NEWS/POSTER: French Avatar Poster, And The Soundtrack Listing Spoils The Film...

I love film scores/soundtracks. I love them long time.

However, many times a films plot can be spoiled, almost completely, by simply revealing the titles of the tracks. Many times, a composer will list a song with some sort of thematic title, that instead of revealing plot points, simply posits the films theme/style. Take The Dark Knight’s Joker Theme, “Why So Serious?” for example. Instead of being called “The Joker Takes Control of Two Boats For A Social Experiment”, it simple plays off the films theme and style. That said, James Horner, composer of the score for Avatar, didn’t decide to do that, and instead decided to ruin much of the films plot.

But first, some unspoilery news.

First, a new poster has been released, and looks beyond gorgeous. Sure, it’s a split head poster, something that I have never really been a fan of, but honestly, there has yet to be something released about this film that has hindered my anticipation for this thing. Sure, it has been curbed a bit, particularly when seeing the human aspects of the film (which are beyond lackluster), but I’m still really excited to see what Cameron can do with this pet project of his.

Here’s the poster. Enjoy!



Also, in a ReelzChannel interview, Horner confirmed that the film would clock in right at three hours.

Now, for those who don't mind Avatar slightly spoiled for them, check out the following score track listing.

1. “You Don’t Dream in Cryo…”
2. Jake Enters His Avatar World
3. Pure Spirits of the Forest
4. The Bioluminescence of the Night
5. Becoming One of “The People”
Becoming One With Neytiri
6. Climbing Up – “Iknimaya – The Path to Heaven”
7. Jake’s First Flight
8. Scorched Earth
9. Quaritch
10. The Destruction of “Hometree”
11. Shutting Down Grace’s Lab
12. Gathering All the Na’vi Clans for Battle
13. War
14. I See You (Theme from "Avatar")

(VIA THE PLAYLIST)

It was also recently announced that, I See You, the theme from the film, was set to be sung by Leonna Lewis, so expect a big Oscar push for that track.

What do YOU think about all of this news?

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VIDEO: South Park Avatar Spoof...

This video is taken from the newest episode of South Park, entitled Dancing With Smurfs. During the episode, as /Film (who had the heads up on this video, as I don't readily watch South Park) puts it, Cartman becomes a Glenn Beck /Bill O’reilly like character, and at one point recalls a tale about spending time with the Smurfs. He became “one of them,” falling in love with Smurfette, and leading a revolt against the humans (led by Wendy) who have come to pillage and ruin smurfland.

I'm not the biggest fan of the show, but it IS a slow news day after all, so enjoy!



Go see somhing good!

NEWS: Avatar Has a $500 Million Budget?

Recently, a New York Times article raised the question asking if a film like James Cameron’s Avatar, which as The Playlist points out, is a film that features no superstars, is an original idea, and is not based on a franchise, and if it will be able to rcoup it’s large budget.

How large you say?

How about $500 million large.

Shit, that's shocking enough just to type.

According to published reports, the production budget was listed at just above $230 million, however, the price tag doesn’t include financial contributions from Cameron and other contributors. With everything added, Avatar is set to cost those who backed it, roughly $500 million.

Now, that may seem like a big number for studio Fox, but they have a few backup plans.

First, the studio has brought in a pair of equity partners, Dune Entertainment and Ingenious Media, who are going to essentially take up almost two thirds of the budget, and while that means lower profit for Fox, they also have a second ace up their sleeves, in the form of a trio of chipmunks. Here’s from the NYT article:

Taking no chances, Fox is backing up Mr. Cameron’s movie with what an executive recently called the studio’s “secret weapon. That would be “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel,” set to open just a week after studio marketers get “Avatar” into theaters. It is the relatively safe sequel to a chipper family comedy that cost about $60 million and took in $217 million at the domestic box office when it was released two years ago.

Finally, according to reports, Fox has made a part of Cameron’s contract that, if the film reached or exceeded $300 million, the film maker would have to wait to get paid, so that those funding the film, got a return first. It’s not that big of a deal since this IS the guy who did Titanic, so I’m sure money isn’t an issue for the guy, and it’s kind of interesting to see how Fox actually used their brains for a change.

However, what does this do for the film? Hell, back at $300 million, the film needed to be a MONSTER hit make it’s money back, but now, it looks like while I know over time that it will most likely make a few dollars back, it needs to break all kinds of records to get positive. However, it could very well do that, as not only do the TV spots look great, but I think along with a bit of Oscar buzz, at least from people I hear talking, I think this is going to be a bigger hit than people are thinking. It helps that it’s mainly going to be seen in 3-D, with ticket prices almost double that of non-3D screenings.

All I know is this is a risky project, and one that Fox seems to have known about before they picked it up.

Go see something good!

TRAILER: Avatar Trailer #2...

Talk about polarizing.

When the first full length Avatar trailer hit a couple months back, many people (including yours truly, to an extent), found it to be rather, underwhelming. However, that may not have totally been the stunning gorgeous trailers fault, as it may be hard to live up to expectations when those said expectations are that the film will be the greatest piece of cinema ever created. I don't think anything could live up to that set of expectations.

However, some of the hate was so visceral, that it really took me a back. Having seen the Avatar Day footage prior, I was beyond blown away by not only the 3D, but the CG as well, and even said that not since Jurassic Park have I felt such a strong sense of wonder and bewilderment. That said, I too had many problems, primarily with the human portions of the trailer/footage, and we also never truly got a glimpse of the human/Avatar interaction that this film will be thriving on come December.

What I am trying to say here is that no film could live up to such insane hype, and personally, I think the curbing of expectations is something we should all rejoice in. That said, this second, and significantly longer trailer, definitely has my hopes up much higher than they were about a week ago before I had seen this, prior to my most recent viewing of Paranormal Activity, this past weekend.

Clocking in at almost 3 minutes and 30 seconds, this foreign trailer has much more and superior dialouge, as well as some of the most stunning action scenes that I have seen in a long time. Sure, it's a standard hero/action film trailer, but honestly, the sheer technological feats that this film is going to pull off really will blow us all away, at least one can hope. I'm a big James Cameron fan, and have anxiously been anticipating this film since I first heard details about it probably 3 or 4 years ago.

Have YOUR thoughts been changed about this project, or is it still something you see as just a gross waste of 300 million bucks...



Avatar is set during the 22nd century on a small moon called Pandora, which orbits a gas giant, and is inhabited by the tribal Na'vi, ten foot blue humanoids that are peaceful unless attacked. Humans cannot breathe Pandoran air, so they genetically engineer human/Na'vi hybrids known as Avatars that can be controlled via a mental link. A paralyzed Marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) volunteers to exist as an Avatar on Pandora, falling in love with a Na'vi princess and becoming caught up in the conflict between her people and the human military that is consuming their world.

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REVIEW: 16 Minutes of Avatar...

So not only was this Friday the release of the BRILLIANT new Quentin Tarantino film, Inglourious Basterds, but it was also Avatar Day! 16 minutes of footage from Titanic director James Cameron's new film, Avatar, was shown, all from within the first 30 minutes of the actual film, and I must say, it was both awkward and awe inspiring. Just for different reasons. FIRST, the description of the footage (via /FILM):

The first clip begins with a Col. Quaritch, a gruff-voiced military man with scars running down the right side of his head. He walks down a hallway barking orders at recruits and informs them that his job is to keep them alive. “I won’t succeed. Not with all of you.”

Then we cut to a group of scientists, the most prominent of which is played by Sigourney Weaver. Jake Sully aligns himself on a platform, and exchanges some snarky dialogue with a scientist. She closes the platform shut, and activates it, locking his body into some sort of containment area. Surrounding the device are transparent, touch-based computers, which the scientists are using to monitor Jake’s heart. One scientists slides his hand against a computer screen and it unlocks, allowing him to carry the vital information elsewhere in the facility (smoothest use of technology, EVER).

In another room, two avatars are laid out like hospital patients. The scientists start the process that allows the human’s minds to connect to the avatars, and they suddenly come to life. The scientists begin testing out the their motor functions to see how capable they are of controlling their new alien bodies. Jake though, has no interest in waiting around for tests, and immediately embraces his regained ability to walk. The scientists try to sedate him as he eagerly stumbles out of the room.

The next set of clips take place on the Na’vi homeworld, Pandora. We see Jake’s avatar, along with a group of other avatars, examining the lush, colorful forest landscape. Jake lightly touches a large, orange flower-like plant. It immediately withers down into a small stump, and his eyes light up. He runs around touching all the plants in sight, laughing as they follow suit. Before long though, he’s staring right in the face of an agitated triceratops-esque creature that appears ready to attack. The rest of the group tells him to settle down and hold perfectly still. Instead, he grinningly provokes it, chanting and waving about for it to fight. The creature rushes toward him. Jake thrusts his arms in the air and leaps forward, stopping the creature in its tracks. It cautiously backs away, and runs off to safety. For a brief moment, Jake soaks in his victory, cheering arrogantly. His excitement soon turns into terror though, when he realizes why the creature ran away: a massive flying creature with razor-sharp retractable teeth has landed directly behind him. Realizing this, Jake turns to the group in horror. “Uh… Hold still or run?” The group hesitates a moment. “Run!”

Jake darts through the forest as fast as he possibly can, desperately trying to evade capture from the ferocious beast. Describing this action sequence (and several others that follow) in much more detail than that is fairly useless without being able to experience the visual wonder of the world on display, unfortunately, but it’s definitely a sight to behold.

We were also shown a variety of other sequences with Jake interacting with an actual Na’vi named Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana. She’s a native who we first meet when she spots Jake wandering the wilderness with no real sense of the environment around him. She raises her bow and prepares to shoot him, but a beautiful glowing bug (that’s reminiscent in many ways of a jellyfish) seems to convince her that she shouldn’t. She decides instead to follow him, and eventually finds herself forced to interject when he stumbles into the middle of a creature-filled nesting ground. She manages to save him, but it comes at the cost of two of the creature’s lives. Happy to be alive, Jake laughs off the experience and thanks the mysterious Na’vi for helping him. She is infuriated. If he hadn’t been so foolish and ignorant of the world he inhabits, those creatures wouldn’t have had to die. She runs off, and he takes off after her. While she’s clearly experienced navigating this territory, he isn’t, and finds himself constantly amazed at what surrounds him. At one point, they encounter a strange field that glows bright colors whenever and wherever they make contact, and Jake can’t help but hop around and enjoy the constantly-expanding beauty.

The final sequence we were shown involved a cultural ritual with Neytiri, Jake, and several other new Na’vi. In order to attract the attention of a specific dragon-like creature and prove himself worthy, Jake must traverse the ledge of a cliff and confront a large group of them. “How will I know if I am worthy?” Neytiri replies: “He will try to kill you.”

Jake makes his way across the cliff and is attacked almost instantly. The other Na’vi, excluding the worried Neytiri, laugh at what will most assuredly be a quick death for Jake. He handles himself well though, and manages to get underneath the creature and grab ahold of its neck. The creature bucks wildly. Just as he’s about to be thrown off, he uses a defensive Na’vi ability that allows him to latch some small tentacles into the creature’s ear. Its pupils dilate, and then, the creature collapses into a restful state. Jake whispers softly to it, telling it that everything’s okay. The scene ends with him soaring off the cliff atop the creature, desperately trying to keep control of its flight patterns as it collides against the mountains. As the creature steadies out and Jake regains control, he stands up on its back, and for a brief moment, we see them fly over Pandora in all its beauty.

First things first, the beginning of this footage was AWFUL. The dialouge was hammy, the performances even worse. Nothing between the humans really felt real or worked in any sort of way, and there was a few shots in there that also had me laughing for not good reasons. HOWEVER, when we left the headquarters, everything changed.

So near the bginning of the film, Jake turns himself into one of the native creatures. This is when the film really kicks into high gear. The world of Pandora seems completely real, and where the real world feels so lame and hamfisted. The visuals are so lush and life like, and, especially during the night scene, the world is just absolutely breathtaking. I am running out superlatives for this part of the footage. I said this in a tweet, but not since Jurassic Park has cgi left me this shocked. It's overall a bit underwhelming just because I expected more, but overall, I'm excited. Not as much for say Where The Wild Things Are, which is a film I think will be truly transformative, at least in the way we see that style of film, where as this may just be another TECHNICAL innovation from Cameron. What do YOU think?

Go see something good!

NEWS: Avatar to Run Over 2 & 1/2 Hours?

This is a bit of an interesting story.

It isn't news that I'm hugely anticipating James Cameron's upcoming epic, Avatar. 14 years in the making (4 in actual production), Avatar has been held back over the years due to lack of technological advances. Now it is only 5 months away, and the official runtime, or at least the current cut, is running at, get this, just over 2 and a half hours long.

This brings up an interesting dilema.

While in Up this past weekend, I began to get quite the headache, and that film, with the short, ran at just 102 minutes long. I wear glasses, so not only is this going to be a bit of a pain for the old noggin, but it's also going to be quite annoying to keep moving my glasses around.

That said, there are just a couple of films, if any, that I'm anticipating more on a sheer technical level. They have created entire new cameras and 3-D technology/motion capture for the film, and as I tweeted this week during the Ubisoft's E3 Showcase, just hearing Cameron speak on the film gets me insanely interested. This is easily one of the most anticipated films of the year for yours truly, at least in the top 10, and it may be there simply for the fact that I'm interested to see what the hell Cameron has up his sleeve, and it will be interesting to see how the 3-D will play into the storytelling, instead of simply a gimmick.

While the actual runtime isn't known, /Film says that is in the 2 1/2-3 hour range, and coming from Cameron (Aliens ran 2 hours, 17 minutes (plus an extra 17 mins for the special edition); The Abyss ran 2 hours, 18 minutes (plus an extra 33 mins for the special edition); Terminator 2 ran 2 hours, 17 minutes (plus an extra 17 mins for the special edition); True Lies ran 2 hours, 21 minutes; and Titanic ran 3 hours, 14 minutes) 3 hours doesn't seem like a stretch at all.

Will you be able to watch almost 3 hours of a 3-D film? Is Avatar something you are interested in? For me, both of those have an aswer that rhymes with yuck fes.

Go see something good!

FIRST LOOKS: A Couple Of Dicks, Jonah Hex, and Avatar...

So, there really hasn't been a ton of news coming out over the past day, so instead of making a few separate posts looking at all of these films, all of which would be a bit smaller than I would like, I've decided to combine these pictures in one single post. It's called the First Look.

The biggest photo release comes off of the set of Kevin Smith's first studio backed film, A Couple Of Dicks. It stars Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, and is Kevin Smiths first attempt at not only a studio film, but a buddy cop film. While there isn't much to the film, it is nice to see that the film is actually getting done rather quickly, as it just hit the streets of New York for filming this week. Check out one of the photos below, and for more, click on the link after for more!



The comedy about two cops (Willis and Morgan) whose adventures include locating a stolen, mint-condition, 1952 baseball card, rescuing a Mexican beauty queen, and dealing with gangsters and their laundered money. Smith is currently shooting this in New York and will have A Couple of Dicks ready for a February 26th release from Warner Brothers early next year.

For more photos click HERE (AccidentalSexiness)

Then there is the first photos off of the set of Jonah Hex, at least involving Josh Brolin as the titular character. There have previously been a set of photos released with Megan Fox as her yet to be named character, and now it's time for the reveal of what Brolin will look like as Hex. It looks a bit cool, but it's obvious that they will be including more visual effects to make the patented look of the character pop more. Nothing to interesting, but like what I said above, it's just nice to know the film is getting made, even if it's not by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor.



The story in this movie will follow Jonah Hex, as seen above, a disfigured bounty hunter who tracks a voodoo practitioner that wants to raise an army of the undead to liberate the South. Former Pixar animator Jimmy Hayward, who is a big fan of both comics and westerns, is directing.

Finally, but probably most badass, we have the first real look at the powersuit that will be at the core of the upcoming James Cameron's world destroyer, Avatar!



Check out more photos here!

Can you just say a LITTLE bit badass. Just a tiny bit.

Go see something good!

NEWS: Cameron Talks Avatar...At Least The Videogame...

So today was the official start of E3, and alongside the hoopla over the horribly timed Project Natal for XBox360, the first trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, and the announcement that Metal Gear Solid will be making it's way to the afforementioned 360, there was one huge piece of news, that also swept over to the film world.

During Ubisoft's showcase, director James Cameron made an appearance to primarily talk Avatar, the videogame, but also drop some hints as to what we can expect from the film itself. I had a chance to check out the showcase live during G4's broadcast, but the geniuses over at /Film actually wrote down his key points:

- Ubisoft acquired a graphic design company named Hybride, which is creating over 100 of the CGI shots for the film.

- Cameron said that the film takes place in the 22nd century, on a large Earth-like moon called Pandora, with rain forests, 1000-foot tall trees, and many different types of critters. He described the Na’vi as 10 feet tall and striped like tigers.


- Weta provided Ubisoft with all the assets , models, and animations used in the movie. Cameron says that the game will have its own creatures, weapons and settings, some of which was designed by Ubisoft, and some of which were created specifically for the game only by Weta. Cameron says that he even incorporated assets that Ubisoft created for the game into the movie. because he liked the designs so much.

- The game tells a story that parallels the film, so you could play the whole game without spoiling the movie.

- The player can choose to be either human of Na’vi, and the who the bad guy is depends on which side you choose to play as.

- Cameron said that most video games based on movie properties kinda suck, and that he hopes revolutionize the model of movie to video game adaptations.

- “This film is way beyond anything I’ve ever done before, which is why its taken four years to date, and we have seven months to go,” said Cameron. “The live-action portion was filmed with cameras that took us 9 years to develop.”

- Ubisoft has been working on the game for over two and a half years.

- It will be the first major stereoscopic video game title developed in 3D from the ground up.

- Ubisoft also announced that they will be working with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson on a video game version of the upcoming Tintin movies.

- No footage was shown during the press conference, but a demo will be available to press at E3.

- Cameron said that playing the new demo was the first time he’s ever been scared while playing a video game.

/Film reader Person Mcdude adds:

- He said that the air on Pandora isnt breathable by humans, so they genetically engineered a hybrid human/naavi, hence the name “avatar”.
the hybrids are able to control robots by “jacking” their nervous system into the robots. while jacked in, the individual is in a comatose state, but their consciousness is able to move the robot as if it were an extension of his/her body.

- One of the overriding themes of the movie is learning to view things from another perspective. Cameron hinted at a showdown between the mechanized, technologically reliant humans vs. the natural, more primal, almost tribal like Na’avi. The main character, a human (worthington?) becomes increasingly sympathetic towards the Na’vi and must choose sides at the end. he sounded very excited and said this was a huge, amazing fight scene.

Awesome, awesome and awesome. I only wish that they would have shown some footage of not only the videogame, but the film itself. Sort of like a movie based videogame tv spot. Something. Instead, we get to see the look and feel of the film, or what we all think could be the look of the film, via these three screenshots (thanks to Ubi.com)...





Go see something good!

NEWS: Watchmen, Avatar, and a Political PSA

Hey guys! Here are your headlines for today, the 15th of October...

- Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson, is helming a new Muppet film, called Happytime Murders, a Muppet Noir...thoughts?
- Atari WILL be releasing the long awaited Ghostbuster's video game in 2009...
- I'm a big fan of SpikeTV, so it is no suprise that they will be airing some new and exclusive footage from Watchmen at the 2008 Scream Awards on October 21st at 9:00 pm...Also, they will air footage from the Friday the 13th reboot due next year...
- So, with the election right around the corner, celebrities are trying to get everyone out to vote. Now, whatever you all say, some of them have been funny, but none funnier than this one...

See more Hayden Panettiere videos at Funny or Die

Perfection...
- It looks as though James Cameron long awaited film, Avatar, may be in a little trouble. The official website has moved the release date from December 18th 2009, to "undecided"...thoughts?
- Billy Ray is in talks to helm an adaptation of the ctically lauded book, How To Rig An Election...
- Finally, I have the great pleasure of bringing you the first poster for Quentin Tarantino's next film, Inglourious Bastards...Enjoy!

Come back later for more news and notes!

Go see something good!