When I was growing up, I absolutely loved my legos — so much so that I actually fancied myself a structural engineer of sorts. Of course, I never really built anything without a set of instructions but at least I did a good job of it. Needless to say, I was in complete awe of this fantastic creation by lego enthusiast Brickshelf. Using a simple image of a T-800 exoskeleton, he was able to recreate a bust of James Cameron’s metallic killing machine with stunning detail. Maybe it’s not as nostalgic for me as say… a Valkyrie, but its still way too awesome for me to ignore. Check out Brickshelf’s gallery for more photos. Read more…
You know it’s funny I’ve never have been too crazy about James Cameron as a director, however listening to this very relaxed interview with him was quite energizing and inspiring. It’s wonderful to hear not just about his creative process — but also his take on Hollywood then copying everything (his example is the 3D craze which he inspired). And as much as I wasn’t crazy about Avatar I almost felt sorry for Cameron watching the Oscars because you could sense not just a level of insecurity and slight hostility to his technical skills, but also even the idea that a science fiction film might get best picture. So even with the success of his box office, it gave me a real sympathy seeing him within the Hollywood hierarchy.
Recently while a good friend was telling me about the advantages of seeing Avatar in 3D IMAX over just plain 3D I couldn’t help but mention how much I hated “the plot” of the film. My friend then challenged me that while the twists-and-turns of the Na’vi may have been overly predictable that in fact the first Star Wars film was just as telegraphed. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 25, 2009 in Cinema, Science
My problem with Avatar is that the humans are smart enough to achieve interstellar space travel, but their technology feels like it belongs in the early 21st Century. I’ll grant you that you can make this critique of quite a few science fiction films, but frankly Avatar seems to become a giant plot hole when you think about this. Read more…
Yes I know James Cameron will make a billion dollars with Avatar. But you know what Cameron will never know how to do? Create a damn high quality giant robot that kids will want to buy thirty years from now! Shown above is the reason why: The Avatar AMP Suit (shown above) looks like a left over prop from the film Aliens: Read more…
He’s not my favorite director but I think James Cameron’s true talent is the ability to combine a good story with bleeding edge special effects. When I watched the previous trailer for Avatar it looked like a bad videogame, but perhaps I was a bit too hasty to call my predictions for this film. Looking at this latest trailer I’m seeing more of the story which looks rock solid — so my bet is that Avatar is going to be the hit of the season. And as much as I’m not a fan of Cameron I also have to give him credit for the ability to pull off making a film of this scale without it being based on a comic book or a TV show from thirty years ago. Alhough the alien world animation still looks like a bad videogame to me…
