tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1512984910768159734.post6483017027213143268..comments2023-06-21T18:42:53.191+05:30Comments on Where the Mind is Without Fear . . .: Avatar Review: John et JimSpace Loverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08285726115965092855noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1512984910768159734.post-72694546734057883812012-01-18T15:02:46.817+05:302012-01-18T15:02:46.817+05:30Hello. And Bye.Hello. And Bye.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1512984910768159734.post-1079119456948888302011-05-02T04:46:14.484+05:302011-05-02T04:46:14.484+05:30I can definitely agree with your point that Pandor...I can definitely agree with your point that Pandora, not Jake Sully, is the main character of Avatar. In the same way as New York is the primary character in Woody Allen films, Pandora is a much more interesting and engaging character than Jake or Neytiri or the rest of the shallowly developed characters. Cameron really does excel in world-building for this film. <br /><br />It’s interesting that you see the film as promoting a feminist message. I’ve actually read a number of reviews claiming the opposite. Avatar doesn’t pass the Bechdel test, but there aren’t many sustained conversations in the film anyway. The female characters are generally strong people, but they are also generally outsmarted by or led by male characters. Sigourney Weaver’s character has worked for decades to gain the trust of the Na’vi. Jake does it in a manner of weeks. Neytiri is a hunter and her mother is some sort of leader/priestess, but Jake is the one who saves her people and leads the final battle.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1512984910768159734.post-1971566308800879122011-02-15T00:03:06.074+05:302011-02-15T00:03:06.074+05:30Hi Dodo, Long time, how you been? IndiBlogger is c...Hi Dodo, Long time, how you been? IndiBlogger is coming back to our favorite city Kolkata after a long time. Its been 2 years since IndiBloggers last meet. We hope to catch up again at the meet!Did you sign up for <a href="http://www.indiblogger.in/bloggermeet.php?id=113" rel="nofollow">Kolkata IndiBlogger Meet</a> If you haven't already, do sign up today, Only 200 seats available. Entry is free with loads of fun. Cheers,<br />Vineet<br />IndiBlogger TeamAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1512984910768159734.post-29106688783375132492010-06-16T19:25:13.700+05:302010-06-16T19:25:13.700+05:30Sun: Your comment is one of the best compliments a...Sun: Your comment is one of the best compliments any writer can receive. The fact that my writing has encouraged you to re-evaluate the film has moved me deeply. I am eagerly looking forward to your feedback. Thanks!<br /><br />silhouettestories: That's brilliant! Thanks for that lovely comment!<br /><br />Websnacker: Well, what should I say? That's the way you felt about the film. I have no right to tell you what your feelings should be. I'll never insist that it's the greatest film ever made. It was simply about my feelings about the film. "Yes, I don't love Avatar." That's perfectly alright. Both opinions can peacefully coexist, can't they? Thanks for your appreciation of this post.<br /><br />N.B.: I think I committed a grave mistake with the last line. I oversimplified my reaction, something I wanted to avoid entirely. But then, that was my immediate reaction. Maybe I should have replaced "love" with "see".Space Loverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08285726115965092855noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1512984910768159734.post-57429759975169591622010-06-15T17:50:46.778+05:302010-06-15T17:50:46.778+05:30Hi Upamanyu,
A well written critique. I certainly...Hi Upamanyu,<br /><br />A well written critique. I certainly enjoyed reading it but found it one sided. Perhaps that's because you are amongst the many who actually like it. Ok, who love it!<br /><br />I have been a James Cameron fan since a Kid when I saw the marvel called Terminator. And each of his movie that followed like Aliens, Terminator 2, Abyss or Titanic only took the bar higher. This also made James Cameron something like a superstar..a true trend setter who carved new roads for others to follow.<br /><br />And this is where the problem with Avatar lies. Maybe, fans like me shouldn't have expected at all. 10+ years in the making, $300 million plus budget and a complete freehand to call the shots, I wanted Avatar to be a momentous movie far ahead of its time. Instead what I got to see was a standard "good vs bad" 3D driven actioner that was all style and no substance.<br /><br />You may argue that the whole essence of Avatar was its simplicity but it didn't have to be this simple or boring. Even the ingenuity present in a standard "Tom and Jerry" cartoon where both devise great but simple ideas to attack or evade each other is much better and greater than what I could see in Avatar. <br /><br />Pandora may have been great - a fantastic multi million art canvas but for me, I have seen better imagery in games like Bioshock. There was nothing new, epic or out of this world in Pandora to pay attention, wake up and get immersed. The 3D was actually headache inducing.<br /><br />I could go on criticising the wafer thin plot, weak dialogues,okay music or the disappointing action sequences which all failed to deliver. Yet,clever marketing, hype and mass hysteria has been enough to make it the blockbuster it has now become.<br /><br />I thoroughly enjoyed all the Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings and was honestly, expecting something larger, better and spectacular from Avatar. A true disappointment.<br /><br />Yes, I don't love Avatar.<br /><br />http://websnacker.blogspot.comWebsnackerhttp://websnacker.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1512984910768159734.post-74163995248052501152010-06-15T14:18:23.324+05:302010-06-15T14:18:23.324+05:30I totally thought on ur lines.Never for one moment...I totally thought on ur lines.Never for one moment from my first viewing did i think otherwise. Lots of resemblances to indian mythology that gloriously brings out beautiful moments. The stage(Pandora) is always bigger. And I am very much inspired by LOTR book the same way you are. The best thing is the Rings never pushes its plots and scenarios. it just 'be's. Overall I am pleased to know that here is atleast one person who has truly 'seen' both thr Rings and Avatar. Ya I love iit too!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1512984910768159734.post-10229180555068700242010-06-14T22:02:06.180+05:302010-06-14T22:02:06.180+05:30Your in depth analysis of Avatar, something that I...Your in depth analysis of Avatar, something that I haven't come across anywhere on the web, made me add Avatar to my dvd queue instantaneously. Just like you, I didn't like Avatar, when I watched it last December. Except the visual grandiose, lack of drama as in Titanic and the lack of emotional elements that connect you to the film were shocking, given the hype and expectations.<br /><br />Your thought provoking article makes me want to watch Avatar again and come back to provide more feedback.<br /><br />~SunSunnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1512984910768159734.post-35714038249821838202010-06-10T00:15:01.565+05:302010-06-10T00:15:01.565+05:30As I said earlier, this is my last year in school....As I said earlier, this is my last year in school. I wanted to write a lot of posts on various topics including films. But I had to write only one post. I wanted to write a post entirely about films because that’d be a departure from everything I’ve written on my blog so far. I had three film-related subjects to choose from: <i>Avatar</i>, Quentin Tarantino's films and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's <i>Saawariya</i>. (I liked that film, which is telling because I found his previous works abysmal.) I had to choose any one of them to write about. I didn’t think twice before crossing out Bhansali’s name. The real hard choice, however, was to choose between Cameron and Tarantino. (The FSM can be so cruel sometimes!) It took many days before I finally settled on <i>Avatar</i>. (Rest assured, every post I wanted to write will find its way on the blog in future.)<br /><br />Though I had a lot of thoughts about Avatar, I wasn’t sure how I’d write this. In a perfect world, a beginner should start by reviewing a French New Wave film and not Avatar. Then I slapped myself in the face and said ‘Why not?’ And I started writing this post casually and all that you see came to me naturally. The post offered a chance to reference a French New Wave film as well!<br /> <br />This post, though quite long, didn’t take much time to write. I wrote whenever I could. As I expected, the hardest and most demanding job was the editing. I’d originally discussed many more aspects of the movie, but when I read the entire thing, they seemed somewhat out-of-place, although some of them were my favourite bits. So I had to be brutal to my own writing. I’ve seen many blogs repeating the same things (admiration or condemnation of its 3D, visual effects) over and over again. I couldn’t afford to do that.<br /><br />After I wrote this, I spotted a fundamental flaw in my article. It was full of references to Cameron’s contemporaries’ works (and even Bollywood!) comparing to which I wanted to prove this film’s worth. If I have to establish this as a worthy work, why should I compare it to lesser, mediocre works? At any rate, the point of comparison should be much higher works of art. So I removed most of the references to the lesser films and focused it on how well it held up to the great works. Very few references, though, inevitably remain.<br /><br />By the beginning of March, I started *liking* <i>Avatar</i> and formed some of the points in my mind. Before and after it eventually emerged as a loser on Oscar night, many had conveniently dubbed people who preferred Avatar over other works as losers/fanatics with absolute certainty. I stayed silent not because number of Oscars, critical consensus, media overdrive or box-office grosses stopped influencing my thoughts years ago, but what I had to say couldn’t be summarised in 140 characters (or 1400 for that matter). That’s my limitation as a writer, I believe. Nothing could provoke from me a knee-jerk reaction which would be an unreasoned, moronic defence. Moreover, I had exams on cards. I knew I could patiently wait before I declared to the whole world what I felt. Meanwhile, I watched the film once again just to confirm my assumptions which you see above. I didn’t know I could’ve such a complete change of opinion about a film in a matter of three months!<br /><br />This is the first time I am reviewing something. I earnestly want reactions from my readers. <b>Please tell me what you think of this movie and this piece. Do tell me what part of this review appealed to you or what didn’t. I want to know from you where you feel I was right or wrong. Your reaction is very important to me. So please comment!</b>Space Loverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08285726115965092855noreply@blogger.com