More Avatar News & Teaser Trailer

The official Avatar website was brought down Monday by a rush of moviegoers seeking free tickets to see a 16-minute preview of the movie at 104 IMAX theaters Friday. After several hours, the site was up and running again -- and quickly selling out location after location. In reporting the difficulties, the Hollywood Reporter commented today (Tuesday): "Given that Avatar, James Cameron's first narrative feature since 1997's Titanic promises a display of cutting-edge technology, the site snafu was something of an embarrassment." Some of those who had scored the free tickets quickly offered them for sale on eBay. As of this morning, one ticket seller in Woodland Hills, CA was offering a pair for $500.

Also released to much fanfare, is the teaser trailer that has had a countdown clock running for several days on Apple's movie page. While the trailer is exciting, I almost don't want to watch anything further because I don't want to spoil the surprises that the feature itself may offer. Still trying to figure out if this movie will need to be seen in a regular theater, or if it needs to be on an IMAX screen. Anybody know the answer to that one?

James Cameron on 'Avatar': Like 'Matrix,' 'This movie is a doorway'

For those of you, like myself, that can't wait for James Cameron's Avatar to reach theaters, here is an interview with Cameron from Aug. 10 in the LA Times. Stay tuned; I'm sure we'll have more Avatar related material coming soon.

James Cameron on 'Avatar': Like 'Matrix,' 'This movie is a doorway'

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John Hughes: R.I.P.

John Hughes died on 6 August from an apparent heart attack while taking a walk outside his home in Manhattan.

Even though he had a string of incredibly successful movies for more than fifteen straight years, John Hughes(imdb) will always be known as the maestro of 80's teen movies. Films like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off tapped into teen angst like no other films have been able to do since.

What most people don't know or remember, is that Hughes films were not just teen movies. He is also the writer behind such hits as the three Vacation movies starring Chevy Chase, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, She's Having a Baby (my favorite), The Great Outdoors, and of course, Uncle Buck. All of which happen to be fine adult comedies. Then in the 90's he struck pure box office gold with Home Alone and its sequels, and he is even behind the Beethoven franchise, albeit under a pseudonym.

So while we mourn the passing of a man who seems like a personal friend, let's celebrate his life by watching one of his great films, and having a laugh.

YouTube Tea Party Commercial

I apologize for the political nature of this post, but I was so moved by this YouTube posting that I couldn't help myself. I am not exactly sure who put this together, but it is an amazing piece of film with very dramatic music. Good stuff!

Tea Party Commercial

R.I.P. Walter Cronkite

A simple "Goodbye" to our old friend...
News story.

July Moon - The Lost NASA Tapes - Trailer

When I saw the poster for this, I didn't get excited, I instead found myself wondering just how many times documentarians could tell the same story. After all, the mini-series From The Earth To The Moon covered just about any aspect you could imagine of the trials of entering space, including the moon landings. Then, documentary In The Shadow Of The Moon proved to be so exciting, I found myself wanting to be an astronaut all over again. It included launch and flight footage never seen before that caused me to hit the rewind button numerous times in order to see said footage as many times as possible.

So it was with a bit of trepidation that I watched the trailer for July Moon, a documentary apparently so secret, it's not even listed on the imdb. My worries were wrong, so rather than ruin it, I will only say, Watch the trailer! It is obvious this one will be worth it.

See it here...July Moon.

The Unseen Classics

The New Yorker magazine recently brought an exciting story to my attention that bodes well for those that like classic movies. (Actually, it was fellow media brother Vince that pointed the story out to me).

WarnerArchive.com has classic titles they are making available on an “on demand” basis. “On demand” simply means that the customer would order the film of their choice, Warner’s would burn a copy to DVD, and then mail it. Many are also are available as digital downloads. While the films have obviously been digitized in order to do this, they have not been digitally remastered as this would be cost prohibitive. Warner’s does claim they have gone to original film stock when available in order to maintain high quality without remastering.

Unfortunately, the DVD’s and downloads are both incredibly overpriced, but this could change as the online market continues to grow and the number of films increases. Another small problem is that none of the films were being offered as downloadable rentals; something I would be much more likely to try.

Since many of the titles have not seen a release since their original theatrical runs, there are many un-heard-of titles in there. And I’m sure many of them are gems.

While I think it’s great to see Warner Bros. raiding their own film vaults, hopefully they will see that good ideas can always be improved.