your ticket is as good as sold, especially once you hear positive reviews. This is for a different crowd entirely. And since those filmgoers are beginning to ask us critics “Will this be any good?” I’m starting to question whether it is really bad advertising at all.

Perhaps.

all of the time!!!

Zardoz is a crap film with a lot of weird ideas in it. This is a crap film with no ideas.

― unobtaintium (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, December 4, 2009 2:07 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

when did u see it shakey??

I am fairly certain "I wanna bone blue chicks" is going to be a central theme to this movie.

But will it play in Peoria Sheboygan?

Advance ticket sales for the midnight shows were pulled sometime over the weekend, and the Sheboygan Marcus Theater confirmed Tuesday the midnight shows have been canceled.

No reason was immediately given for the cancellation.

"Not enough Coke Zero drinkers in this town, sir."

"Ah, screw 'em."

id love for this film to be good. i want all films to be good. but when they so obviously arent and the people behind it act like confusing arseholes, then i can easily sit back and appreciate the lols when it flops

― Wee xx (a hoy hoy), Friday, December 4, 2009 3:37 PM (4 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this, kinda. i mean, this movie looks terrible. but i'm like, not excited about how bad it's gonna be. i'd always rather something turn out good... and i'll wait till i see it before i judge it (or pronounce that it has "no ideas")

Advance ticket sales for the midnight shows were pulled sometime over the weekend, and the Sheboygan Marcus Theater confirmed Tuesday the midnight shows have been canceled.
No reason was immediately given for the cancellation.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, December 8, 2009 3:14 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ned u are following this story way too closely

'Coke Zero hopes to ride ‘Avatar' hype'

I think of Avatar as the Crystal Pepsi of film.

ned u are following this story way too closely

Well, yes. But I'm just amused at what comes up in Google News.

Oftentimes a film can be very bad but, if it meets my expectations of what I am looking for in terms of entertainment, I will enjoy it immensely (see: "Catwoman", "Ultraviolet").

Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine, a botanist who mentors Jake Sully.[13] Weaver dyed her hair red for the part.[14] Her character was named "Shipley" at one point.

ned is taking the bullet for us, so we can just come here and lol with him

http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/090303/david-cross-blue_l.jpg

n'avi nude

Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine, a botanist who mentors Jake Sully.[13] Weaver dyed her hair red for the part.[14] Her character was named "Shipley" at one point.

― omar little, Tuesday, December 8, 2009 3:18 PM (12 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

OH MAN... THIS IS GONNA BE ROUGH

too much time on ilx

The movie was named "Shitanic" at one point

some ripley

good to see stephen lang getting a good or at least sizable role

"What are the differences that we can deal with, without it becoming a barrier? Skin color is great, and it's also great thematically, because skin color is obviously such a big issue on our planet. All the warm tones — from pallid Canadian pink, to beautiful warm browns, and, well, pallid Australian pink — were all taken. So, we were down to blue and green basically — and green had been taken by all those Martian movies with the little green men. So, we have big blue women, not little green men." —James Cameron on why Avatar aliens are blue

The movie was named "Shitanic" at one point

― da croupier, Tuesday, December 8, 2009 3:21 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol

pallid Australian pink

Worst Crayola color ever.

seeing this tomorrow morning and am stupid excited abt it tbh, like, excited enough to wake up early and walk through over a foot of new snow excited

lol it's true, cameron is pallid canadian pink

So, we were down to blue and green basically — and green had been taken by all those Martian movies with the little green men. So, we have big blue women, not little green men

is this his keen scientific mind in action

I would be more excited about seeing this movie if it featured Zoe Saldana in a tight costume as opposed to a gangly blue cat creature voiced by Zoe Saldana.

for someone who is seemingly driven by the "SHOW EM THE TITTIES!" rule of filmmaking, dude seems remarkably hell-bent on bogarting all the titties

seeing this tomorrow morning and am stupid excited abt it tbh, like, excited enough to wake up early and walk through over a foot of new snow excited

lol it's true, cameron is pallid canadian pink

― paragon of incalescence (rrrobyn), Wednesday, December 9, 2009 1:38 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

see u there :D

whoo!
btw i am going to cry for sure. and laugh, obv.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt_7_2hpANo&feature=player_embedded

fu mtl insiders

(And I'm going to the London premiere; such is the nature of my job, I've now seen it multiple times, but not yet on a big bloody screen in 3D. This thread has been hugely entertaining).

Holding out on us! So is it any good?

is it a triumph in high-tech nipple obfuscation

did it change blue people porn forever

we're not actually "allowed" to say anything directly/publicly about it until Dec 18 (at least in canada)
xposts

but we're not in Canada!

Non-disclosure agreement, guys. It's like the Dr Who threads - I just have to sit on my hands, shaking my head slowly.

Everything everyone has said upthread is factually correct.

this, my dears, is the internet!

Rrrobyn, take a boat to the middle of Lake Ontario and broadcast the news in the great land of freedom of speech.

I shall report back on the Prem, yeah? Without mentioning the xxxmin we spend all facing the same way.

(xxx = I'm probably not even allowed to say how long it is).