Having sat through 22 minutes of "Avatar" in 3-D this past July at Comic-Con, it was hard to believe the buzz that James Cameron's return to narrative filmmaking was a true Academy Award contender. The dialogue was stilted, the imagery reminded many in attendance of countless other Sci-Fi films, novels or video games over the years and the ludicrous rumors that watching the footage in 3-D would lead the viewer to have a "transcendent experience" rang extremely false. Instead, while Cameron had made some big steps in motion-capture animation by seemingly solving the peer Robert Zemeckis' "dead eye" problem, but his storyline also came across as trite and overly familiar. Has time changed this writer's opinion? Four months later, "Avatar" has weather a storm of criticism which has been eerily similar to the industry dismissal that met Cameron's triumph"Titanic" before its debut. Now, the film is positioning itself as one of the biggest openings of the year and a true online phenomenon. Whether the film can make back it's $400 million plus price tag is a legitimate subject for debate, but it's "Avatar's" hovering over awards season that is much more intriguing. As the moment there are really only three films that appear to have enough Academy elements to gain universal consensus to win Best Picture: "Invictus," "Precious" and "Up in the Air." Granted, things can absolutely change and no doubt will over the next two months, but in this prognosticator's opinion that's where it stands today. All the other top ten contenders constantly waxed over weekly in Movie City News' Gurus of Gold or The Envelope's Buzzmeter (both of which this prognosticator participates in) could get nominated, but they are not slam dunk locks. Each has a specific fault or question mark that could easily find them ignored as Academy members embark on their yearly ritual of screenings and screener watching nights. And that's where "Avatar" comes in. As 20th Century Fox mounts its marketing campaign and the buzz around the film increases, this pundit has had a sinking feeling Cameron's potential folly could sneak into the 10. Perhaps it's the lack of a characteristic Oscar epic in such a large nominee field, little visible excitement around more than a few of the potential nominees or maybe that the Academy may just reward Cameron for a groundbreaking and "years in the making" endeavor -- assuming it's a hit, of course. And yet, every time Awards Campaign thinks "Avatar" might sneak in, Fox releases a new clip. Say, like the one that debuted today on IGN.
via www.hitfix.com
I bet it can!
