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Poll

Your Favorite James Cameron Film Is:

Piranha II: The Spawning [co-director]
1 (1.2%)
The Terminator
8 (9.3%)
Aliens
23 (26.7%)
The Abyss
7 (8.1%)
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
44 (51.2%)
True Lies
2 (2.3%)
Titanic
1 (1.2%)
T2 3-D: Battle Across Time
0 (0%)
Ghosts of the Abyss
0 (0%)
Aliens of the Deep
0 (0%)
Avatar
0 (0%)
Avatar 2
0 (0%)
Avatar 3
0 (0%)
Avatar 4
0 (0%)
Avatar 5
0 (0%)
haven't seen any
0 (0%)
don't like any
0 (0%)
other
0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 86

Author Topic: Cameron, James  (Read 14187 times)

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Cameron, James
« Reply #90 on: September 19, 2017, 11:49:03 AM »
Something I wouldn't like to see happen, yes.

Regardless of how good all those new directors are, do you see them fitting into Star Wars? Garland has made just the one movie, and not an action one at that, Nichols likes to tell intimate family stories surrounded in mystery that don't move that quickly and Villeneuve is apparently more interested in brainy science-fiction than the shooty type.
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Cameron, James
« Reply #91 on: September 19, 2017, 11:59:15 AM »
I was talking more about directors in general that I think are comparable to Cameron.

J. J. Abrams is already a great pick for Star Wars. I think Rian Johnson will possibly do a better job. I'd totally be down for a Nichols Star Wars film but I bet fans would be pissed.

But if you see Star Wars as just another blockbuster universe and James Cameron as the blockbuster director, I can see the logic. I just think Star Wars has a tone and feel to it that I'd rather see other directors tackle than Cameron.

1SO

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Re: Cameron, James
« Reply #92 on: September 19, 2017, 04:12:37 PM »
Both Fincher and Cameron haven't made something I loved in a long time. Cameron much more than Fincher. I can no longer muster enthusiasm for either of them.
Largely unfair in the light of Cameron's input. I wish Cameron was making films at the rate of Terrence Malick.

Also interesting to see which directors you think compare to Cameron. He seems to straddle a middle ground between the artistry of the names you mentioned and the populism of Michael Bay. That is not meant to be damning with faint praise. If you create a spectrum with Jeff Nichols on one end and Michael Bay on the other, Cameron's position between the two would be the perfect spot to be in. Denis Villeneuve would probably be closest to Cameron, but so would Danny Boyle, Spielberg and Nolan as well as most anyone who's directed a Marvel movie. (Wouldn't a Star Wars film by Jon Favreau be a good idea?)

smirnoff

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Re: Cameron, James
« Reply #93 on: September 19, 2017, 09:50:17 PM »
Oooh, quick, forum brainstorm, what would a James Cameron Star Wars look like?

God damn that's a good idea. Maybe the only thing that would get me really excited about that franchise again. I hate that I'll only ever get to imagine it and not see it. :-\

PS. True Lies dude... is there some reason you're waiting to see this?

Will

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Re: Cameron, James
« Reply #94 on: September 20, 2017, 12:21:26 AM »
Oooh, quick, forum brainstorm, what would a James Cameron Star Wars look like?

God damn that's a good idea. Maybe the only thing that would get me really excited about that franchise again. I hate that I'll only ever get to imagine it and not see it. :-\

PS. True Lies dude... is there some reason you're waiting to see this?

I've seen almost every Cameron movie first at home and not in the theater (except for AVATAR). I like holding off on a few films from my favorites.

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Cameron, James
« Reply #95 on: September 20, 2017, 04:45:07 AM »
Oooh, quick, forum brainstorm, what would a James Cameron Star Wars look like?

God damn that's a good idea. Maybe the only thing that would get me really excited about that franchise again. I hate that I'll only ever get to imagine it and not see it. :-\

PS. True Lies dude... is there some reason you're waiting to see this?

The reason would be that I wasn't cognisant of its existence until twenty seconds ago. I am sure I have heard about it but nothing ever registered. After a quick Google I don't know that I want to watch it.

But if you see Star Wars as just another blockbuster universe and James Cameron as the blockbuster director, I can see the logic. I just think Star Wars has a tone and feel to it that I'd rather see other directors tackle than Cameron.

Other directors I can see, but those in specific?

Anyone here think a Ridley Scott SW would be a good idea? How about a Joss Whedon one (at least we would have proper dialogue, for once, and I would love to see what he would do with Rey)?
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smirnoff

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Re: Cameron, James
« Reply #96 on: September 21, 2017, 01:05:25 AM »
Oooh, quick, forum brainstorm, what would a James Cameron Star Wars look like?

God damn that's a good idea. Maybe the only thing that would get me really excited about that franchise again. I hate that I'll only ever get to imagine it and not see it. :-\

PS. True Lies dude... is there some reason you're waiting to see this?

The reason would be that I wasn't cognisant of its existence until twenty seconds ago. I am sure I have heard about it but nothing ever registered. After a quick Google I don't know that I want to watch it.

That's because you're imagining it to be just another action movie, like some stupid generic Liam Neeson or Denzel action movie which comes and goes and sucks (Equalizer, A Walk Among the Tombstones, etc). True Lies wasn't just some summer clunker a studio pushed out for a quick buck. I think Cameron looked at every action movie and basically said, I could do that better, and then he went and did it better. True Lies is still the high water mark for that kind of action movie. It's even better at being a spy movie than any 007 or Mission Impossible. It's better at being a comedy than most comedies. You could add up every movie Dwayne Johnson has done and it doesn't equal one True Lies worth of entertainment. It's not preoccupied with setting up a franchise or pushing forward a character for a spinoff.... it starts, it's stops and it's made to entertain you. Go be entertained!

For a lot of reasons I think Hollywood is incapable of making a movie this good anymore. Schwarzenegger is old, CG is too relied upon, Jihadi plots are not really the stuff of comedy, etc. It's like finding a bottle of wine made from a grape that's now extinct.

I'd be hard pressed to come up with a film more important to see. :)

Will

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Re: Cameron, James
« Reply #97 on: September 21, 2017, 03:25:57 AM »

But if you see Star Wars as just another blockbuster universe and James Cameron as the blockbuster director, I can see the logic. I just think Star Wars has a tone and feel to it that I'd rather see other directors tackle than Cameron.

The tone changed drastically from the original trilogy to the prequel trilogy. The new trilogy is different from both the prequel trilogy and the original trilogy in tone.

I think the STAR WARS movies can survive tonal shifts!

Regardless, since Cameron comes from an old school of filmmaking and JJ Abrams comes from TV, I think Cameron would've been a far better choice for THE FORCE AWAKENS than Abrams. Just doing a simple google image search of stills for THE FORCE AWAKENS shows that Abrams relies way too heavily on masters and long shots. There doesn't seem to be a lot of memorable shots at all from THE FORCE AWAKENS. I still don't understand the choice to end with a awful helicopter shot.

A Cameron version would actually focus on mise-en-scene instead of just stitching together whatever was shot that day. There's a bluntness to Abrams' directing that makes the whole film feel bland. ROGUE ONE felt the same too.

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Cameron, James
« Reply #98 on: September 21, 2017, 03:57:19 AM »
Visually, Rogue One is the best directed SW movie ever.
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DarkeningHumour

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Re: Cameron, James
« Reply #99 on: September 21, 2017, 04:06:25 AM »
Oooh, quick, forum brainstorm, what would a James Cameron Star Wars look like?

God damn that's a good idea. Maybe the only thing that would get me really excited about that franchise again. I hate that I'll only ever get to imagine it and not see it. :-\

PS. True Lies dude... is there some reason you're waiting to see this?

The reason would be that I wasn't cognisant of its existence until twenty seconds ago. I am sure I have heard about it but nothing ever registered. After a quick Google I don't know that I want to watch it.

That's because you're imagining it to be just another action movie, like some stupid generic Liam Neeson or Denzel action movie which comes and goes and sucks (Equalizer, A Walk Among the Tombstones, etc). True Lies wasn't just some summer clunker a studio pushed out for a quick buck. I think Cameron looked at every action movie and basically said, I could do that better, and then he went and did it better. True Lies is still the high water mark for that kind of action movie. It's even better at being a spy movie than any 007 or Mission Impossible. It's better at being a comedy than most comedies. You could add up every movie Dwayne Johnson has done and it doesn't equal one True Lies worth of entertainment. It's not preoccupied with setting up a franchise or pushing forward a character for a spinoff.... it starts, it's stops and it's made to entertain you. Go be entertained!

For a lot of reasons I think Hollywood is incapable of making a movie this good anymore. Schwarzenegger is old, CG is too relied upon, Jihadi plots are not really the stuff of comedy, etc. It's like finding a bottle of wine made from a grape that's now extinct.

I'd be hard pressed to come up with a film more important to see. :)

Okay, okay, you've convinced me. Now I am too curious not to watch it. Is it in your Top 100?
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