Avatar - The Movie

Somebody, LW, should undertake the task, thankless though it be, that a two-dimensional moving image on a screen, cooked up in the theatres of illusion using all sorts of tricks, can ever blow the mind of anybody who has got past the age of gob-smacked awe at the sight of King Kong with a maid in the palm of its prehensile hand.

Seems like there is a large potential audience for "Avatar," where the buzz before "Terminator Salvation" was rather ordinary:



Avatar Trailer Breaks a Record
Monday August 24, 2009
20th Century Fox's Avatar didn't just break the 'most viewed trailer' record, but shattered it into 4 million pieces. The Avatar trailer premiered exclusively on Apple.com last week, and by the end of its first day live on the site, Avatar's trailer had been viewed over 4 million times. According to Fox, the previous record was 1.7 million.

The online trailer debut was just part of an advance Avatar marketing blitz. Writer/director James Cameron and Fox premiered 20 minutes of footage from the film on August 21st in select theaters. Fox also debuted the trailer for James Cameron's Avatar: The Game, and Mattel showed off Avatar and Na'vi character action figures to help kick up the buzz for Cameron's first film since Titanic.

So, what do you think of the trailer? I'm not sure about it yet. Maybe it needs to be seen in 3-D... And I missed the special Avatar footage in theaters (I was taking in a performance of Wicked), but I'd love for anyone who did sit through the Avatar footage premiere to post a comment on your experience. --Rebecca Murray

I saw the trailer this weekend (before Inglourious Basterds) and it looks fantastic.

I would guess that's the same teaser trailer which is at the Apple site. The article I posted above probably saw the trailer on the teeny postage stamp size format instead of the impressive HD download.

"Inglorious Basterds" is Tarantino's biggest opening weekend film at the box office and the critics liked it. I would think it would be too gory and violent for you, mac11. It is a satirical fantasy with a revisionist history almost as an homage to Mel Brooks.

Well, I did close my eyes a couple of times as the blood flowed, but I definitely enjoyed the humor/irony. It's a great film. The actress playing Shoshanna (Melanie Laurent, I think) was fascinating.

It can't be any worse than "True Blood," and I sure would never expect Tarantino to hold back -- on the irony, that is.