Byrnes (aka HappyHour) and I tend to share a lot of similar opinions and this is no exception, even though I have yet to see Avatar.
I get up on stage and I tell stories. I get paid to do so a lot of the time and THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A NEW STORY. It’s all in the telling. Your voice. Your details. Your way.
Joseph Campbell told the world this far better than Byrnes or I ever will, but Byrnes is right about everyone seemingly forming their opinions in advance of seeing the film. Here is what I know:
T2 holds the fuck up and I’ll definitely check out Cameron’s new movie because of it.
Can we leave the snarkiness in this decade as we move on? It’s exhausting and it is NOT THE SAME AS SIMPLY BEING SARCASTIC.
Tot-al-ly.
Seen it twice, it’s gorgeous and fun, but it’s Fern Gully in space, people.
Oh my god, I hate this meme so much. Normally, when I see something on tumblr that irks me (and trust me, there’s plenty of it), I just let it go. I mean, who wants to be that guy? But I just can’t let this one slide. To point:
A.) ”Appreciate the graphics?!” The “graphics” are a fucking game changer. This ain’t you Dad’s 3D. The VFX in Avatar mark a watershed moment in cinema that we were lucky enough to have front row seats for (metaphorically and, in some cases, literally). If you can’t appreciate that for what it is then I have no choice but to “judge the fuck out of you.”
B.) ”The most unoriginal ripped-off story ever” is probably taking it a bit too far. Sure, we’ve seen the basic tale before but that’s the movies. Most movies have had their bare bones story told before. I mean, if you don’t realize that Harry Potter = Star Wars = Jason and the Argonauts = 1,000 other stories, then I need to “judge the fuck out of you.”
C.) No one, and I mean no one, is lauding its epic story. Not one person. South Park called it “Dances With Smurfs” months ago. So I could say “I’m not the only one who thought this meme was totally unoriginal, right?” If you are sticking to this as your problem with the film then I have to “judge the fuck out of you.”
Yes, the story is a retread. So what? Go talk to Aristotle. What matters is that the story was told well with absolutely stunning devotion to the craft of filmmaking. When Flannery O’Connor would read “A Good Man is Hard to Find” to audiences she would explain to them (before she read it aloud) that it’s a story about a family that goes on a road trip only to be killed by criminals. She did this because she wanted her audiences to pay attention to how she told the story as opposed to the story itself. There’s something to be said for that. I mean, what did you expect? The military was gonna kill all the Na’vi and they were gonna put a McDonald’s up there? Movies are, for the most part, hopelessly predictable. There’s a very specific formula at play here. I don’t think that lessens a good film’s dramatic punch if it is well executed.
It’s not the story you tell but how you tell the story.
As for the sentiment that it’s FernGully in space, well… how many people saw FernGully (gross: $32 mil) and how many people will see Avatar (gross: $615 mil and counting)? At some point, FernGully becomes Avatar in a rain forrest. I mean, seriously. Fuck FernGully. That movie came out two years after Dances With Wolves, so that film itself was hardly original. Dances With Wolves ripped off The Emerald Forrest (released in 1985) which ripped off Jeremiah Johnson (released in 1972) which ripped off At Play In The Fields of the Lord (published in 1965) which ripped off Run of the Arrow (released in 1957) which ripped off Last of the Mohicans (published in 1826) which I’m sure ripped off some other story which ripped off some other story which ripped off some Greek Tragedy. Hell, even Romeo & Juliet is a retread. I don’t see anybody holding that against The Bard. No, in fact they keep remaking that story over and over and over again even though everybody knows they both die at the end. And people still love it. These stories are told time and time again because they speak to something deep within us, something about the human condition.
It’s not the story you tell but how you tell the story.
I know I’m coming off a bit harsh here and I don’t expect everyone to flat out love Avatar. But I’m perturbed by the fact that the backlash began long before anyone even saw the film; a film that Steven fucking Spielberg called the most exhilarating experience he’s had in a theater since Star Wars and, ya know what, I’m 100% fucking positive that he (the most influential storyteller of his generation) knew the story wasn’t totally original. At the end of the day, it just seems to me that people want to hate on this movie. And that’s just so… easy.
So, yes. Avatar was hardly the first time I saw that tale but it’s not the story you tell. It’s how you tell the story.
Go ahead and judge the fuck out of me.
Jay-Z is taking Beyonce's name?!?!
No internet at home is killing me.
Apparently Jay-Z and Beyonce are hyphenating their last names since Bey’s parents never had any boys and they don’t want the name to disappear.
Shawn Knowles-Carter!
Feminist swoon!
kulap: FROM UCBTHEATRE.COM:
Friends! It’s a Chanukah Miracle! Here’s your chance!Showtime is airing the Ronna and Beverly pilot that was co-written by Jessica Chaffin and Jamie Denbo with Jenji Kohan and directed by the amazing Paul Feig! Show stars Chaffin and Denbo as the title characters and features Harris Wittels. Please watch, DVR and tell your friends, your mother, your shrink.
Program Details: Boston-native Jewish women and lifelong friends Ronna and Beverly create and promote a dating guide (“You’ll Do Better Next Time”) in this hilarious comedy special based on the popular stage characters created by stars Jessica Chaffin and Jamie Denbo.
Ways to Watch:
On Showtime late night Monday, December 21 at 12:05amOn Showtime 2 late night Tuesday, December 29 at 12:05am
I volunteered to serve food to the workers at Ground Zero after 9/11. There were dogs trained to find living people. The people who worked with the dogs became worried because the day after day of not finding anyone was beginning to depress the animals. So the people took turns hiding in the rubble so that every now and then a dog could find one of them to be able to carry on.
— Sigourney Weaver (via mollylambert)
Addict
I am totally addicted to the internet. Mine’s been spotty to non-existent today and yesterday, and it’s the worst!!!
Seriously! I am dying over here. No internet at home 2 days in a row. I am standing in an Apple Store using the internet. And apparently my priority is to blog. Kind of.
My unemployment has been a wake up call as to how addicted I am too. Some days I sit at the computer for 8 straight hours without eating. I might as well be in an office! But here is the kicker: I’m barely doing anything online.
We’re on the front page of the New York Times Style section. My mind is blown by the whole thing. We’re also in talks with Food Network to host our own show. Life is crazy, no?
This is amazing. I remember someone in my office forwarding me the nuggetini recipe and wanting to talk about how weird it was and all I could say was “that’s Alie from the Bourgeois Pig who did the cool paintings.”
Go ladies!
535. YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TO "PLAY IT COOL" AROUND SOMEONE YOU LIKE. IF THEY DON'T LIKE YOUR SPAZZY NEUROTIC SELF, THEY AREN'T WORTH IT.
patbaer:brendanmc:(via gotwisdom)
It’s true! The goofier and more myself I am the more my boyfriend laughs.
And believe me, I am a spaz. We embrace the spazziness.
Going to an Inglourious Basterds screening tonight with Tarantino doing Q& A after. I’ve been to a lot of screenings of this kind. Hell, I’ve run a bunch of screenings with filmmaker Q&As, but I have never been this excited for one.
I’m even taking one of my old interns cause I’m a good mentor like that. Suck it.
Sorry, I don’t know why I got so aggressive for no reason.
And now here we are. Right here in your own backyard, an American company creates a brilliant phone, and that company hands it to you, and gives you an exclusive deal to carry it — and all you guys can do is complain about how much people want to use it. You, Randall Stephenson, and your lazy stupid company — you are the problem. You are what’s wrong with this country.
—
Fake Steve Jobs to Randall Stephenson of AT&T (via davidkaneda) (via evangotlib)
Oh, man.
(via tanya77) Dan is such a great writer, and he’s 100% right. (via purns)
Reblogging since I am at the Apple Store.
SAD! And weird, right? I mean, it wasn’t that much money and Anaheim isn’t an exciting place. Maybe he just doesn’t want the press. Maybe he said why, but I’m without internet this week and reblogging at an Apple Store.
