james cameron

Thoughts on Brusimm logo - Opinion on News and Current EventsI’m reading about a lawsuit where an individual is suing James Cameron because he says Avatar was his idea.  He argues that he presented his idea and was told it wouldn’t sell.  Then Avatar comes out.  Depending on how you look at this issue, some things seem interesting, the least of which is timing and such.

Seriously!  He wants credit for the Pocahontas retelling?  (And that was no disrespect towards Cameron at all.  Almost everything on screen could be called a retelling of something else these days.)  But deciding who’s right or wrong is not for this article.  But it did spark an interesting perspective on some things I’ve observed over the years.

Idea “thefts” or plagiarism happens everyday, everywhere.  Ideas are all out there for the taking.

I remember in my stand-up comedy days, I’d perform at a particular comedy house that had a rep for snagging original material from up and comers and selling them to the “name” comedians.  And I have to say, it’s a bit of an honor to watch some big name star spout your material on an HBO special!

I’ve also seen where ideas I’ve started here on Brusimm.com pop up on other sites after I’ve started them.  (I’m sure it was just great, comedic timing… and that’s totally possible.)

But it doesn’t really matter who comes up with what, when.  What does matter is who acts on them.  Or better yet, how one entity can spread or deploy the premise better than someone else!

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The Lion KingWith how well the rerelease of The Lion King did in 3D over this last month in the movie theater, I had said previously it will only be a matter of time.

The Lion King on Amazon

As it is, I’ve heard-tell that Top Gun is coming back to theaters in 3D and I’ve seen some folk say that this particular movie lends itself nicely to 3D.  (But I don’t know if they’re bribed studio shills or really fans of…)

But back when conjectured about the potential wave of new 3D movies being rereleases, I just didn’t realize how little time it would be before the onslaught.

Right now the plans are on the table from Disney to rerelease more animated features in 3D for public consumption.

Those 3D rereleases include Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc. and The Little Mermaid in movie theaters nationwide.

The release dates for these movies are as follows:

· Beauty and the Beast – January 13, 2012
· Disney•Pixar’s Finding Nemo – September 14, 2012
· Disney•Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. – January 18, 2013
· Disney•Pixar’s Monsters University – June 21, 2013*
· The Little Mermaid – September 13, 2013

* Monsters University is the prequel to Monsters, Inc.

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Cinema Static Box Office Numbers - Top-10 MoviesComing into this weekend I wondered out-loud, thinking Mondayball might outdistance The Lion King at the Box Offce, and hoped that Dolphin Tale would do well.  I was wrong and happy, all at once!  Check out the estimated  top-10 movies at the box office this weekend:

According to the latest of box office estimates, the battle for the top spot was looking to go to the 2D/3D movie re-release of Disney’s The Lion King, as industry experts are surmising it will be pulling in over $22 million this weekend. [Updated 9/26: Actuals are $21.9M]

Behind the digital furry box office leader is Brad Pitt in the baseball movie, Moneyball.  Estimates there seem to point to this movie having a $20 million weekend. [Updated 9/26: Actuals are $19.5M]

But surprisingly, Dolphin Tale is also being estimated to having a $20 million weekend.  With Moneyball barely edging out Dolphin Tale.  In estimates. [Updated 9/26: Actuals are $19.1M]

And through it all, the 3D animated The Lion King holds water many many years after its initial release.  If these estimates hold water, this will be the first ever weekend in September that three movies have a $20 million weekend. [Updated 9/26: Not!]

Title  Weekend  Gross
The Lion King $22.1M $61.7M
Moneyball $20.6M $20.6M
Dolphin Tale $20.3M $20.3M
Abduction $11.2M $11.2M
Killer Elite $9.5M $9.5M
Contagion $8.56M $57.1M
Drive $5.77M $21.4M
The Help $4.4M $154M
Straw Dogs $2.1M $8.88M
I Don’t Know How She Does It $2.05M $8.02M

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Behind this all is the under-rated action movie Killer Elite, at just under $10 million. [Updated 9/26: Actuals are $93M]  It’s a shame it’s being beat by the fragmented Abduction movie, [Updated 9/26: Actuals are $10.9M] but that’s cool.  I think that Killer Elite will slowly overtake the Taylor Lautner movie as word of mouth passes around.  Jason Statham fans will have a new film to buy on Blu-ray and DVD.

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Cinema Static Movie News and Thoughts 200wThis weekend marks the first weekend of the re-release of their animated hit movie, The Lion King.  What’s unique about this re-release is that it’s coming out in 3D, with many more 2D offerings to back it up in the movie theater.

Yes, The Lion King in a 3D movie format.

Sure, many consumers see 3D movies as a cash machine gimmick.  So be it.  Sometimes it does seem like that when a live-action movie is post-processed into 3D and then shoved down the consumers throats with no other viewing option just to buffer the coffers.

But I’ve seen animated features like The Lion King in 3D and it does bring an entirely new dimension (no pun intended) to the world of animation.  It gives the screen that extra bit of life that makes it feel like less an animated feature and more of an experience.  Which is why I won’t be surprised if The Lion King comes back out of its cage and earns a few more bucks for the studio.

Plus, this is an interesting chance for families to bring their young ones to the theater to experience The Lion King in the movie theater in that larger than life format, possibly, for the first time ever for some of the young ones.

I’m not saying you have to go see it.  I get consumer issues with 3D movies.  Some folk still report headaches and other issues.  And I’m presuming when they’re reporting the headaches, that they’re not talking about headaches from the old and crappy 3D tech from many years ago.

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I had a bunch of things collecting in my inbox and thought I’d reach into that digital grab bag and see what I pulled out! What I did pull out was some news snippets about Avatar 2, Dragon Ball Z, Cars 2, Wrecked, Wrath of the Titans and Resident Evil 5.

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Avatar 2

Avatar 2 Delayed… Some time back I had chatted about James Cameron taking a deep dive and camera gear with him to check out some preliminary filming ops.

But I thought that Cameron had done this by now, but apparently not.

But now with the earthquake offshore from Japan, there’s concerns about aftershocks and Cameron taking a deep dive into the Mariana Trench.

With the aftershocks possibly occuring for an undetermined amount of time, it looks like they might either be taking a bye for now or, just find another location that’s not quite as deep to capture some pre-production footage.

[Killer Film]

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Dragon Ball Z

Dragon Ball ZDragon Ball Z is debuting on the iPad near you!  VIZ Manga has an app that’s the leading app for reading Japanese manga on the iPad.  With that being the case, they’ve Dragon Ball Z has debuted on the iPad!

“DRAGON BALL Z, created by the legendary Akira Toriyama (DRAGON BALL, DR. SLUMP, SANDLAND, etc), continues Goku’s adventures to become Earth’s ultimate warrior! But the stakes are increasing as even deadlier enemies threaten the planet…”

[VIZ Media Press]

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Cars 2 Lawsuit

Here’s one for you:  A man is suing Disney, trying to put a stop on the studio releasing Cars 2 because it closely mirrors or has a large number of similarities to a spec project he sent to Disney in 1993.

The similarities seem, well, oddly similar, but interesting none-the-less.  If you’re interested, check out the details over at THR.

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A Pragmatic Observation

I always find it amazing that someone (actors) can verbally hope in an interview to be in a movie, and it makes news. And I want to work LucasFilm and win the lottery! We all have hopes, but anyone whose an actor can have some serious fun with their own hopes and watch it catch on as it weaves throughout the internet!

In April 2010, James Cameron said they’re looking to take the Avatar sequels to the ocean, and then September of 2010, I chronicled how Mr. Cameron started filming for Avatar 2 by taking his own little foray in a rented deep diving rig and heading to the Mariana Trench with his 3D film gear.

So when Michelle Rodriguez pipes up that even though it looked like her character died in the first movie, she’d be interested in returning to the Avatar franchise, I’m not surprised people are running with it. For her to be creating news (OK, re-news) that the sequel is headed to the ocean is just reiterating what was said nearly a year ago, but everyone is just reminding us about it.

End Pragmatic Observation

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Summer Glau in 'Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles'The Syfy Channel has purchased the rights to air Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (TSCC) sci-fi TV series.

Now that Syfy Channel has nabbed the rights, they plan to immediately start airing The Sarah Connor Chronicles starting on Thursday, April 7th. (OK, I said immediately… geologically, that’s immediately and that’s pretty fast for a show just picked up.)  Regardless, this will put Syfy back in the good graces of many, many fans of the show.

The show has two seasons under its belt when it was unceremoniously canceled in favor of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, despite the huge fan out-pouring of support from various websites, favoring TSCC over Dollhouse and other shows.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles starred Summer Glau, Lena Headey, Garret Dillahunt, Brian Austin Green, Thomas Dekker, Shirley Manson.  Writing credentials for the series included James Cameron (Do I really need to list his past films?) & Josh Friedman (War of the Worlds, The Black Dahlia) & Gale Anne Hurd (Terminator 2, Armageddon, The Incredible Hulk).

Here’s a curious bit…   in what looks like an interesting turn of programming, Syfy is going to be airing the show four episodes at a time.  That’s going to burn right through the show pretty fast and at the hours it will air, I’m confused if they’re looking to track how well the show is received.  Then again, I’m not the TV programming expert here, just the expert TV viewer!

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Avatar Sequels

by on January 24, 2011

in Entertainment, movies

Avatar at Comic ConJames Cameron says that the sequels, yes, I said sequels, to Avatar are coming out.  If all goes according to plan, the sequels will be out in 2014 and 2015.

Right now he’s writing them and he is planning/hoping to film and post them at the same time!

As far as cast go, he says if you (a character/actor) survived the first one, there’s a good chance they’ll be in the Avatar sequels.

insidemovies.ew.com

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Transformers 3 Dark of the Moon movie logo

After all the supposition and new toy look chasing that’s been going on around the internet, we finally get some words from the crazy-busy man himself behind Transformers: Dark of the Moon, movie director Michael Bay.

Michael Bay directing Transformers 3 in Florida

Michael Bay chatted about the lessons learned from Transformers 2.  Despite the fragmented feel to the story & chopped up editing, it still made over $800 million worldwide.  Me, I’ve come to enjoy it as a huge special effects project with a lot of Transformers humor.  If you look at it in the right light, it can be a rather entertaining movie.  But that’s the trick, watching it with the correct intent.  And from the second movie I’ve learned that some movie critics compare all movies on the same yard-stick and what movie critics actually step back and compare films to within their own genre.

Continuing with the Michael Bay Interview at Hero Complex about Transformers 3 (Transformers: Dark of the Moon), we learn that Michael Bay agreed with critics about No. 2 and how the story was rather lacking and touches on how the writer’s strike affected the project and he realizes that the movie was too big of a story to go into it with a coherent script.

The big thing was the writers strike, it hurt the film and it made it hard on everybody. We had three weeks to get our story and, really, we were going into the movie without a script. It’s tough to do that. It was too big of a movie.”

The second mistake was they used the same time-frame set up that they had with the first movie and he learned that all movies have their own schedules.

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Real 3D - 3D Movie Experience

From the very start of this new 3D movie fad, I’ve been asking “Why?”  If a story is good enough, the visual shouldn’t really matter and it seemed to be a profit booster.  But I have to say that though I thought it didn’t matter, it sure seemed to create a better movie experience with Tron: Legacy!  Wow!  Yet despite my initial reaction, I have to keep in mind that not all 3D movies are candidates for the best 3D experience.

In this article, I get a bit wordy.  So I’ll describe what I’ve chatted about and left large section titles in the article for ease of location! I quickly touch on the when this all started, some of the curses of 3D on some movies, how I chose my first movie and my detailed experience at the theater with the ads, the movie trailers and the movie itself.  I also touch on the financial practicality for the average movie goer and this new venue to watch movies in.  Read on and see what I have to say, and yes, I mention Tron: Legacy a lot.  It is the movie that changed my mind about the process!

The Fad & The Profit

James Cameron filming Avatar in 3D

When 3D first started hitting the consumer in the theaters, it pretty much generated industry steam when James Cameron announced he was doing Avatar 3D.  Mr. Cameron pretty much heralded in this new era by creating a system that filmed in 3D, and like so many other things that he lights up, this is process he started is no different.

Suddenly the world was on-board with it and we, the movie-goer, found ourselves pummeled with 3D offerings at the theater.  We’re now seeing home movie 3D TV’s and 3D movies on Blu-ray 3D.  Obviously the industry also took note when Avatar started to bust every monetary box office result there ever was, due in part I believe, to the higher priced 3D movie tickets.  Worldwide, Avatar is the No. 1 money maker, having made $2.8 billion so far.

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