My Little Thoughts

Today, I am full of sadness.  Sadness and internal organs.  But mostly sadness.

Why am I sad? you ask.

Or maybe you don't.  In which case we're not friends anymore so give me back my ball and I want to go home.

Where was I?  Ah, yes, the sadness.

I am filled with sadness because of Avatar.  Avatar, what some could call the "American Idol" of Cinema, both in terms of market share and in the fact that (spoilers) there is some weird singing that goes on at times in both.

But why does Avatar fill me with sadness?

Well, mostly because I wanted better out of it.  Now don't get me wrong.  Like most of the rest of the audience at the IMAX 3D theater where I saw it, I too was at the edge of my seat at many different times throughout, screaming, "HOLY CRAP!" like a 12-year old boy who's just seen someone lit on fire in the middle of a flock of pigeons (and trust me about this situation... I know).

But at the same time that I was screaming "HOLY CRAP," I was also having an internal debate with myself.

I can multitask.  For instance, right now I am both typing AND avoiding work.

Back on task: the debate.  My debate was whether Avatar was going to turn out to be the kind of HOLY CRAP movie that bears up under repeat viewings and requires HOLY CRAPpage upon each and every one, or whether it was going to be the kind of HOLY CRAP movie that Titanic (another 16-hour long movie by Mr. Cameron) turned out to be: the kind of HOLY CRAP movie where you scream HOLY CRAP throughout the movie, then when you go to see it again, you say Holy Crap? in a kind of befuddled way because you are wondering where the totally amazingly frickin' awesome movie that you saw the first time disappeared to.

Sort of like the Phantom Menace.  I saw that, LOVED it.  Went back to see it the next weekend.  COULDN'T STAND IT.  What was the difference?  Well, the first time I was so exuberant about the return of the epic space opera from my childhood that I didn't even notice it lacked a few things, like story, narrative, believable characters, and dialogue that didn't cause spontaneous diahrrea.

So do you see where I'm going with this?  Because unfortunately Avatar, while no Phantom Menace (I think God sent a flock of doves into the sky the night that movie was released as a sign He would never again punish the world on such a scale... like the flood/rainbow thing, only Phantom Menace was, of course, much worse) is not one I'm going to want to see again.

I mean, thrills?  Yes!  I was totally surprised a couple of times.

But now I know where the thrills happen.  Surprise exits, stage right (in glorious IMAX 3D).

Story?  It has been well-documented by many academics (or at least by some of my friends who pass on chain emails like they'll be killed if they don't) that you can watch Pocahantas and get the same story in about 1/16th of the time.

Which leads me to the other problem: the pee break.  I'll say no more, but there has been many a great movie that is wrecked by my inability to "hold it" all the way through.  Titanic at least had an extended nude scene that I could use as a 45 minute pee-break (PG13... really???).  But Avatar has no such benefits.  Or at least, not of the human variety (I'm pretty sure there are some fairly naked aliens in the movie, but I don't know if that counts).

And so we get to the final piece of the sadness (and internal organs) that is me today: I like Cameron's work.  I cannot think of a single thing he's ever released that I didn't like.

But I used to LOVE it.  Back when he was a "no one" or just a "someone" instead of "king of the world."  Back when he had to take suggestions from other people and actually listen to them, rather than just laugh, flash a billion dollars at them, offer to have them murdered, and then laugh again as they fell silent.

Now, I'm a screenwriter (side job - but it does pay at times), so I know that the process of going through "creative meetings" where everyone has different ideas how to get from A to 9 can result in frustrations.  But I also know that some of my best ideas have come out of those meetings, and in them I've also been notified of some of my biggest story flaws.  Why?  Because I'm still a "nobody," and so I still have to actually LISTEN.  And listening is what you have to do if you want to be a great - not just decent - storyteller.

Believe me, if we're talking effects, Cameron truly IS King of the World: he is one of those rare directors that not only understands how to integrate technology into his films, he understands the technology ITSELF.  The difference is subtle, but important.  He is a maker and and inventor and innovator of superior calibre.  One thinks of Walt Disney as someone who had similar vision in pushing the envelope where it came to merging creativity and technology, and as someone who, if the technology didn't exist, either made it himself or teamed with someone to get it made.

But still.  Movies shouldn't just be about effects... unless they should.  Those of you who have read earlier posts of mine about Transformers and GI Joe will know that I am a firm believer in the idea that dumb movies can be brilliant in their own dumb way.  But the difference is that neither of those movies pretend to greatness.

Avatar does.

And does it succeed?

On the first viewing?  Yes.  An all-around, no holds barred yes.

On a technological level?  Yes.  Forever.  This is a ground-breaker.

As a movie to be watched and savored and loved, viewing after viewing?

I think you know the answer.

So does my spleen, which has been removed to make room for the sadness.