Photo Dump: Avatar

Spoiler Tv came through with some new high-resolution pics from Avatar that truly look incredible. I know this movie is getting all kinds of hype from everywhere but speaking for myself, I’m just that excited. There were an additional 20 minutes of footage that came out at Fantastic Fest that people are universally loving, and what I saw at Avatar Day and the footage from Comic-Con in real 3D is breathtaking. We won’t know for sure until December, but James Cameron’s track record I would expect this to live up to the hype. Photos after the break.

So Are 3D Movies A Gimmick?

With the incredible recent popularity and profitability of 3D movies, the real unanswered question is of their long term viability. Right now there is no real consensus as to whether stereoscopic filmmaking will be the way of the future or just a gimmicky flavor of the month. Dreamworks head Jeffrey Katzenberg (looking a bit like Gonzo) laid out his vision for the industry’s future at the 3D Entertainment Summit that would see a rise in ticket prices as well.

Watch It!: 100 Years of Special Effects

We’ve come a long way, baby. In recent weeks we have gotten to see some huge leaps in special effects, be it the extreme realism of the prawns in District 9 or the incredible Avatar preview in IMAX 3D, filming technology has come a long way since a hat could pop out of an easel in 1900. In fact, its hard to believe how incredible special effects were in the late 1960s and 1970s, when 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars amazed audiences nationwide.

To celebrate the feats of the film industry, YouTube user “bengraphics” put together a montage of 26 films from 1900 to 2008 that demonstrate how far visual effects have come, from The Enchanted Drawing to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The video not only shows the finished clips, but also shows the work behind the camera to demonstrate how it was done. Enjoy!

We Have Reached Stupid Town: Delgo Contemplating Legal Action Against Avatar

(Floating rocks? LAWSUIT!!!)

Ready for a big old heaping pile of dumb? Movieline has dug up a press release from Fathom Studios and the creators of Delgo, a.k.a the record holder for worst box office returns per theater average, that, suggests they are contemplating legal action against the creators of Avatar for “visual similarities.” Looks like another record is about to be set: world’s quickest failed legal proceeding. Here are some fun snippets:

James Cameron and Panasonic Are Bringing 3-D To You

James Cameron’s Avatar, as we learned last week, is facing a problem: in 3-D, it would appear that he has created a world of spectacle and wonder, using the technology that we have to its greatest levels. In 2-D, however, no matter what size the screen, Avatar looks like nothing more than Delgo 2. This could pose a huge financial risk for 20th Century Fox, as digital projection is not yet ubiquitous and the extra charge for for glasses that turns off frugal consumers (and in this economic climate, who could blame them?). Having worked with the technologies over the last decade, James Cameron is determined to expand the range of the new style and is now working with Panasonic to bring 3-D presentation, in conjunction with Blu-Ray,  into households.

Avatar Really Is The Future

Clear your schedule on December 18^th: you are going to see Avatar. I know the title comes off as fanboy hyperbole but we didn’t overstate things on twitter, as James Cameron’s pet project lives up to all the hype. Don’t bother watching the trailer online – this movie was meant to be seen in Imax 3D. Not five minutes after the Avatar day screening, we saw the official trailer in front of Inglorious Basterds (which you also need to see) in traditional 2D cinema, and could not believe it was the same movie.

Weekend Preview: It’s A Good Time To Be A Basterd

Earlier this week, Tarantino was making a huff, saying that today was meant to be Inglourious Basterds day, not Avatar day. Count on him to stop complaining when everyone who has gone to the movies to see Avatar decides to stick around for a screening of his film. Analysts have predicted a $30 million weekend for the war film, but I think it will go a bit north of that. Your weekend preview is after the jump.

Site Announcement: Happy Avatar Day!

Those that have been following this site know that we will be headed out to see the Avatar preview tomorrow. What you may not know is that the nearest IMAX theater is about an hour away, so we are going to have to be doing a bit of traveling. While we pride ourselves on our productivity with such small numbers, we are likely to not have any postings tomorrow spare maybe one or two (most likely our Watch It! and Weekend Preview segments).

The good news is that we will be regularly updating our twitter account with photos and updates from the premiere (our screening is in the heart of Times Square, New York so there should be some interesting sights). We will have our review of the material up on Monday plus all your other movie news needs, the weekend winners and our weekend review.

Have a great day tomorrow and if you are going to a screening, have a great time!

Photo Dump: Avatar

To go along with the trailer for Avatar that we just posted and to prepare for tomorrow’s quest, more photos from both behind-the-scenes and the film have shown up online. Frankly, I am amazed how fast all of this is going, as we only got the first photo from the film last week.

In addition to the characters seen in the trailer, these photos give us our first look at Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi and Michelle Rodriguez. Check them out after the jump.

Trailer: Avatar (UPDATE: NOW IN ENGLISH)

UPDATE: The trailer is up in English over at Apple!

After months of anticipation, the trailer for Avatar is officially online…kind of. The trailer posted below is in French/from France so it is technically an international trailer, but I highly doubt that anything other than the written words will be different in the American version (which we will post the second it comes online).

Enjoy geeky brethren and let us know what you think in the comments section!

Warning: the embedded video starts automatically, so be sure to turn down your speakers if you are at work.