Fuck you M. Night Shamwow, the Last Airbender totally sucked!

[Premmy]

I think the funny part is the Katarra Speech in that episode was all about how they should fight even when the chips are down because they are Proud Earthbenders, and She gives them hope not just with the rocks, but with he "Proud" thing. I can only imagine that scene was either
1: recreated whole-cloth, but because they were on land it loses all power
2: Was terrible, terrible comedy
Katarra: Hey, Earthbender dudes?
Earthbender Dudes: Yeah?
Katarra: You know we're on land, right?
Earthbender Dudes:........
Katarra:

[Kyanbu The Legend]

I'm going with number 1.

[Azisien]

Reviews? It's out? I thought it came out July 1st.

I mean I know its probably leaked and reviewed six months ago because this is 2010, but seriously. :|

[Premmy]

Special Reviewer reviews, methinks.

[Azisien]

Ah well, in a way, I'm glad if it blows, because then the post-movie discussions will be one-sided. One-sided in a horrible way, but still.

[Nique]

I got five on it.

Aw come now, let's not fight darling.

Well, I'd say they Reinforce at least one Stereotype

Something less obvious than... dark colored people are the evil other? Or, that?

I must have not been paying attention becuase I did not realize that Aang's actor was actually white. It was more like 'oh random: Eskimos are white and Japanese people are Indian now,ok?'

Me and Tiff are discussing this and decided that having Japanese playing roles as the Fire Nation would have been probably a lot more controversial. There's not really anything to be reinforced by having that role filled by Indians whereas Japanese as militant oppressors could have probably been... messy, PR wise. It probably wouldn't have been actually racist since the rest of the cast would have likely been picked out of a more racially diverse group as well, but (ironically) would probably be perceived as such.

But yeah I mean, you're pretty much right that since the protagonists are now all white it doesn't really make a difference what 'race' fills the role of the fire nation.

Like I said, this could have been a great platform for a lot of talented Asian and Asian-American actors and it should have been since 'looking the part' is actually a pretty big deal in movies.

I'm hoping that the story is at least as complicated as it was in the show - the conflict wasn't about the fire nation being evil. It was a few evil rulers. The earth kingdom wasn't exactly innocent in every affair either what with the scheming Dai Li, or even Jet. If it isn't than it really will be white people VS other.

[Lumenskir]

There's an interview with Aasif Mandvi on AV Club, but aside from the fact that he got the Zhao job by already being friends with Shimmy, this is the only relevant bit of Avatar discussion-

The A.V. Club: What’s your take on the casting controversy? About not having Asian actors in the main roles?

AM: Not to get into it too much, but I think Night’s tried to create a world that’s overall more culturally diverse, and draws from more backgrounds and ethnicities and traditions than the Last Airbender TV show did. It’s an interesting story, because unlike Lord Of The Rings or something like that, where it’s set in an imaginary world with hobbits and gnomes, this is set in a world populated by humans. And so in order to represent humanity, you need to represent all of its various cultures. Even though a lot of the martial arts obviously are based in Eastern tradition, I think over the course of the trilogy, you’ll see that Night’s vision includes the entire spectrum of cultures.

So really, there's only one new nugget of information: Toph will be played by a sassy black kid.

I'm crossing my fingers for Bobb'e J. Thompson.

[Funka Genocide]

White people are easier to market. I mean, we all knew that, but I just figured I'd say it.

Just to say it.

I think I'll go see it because I have no preconceptions about the Avatar series. It's always best to see the derivative before the source in my opinion, because then when you finally get around to seeing the source it's even better.

(Jurassic Park, for example. I read the book first, which really kind of killed the movie a bit. Still, CG dinosaurs!)

[Lumenskir]

I think I'll go see it because I have no preconceptions about the Avatar series.

What about preconceptions of movies that are just plain bad?

I mean, unless you subscribe to the blues notion that critics hate 'fun' movies because they (the critics) are all, like, stodgy and shit, the reviews I've seen keep coming back to the same basic point that it's an overly talky film with mediocre to bad action. At least A-Team is stupid-fun in its badness, and there are legitimately good movies you could be giving money to instead (Off the top of my head in theaters: Dogtooth, Winter's Bone, Restrepo, shit, just watch Toy Story 3 again).

Unless you meant go see it in the cable-run or legitimately legal sense.

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by Lumenskir

What about preconceptions of movies that are just plain bad?

I mean, unless you subscribe to the blues notion that critics hate 'fun' movies because they (the critics) are all, like, stodgy and shit, the reviews I've seen keep coming back to the same basic point that it's an overly talky film with mediocre to bad action. At least A-Team is stupid-fun in its badness, and there are legitimately good movies you could be giving money to instead (Off the top of my head in theaters: Dogtooth, Winter's Bone, Restrepo, shit, just watch Toy Story 3 again).

Unless you meant go see it in the cable-run or legitimately legal sense.

I take offense to this. Not a lot of offense, but it's a bit more complex than that.

My argument is that critics often pan mindless fun, and even that's not universal. Case in point, I liked Prince of Persia because while it wasn't all that deep, it was still a fun ride. Some critics recognized its merits, some panned it for being shallow. It was by no means perfect, but I don't regret seeing it.

Obviously, if a movie is neither deep nor even a mindless trip, there's good reason to pan it. Some movies are just bad.