Chadzilla

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Posts posted by Chadzilla

  1. It is official...there will be NO Spider-Man 4. Ever.

    Screw all that having the characters grow and develop over time, let's just go back and reboot, so we can make the same damn movie all over again...for 2012. My interest is seeing another Spider-Man movie went from "I hope the studio doesn't fuck with Raimi again" down to "Unless someone other than a studio hack that will do what he or she is told is hired to make this (which is so unlikely as to be utterly impossible) then I will be seeing this only if the Lizard is the villain." (Again, unlikely to the point of its almost being impossible.)

  2. The adjusted box office totals are in and Avatar took in $50 million, it is now one weekend away from being officially declared a Titanic sized financial success. To do so, Avatar has to gross over $30 million next weekend. Since its only competition is a silly looking cliche fest with Denzel Washington (as opposed to the wonderful looking cliche fest that is Avatar) I'm thinking that could very well happen.

    Now that this mega-budget movie has made enough bank to be declared a break even success, theatrically speaking, how long before a sequel is announced? Will it be a quickie DTV sequel, or a 3-D theatrical release? How long before the marketing department signs off on an Avatar comic book adaptation or spin-off series. Will there be a Tarzan style Saturday morning cartoon series detailing the day to day life of Jake livin' la vida Pandora and going all Captain Planet while cruising the floating mountains on his trusty Free Bird? Will it be in traditional animation, or will it be CG?

    And, now that he has two colossal all time record breaking/making box office smashes back to back, is there ANYTHING on this planet that is capable of humbling James "I'm King of the World" Cameron?

    Yeah, my day is that uneventful and boring.

  3. Strictly local this year... and a significant drop from con attendance in years past.

    Star Trek convention in San Francisco, Sunday January 24th only. (Too damn expensive for anything more than that, damn Creation ticket prices. $200 bucks for a photo op with Patrick Stewart!?!)

    Wonder Con at Moscone Center, in SF (again) Friday through Sunday, April 2nd - 4th. (This might be the first time that I go all three days.)

    BayCon in Santa Clara (a stone's throw from the Great America amusement park) Friday through Monday, May 28th -31st (aka Memorial Day weekend)

  4. Crossed #8 and Gravel #10 -14. Crossed is kind of hit or miss, but it hits more often than misses and this issue really hit hard, but not quite as hard as the shocking twist in the previous issue. Damn, that was harsh. Gravel wrapped up its second story, The Major Seven and left me hungry for more.

    6, so far.

  5. According to Box Office Mojo, Avatar made 8 million dollars on Monday, January 4th. This bodes very well for its 4th weekend haul, as it shows people are still packing into theaters to see the damn thing. Since the film is coming off of two massive, not to mention record making, weekends (undoubtedly bolstered by their both having been holiday weekends) it is this fourth weekend of release that merits the closest scrutiny; for people are returning to work, “kids” are going back to school, and the consumer spending status quo is quickly being restored. The question now is “Just how big will the next drop-off be?” I am going to predict a three day total gross somewhere around/between 59 to 63 million, as the drop off to date continues to be far more gradual than what is considered to be average (40% plus for each week of release).

    While a drop to a 50 million weekend, or even less, is certainly not unthinkable, I do think that word of mouth for the film is resoundingly positive and, love Cameron or hate him, ditto regarding the film, it is clear that, once again, the man has hit a pop culture nerve; despite the film being nothing more than a paper thin mix of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars, Anne McCaffrey’s Dragon Riders of Pern series, and Dances With Wolves, and, despite its being paper thin, becomes a beautiful way to lose yourself for two and a half hours. Also, the 2d vs 3D debate seems to be a meaningless one (judging from comments both here and with friends who have seen the film in the flat format). The film seems to work its magic regardless of whether there is an illusion of visual depth, or not.

    Which is precisely why the film is so damn popular. It is all about magic. The magic of escapism.

    In the midst (or aftermath, depending on your economic POV) of a massive to catastrophic economic downturn (again, depending on how seriously it has impacted you or your family) Cameron has delivered a viewing experience that, quite literally, sweeps an audience away to a world of wonder and adventure. A world where

    a beaten down to the point of literally being broken (and who cannot afford to pay for his medical treatment) Every Man hero gets the girl, beats the bad guys and saves the day, before being healed and reborn into an all new existence.[END SPOILER, but is that synopsis REALLY a spoiler? Come on.]

    You don’t have to be either a psychology or philosophy major to see all the social, political or religious entry points that Cameron has layered into his movie, so that the audience can relate to it with ease. There is a reason why it is so vague. Thorny issues and complex characters would take people out of the movie and get them thinking. Avatar is all about sinking into the movie with the ease of sinking into a comfortable and much needed sleep. It is not about being thought provoking, it is about being comforting. It is a beautiful and happy dream for a very sad time. For that reason, and that reason alone, I think that Avatar stands a good chance of not only surpassing The Dark Knight, but Titanic, as well.

  6. The only true "resolution" I have for 2010 is to keep a detailed list of all the movies I see or buy (DVD), books I read or buy, etc. in the year 2010. Just to see how I will have passed the time and spent the money in the 365 (361, actually) days to come.* I started doing that last year (a habit I picked up reading James Reasoner's blog, back in the day) and made it to about March (was 30 deep on all of them) then was distracted by the shiny of meeting and falling in love with the awesome woman that is to be my wife. (Getting married this year, yay!)

    * 5 movies already watched, and 4 books, 3 DVDs, and 2 CDS purchased. :blush:

  7. I started of 2010 with The Protector's War by S.M. Stirling, the second book in his Change (or Emberverse) series. Although listed as science-fiction (and imaginary Alien Space Bats are blamed for the Change that renders ALL energy based technology non-operational) I think it is more of a fantasy series. I'm a little over one hundred pages into it and, so far, I'm every bit as hooked as I was for the first book in the series, Dies the Fire.

  8. Sitting in an almost filled up IMAX theater, waiting....

    For the magic to begin. Hope it's good.

    EDIT: Just got back. I'm going to put it on my top ten list for best of 2009. While I get the Dances With Wolves comparisons, I thought it also invoked Edgar Rice Burroughs's A Princess of Mars and others in the SF pulp tradition. It is also closest in tone and execution to Cameron's own The Abyss, it has the same jaw dropping level of detailed immersion into an artificially created environment. An awesome viewing experience.