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Cameron's AVATAR follow-up to be a 3-D drama!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. James Cameron was recently interviewed by Variety about 3-D. It's a great interview, so you should read the whole lot by clicking here, but below was a nice juicy snippet:
Right now, 3-D is pretty much being used for films that have some spectacle in them, whether it's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" or "U2 3D"; nobody's talking about using it for domestic dramas. But there are people wondering whether it will actually enhance the impact of character-driven stories. What are your thoughts on how 3-D changes the experience of watching actors act?
I plan to shoot a small dramatic film in 3-D, just to prove this point, after "Avatar." In "Avatar," there are a number of scenes that are straight dramatic scenes, no action, no effects. They play very well, and in fact seem to be enhanced by the stereo viewing experience. So I think this can work for the full length of a dramatic feature. However, filmmakers and studios will have to weigh the added cost of shooting in 3-D against the increased marketing value for that type of film.
That echoes my own interview I did with Cameron back in February '06 (Click here to read that interview!). He views the future of 3-D as being a way to fully immerse yourself into a film world, not as a poke-your-eye gimmick. I'd love to see a Cameron drama in 3D... hell, I'd love to see a Cameron drama period. I love that he's fired up again and pumping out the product.
Now what is this movie? Is it THE DIVE, the flick based on the free-divers? Or is it something previously unannounced? Definitely can't be BATTLE ANGEL... What do you folks think?
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please
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That's what I think.
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can someone convince me I've misjudged it?
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why does cameron like masculine women so much?
his movies would be better if the bull dyke female leads were more realistic and feminine.
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Talk about excitement.
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Crom Crom laughs at your God.
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I wouldn't call Kate Winslet masculine or a bull dyke. I mean, would I like to see a good bull dyke movie starring Kate Winslet? Fuck yeah. She'd tear that shit up. But that's another discussion.
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...the boy is too long out of the game. Fuck the gimmicks, Jimbo, concentrate on a decent script and storyline first.
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MAry Elizabeth Mastrantonio in The Abyss or Jamie Lee in True Lies look quite fuckable to me, and i´m not gay...yet.
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2 films in one decade! What *is* he on..?
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Maybe I just need to actually witness some of these recent 3D presentations but I don't know. Seriously. What is the big freakin' deal? Why do films need to be in 3D? Can't they just be...I don't know...Good?
I wish I could read about an event filmmaker being as excited about story as they are about technology...especially Cameron. Mr. Cameron..Dude I know you read these and I am a fan but your dialogue and characterizations have always been kind of 1940's to your 23rd century filmmaking techniques. Hopefully your first film in over ten years will make me eat my words. Waiting with my spoon...August Will, The Angriest Planet. -
Apr 11, 2008 2:09:11 AM CDT
"After Avatar" doesn't necessarily mean "directly after Avatar"
by rindain
He could have just meant he is planning on doing a 3-D drama sometime after Avatar, not necessarily as his next directorial endeavor after Avatar.
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Re-read the old interview and talkback. - Camerons Spider-man would have been shit. you cant have peter parker shouting "motherfuckers!" It's just not the Spider-Man character. Alien V is a movie I will miss forever.
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dramatic film I'll eat my fucking hat. Isn't going to happen.
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Apr 11, 2008 2:15:48 AM CDT
Last time he made a drama it took him ten years to recover.
by thenorthlander
I don't know about this...
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Actually, I am kind of excited by Cameron's upcoming 3D work. If only you could apply the same technology to make his scripts and characters more dimensional. If he wants to do a drama, he could always dust off The Crowded Room, which he was planning to make for a while.
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Stuff like this is best served when the interviewEE is answering via e-mail.. better attention to detail and such. He really knows his stuff. What I'd like to see next is indie films trying this stuff out. I know it's pretty unsophisticated, but not much is stopping people from mounting adjustable eye distance, identical prosumer video cameras to a homemade or purchased, modified steadicam rig and just going for it. The results might not be as impressive as something like Avatar, but it would be 3d and could be converted to larger formats. Cameron's information is this article would certainly inform my decisions if I were to undertake such a thing for the fun of it.
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How much you wanna bet those first "indie" 3d filmmakers will be in the adult industry?
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Yes, I think we all agree that Battle Angel be made next pronto! None of this dilly-dally Mr. Cameron.
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First Review of Iron Man...
abd it's a mixed bag.
http://tinyurl.com/5nucga
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Right on, and who needs to watch films is color or sound.
I don't thing Cameron is the greatest director but he does make films from the heart. When you watch his films you are seeing his vision. Now that he has more money that god Avatar should be interesting. I just hope it doesn't end up like the Star Wars sequels. -
When do you think we'll get the first glimpse?
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Bring back Biehn!!!!
Bring back Biehn!!!! -
but really how long has he been working on this shit? 10 years?
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Does anyone know if they can make 3d movies for HD? I have a big-ass 1080 p HD TV. I'd love to see Monster House like I saw it in the movie theaters. Has this been done yet?
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"I believe that Godard got it exactly backwards."
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I see on IMDb's news page that Disney/Pixar are releasing the Hannah Montana movie in 3D on Bluray. No mention of what type of glasses are included, but some have speculated that it will be the red/green type (which would surprise me).
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Just found a better one:
"We evolved to see in 3-D for a reason. It made us better hunters, or allowed us to spot and avoid predators. Why wouldn't we want this Darwinian edge in our workplace, in our sports and entertainment, in all our peak visual experiences?
You know what I think.
-- Jim out"
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God no. Let 3D remain for big pictures with some element of spectacle in them. I really don't 3D to become the norm for smaller pics as well as blockbusters. Next there'll be 3D HD porn. Jesus.
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Unless every single cinema suddenly decides to install a $400,000 projector then this pointless format will die as it deserves to.
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I know there are some Samsung 1080P TV's that are designed to decode and display 3-D content. I think there just aren't any 3-D Blu Ray movies out yet...
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"A Crowded Room" script? I was thinking about it recently because it reminded me of some of the prison scenes in Watchmen. I think that's dead anyway, but I would presume he isn't going to make a chick-flick. I hope.
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James. Jim. Baby.
There is no question you are a fucking master when it comes to combining special effects with emotion and good writing. We all got misty and cried at the end of Terminator 2, with the thumb sticking out of the molten steel and what have you. "I know now why you cry." Beautiful.
But 3D is - and always will be - a gimmick. Sure, shoot this movie as an experiment. But 3D, by its own nature, is a gimmick and no substitute for good writing and storytelling.
An extreme example, as Titanic is not regarded as good writing (but it IS great storytelling). If you went and reshot Titanic in 3D, people would only care about the 3D elements in the action sequences. It would a spectacular thing to see a porthole smash and have icy water come rushing at you, but then think of how over-the-top and distracting the effect would be in a scene like Rose looking at Jack's drawings? Or when Jack goes to dinner with the hoity-toity socialites? Granted I don't think I'm alone in wanting to see the Kate Winslet nude scene in 3D. :D Grin.
Looking forward to your next movie being a straight drama with no visual effects, zapping us with electrodes in the cinema seats. Because it "enhances the drama".
Go jerk off that 3D boner you have in the shower. -
Don't know what cinematic 3D traumatised you so bady, but I'm one of many who has enjoyed experiencing this type of filmaking so far. At the moment a big deal is made about it, like there used to be about color, and before that moving pitures, and before that still-photographs. And before that... fuck knows... cave paintings. Throw into the air that bone you're using to bang your cave painting drum, and let it morph into a beautiful space station. We are SUPPOSED to see in (fully color)3D. If that distracts you from a movie, that's because the movie itself is lacking a good script and director. Avatar will have both in spades.
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I have no excitement at all over this project.
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James Cameron, Space Marines, ALien species, futuristic weaponry, 3-D. Seriously it sounds perfect.
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My entire family was killed in a highway accident by a truck carrying 3D glasses. I'm a little sensitive.
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"photo-realistic computer-generated characters by using motion capture animation technology"... another Beowulf? Not photorealistic enough that made me think what i saw on the screen was real. I don't think the technology today would be so advance it would produce a believable photorealistic people, especially when we talk about "mimicking" human emotion and even movement. Like Final Fantasy, Polar Express and Beowulf, it will be just another long and extended video games' cut scene on the big screen.
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I felt like watching a long video game's cut scene all the time. At least, in video game we can control the characters and have fun playing it
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Cameron takes waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time in between films.
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One eyed people are fucked.
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They can still see the movies, just not in 3D. DarthBakpao - I think you're forgetting that nobody even these days thinks of any of James Cameron's work as extended video game cut scenes. Iffy Titanic CGI crane-shot aside, the man can generally spot shit/incomplete effects work and nip them in the bud - that's his job, among other things. Avatar won't have CGI humans, but maybe Battle Angel after it will. By that time, we will have cracked the whole plastic skin/dead eye/puppet underwater movement thing. Before that, Avatar will have the equivalent for creatures and backgrounds, and hopefully will have nailed the whole human actor performance in artificial environment deal.
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Apr 11, 2008 6:27:47 AM CDT
Oh God, if people are holding BEOWULF up as the future of cinema
by maxthesilent
I think I may as well just slit my wrists now. What an utter pile of SHIT that movie was. If anyone claims to know what the fuck Malkovitch's character mean't to that story I'll call them a fucking liar.
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No friggin' "small dramas". We just want to see hot, robotic chicks kick the crap out of mechanized monstros. Is that too much to ask for, Jimmy?
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...has about as much chance of happening as RED TAILS.
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Damn alcohol!
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I saw Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D and it was enjoyable but I can't imagine it being the immersing experience Cameron seems to think it is. It's the eighties all over again!
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Apr 11, 2008 6:39:59 AM CDT
Can't understand this obsessive quest for photorealism...
by biggusdickus
...I mean, if the goal in this fanatical pursuit for more and more photorealistic 'people' is to have and end product that's indistinguishable from a living, breathing actor, then why not simply employ a living, breathing actor in the first place? It's a shit-load cheaper, surely.
I'm reminded of Ian Malcolm here - something about being so concerned about if you could you forget to worry about if you should.
MaxTheSilent nails the point perfectly - unless each and every cinema in the land invests in 3D projection systems, then all this will every be is a novelty, just as it was in the '50s.
The difference is, in the '50s you were only talking about wasting a couple of cents on blue and red cardboard goggles, as opposed to the huge sums of money currently being thrown around now.
Bottom line? If the future of cinema is more and more polished versions of 'Beowulf', then you can keep it.
If you don't give a toss about story, character or plot and all you want is a visually dazzling experience then go buy fireworks. -
good on him for trying new things, even if it means even more years to wait for Alita on the big screen *grumblegrumble*, but everyone remembers the tactical briefings in star wars, where a bunch of people look at a pretty 3D map of the Death Star. It's cool & all but....isn't it a bit pointless? It's like going back & colouring in black & white movies: good on ya for trying to get a new audience interested but what was wrong with the old way?? It's the same critique I have for re-releasing Toy story 1 & 2, they've got to do something that makes me go "this is like a new film to me" rather than "oh wow buzz is flying out of the screen....neat".
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It's pretty lucidcrous to attack the method of projection. Movies are meant to entertain and to be a medium of creation expression for their creators. If some of them feel they can convey better through this new technology (and is new, anaglyph just isn't even the same fucking sport), then best of luck to them. People who just want to see the Godfather in cinemas in old fashioned 2D, black and white, in French with subtitles and 60s film grain will never be deprived the opportunity. From I'm looking, they're the most pandered-to audience out there. For the rest of us though, this is the dawn of a fully immersive - yes, immersive - era. Like dreams, but cooler, and making more sense. Bring it the fuck on!
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It's the perfect film for you, for God's sake. QUIT DALLYING. OBEY THE INTERNETS.
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Funniest comeback I've heard in a long time.
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I have no doubt non-human characters or creatures, even environments can be "mimicked" perfectly using CGI technology availabled today. I still have doubt regarding CGI human. Before Beowulf came out, i read on the internet about Zemeckis pushing the envelope on bringing a believable CGI human unlike we have seen before. But when i finally saw the movie, i felt cheated
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Perhaps the obsession for photorealism is that it will provide filmmakers with absolute freedom to do whatever they want. Imagine the possibilities it might offers. Two things come in my mind : Bruce Lee and Christopher Reeve
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pardon my english, i skipped english class a lot
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Brilliant interview.
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What about us? It cost me $3 more just to see Beowulf in 3D. While it was worth it, I wouldn't like having to do this with alot of movies.
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Apr 11, 2008 7:34:08 AM CDT
Well, if ANYbody should know anything about quality filmmaking..
by llghtst0rmer
...it would be a bunch of late-night internet geeks on a talkback. I mean it's not like we can trust JAMES FUCKING CAMERON to make a good movie or even good career choices without our input, now can we?
Guys, give me a fucking break with all this "Jim, get the writing straight first and then worry about your little 3D silliness" bullshit. Why in God's name do so many of you think that the quality of the movie is an either/or? You can have cool 3D and spectacle OR you can have a well-written script with good characters and a suspenseful plot. What the fuck? To paraphrase Cameron's own writing, "Did IQs just drop sharply while he was away?" Do you really think the man simply forgot how to write a good script or make a good film?
I know I don't know any of you people here personally, and it's really not my style to start an attack on a talkback, but guys, seriously: Shut. The Fuck. Up. When you've so much as made a single movie that breaks even, let alone breaks records, or when someone ever uses your screenwriting as reference material for script writing articles or textbooks, or when you ever make any kind of film project that somebody heralds as a groundbreaking achievement in cinema, maybe then you could talk to Cameron as somebody even approaching the possibility of being the man's peer.
You know why people joke about Cameron being God? Because next to him, the rest of us don't know shit. Even people who HAVE gone on to great success as filmmakers still can't touch Cameron at the level he's playing the game. So, while you're free to criticize and talk as much shit as you like based on your thoughts of his work, or what you perceive the merits of Avatar might or might not be, or even the "pointlessness" in the "gimmick" known as 3D, keep in mind, he's more on top of this than pretty much anyone else in the business. The REAL business, I mean; not just the armchair film hater industry. Please don't make me vomit by deluding yourselves into thinking you could actually "talk down" to the man. -
His best loved work - Back to the Future - was great and everything, but he's not the first person you would have ever gone to for the inside scoop on cutting edge FX.
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...that when a character in the movie swings machete toward the screen, some people in the audience actually got slashed and bleed. talking about "real experience".
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What he said.
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...?
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So, following your line of reasoning, the fact that none of us here has sold a million CDs precludes us from having the opinion that Britney Spears is, in fact, crap?
I don't deny that Cameron is a genius and is singularly responsible for some of the most awesome moments in celluloid history, but part of what makes him a genius is obsession, which in this instance, I feel is misdirected.
I think he's into the realms of style over content with this 3D thing, but hey, it's just my opinion, fella, don't take it to heart! -
Titanic.
I feel like I can wax lyrical all I want about Mr. Cameron's choices because of that & I don't think I'm the only one -
Lightstormer said Jim Cameron is God and we should just shut the fuck up because we know nothing. I can't shut my fuck up because all i did here is typing with my fingers
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My english is bad and i always wanted to say that in this talkback, but i couldn´t
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make me smile. Unlike interviews with Bay, Ratner, Wiseass, Emmerich etc who are all trying so hard to be Cameron but failing miserably.
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Nothing could possible live up to the hype. Cameron waited way to long to make another movie (not the underwater documentaries don't count).
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I think it's safe to say that the 3D movie Jim Cameron is working on is unlike any 3D movie made to date.
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Here's some info I dug up regarding the flourishing of the 3D theatre market:
(Original URL: www.thestar.com/article/332146 )
At least 10,000 theatres to be converted to the digital technology
Mar 11, 2008 08:40 AM
RYAN NAKASHIMA
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES–Hollywood took a big step Tuesday toward offering more movies in 3-D, announcing deals to convert as many as 10,000 more theatre screens for the digital technology needed to accommodate the resurgent, eye-popping format.
Access Integrated Technologies Inc. said it had reached agreements with four studios – Disney, News Corp.'s 20th Century Fox, Viacom Inc.'s Paramount, and Universal Pictures, which is owned by General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal – to finance and equip the screens in the U.S. and Canada during the next three years.
The conversion will cost as much as $700 million, said Bud Mayo, chief executive of Access Integrated Technologies, which completed a first tranche of 3,700 digital conversions in October.
Hollywood is anxious to convert as many theaters as possible to the digital format, which provides sharper images while eliminating the need for expensive celluloid film. It also allows theater companies to offer live events and shows from other venues.
The digital technology can also be used to show 3-D movies with the addition of software and hardware costing about $25,000 per year for each screen.
"Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert," a 3-D movie, pulled in $31.3 million in its opening weekend, an impressive feat because it played on only 683 screens, compared with many wide-release films that open on more than 3,000 screens and make half as much.
"We were in as many locations as we could possibly get," said Chuck Viane, president of distribution for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. "If there were 3,000 3-D screens available, would we have played them all? Yeah, I think we would.''
Even "Chicken Little," the first ever animated 3-D movie released in November 2005, made $23,864 per screen, compared with $10,949 for the 2-D version.
At least 30 more 3-D movies are in the pipeline from Hollywood, including this summer's adaptation of Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth.''
Thus far, about 4,000 screens – just 10 percent of the estimated 38,000 screens in the U.S. and Canada – have been outfitted with digital technology.Only about 1,040 of those screens are now outfitted to show 3-D movies.
Interest in 3-D has come and gone since the 1950s, but studios began to take the format seriously again after a 3-D version of 2004's "The Polar Express" from Warner Bros. grossed more than $45 million.
A number of high-profile filmmakers now have 3-D projects in the works, including James Cameron and Tim Burton.
Box office figures have shown the submersive effect of 3-D can attract two to three times more moviegoers who are willing to pay as much as $3 more per ticket, Crum said.
Along with digital projection, today's 3-D technology makes use of polarized lenses rather than the flimsy red and green cardboard cutouts of the past that could cause nausea and headaches.
In October, Access Integrated Technologies completed a two-year effort to retrofit multiplex screens at a cost of nearly $280 million – about $75,000 per screen.
AccessIT is recouping the cost from studios over the next 10 years. Meanwhile, theater chains are ponying up as much as $25,000 a year per screen to technology firm REAL D for the software, physical upgrades and maintenance that makes it possible to show 3-D movies.
The current dearth of screens has caused some short-term kinks. The 3-D concert movie featuring U2 took in only $4.8 million because the tail end of its run was trampled by the Hannah Montana juggernaut, which took up most of the available 3-D screens.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. said last month it pushed back the release of its "How to Train Your Dragon" by four months to March 2010 to avoid competing for 3-D screens with James Cameron's hotly anticipated feature film "Avatar.''
The logjam has only ramped up the pressure to cut deals.
A second financing vehicle called Digital Cinema Implementation Partners was formed last March by the three largest theater exhibitors, Regal Entertainment Group, AMC Entertainment Inc. and Cinemark Holdings Inc. with plans to outfit their 14,500 theaters with digital technology.
"We, the exhibitors, and most of the studios want to make things happen so we can support what is a major commitment by multiple parties to the 3-D space," he said. "It's going to happen.'' -
They said the same thing about Titanic...
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...so that I can claim Jihad on it. Could you imagine a 3-D Leonardo DeCrapio going by the screen with his arms out in the wind. God this is making me sick.
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...and I'm impressed with your research and the gist of your pro-Cameron argument, LIGHTSTORMER, really. But just because they're throwing vast amounts of money at it doesn't mean it'll catch on. Any executive at Toshiba will tell you that right now. Sure, the likes of 'Chicken Little' and 'Polar Express' made enough money to fool the suits into thinking that 3D was a viable enterprise, but these movies made money because they were something new and people were curious to see the pretty lights. When the novelty has worn off and all that technology has to be paid for, I think we might find that people will be looking at vastly hiked ticket prices as the suits try to recoup their initial investments. As a global recession looms and Joe Public finds it harder each month to meet the utility bills, is he really going to want to take the kids out for a hundred dollar cinema trip?
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Moriarty's piece on 3D made me want to puke when I read it, talking about these dudes all giddy like film school freshmen, as if 3D was this awesome new frontier anyone would be able to get into. Then he goes on to say that it costs roughly a million dollars A MINUTE to shoot.So in other words, the super-rich Hollywood elite will have access to this new tech and nobody else will be able to afford it; Zemeckis, Cameron, Spielberg and all the other Hollywood royalty will radically distort the expectations of a generation of kids who will grow up thinking every movie they see needs to look like five kinds of LSD... thus ensuring that Hollywood becomes even more of a bloated capitalist monstrosity than it already is. and guaranteeing the exclusion of filmmakers who aren't in the millionaire's club with the excuse that their work isn't profitable enough to distribute.
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I'm talking about in box office terms, which is what you were referring to. As for the movie being shite, Cameron has made 4 science fiction films and 4 of them have been masterworks. My money's on Cameron.
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Go see U23D and then come talk trash. Anything that can make that me get past that fact that Bono is a Boner and even enjoy some of there songs that I usually loathe, has to be pretty amazing.
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Was the first 3-D movie I ever did see as a wee one. We had to go to Eckerd drugs (sponsor at the time) to pick up our CFTBL 3-D glasses to watch it on TBS. Damn I wish I still had those glasses.
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>>So, following your line of reasoning, the fact that none of us here has sold a million CDs precludes us from having the opinion that Britney Spears is, in fact, crap?
That's not at all what I said. I said everyone here is free to have their opinion, regardless of how I feel about it (I'm obviously a fan of Cameron's,) but I can almost guarantee nobody on this particular talkback has the kind of experience he has in the actual business, and not nearly as much as it would take to have the right to speak to the guy so condescendingly as some in here have. No, you don't have to BE a big director to dislike a big director, but claiming he is stupid for not sharing your sensibilities for the job is retarded if you don't even HAVE THE JOB.
Trust me, I'm not dumb enough to fall for the old "If you haven't made a movie, then you can't hate a movie" argument. You can hate whatever you want.
>>"Part of what makes him a genius is obsession, which in this instance, I feel is misdirected. I think he's into the realms of style over content with this 3D thing"
I agree that his obssession is a catalyst for his genius... I think that's likely for anyone who's a genius at anything. And I respect you for fair-mindedly saying he may be "misdirected." I can deal with that no problem. And I can't prove you're wrong to say it. I just have faith in the man to knock this one out of the park, the same as he's always done. And when the movie releases, you and I both may remain on opposite sides of the argument. Or maybe we'll both have a change of heart, and you'll love it and I'll be left underwhelmed. But we're still a year and a half away from the film, so all I can do is hope.
>>it's just my opinion, fella, don't take it to heart!
Not taking it to heart. I'm glad you're a sharp enough guy to respond objectively and know that I don't just hate anyone who disses the Mighty JC... I'm just tired of seeing the man disrespected by people with no common frame of reference for what he is doing. -
i'm thinking that dude from the green mile would be a great devon dudley. team 3-d is my favorite.
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I'll go to the theatre.
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Lightstorm Entertainment?
This isn't another Walter Bruce deal-i-o again is it? -
The only great movie Zemeckis ever made was Back to the Future. And what Cameron is doing is completely different to Beowulf. It's not a gimmick to Cameron, it's a screenplay he wrote over 10 years ago and is now making with the aid of cutting edge technology to immerse us in his universe.
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James T. Cameron need to calm down and need to get over that fact that James and Linda are not together any more. I am not that big of a fan of James, but if there is anyone you can put money on its him. I mean he could've done a Spielberg and came back after his biggest sucess and just spewed out movies that while good are not half as good as his best. And I still don't understand the hate towards Zemeckis, and you talk about movies other than What Lies Beneath? That movie sucked and seemed like an attempt at an box office record. Whatever I am looking forward to this movie. But if any of PotSmokinAlien is correct then yeah I could see where you can bitch about it. But then again that same argument can be used in any aspect involving a consumer.
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3D is a bullshit gimmick. Nothin Cameron or anyone says will convince me otherwise. You want to do film-goers a favour? Make better movies!!!
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Agree totally with the posts. 3D is pretty like a $1000 hooker...
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Its used in medicine to go up the vagina and look at the uterus. I've always thought it could be used in the adult industry...for the hardcore pussy lovers. On an James Cameron related note, I just found out that Michael Biehn wasn't originally cast as Hicks in Aliens. It was James Remar from "The Warriors" and "48HRS", and he shot a week of footage as Hicks and then was either fired or quit.
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>>1 word Lightstormer: Titanic. I feel like I can wax lyrical all I want about Mr. Cameron's choices because of that & I don't think I'm the only one.
Huh...
Academy Awards: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing, Best Effects, Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, Best Music, Original Song, Best Sound, Best Director (a-HEM,) Best Picture.
It also won 8 DGA Awards, 4 Golden Globes, and 2 People's Choice Awards (Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture and Favorite Motion Picture.) It won SEVERAL other awards from other countries and other agencies and organizations. It also was the first movie to make $600 million domestically, and over a Billion dollars worldwide theatrically, nearly making twice that by the time it was done.
Yeah, what a mistake that movie was. -
Starting to feel like Marty McFly, watching his hand disappear in front of his face...
I was responding to posts using double arrows to quote, then respond. But that removed my responses when they posted. FUCK!
Dickus and Double J, I have to re-write all that shit now. Back in a few minutes... -
How's your wife, by the way? Tell Incontinentia I said hello.
--"So, following your line of reasoning, the fact that none of us here has sold a million CDs precludes us from having the opinion that Britney Spears is, in fact, crap?" --
No, I specifically did not say that. I said people are free to criticize the guy's work all they like, but characterizing him as being stupid for not sharing your sensibilities for the job is retarded if you don't even HAVE THE JOB. (And I mean "you" in the general sense of everyone in this TB, not you specifically, Biggie.) You don't have to BE a big filmmaker to dislike one. Just don't treat one like he's a fool for doing things his way when you don't even know how to DO his job.
--"Part of what makes him a genius is obsession, which in this instance, I feel is misdirected."--
I agree with the genius/obssession sentiment; I think it might be that way for all geniuses. And I applaud you for your fair-minded assessment that he may be "misdirected" with the 3D thing. But me, I just have faith in the guy to knock Avatar completely out of the park, as he has with all the movies he's made. There's a reason he's been my favorite filmmaker since I was 17 (I'm almost 32 now,) and his record, in my eyes, is flawless. Why should this project be any different? However, I have no way to prove you're wrong. Who knows? In a year and a half, when the movie comes out, maybe you'll be convinced and I'll be underwhelmed. I hope not. I hope we both love the shit out of it. Until then, my faith in him remains.
--"Hey, it's just my opinion, fella, don't take it to heart!"--
Not taking it to heart. I’m just glad you're sharp enough to know I don't hate everyone who disses the Mighty JC, but I'm tired of people disrespecting him when they can't even grasp the level at which he works. You're cool, though. Any fan of Monty Python is a friend of mine. ;-)
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"...I NEVER loved you!!(in 3D)" "Oh, yes you do!(in 3D)", "NO! I NEVER DID...(quietly seething in 3D) I just knew my parents would HATE you(in 3D)and I hated them more than I hated and STILL hate YOU!!(in 3D)", "you loved me just plenty when I still worked at the firm and brought home five hundred thousand a year!!(in 3D)", "perhaps(in 3D)...but then you had to go and have your little EverQuest accident didn't you? (in 3D)..." "so, are you saying that you never loved me?(in 3D) or that you loved me once and stopped loving me after I was WOUNDED! (in 3D)...and on....and on....and on.....and on..........and on.......for two hours. in 3D!!
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That movie companies have to use something as GIMMICKY as 3-D to keep people's attention and to get them back in the theatres? You know what FUCK 3-D, lower some damn ticket prices so I can go out and see a movie with my wife for less that the price of buying a Fucking New BLU-RAY, which is what I do more lately that the theater. Rant over.
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...have just demonstrated to the class what is known as a 'reasoned deabate'. He had an opinion I didn't quite agree with, I had an opinion he didn't quite agree with. We both listened and respected the other's point of view and agreed to disagree. Now why can't politicians - people WE pay to behave like this - do the same thing?
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porn. Bring on the 3D T&A.
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--"1 word Lightstormer: Titanic. I feel like I can wax lyrical all I want about Mr. Cameron's choices because of that & I don't think I'm the only one."--
Huh...
It won Top Honors from the American Cinema Editors,
American Society of Cinematographers, The Art Directors Guild, The British Society of Cinematographers, The Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, The National Board of Review, and The PGA Awards.
It won Best Picture Awards in Norway, Japan, Germany, England, France and Mexico.
It won 10 BAFTA Awards, including Best Film and the David Lean Award for Direction.
It won 8 DGA Awards, 4 Golden Globes, 2 People's Choice Awards (Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture and Favorite Motion Picture.)
At The Oscars, it was nominated for 14 Awards (tying with Ben-Hur for the most ever,) and it won 11 of them, including, again, Best Director and Best Picture.
Plus it was the first movie to make $600 million domestically, and the first to make a Billion Dollars in its theatrical run, nearly making $2 Billion before it was done. And Jim himself made over $150 million from the movie before it was even released on video.
Yeah. What a stupid mistake THAT movie was.... -
Now THAT'S what I call a smackdown! Nice work.
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Or you could just get a better job than flipping burgers...
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I thought he was gonna alternate Avatar and Battle Angel for the next 6 films. Fuck.
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(Sung to the 12 Days of Christmas)
...On the 10th day of Awards Season James Cameron did recieve,
10 BAFTA Awards!
8 DGAs,
4 Golden Globes
2 People's Choice
and a David Lean Award for Direction -
Here's a movie easter egg for you all. In "Twister" the tanker truck that explodes in front of Bill and Jo has a Benthic Petroleum logo on the side. Why? The guys who did that effect are good friends with Cameron (they did all the DVD work for the special edition of The Abyss).
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...ever notice the Gas Station in T2 (where they unscrew Arnie's head to reset the switch in the SE version) is also Benthic Petroleum? I love inside jokes.
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A heart breaking drama about the secret lives of professional Yo-Yo performers.
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You are so hilarious. I bet you thought a long time for that zinger. I do not flip burgers, I am a middle class worker just like most other Americans that think prices are out of control. Still thought, back on topic, Fuck 3-D.
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I think some people just have a really hard time dealing with people who are ridiculously successful at everyting they put their hand to. They shouldn't worry about this condition though: it's perfectly normal status anxiety primate behaviour. Meanwhile the rest of us get the well-characterised, tightly plotted hi-tech kick ass films we all want, so it's win win.
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Cameron's got an ear for dialogue that makes Lucas look like Mamet. His natural gifts lie with technology, action, and spectacle. If someone's gonna make the 3D drama that sells that genre it ain't gonna be with him on scripting duties.
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And they want some star power, they could put Ellen Page on the lead.
She may not be all that "on the spot" for the character, but if it makes the movie made soon, lets do it!! -
--"[Titanic]is a 3 hour long chick flick starring Leonard Di Caprio. And that my friend is unforgivable."--
Okay, but... you knew that going into it, didn't you? If you're allergic to french fries, don't go to McDonalds! ;-)
No movie is going to satisfy everyone. Look at AICN Talkbacks... full of comic book geeks and movie geeks posting hundreds of messages every day about how much we dislike all the movies made from comic books. And yet most of the chick flick crowd loved Titanic. Funny, ain't it? -
All I'm saying is maybe if you spent a little more time on your middle class job, and less time trolling on AICN tbs on subjects you have no interest in, you'd have more disposable income to see the movies you DO want to see. It's called life skills.
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I'm willing to bet you have never read a James Cameron script.
All that action and spectacle don't write itself. -
Actually, I CAN see Ellen Page as Battle Angel Alita.
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Thanks, Guys. Nice to have friends in a hostile environment. :D
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Yeah cause my bills are just gonna go away if I work harder. Amazingly my job does not pay more for working harder, only if I work longer and guess what I put in overtime every week. Nonetheless, I am interested in this topic because I do not agree with the 3-D revolution Hollywood is going through. I think it is a waste, and a gimmick. I feel money can be better spent actually making good movies that I would feel like spending more money on to go see in a theater. TWBB I gladly spent my money on and felt like it was well worth it. 3-D is for the general public to ooh and ahh to, and not for us people who do truly love movies for the art that they are. I am not saying a 3-D movie cannot be art, sure it can, but it is likely just window dressing on a movie that needed an extra Umph because it likely was not that good in the first place. Just stating my opinion no reason to get personal on my work habits or how hard I work. You do not know me and never will most likely.
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Thank you also for your pat on the back. I'm sure you and I would probably go on for hours about JC's movies if we ever met. It would drive my girlfriend up a damn wall, no doubt!
--"I think some people just have a really hard time dealing with people who are ridiculously successful at everyting they put their hand to... Meanwhile the rest of us get the well-characterised, tightly plotted hi-tech kick ass films we all want, so it's win win."--
Yeah, I always wondered why it seems people get hated on just for being successful or well-liked. I think it's something about the one being at the top of the hill only has people either looking up to him, or trying to take him down. That didn't used to be a problem for Cameron... I only recently noticed actual, genuine geek "hate" for movies like Aliens, The Abyss or the Terminator films; movies which I thought were part of the 10 Commandments of Geekdom: "Thou shall not hate on any Sci Fi films made by James Cameron." But these kids today, I tell ya... no respect for the classics. -
It's not personal - just common sense that if you worker harder (and smarter) you tend to end up wealthier, and with less reason to grouch about movies being insufficient value for money. You're not going to influence what film makers do by making your opinions known here - and nobody whose hands were hovering over their wallets to pluck out the readies for their kids to see Hannah Montana 3D is going to say 'Hey, waitaminnit - didn't Secretagentnumber6 say summink about these fancy glasses movies lacking intercognitive perspicacity?'
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...Cameron has flirted with making dramas before, so I'll believe this when I see it.
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...I almost want to say "Imagine how cool There Will Be Blood would've been in 3D!" but it seems kind of dumb just saying it.
Sure, not every movie seems right for the technology (though Cameron's comments in the Variety article were food for thought,) but again, it's not an either/or. It's not like the studios won't make character dramas or smart comedies after they start making 3D extravaganzas. They know enough to keep making movies to hit every demographic. Now, whether or not those demos are serviced well with the movies they produce, that's always hard to say. But I've been saying "all the new movies suck" since about 1991 or so, and I thought the majority of the films that came out since then were crap. But I look back on it now, and there are a ton of movies that were made throughout the 90's that I think are some of the best of all time. And most were probably better than a lot of the films released in this decade.
My point is this: There will ALWAYS be good movies and bad movies. Any movie that you see, you should probably just expect the worst but hope for the best, and hopefully, you'll at least get your money's worth. And if 3D isn't your thing, that's fine. If you don't want to spend the money on it, you shouldn't. But what about this: If you go out and spend the money to go see a movie at the theatre, and you come out saying, "The 3D was cool, but the movie stank," at LEAST you got SOMETHING for the money you spent. If you saw it in 2D and it sucked, it just sucked. If you were one of the "ooh ahh" people in the 3D theatre, at least you could say that much for it.
Anyway, I hope you keep an open mind. And I hope, like you, more movies come out that are worth seeing in any format, in 3 dimensions or otherwise. -
I'm just sayin'.
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...Though truth to tell I'm just yanking your chain. I mean, I hardly earn enough money myself to stay in the baseball bats I need to keep my maids in line
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I hear ya on the common sense thing, just not with my company, and a shitty job market in my area not much chance for a change.No hollywood will notlisten to me nor will those poor parent who have to deal with Hannah Montana (ugh), but I am just voicing my opinion. And honestly I don't know why I am bitching about ticket prices, my wife is graduating pharmacy school soon and I will be starting Law school, So the money is a moot point. I do agree with you on some points and I have nothing against you or Cameron, I love his films with the exception of Titanic, just never really liked it, but I can understand why some people love it. And sure I will see probably see 3-d movies especially by Cameron, because he is a man of great Vision, but I just do not like 3-d, as I said before, I feel it is very gimmicky. We just have to agree to disagree on that point.
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...if only, my friend. If only.
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... so I bid you GOOD DAY, SIR!!
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With all these breakthroughs in 3-D technology, an remake of "Dr. Tongue's 3-d House of Pancakes" is in order. Since John Candy is dead, Chris Farley can play his role....oh wait, maybe Louie Anderson? Is he still kicking?
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The scene where the guy is videotaping Aziz's message to the US government and the battery dies ("Battery, Aziz!") was a veiled reference to the tirade Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio had on The Abyss when the camera ran out of film during her "death" scene.
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What they were to silent movies. it took a while to get there, but once it walked, it flowed. Who shoots silent movies these days ?
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Good point about "Towering Inferno On Ice." You'd figure with Cameron being the confirmed "Gearhead" he is, he would've made a real guy's version of the event. I honestly don't know why he went for the female market when he sat down to write it. Maybe he just saw "A Night To Remember" and had the whole romance framework in his mind and simply couldn't shake it. Or maybe he took to heart the comments people had about The Abyss (the closest thing to a love story he had made at that point in time,) and figured he wanted to explore that more fully on his next project. If I'm not mistaken, though, he wanted to make a "classic" movie, in the tradition of old Hollywood, when spectacle and romance were linked commodities. These days you can have one or the other, but in that Golden-Age style I think he was aiming for, it didn't work right without both components.
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That is what I have been saying. But whatever. Like Lightstormer said earlier. They will still make good movies that are not 3-d.
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Can we PLEASE get rid of that There Will Be Blood ad with the imbedded audio clip?!
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Jesus, what does it take for you to have confidence in a project? Cause a film-maker who specializes in effects and is responsible for 3-4 of the greatest sci-fi movies of the last 20 years and I would argue has never made a bad or even mediocre film doesn't seem to cut it for you people. You'll eat your words when it comes out in two years.
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underwater Cameron aint no interesting than Robot/Alien Cameroon!
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Yes, we're hungry for a big sci-fi blockbuster, and I believe Avatar will absolutly deliver. I don't see why an awesome sci-fi action movie can't also be in 3d. He's made it very clear that the 3d is in the background and totally secondary to the filmmaking. Did you guys even read the interview?
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James Cameron will change history. Cinema up until recently has encompassed all the arts from painting and music to architecture and theatre. However with theatre Cinema has only been able to mimic theatre's techniques. With Stereo, the dramatic power gained by stage blocking (say, moving upstage/downstage) will be able to be truly fulfilled with a camera, and not just as imitation. They will have entirely new impact. Whatever this drama is, it will change cinema forever. (Assuming Jimmy Cam does it right. But we know he will.)
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Hope Avatar will be worth the hype. It will be a blast on the aesthetic side, but I truly hope the drama won't take a back seat.
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come on Cameron!
and I think Alita playing motorball in 3D would be amazing! that's the perfect sequence for 3D -
I'm ashamed of myself for that.
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Go back to your caves.
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How about this?
Variety: "We've only just seen an all-digital pipeline come into being."
Cameron: "I've been doing it since 2001."
I confess I have a man-crush on Cameron. -
some fracking drama. Plz. Or give us total fucking destruction with BATTLE ANGEL ALITA!!!FFS!!!Oh and forget about 3-D.
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Dude I owned a Vitural Boy. And I loved it. Though I'll probably be able to trace any deteriation in my eye sight directly to it. Man talking about Vitural boy, I am gonna go figure out where my family stuck it and bring that bad boy out!
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unless its a small dramatic film thats underwater with big guns and cars and explosions.
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It did! But I was on K at the time.
PS. cameron + small dramatic film = fail.
by alice 13 Apr 11th, 2008
02:01:03 PM
unless its a small dramatic film thats underwater with big guns and cars and explosions.
Great line!! lol :D -
Look I'm pleased that he's enthusiastic about 3D... but let's be honest. There are certain films I will willingly pay to see in a theatre, and dramas are not it! When I go to teh theatre I want to see films that take advantage of the big screen and surround sound and oftentimes even the spectacle of seeing it with an audience. Action, sci-fi, adventure films fit that bill nicely. Dramas, romance, romance comedies... I can watch on a shitty TV at home even with commercials and still appreciate... While I appreciate the thought that Cameron will shoot a straight up drama in 3D to show that it can move from being a gimmick and still work in a more serious and grounded flic, unless there's some real advantage to bothering with 3D I don't think it's worth it... unless you have some really cool way of directing it which may ust end up gimmicky otherwise it's somewhat pointless, especially when that time spent can be brought on a more exciting prospect for 3D like Battle Angel Alita! Make an kick ass action film and include dramatic scenes in it and we get to see everything! So until 3D is the norm and everything can be filmed in it without too many costs and other annoying factors I say just stick to working on spectacles until it's feasibly easy for anyone to film regular dramas in 3D when the expense is negligable.
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Cameron sure is smart...after seeing Beowulf 3D, I'm totally sold on it, at least for animated features. I still haven't seen good live-action 3D yet, but if anyone can pull it off, I bet he can.
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Me too.
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Because it's an interstellar war movie directed by the man that brought us The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2 Judgment Day and True Lies. Result.
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Let's say we take your favourite film of all time. Same actors, same everything, not a remake, the same fucking movie, and make it a 3D experience. Does that now mean it's shit? No, therefore it is possible, no it is an inevitable truth that someday you are going to see 3D mvoies that deliver on every front and may even become your favourite films of all time. Maybe some of you are too young or too fucking old and lost your memory or are just plain stupid. Here's how the industry works. New technology comes in. It's expensive and difficult to utilize at first, so the first ones out teh door are experimental or simple so as to get a grip on things. The process is refined. The technology is indeed there to do completely photorealistic computer graphics and animation of people, animals and every fuckign thing. However what is needed is a) the talent, b) the time, and c) the money. Studios these days don't want to spend a lot of money or take too long. Spider-Man sequels must be pushed out the door fast and soon whiel the commercial value is doing great, sit on it for too long and people lose interest, no matter how magnificient it could turn out to be with mroe time. So animators and the FX team are forced to rush their shit to meet the deadlines. Is the animation still not looking so hot? Too fucking bad, the budget is out and time's up, it needs to be in theatres the day after tomorrow. The the reality of your beloved industry. It ain't that we can't do it, but there are many piss poor factors that are involved. Plus the fact that the general public at large doesn't give a shit and will largely ignore or not appreciate the craftmanship behind many great films. In fact some of the greatest films made are universally reviled and disliked by the masses. If the matrix didn't have cool bullet time and gee whiz kung fu and sexy shooting action scenes, nobody would give a fuck. They'd still be left asking, so what were those jellyfish things? Kids today would look at Indiana Jones and turn around and tell you that they're not as good as the Mummy movies. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? Who gives a shit about the classics? Shrek 3 is funny and looks better... Anyway you get my point... Things take time to do correctly. New technology gets there in baby steps because of expenses, technical issues and impatient studios and a higher profit margin on the lowest common denominator film. But as processes become mroe refined you will see better and better films. It requires something called patience on your part and general optimism. But sadly humanity is running low on that these days.
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When do we get 4D?
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Just make good movies and if you need fx just do it with matte paintings and models..FUCK the new lazy ass Hollywood!!!!!!!!
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Apr 11, 2008 6:54:08 PM CDT
Good point, Gotham Knight, and let's think about this, too
by llghtst0rmer
...back when Jim was making The Abyss in '88-'89, he didn't **have to** use CG animation for the pseudopod sequence. He didn't even have to shoot the sequence at all; he specifically wrote it so that if the effect didn't work, it could be cut from the story and we wouldn't even know it. But he knew it would be cool, and a HUGE step forward for effects in film, and he was right. Fast forward to '91 - the production for T2 was ridiculously rushed (hence its famously insane budget,) and he could've saved some time, money and effort by finding some other way to present the T-1000 on film without having to create the technology from the ground up. But he did it, and again, it was a groundbreaking achievement for visual effects. And no, the story, pacing, plot, or characters did not suffer for the inclusion of those elaborate, expensive, experimental effects.
He continued to lay the groundwork for the (first) digital revolution for film in the 90's with True Lies, Titanic, and Strange Days. And by the end of the decade, we had seen some landmarks of cinematic spectacle with Jurassic Park, The Matrix, Forrest Gump, ID4, and yes, even The Phantom Menace. And at this point, there are ZERO big-money, high-concept films that DON'T use digital effects. They are commonplace, and they have evolved so much that every major filmmaker relies on them in order to make their movies.
So, what if AICN was around when Jim was making The Abyss or T2? What if people chimed in by the truckload screaming, "What's with this digital shit?? Just make a good friggin' movie! As long as the story is good, the movie will be good enough! Stop wasting your time!"
If he hadn't gone the lengths that he went to in order to do things his way, those movies would NOT have been the same, the bar would not have been raised, and movies today would not nearly be at the quality they are (and yes, some are pretty good. Not all, of course, but some are worth all the money we've spent to buy the DVDs.) Seriously... would Peter Jackson have been able to make the Lord of the Rings Trilogy if Cameron hadn't pushed the envelope a decade before?
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Couple things
1)You'd lose that bet- I've read a few Cameron scripts. For the record, I LIKE a lot of his stuff. I have few more precious moviegoing memories than going to see T2 on opening night with 7 or 8 high school friends and the INSANE pre-internet spoiler fever pitch of excitement and anticipation in that theater- which Cameron & co. satisfied and then some.
2) You're right- someone does have to write all that action and spectacle. And Cameron does so very well. And then he does about as good a job as anyone in the history of the medium of getting that stuff on the screen. Which doesn't change the fact that the kind of drama he's talking about needs to be dialogue based and that he's shaky at best on that front. I'll cop to a degree of hyperbole in my Lucas/Mamet post. It seems to me that his two best scripts are T1 and Aliens. Both are films about small groups in very tense situations that have to deal with heinous shit in an expeditious manner. I think this has something to do with the fact that he's such a goddam intense guy (that's a compliment). But once he has room to breathe and write more mundane human interaction the cracks start to show. That's why I still like to catch T1 now and again but never get an itch for T2. And why I can't remember anything other than "here is my invitation" and "you're fired" from True Lies despite seeing it five times that summer and god knows how often on home video. And Titanic may be the box office champ but it was mightily painful getting to that iceberg. I'll always hold "nuke the site from orbit" and "the man most directly responsible is Myles Bennet Dyson" close to my heart but that Picasso joke Zane and Winslet had to try to sell nearly killed me. So I guess what I'm saying is I really don't see how your response refutes my initial post or basic premise.
3) I can see from some of your posts that you've given all things Cameron a lot of thought and I respect that so please don't think I'm just trying to be contentious for the hell of it. I'll buy a ticket opening day to anything he ever does but I just don't think a small scale drama is the best use of his considerable talents. -
How the hell do you make paragraph breaks? And apologies for the unsightly brick of text up there.
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So very long to get there. HURRY UP! i want Inglorious Bastards. I want Battle Angel. HURRY the FUCK up.
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But I'm willing to wait if it guaranty quality.
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You just gave him the idea on this interview. He picked it up straight away. So I doubt he have a title or even a story at this point for a 'short 3 D drama'.
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Man people, just let the man make his movie. At least he's not putting out stupid crap that only deserves to be in 2D, like 10,000 BC.
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Ironically Radioland Murders was Lucas's first attempt at using difital technology in feature filmmaking.
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You know Equinas is "up" for it.
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What else can you tell us with your crystal ball?
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So it will be a love story combined with deep sea diving, which we all know he's been obsessed with for the last several years. He'll use 3-D to enhance the dive scenes and make us feel like we're right there with them, and will feel whatever peril the two lovers get into when they're undersea. Maybe he'll throw in some 3-D love scenes too, who knows.
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First off, paragraph breaks are made by typing "", but without the spaces. (In case something happened and that didn't show up, type "less than + the letter p + greater than."
And in response to your response, I have to admit I can see your point after all, but I just wasn't thinking of it in that perspective when I read your post. I thought you were just one of those many "experts" who call Cameron out as a bad writer because they think all that matters is dialogue, and the rest of the movie just seems to "happen" by itself. I see now that's not what you were saying.
Suggestion, though: If it's still available somewhere on the internet(s) and if you haven't read it before, try to find Jim's script called "A Crowded Room." (I believe it has already been mentioned on this talkback once or twice.) It's a script he wrote post-Titanic about a real life guy named Billy Milligan who suffered from multiple personality disorder, and was tried for a murder he committed under one of his other personalities. It was small scale, and almost written like a stageplay more than a movie in certain scenes. No helicopter chaces, no cyborgs, all character, and it was GOOD. SO good. I can't recall if the dialogue was cringe-worthy or spectacular - it's been about 8 years since I last read it, but I remember reading it pretty much from the first page to the last in one sitting.
Unfortunately, the real Billy Milligan was too much of a hassle to deal with in the development process, so Cameron took himself and his script off the project, and now it'll likely never be made. But what he wrote was fantastic.
Anyway, apologies if I came off as cocky or dismissive to your post. I'm starting to look like way too much of a know-it-all on this board, so I should probably tone it down a little. Good talking with you, hiro. -
"Helicopter Chases," obviously.
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...he was a serial rapist. He committed rapes under one of his multiple personalities, not murder. My bad. See, told you it was a memorable script! ;-)
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Somebody disparaged James Cameron's dialogue in this talkback and said that is wasn't "David Mamet". I love David Mamet's dialogue, the man is brilliant. In fact, check out a little known movie called LAKEBOAT that Mamet wrote. It has very clever and very funny dialogue. On par with GLENGARRY GLENROSS in several parts. But I don't think David Mamet's dialogue is better than James Cameron's. Yeah, I said it. Cameron's dialogue isn't great, it's better than great, it's brilliant. And every single one of his films has brilliant, funny, and very memorable lines. How many films are more quotable than ALIENS? Than TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY? Whenever somebody says that Cameron's dialogue "sucks", it's obvious that they don't know anything about screenwriting. And the structure of his screenplays is perfection.
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Gotta agree, Cameron is a master at structure. When people say the Titanic screenplay was shit they're talking out of their backside. The dialogue may have been shit but the actual screenplay is masterful.
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Isn't it the 3 of us who always come out on every Cameron talkback and champion his screenwriting? I'm getting strange flashbacks here...
Doesn't one (or all) of us eventually bring up the comments William Goldman made about Titanic at Oscar time? ;-) -
Apr 12, 2008 9:28:06 PM CDT
Look, let's just come out and say it: Titanic was melodramatic.
by llghtst0rmer
And that's the real reason why genre fans had such a hard time with the dialogue, isn't it? It's not colonial marines or cyborg-fighting waitresses or the indestructable Arnold he wrote for that time around, it was Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and a bunch of turn-of-the-century aristocratic snobs. It was out of our preferred genre. (Plus, let's not forget a lot of the worst lines were also delivered by the biggest scenery chewer in the cast, Billy Zane. So line delivery had a lot to do with it in his case...)
When you think about it, was there so much of the dialogue in the film that was so bad outside of the Jack & Rose lovey-dovey silliness? ("Jack... this is where we first met!") Or the tight-assed 1st class passengers? ("Freud? Who is he? Is he a passenger?") I think the rest of the cast largely had fairly serviceable lines that weren't nearly so over the top.
"Forget it, boyo. You'd as like have angels fly out of your arse than get next to the likes of her."
"This ship can't sink!" "She's made of iron, sir. I assure you she can."
(Old Rose, when she sees the drawing on TV) "I'll be goddamned!"
"You're crazy!" "That's what everybody says. But with all due respect, miss, I'm not the one hanging off the back of a ship."
So, all right, there's a lot more to quote from Aliens, or Terminator. Myself, I could quote lines from The Abyss all day long (more for my own amusment,) but I'm just saying I think a lot of it has to do with genre more than anything. It's gotta be hard to write a romantic, melodramatic period piece about young lovers on a doomed ship. It's not When Harry Met Sally, or Knocked Up. It's more along the lines of the paperback romance novels that girls love to read... not science fiction / fantasy fans like us. -
Writes Variety July 1st, 2003 article: "Twentieth Century Fox-based producer Barry Josephson has acquired the rights to "The Dive," the working title of the forthcoming autobiography from world champion freediver Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras. Story of "The Dive" will revolve around Ferreras' romance and marriage to Audrey Mestre, and her untimely death in October 2002. She died while attempting to break the world record off the coast of the Dominican Republic. Production entities involving Vin Diesel, Jennifer Lopez, and James Cameron have already expressed interest in the romance, which has been chronicled in Sports Illustrated and in the Miami Herald, among other pubs…”
Has potential. Jim's fascination with the ocean and the water. I'm banking on the movie to be spoken mostly in Spanish. Budget: $65 million.
Location: Dominican Republic, Cuba, Miami, and Mexico , Baja Cabos.
Starring Vin Diesel: Francisco "Pippin" Fererra.
Thomas Jane: Umberto Pelizzari
Salma Hayek/Jennifer Lopez: Audrey Mestre -
I feel like it needs to be defended on every Cameron talkback. I wouldn't mind so much if somebody intelligent/informed said something bad about Cameron's dialogue with a SPECIFIC example, but they are always ignorant comments. Completely ignorant. And while TITANIC had it's share of some silly dialogue, so much of it is outstanding. One example would be the dinner scene with Jack in the borrowed tuxedo. He is a total misfit in that world, but everything he says is perfect. Not only does he manage to find a way to make their remarks look silly, he makes their preoccupation with money look ridiculous. It's some great writing. A lot of things are going on in that scene. Subtext comes out of dialogue. Good dialoge doesn't only mean quotable like "Then why don't you put her in charge!" : )
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Apr 13, 2008 11:15:14 PM CDT
Titantic still sucks. Aliens is still his best film.
by allpowerfulwizardofoz
I'd love to see Aliens in 3-D.
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