You Have To Let It Go

When Avatar first came out, a buddy of mine told me that I needed to see it in theatres to fully appreciate the special effects. Well, I never got around to that, but I did manage to see it once it was out on DVD. I felt like that was good enough and I got the general idea. But apparently there are too many people like me out there for the likes of James Cameron, because he has decided to re-release the movie later this month for yet another limited run in 3D-theatres featuring some new scenes. (I had wondered why a DVD like Avatar came without any special features or deleted scenes, but I guess now I have my answer to that question.) It may be re-released under the guise of new content, but clearly this is an attempt by the movie studio to try and squeeze every last dollar out of this thing. I'm also sure James Cameron is more than happy to go along because it just pads the movie's lead as the highest-grossing movie of all-time. But, I feel compelled to point out to Mr. Cameron that he needs to stop chasing after that title, because this movie's reign as highest-grossing will be short lived. I'm not expecting some mind-blowing movie to come along, but it is simple economics: the price of movie tickets show no signs of going backwards and soon enough it will cost $15 to see a film in the theatres, making it easy for another movie to come along and steal the crown. It doesn't make that movie any better (just like Avatar isn't any better than other high-grossing movies like E.T.), it just means it came out later.

Anyway, the other point I would like to make is that James Cameron clearly needs a new film project to work on. Avatar has now been released to theatres like four times - dude, you're all done, find a new script. As a fellow perfectionist I can sympathise with the fact that you are never satisfied with the product and have convinced yourself you can make that one scene a little better or the script a little tighter. I get that there is a part of your brain that constantly zeroes in on the 2% you aren't happy with instead of the 98% that turned out great. But, at some point you have to realise that the movie is out and you can't keep tinkering or else you're never going to be truly done and you're going to drive yourself mad. Also, you're not going to win an Oscar for a movie that came out two years ago, even if it is still in theatres, so let go of that dream as well. All you are going to accomplish if you keep changing things and re-releasing the movie is to ruin the originality of the first edition. It is like that old saying: we can't miss you if you don't leave. I'm not saying you have to put the movie away forever, after all this is Hollywood - people 're-boot' movie franchises that started five years ago. But, even George Lucas, who would also consider himself a tinkerer, knew enough to let Star Wars sit for a couple of decades before he went back and started messing with new technology to improve on the original. Cameron, what I'm saying to you is this: if you're not careful you're going to wind up with Jar Jar Binks in your movie.

-While we're on the subject of movies, I saw a preview the other day for a new Resident Evil movie. Do you know that they have now made four of these things? I sat down and really thought about this and I can honestly say that I don't know anyone who has seen a single one of them. I mean, they must make a ton of money, because new chapters come out every couple of years, but who are the people who actually go to see these movies? I know my fair share of sci-fi and video game nerds (hell, I count myself amongst them) but none of them have ever recommended a Resident Evil movie to me. What is even more amazing is that they started out based on a video game, but at this point I think the movies have been so bad they have managed to kill the video game franchise. It leads me to wonder who the people are that keep green-lighting these films. Is it just one particularly stubborn executive who really likes the game and therefore refuses to see that the movies are terrible? Also, the other thing I want to know is how bad these movies have to do before they agree to pull the plug and not release any more of them. If no one sees the latest one will that be the end of it, or are we destined to have new ones every couple of years, like new versions of the Friday the 13th movies? Really, a Grand Theft Auto movie would be so much better.