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[pete]

but the big screen you mentioned did create a sizable dent on the theaters.  I mean they do not completely eliminate the cinemas but you can see studios working pretty hard to release high quality DVDs.

[Stefen]

This is the exact type of movie I loved when I was a kid. It's the type of movie I'd watch, then come out of the theater bouncing and running around going, " DAD, DAD! REMEMBER THAT PART WHEN......." and, " AND THEN......" and, "OH, AND THEN REMEMBER THAT PART WHEN....." and "OH MY GOD BUT THE MOST AWESOMEST PART WAS WHEN, DAD, DAD, ARE YOU LISTENING!...." and "BUT MY REAL FAVORITE PART WAS..." before finally pissing my pants in the parking lot of the movie theater.

[MacGuffin]

Avatar DVD/Blu-ray to include blue alien sex scene
Source: SciFi Wire

If you've seen James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar, you may feel that a certain scene lacked a certain, um, something. (Spoilers ahead!)

We're talking about the scene in which Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) do the horizontal mambo in the jungle of Pandora. Actually, all we see is them snogging and cuddling; there's no actual alien sex.

Well, fire up that Blu-ray player, because Cameron recently told reporters that he shot a much more explicit scene that was cut out to achieve the PG-13 rating, according to Reelz:

We had it in and we cut it out. So that will be something for the special edition DVD, if you want to see how they have sex.
If you surmise that Na'vi sex involves intertwining ponytail tendrils, you may be right, Saldana says:

If you sync to your banshee and you're syncing to a tree, why not sync into a person? I almost feel like you'll have the most amazing orgasm, I guess. It was a very funny scene to shoot because there were so many technical things that sometimes you have to keep in mind that paying attention to all those might disrupt the fluidity of how a scene is supposed to take place.

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

Just going to see some sports game in bar will cost you easily 50$+ per person if you drink the slightest bit and eat. Staying home with the same friends, same beer, same food will probably be about 10$. Just like going to the movies can be about 30$ per persone with food and at home same movie same food you can get for 5$ a couple months later.

Years ago people could talk about ''big screens'' but hell we're all on 6.1 digital surround with 40+inch plasma TVs...

The human is a social creature I guess is the only explanation.

Movies are a very peculiar animal in terms of being social.  In most cases, you're looking to spend $30 per person as you say, which is a fair assessment, or maybe more like just over $20.  (At my theater ticket costs $11, and if you go medium drink and popcorn which is fairly average, medium drink is $4.25 and medium popcorn is $5.50).

Having spent that much, you sit in the dark and watch the movie.  If you're attending a film alone, which is very common, it's not likely that you'll interact with anyone else in the theater.  If you go with friends, a lot of the time, there will be a quick "I liked it" or "Ugh!" and then they shuffle out.  Unless there's a "movie buff" amongst them who will have a stronger opinion.  Of course, there are still smaller groups of people who will discuss it, as this message board is proof.  But yet, there is little guaranteed social interaction from watching a movie.

[Pas]

I guess this is going off-topic but anyway... you made me realize this.

I think I would argue that going to the theater alone is more social than going with friends somehow. When you're with friends, you won't notice anyone and just talk to your friends while waiting for the film to begin and really just watch it with your friends. Alone, it's more like you're watching the film with the whole theater. You watch everyone coming in. You make up little lives for them and guess their tastes (at least that's what I do). You listen to other people talking and argue with them in your head. You can even get mad at them, or laugh their jokes in your head. You can envy this guy for having this girls, or pity this girl for having that guy. Things you will never do with friends, because you're having fun with them.

I guess sometimes loneliness is a bit underrated... I haven't been alone for more than a day in years and I can miss it once in a while.

[pete]

awwwww

[Pubrick]

I guess this is going off-topic but anyway... you made me realize this.

I think I would argue that going to the theater alone is more social than going with friends somehow. When you're with friends, you won't notice anyone and just talk to your friends while waiting for the film to begin and really just watch it with your friends. Alone, it's more like you're watching the film with the whole theater. You watch everyone coming in. You make up little lives for them and guess their tastes (at least that's what I do). You listen to other people talking and argue with them in your head. You can even get mad at them, or laugh their jokes in your head. You can envy this guy for having this girls, or pity this girl for having that guy. Things you will never do with friends, because you're having fun with them.

I guess sometimes loneliness is a bit underrated... I haven't been alone for more than a day in years and I can miss it once in a while.

some classic posts up in this thread.

[Stefen]

Pas, you should break up with her!

[Pas]

but then who's gonna give me blowjobs? WHO?

edit : wow that poor post just might've killed this thread 

[MacGuffin]

Fox Posts Full Avatar Screenplay Online
Source: 20th Century Fox

While James Cameron's Avatar has climbed to the 10th spot on the all-time domestic list with $380.5 million (surpassing Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith's $380.3 million and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's $377 million - worldwide it's reached $1.16 billion), 20th Century Fox has posted a PDF online of the full screenplay for awards reasons. You can read or download the script using the link below! You'll be able to see what did and what didn't make it into the final cut...


http://www.foxscreenings.com/media/pdf/JamesCameronAVATAR.pdf

[Myxo]

Avatar too real?

(CNN) -- James Cameron's completely immersive spectacle "Avatar" may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.

[Alexandro]

So is people living such sheltered and distanced lives from reality that is a film of all things what makes them suicidal?

[Fernando]

yeah, that's ridiculous.


in other news. holy shit! right now this is the 2nd highest grossing film worldwide...

titanic   1,842.9m
avatar   1,331.1m
lotr.rotk 1,119.1m

[MacGuffin]

The Vatican criticizes 'Avatar'
Criticism directed at its theme of man vs. nature
Associated Press

VATICAN CITY -- "Avatar" is wooing audiences worldwide with visually dazzling landscapes and nature-loving blue creatures. But the Vatican is no easy crowd to please.

The Vatican newspaper and radio station are criticizing James Cameron's 3D blockbuster for flirting with the idea that worship of nature can replace religion -- a notion the pope has warned against. They call the movie a simplistic and sappy tale, despite its awe-inspiring special effects.

"Not much behind the images" was how the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, summed it up in a headline.

As the second highest-grossing movie ever, "Avatar" is challenging the record set by Cameron's previous movie "Titanic."

Generally it has been critically acclaimed and is touted as a leading Oscar contender.

Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, has praised "Avatar" for what he calls its message of saving the environment from exploitation. But the movie also has drawn a number of critical voices. Some American conservative bloggers have decried its anti-militaristic message; a small group of people have said the movie contains racist themes.

To Vatican critics, the alien extravaganza is just "bland."

Cameron "tells the story without going deep into it, and ends up falling into sappiness," said L'Osservatore Romano. Vatican Radio called it "rather harmless" but said it was no heir to sci-fi masterpieces of the past.

Most significantly, much of the Vatican criticism was directed at the movie's central theme of man vs. nature.

L'Osservatore said the film "gets bogged down by a spiritualism linked to the worship of nature." Similarly, Vatican Radio said it "cleverly winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium."

"Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship," the radio said.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said that while the movie reviews are just that -- film criticism, not theological pronouncements -- they do reflect Pope Benedict XVI's views on the dangers of turning nature into a "new divinity."

Benedict has often spoken about the need to protect the environment, earning the nickname of "green pope." But he also has balanced that call with a warning against turning environmentalism into neo-paganism.

In a recent World Day of Peace message, the pontiff warned against any notions that equate human beings with other living things in the name of a "supposedly egalitarian vision." He said such notions "open the way to a new pantheism tinged with neo-paganism, which would see the source of man's salvation in nature alone, understood in purely naturalistic terms."

The pope explained in the message that while many experience tranquility and peace when coming into contact with nature, a correct relationship between man and the environment should not lead to "absolutizing nature" or "considering it more important than the human person."

The Vatican newspaper occasionally likes to comment in its cultural pages on movies or pop culture icons, as it did recently about "The Simpsons" or U2. In one famous instance, several Vatican officials spoke out against "The Da Vinci Code."

In this case, the reviews came out after a red-carpet "Avatar" preview held in Rome just a stone's throw from St. Peter's Square. The movie -- which has made more than $1.3 billion at boxoffices worldwide, partly boosted by higher 3D ticket prices -- will be released Friday in Italy.

"So much stupefying, enchanting technology, but few genuine emotions," said L'Osservatore in one of three articles devoted to "Avatar" in its Sunday editions. The plotline of aliens who live on a distant unspoiled planet and the humans who want to pillage their resources is a universal theme that can be reminiscent of past colonizations and wars, the paper said. As such, it is easy to relate to it, but also unoriginal.

"Everything is reduced to an overly simple anti-imperialistic and anti-militaristic parable," it said.

In America, the big numbers and media hype have been accompanied by some controversy.

Blog posts, newspaper articles, tweets and YouTube videos have criticized the film, with some calling it "a fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people" and that it reinforces "the white Messiah fable." Cameron says the real theme is about respecting others' differences.

An LA Times blog noted that the movie "has inflamed the passions of right-wing bloggers and pundits."

"Cameron incensed many voices on the right by acknowledging of-the-moment messages about imperialism, greed, ecological disregard and corporate irresponsibility," it said. Anti-smoking lobbies have denounced the cigarette-puffing character played by Sigourney Weaver.

Back at the Vatican, the reviews did praise the groundbreaking visuals of the movie.

Vatican Radio said that "really never before have such surprising images been seen," while L'Osservatore said the movie's worth lies in its "extraordinary visual impact."

[Alexandro]

wow. never thought the vatican would make more sense than the majority of the film critics in the world.