Episode #085
David's newborn baby Na'vi
Avatar is an episode focusing on the movie of the same name, as part of the Podinator: Judgment Cast miniseries covering the filmography of James Cameron. Posted 26 Nov 2016.
Summary
Talkin' 'Tar.
James Cameron keeps writing bigger numbers on his blank checks, and now following up on the ginormous Titanic he has made a new biggest film ever. And it's in three dimensions!
This movie hits the ground running - the humans are in the avatars within 10 minutes. It's nuts. Exposition isn't the best, so they blaze right by it. In fact, it's pretty much an animated film the rest of the way. And by the way, among Griffin and David and Ben, they each had different experiences in seeing the movies, so their opinions on the 3-D might differ too.
Is this still the best 3-D movie? #TheTwoFriends fight. Did the movie hype itself too much or not enough? #TheTwoFriends fight. Are the extended versions better than the theatrical cut? #TheTwoFriends .... fight. Performance Review: who's good, who's bad, who's a thick slice of honey-baked Virginia Ham? #TheTwoFriends, they fight. What does Cameron understand about where 3-D works best? #TheTwoFriends... agree!
Look, this movie goes real broad wherever it can. Fluffs. Military stereotypes. Natives who worship nature. Does it look good enough and is it consistent enough in its storytelling that it all works, or is it just too cartoony? James Horner's score is catchy and the theme is like a blaring war horn, how much does it help? If nobody cares about the characters and the story is hackneyed, can the visual spectacle of it all make this a good movie? Spoiler alert: maybe this is a concept that works better as a theme park than a movie?
Listen closely for puns so good they're worth comedy points.
Milestones and Ephemera
- Pre-abandoned nickname for Ben: Doctor Crunchy
- Nature's Internet: trees
- Merchandise Spotlight!
- K-Stew: the best in the biz