Avatar on DVD and Blu-Ray today, will you be buying a copy?

Yes, today is the day a lot of people looked forward to as they walked out of the theater after watching Avatar. All of you know how much success the movie had in theaters, but will it have the same success on home video? Well, let's look at a few factors; some of you may care about and some I know you don't care about.


1: Who's seeing it for the first time? This will definitely pad the stats for the movies home video numbers. There are a lot of people who are just not that crazy about movies. There are a lot of people that can't afford to take a family out to see a movie, much less in 3D. There are a lot of people who don't like crowds at theaters (myself included). All of the above will elevate the number of discs sold.

2: Special Features; or the lack thereof. The DVD will just have the movie on it. The Blu-Ray will come with the high def movie and DVD version of the movie. That's it! Nothing more. No behind the scenes, no deleted scenes, no in-depth look into the technology that made the movie possible, nothing. Why you may ask? Because Hollywood is going to milk this "money grows on trees" beast of a movie! There will be different versions released in November, just in time for the Holiday Season of course. And a third, 3D version of the Blu-Ray released early next year. 'Cmon, seriously?!

This is very frustrating for me, and this is where a lot of you readers wont care. Well I CARE. If a movie distributed by 20th Century Fox only contains the movie (like Avatar will), should it cost the same as, let's say, X-Men Origins: Wolverine that had plenty of behind the scenes goodies? I don't think it should. Plus, this notion of re-releasing old matter sucks, it really does. I've purchased movies like Goodfellas and Shawshank Redemption multiple times because of this. Fans were so mad about the "Star Wars" trilogies, and just recently the Blu-Ray release of "The Lord of The Rings" trilogy. Both will be released multiple times because of "director's cut" type of changes. Nonsense.

3: People want the movie regardless! People want to own a copy, with or without special features, will buy a copy today. Pretty simple.

I have to tell you, I will not be buying a copy of the movie with today's release. I'm a nut for special features and think the added value is worth the wait until November; and I loved Avatar. So there is no hate to Mr. Cameron, but I just can't justify spending 50 dollars on the same movie over the next six months.

And the Oscar goes to...

The show we wait all year to see is now over. Was it good? Were there any surprises? What movie won big? Umm... let's go through those questions one at a time shall we?

Was it good (the show)? Not really. I was a big fan of Hugh Jackman hosting the show last year. His Broadway style numbers were so fun and entertaining. I also enjoyed the style in which they announced the acting winners last year, by bringing out five previous winners. This year Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin hosted the show and it was sub-par to say the least. All the problems that plagued shows past, showed their ugly heads this year. There were unfunny jokes, clips and long boring video montages. Overall it failed to keep me entertained, and I'M A MOVIE LOVER!

Were there any surprises? Yes! The one and only big surprise came at "Best Supporting Actress"... Mo'Nique. Are you serious? The same woman that acted in Soul Plane and Phat Girlz just won an Oscar? Yes! And it sounds like deserving so. I did not watch it, so I can't criticize. And I will say this, she accepted her award with respect, class and grace. Very happy for the woman that has always been able to make me laugh.

What movie won big? The Hurt Locker. "Best Director" and "Best Picture" ahead of Avatar is a huge victory for the movie about the troops in Iraq. I loved the movie, and knew it had the lead over Avatar, I just knew it. The Academy loved Drama, and as great as Avatar was, The Hurt Locker was far better story telling by Katherine Bigelow.

Bigelow became the first women EVER to win the Oscar for "Best Directing", wow. Truly an amazing feat that was the icing on the cake for one of the best war movies ever made. Bigelow accepted, shaking at times, and found it difficult to find her words, but she did. Staying backstage for only a few moments while Tom Hanks announced The Hurt Locker for "Best Picture"; Bigelow returned onstage, as she is one of the producers on the film as well.

A few notables are Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges and Christoph Waltz. Sandra Bullock was humble, thankful and comedic while accepting her award. It's her first nomination and really solidified her as more than just a comedic actress in Hollywood. Way to go Ms. Bullock, my wife and I were rooting for you the entire way!

Jeff Bridges has delivered great work, year after year, in his illustrious career. He has stood the test of time, accepting great roles, one after the other. His Oscar win for "Crazy Hearts" capped a 4 nomination loosing streak. He thanked his parents, both actors, both deceased, for inspiring him to be an actor. Great work!

And lastly, Christoph Waltz who was so amazing in Inglourious Basterds. He won for "Best Supporting Actor" and thanked Quentin Tarantino for guiding him through the journey of movie making, as unorthodox as his style is.

Again, great movies, great characters, great performances, very poor show. Hopefully they take a few notes from what worked so well last year and apply it to next. They SHOULD look at last year, as it was a year when viewership went up from 2008 when the Oscars had it's lowest watched show ever. Come on Producers, make the show as fun as it is to go to the movies! Minus the 3D of course.

It's late, I'm tired, it's my Birthday tomorrow (today), goodnight!

Quickie: Avatar breaks 1 Billion dollar mark

Was there really any doubt? I'm not posting because the picture did well... I'm posting because James Cameron IS as good as I thought. FattMatt and I had an "AtD" moment a few months ago when discussing Quentin Tarantino.

I accused him of kissing Tarantino butt, he accused me of the same when it comes to Cameron. Well; let's look at it this way. Cameron is the only director in history, to have TWO films top the 1 billion dollar mark. I haven't seen the film, FattMatt has; so I will not review in anyway; I'm just stating facts.

The movie is doing well, the same way Cameron's other billion dollar blockbuster did, Titanic. It's consistent and has taken the number spot for 2009 away from Revenge of the Suck. This movie could reach The Dark Knight and Titanic proportion. We'll have to wait and see.

Avatar opens with 73 million dollars

James Cameron's Avatar did what everyone thought it would do... well! The movie pulled in 73 million dollars and was a huge critical success. 73 million is actually less than predicted, but it was only because of the UNpredictable. Snow blizzards on the East Coast caused the movie to dip a bit in the number, but still broke a record.

Avatar broke a record for the biggest opening of any "original" movie in history. That means, it wasn't adapted from a book or comic book, and was NOT a sequel. That's like Star Wars status right there! The critics all agree and the box office doesn't lie (most of the time). But did you go see it? Tell us what you think? FattMatt was busy camping this weekend, and Tonedog was just flat out busy. Maybe this week!

World Premier of Avatar theatrical trailer

Holy mother of Mary; and Holy Santa Claus sh**! Please just enjoy as I pick my jaw up off the ground. And MATT... YES! He is that good!

Matt & Tony: The Quentin Tarantino Argument

As you know, this is "AtD: Movies with Matt & Tony." Matt and Tony don't see eye to eye on a lot of film topics, and today you'll see what we mean. This is a conversation about the film director Quentin Tarantino and his new film, "Inglourious Basterds." AtD's friend, Albert, started the conversation:

Albert:
Just saw it with the my girlfriend, opening night, which is the only way to see a movie. Amazing stuff. Go see it. The funny thing is, and i'm 100% sure Matt is going to kick my ass for this, but the only thing that made this movie such a drag was Quentin Tarantino and his wannabe "original" directing style. He literally spent at least 15 minutes of the movie on close up shots of things like lips or eyes. no joke i almost fell asleep 2 times from the constant reading, because only 10% of the movie is in English.

Most of the movie is dialog, maybe a few action scenes, and there is 2 VERY lengthy scene of 30 minutes of dialog, back and forth, back and forth. any normal director would of cut the ish out of all that nonsense. Brad Pitt was very funny in this. I've never heard of Christoph Waltz until today, but he is pure genius in this movie, holy cow. He will literally make you want to pee your pants after talking to him.


Matt:
Sorry, Al. here I go...
1. Zooming in on a facial feature is not original, (Kubrick? Coppola? Heck, even Chaplin? hahaha). that's what Tarantino does. he makes every movie a crazy homage collage of all his favorites. Matter of fact, every director does. Just like Langella and Scorsese constantly stole from Hitchcock.

2. Are you really complaining that a TARANTINO MOVIE had TOO MUCH DIALOGUE? Wow. I don't even know what to say. not only is that a "duh, no ish" but that's also a "ya, stupid, that's what makes it good."

Aaaand that's pretty much it.... Read More, write a review! Tony & I are already getting one from Jen, too. so this will be a cool 4-way review thing.


Tony:
Matt please, for your future wife's sake, stop kissing up to Tarantino every time we discuss movies. Pulp Fiction was original, yes... Everything else is a rip off of someone lesser known, yet its got a "Tarantino style". That's stupid. Oh and by the way, I will see the movie Monday for review so you don't say "you can't talk, you haven't seen it".


Matt:
Tony, please, let me kiss up to Tarantino if I want to. "Pulp Fiction" was not original. It was a rip off of a bunch of different Euro and Japanese movies. Heck, even the character's names and the way they're dressed is STRAIGHT from other films.
To find an "original director" you need to go wayyy back to Chaplin or Kurasawa. Every director rips off someone else. The difference with Tarantino is that he admits it often. Others only say it secretly in some documentary or something.

THERE IS such a thing as "Tarantino style". I can watch the "Inglourious Basterds" TRAILER and know that it's a Tarantino flick.

What makes a director good is the quality of the end product. That being said, Tarantino is already a master filmmaker at his young age. And please, for YOUR wife's sake, stop kissing up to James Cameron. The "highly anticipated" trailer for "Avatar" looks like ish. Its like a live-action "Delgo." Good luck with that.


Tony:
Agree to Disagree... But yes, there will be a Delgo lawsuit before you know it.



This is just one example of a Matt & Tony argument... more to come.

Avatar trailer.. 'nuff said

We've been waiting a long time for this, a reallly long time. The long awaited, high anticipated debut of the James Cameron trailer for Avatar. I will talk more about the trailer after you get a chance to see it. But I will tell you a few things: It is stunning, visually, Cameron promised it was different than anything we've ever seen before. We have no idea what the plot is, and there is no dialogue in the trailer, but it is a hell of a trailer.

I don't want to give anything else away, please watch and read towards the bottom.




Now I'm seeing blogs all over the net complaining about the trailer, and that it doesn't live up to the hype, really though? It is two minutes form a two hour movie. We have to base the movie on what we see in the trailer, and what we see is amazing! Sam Worthington looks like he is hurt or paralyzed in some way, shape or form. We see him going into a procedure of some sort, and taken to a world unlike ours.

So if you want ask me, did the trailer do its job? Yes! Now, I don't want to sound bias, but I wanted to see this movie regardless of the trailer because it's James f'in Cameron! The man is a genius. He is so good at what he does, it takes him a decade to finish his films. Ok, that's a bit of an over exaggeration but still! Give us your thought. Do you want to see this movie with or without the trailer? And did the trailer let you down or excite you?

Quickie: New Avatar poster of Zoe Saldana

We haven't had much coverage of James Cameron's Avatar as we probably should, and we are truly sorry for this. The movie is Cameron's first since Titanic and we all know how that movie performed. Nonetheless, Cameron shocked the comic world with scenes of the film at Comic-Con this past month in San Diego.

Here at AtD, we told you about his first screening to the public and how that went. This movie is getting buzz not seen since The Dark Knight. Every major news source is reporting it to be amazing. And we'll get to see footage come August 21st, via the official movie website.

It stars the great Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation) and Zoe Saldana (Star Trek). The picture to the left is Saldana's character in the movie. Keep it here for more info on Avatar. Picture courtesy of Latinoreview.

Quickie: 24 Minutes from James Cameron’s Avatar has been screened

We all know James Cameron only makes a movie about every ten years. So this December, his next film, Avatar, is highly anticipated to say the least. Well a few people got to screen 24 minutes of the finished product and the response has been unbelievable. This movie will be presented in 3D, and here are a few comments courtesy of comingsoon.net:

"With it comes the fact that 3-D until now has been used as a gimmick." "Finally a director who doesn't feel the need to stick it in the audience's face with cheap tricks like pointing objects at the camera." "...creatures seem so real, that within minutes you forget you're watching an enormous and very blue CGI character. Even the eyes are totally convincing. The characters have real personalities and a soul."

As the days go by, I'm sure we'll get more photos and a trailer. But until then, this is very exciting news to come out in Hollywood; because James Cameron usually keeps everything so close to the chest, we never see anything until before the premier. I have a feeling this movie is going to be big, real BIG! Keep tuning in for more info!