>From a couple of the trailers I've managed to sit through, it looks close to the source material, but the dialogue felt rushed, as thought they knew they were packing a three-year storyline into 90 minutes. And, if he or his bosses thought that, then that "hiddennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn racismmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" that J Anthony Brown speaks of so often may not be as hidden as he thinks. Just stupid. Typical H'Wood.
On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 7:31 AM, Mr. Worf <hellomahog...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Maybe he or his bosses thought that it would have more appeal if it were a > white cast? I dunno. I wonder how close it was to the storyline or even the > anime? Sometimes it is kind of hard to take a story like that and boil it > down to 90 minutes. > > On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 4:12 AM, Martin Baxter <martinbaxt...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> >> >> I'm really doubting that he looked. Seeing the source material the first >> time through would drive me to cast other than Caucasian actors. Common >> sense. >> >> On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 7:05 AM, Mr. Worf <hellomahog...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> In one of his interviews about the movie he talked about mixed racial >>> casting that he did. He seem proud of the fact that he did that, but I doubt >>> he actually looked at the "big picture." Nor did he look at race relations >>> and Hollywood's history of portrayal race on screen. >>> >>> On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 3:52 AM, Martin Baxter >>> <martinbaxt...@gmail.com>wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Keith, I wish I could even guess what M Night had on his mind. >>>> >>>> >>>> On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 2:10 AM, Keith Johnson < >>>> keithbjohn...@comcast.net> wrote: >>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Well, this saves me from a difficult choice. Really irritated at how >>>>> Asian and Inuit characters were being played by white actors (with the odd >>>>> exception of the Japanese Prince Zuko being played by an Indian?!) I was >>>>> seriously debating whether to support "The Last Airbender". I wanted to >>>>> blow >>>>> off my anger and just see a good movie, but when I saw trailers, and how >>>>> Ang >>>>> and his friends are in Asian/Inuit garb, but are oh-so-painfully >>>>> Caucasian, >>>>> I started the hand wringing all over again. I was way along the way to not >>>>> going to see it, but partially worried I'd be missing something special in >>>>> terms of a good fantasy flick. >>>>> >>>>> Not to worry, it seems. Almost without exception, from old and young, >>>>> white and Asian and black, fans of the series and newbies alike, I'm >>>>> hearing >>>>> this thing is terrible. Dull, plodding, grim, boring---looks like the >>>>> hoped-for trilogy of films will never become a reality. Some have even >>>>> compared it to "Battlefield Earth"! >>>>> I guess that's too bad? >>>>> I think a lot of Asians and Inuits are not-so-secretly looking at this >>>>> with grim satisfaction, and can't say I blame them. And despite my anger >>>>> at >>>>> M. Knight for whitewashing so many leads in the movie, I almost feel sorry >>>>> for the guy: what in the hell is wrong with him after the handful of gems >>>>> he >>>>> created to burst onto the movie scene?! >>>>> >>>>> I dropped a spattering of movie reviews I found below. The last is the >>>>> closest thing to a good review I could find... >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> *************************************************************** >>>>> >>>>> [Rotten Tomatoes] >>>>> http://beta.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_airbender/ >>>>> >>>>> Consensus: Despite flashy special effects, *The Last Airbender*squanders >>>>> the potential of its popular source material on an >>>>> incomprehensible plot, laughable dialogue, and a joyless sense of >>>>> detachment. >>>>> >>>>> *********************************************************** >>>>> >>>>> [slashfilm] >>>>> >>>>> Read more: The Last Airbender Review: The Last Straw for This >>>>> Shyamalan Fan | >>>>> /Film<http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/07/02/the-last-airbender-review-the-last-straw-for-this-shyamalan-fan/#ixzz0sZmBJgQu> >>>>> http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/07/02/the-last-airbender-review-the-last-straw-for-this-shyamalan-fan/#ixzz0sZmBJgQu >>>>> >>>>> With the release of *The Last Airbender*, *M. Night Shyamalan’s*gradual >>>>> metamorphosis into George Lucas is complete. Just like the >>>>> *Star Wars* director, Shyamalan burst onto the scene with a couple >>>>> innovative films (*The Sixth Sense*, *Unbreakable*), and displayed a >>>>> talent for visuals early on. And just like Lucas, Shyamalan’s >>>>> screenwriting >>>>> deficiencies, and his inability to properly take criticism from others, >>>>> have >>>>> led to his downfall. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> *********************************************************** >>>>> >>>>> [E! Online] >>>>> >>>>> http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/b188788_last_airbender_worst_movie_ever.html >>>>> Is *Last Airbender* the Worst Movie Ever? >>>>> >>>>> Today 12:47 PM PDT by Joal >>>>> Ryan<http://uberblog/index.jsp?author=joal+ryan> >>>>> Paramount Pictures >>>>> >>>>> *The Last >>>>> Airbender*<http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b188583_review_last_airbender_epically_boring.html>is >>>>> " >>>>> dull<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/30/MVTC1E7AN3.DTL>," >>>>> "dreadful<http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/movies/night_bad_air_day_o52hYSMg32J2hhcPmI7taP>," >>>>> and, lowest of low blows, "like a Care Bears >>>>> movie<http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Movies/2010/0701/The-Last-Airbender-movie-review> >>>>> ." >>>>> >>>>> Well, all right, hardly any movie gets perfect reviews. But has any >>>>> film ever gotten so many bad reviews? >>>>> >>>>> The short answer is *Battlefield Earth*—meaning, yes, other films have >>>>> been blasted good by critics. But, boy, oh boy, in Hollywood's summer of >>>>> unloved movies, *The Last Airbender*, which opened Thursday, is >>>>> getting some historic hate. >>>>> >>>>> As of this morning, its Metacritic rating stood at 20, "good" for a >>>>> spot on the review-crunching site's all-time low >>>>> scores<http://www.metacritic.com/film/lowscores.shtml>list. ( >>>>> *Airbender*'s down there between *Digimon: The Movie* and the *Lisa >>>>> Kudrow <http://uberblog/celebs/c113907_Lisa_Kudrow.html>* rap classic, >>>>> *Marci X*.) Worse, outside of *Ashton >>>>> Kutcher<http://uberblog/celebs/c108573_Ashton_Kutcher.html> >>>>> *'s and *Katherine >>>>> Heigl<http://uberblog/celebs/c113571_Katherine_Heigl.html> >>>>> *'s *Killers*, *Airbender* is the only 2010 wide release on the >>>>> Metacritic's list of shame. >>>>> >>>>> Things are no better at Rotten Tomatoes, where its Tomatometer reading >>>>> is a barely there 9 >>>>> percent<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/last_airbender/>, >>>>> which is actually up from yesterday's 6 percent. (For the record, our own >>>>> Luke Y. Thompson assigned the "most boring summer-action epic in >>>>> ages<http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/movie_reviews/b188583_review_last_airbender_epically_boring.html>" >>>>> a D+.) >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> **************************************************** >>>>> >>>>> [Beyond Hollywood] >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> http://www.beyondhollywood.com/the-last-airbender-2010-movie-review/ >>>>> >>>>> ... >>>>> >>>>> It’s not so much that “The Last Airbender” is a bad movie, it’s just >>>>> that … well, it just kind of exists for the sake of *existing*. I’ll >>>>> be perfectly honest with you, I had a hard time trying to decide if the >>>>> film >>>>> is bad, or if it is just mediocre. One thing I can safely say with 100% >>>>> certainty is that the film is never outstanding. Not once in the entire >>>>> two >>>>> hours. It’s as if M. Night Shyamalan spent so much time with the little >>>>> things – getting all the details of the water city stronghold just right, >>>>> the nooks and crannies of the Fire Nation ships, the colorful outfits of >>>>> the >>>>> various tribes — that he forgot to make the film *good*. Oh sure, the >>>>> sets are huge and the CGI is always outstanding, and all the “bending” >>>>> effects are seamlessly integrated into the scenes with the live >>>>> characters, >>>>> but … well, what else is there? Not much, I’m afraid.... >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -- >>>> "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody >>>> hell wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant >>>> >>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! >>> Mahogany at: >>> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ >>> >> >> >> >> -- >> "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell >> wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant >> >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik >> >> >> > > > -- > Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! > Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ > > -- "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
