[PhantomCat]

Got a chance to check out a pretty good movie last night.
The Book of Eli is about a man (Denzel Washington) on a mission to deliver a secret book and meets interesting and violent opposition along the way. The movie is mostly colorless with lots of browns, blues, and grays, conveying that something catastrophic has happened to the planet, people are few, and many who survived have flipped into barbaric survival mode and will kill just for a pair of nicer shoes.

While I doubt this film will be best picture of the year because of it's dark content, it's well done and has managed to claim the number 3 movie spot this week.
If you can handle violence, this one's worth checking out.

[KDcoasterMAN]

^ I have yet to see it. Many of my friends have liked the movie. What I found was funny was ho you said that it "managed to claim" the number three spot. Avatar is that awesome. If you haven't seen it then you definitely need to!

[PhantomCat]

^ I have yet to see it. Many of my friends have liked the movie. What I found was funny was ho you said that it "managed to claim" the number three spot. Avatar is that awesome. If you haven't seen it then you definitely need to!

OK.
"It managed to reach the number 3 movie spot this week." How's that?
You should go see it CoasterMan. It's something to do.

I love Avatar. I'm already planning to get the DVD. I may check it out again before it leaves theaters. Did you experience it in 3D? AwESoMe! I wanted to see it in ImaX 3D but unfortunately, the theater I went to only had the 2D and 3D experience.

My dad told me 3D movies are not new. They were out when he was a growing up. They also had Smell-o-rama (something like that) where scents were pumped into theaters to coincide with what was happening in the film. He said they had to stop it because the smells made some people sick.
This way to exit, please.

[KDcoasterMAN]

OK.
"It managed to reach the number 3 movie spot this week." How's that?
You should go see it CoasterMan. It's something to do.

I didn't intend insult. I just think it's funny that when a movie like this is put into production, the studio financing it believes it would be a best seller. And with it only scrapping 2nd place on its opening weekend to Avatar when it's expected to do better... (though it did do something that only one other movies have done in the US since Avatar premiered. It and Sherlock Holmes beat Avatar once in daily ticket sales on both of their opening days. But since Avatar has been out selling every movie every day! It's been 8 weeks and only 2 days by small margins has it been defeated.)

I love Avatar. I'm already planning to get the DVD. I may check it out again before it leaves theaters. Did you experience it in 3D? AwESoMe! I wanted to see it in ImaX 3D but unfortunately, the theater I went to only had the 2D and 3D experience.

My dad told me 3D movies are not new. They were out when he was a growing up. They also had Smell-o-rama (something like that) where scents were pumped into theaters to coincide with what was happening in the film. He said they had to stop it because the smells made some people sick.
This way to exit, please.

Yes, 3-D movies have been around for a little over a decade. (Kings Dominion use to have a 360 degree "3-D like" theater.) But Avatar has stood out in 3-D because the in-camera advancements of 3-D filming. Back in the days of old, 2-D shot films would be "reprocessed" to be released in 3-D. The filming of the movies would have to have this in mind in order to make it work. The Effects were flawed and after the first few movies releasing with 3-D effects, the trend died out. But now, James Cameron developed a camera system that FLIMS in 3-D! Spectacular.

Avatar was in my opinion, the Best Movie of the 2000's decade. It was the "Next" jump in film making. What J. Cameron did was combine many existing technologies including Motion Capture, Facial Recognition Software, "Virtual" Flimmaking, Green Screen Technology and the Advancement of Digital/Computer Cinema to be adapted for his 3-D Camera system. Cameron originally worte the script in 1995 andit originally planned to film it in the summer of 1997 for a 1999 summer release. But the technology wasn't ready. He waiting until seeing some of the new film tech that WETA digital use doing on films such as Lord of the Rings and King Kong. Gollum was the beginning of planning out Avatar.

The story of Avatar isn't oringinal. The Characters can seem flawed. But the graphics can blow your mind! Cameron used a computer graphics technique called "photo-realism" where the comuter artist makes the scenes and charaters with "camera-like" flaws. It gave a more realistic viewpoint on the make-believe Pandora. The movie's picture quality is so amazing, I will be purchasing a Blu Ray Player just for this movie!

I've seen Avatar many times; So many times that I can actually understand some of the Na'vi language. (I'm not crazy) Avatar: The IMAX 3-D Exprience was probably one of the best movie expriences of my life.
I cannot wait for the sequel(s) in a few years. I can't wait to travel back to Pandora with James Cameron's Imagination.

[Jonathan]

3D has been around for far more than a little over a decade. 3D movies started in the 1950s as one of a number of gimmicks (like the "smell-o-vision" Phantom mentioned) Hollywood created in response to a decline in movie ticket sales due to the television. This was also the same time that widescreen formats became popular as another way to give the movie theater experience an added edge over the home television.

As for Avatar, eh... Certainly impressive technologically, and a memorable theater experience, but the film itself certainly won't hold up over time. For something that James Cameron spent so long working on, it's shockingly derivative and unoriginal. To quote George Lucas, "A special effect is a tool, a means of telling a story. A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing." Ironically enough Lucas later made a career out of covering up horrible story telling with excessive CGI.

[coasterdave]

What I find amusing is people are making this Avatar as the best thing since slice bread. I agree with Jon in that the visuals where pretty good but the storyline is out of a B Movie roll. Seems like I have saw this story before in a different context.

But I thought the Book of Eli was a pretty good and would say that it is one of the best I have seen this year.

[PhantomCat]

Jonathan is right about 3-D being around for a while. Remember, my dad was still growing up when he first experienced them.

What I don't understand is why the first 3-D glasses had a blue lens and a red lens?

While 3-D movies continued to hit theaters with those two-toned glasses, Disney was the first, that I know of, to use two gray lenses. In the mid to late 90s I went to Epcot and saw their 3-D films, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (Some title like that), and Captian EO featuring Michael Jackson. Both films used the gray glasses. The Terminator stage/film show also uses the gray glasses at Universal Studios.
So, what's with the two-tone technology?

Sorry Book of Eli. Maybe you should have been filmed in 3-D.