Rose Red

Member
Oct 26, 2017
265
It's pretty much a strawman argument. We've gotten Blade Runner 2049, Ex Machina, Arrival, etc, etc. in the time of MCU, not ot mention lots of quality tv series scifi.

In Cameron's case, the last time he did something resembling serious scifi was Abyss, and the script of Strange Days. A great director, but not perhaps the best guy to talk about this.
 

Malverde

One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Wait, is MCU a rip-off of Titanic? Basically, people willing to go to extreme lengths to get a stone?

Cameron is a genius. Before his time.

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KalBalboa

Member
Oct 30, 2017
8,041
Massachusetts
It's pretty much a strawman argument. We've gotten Blade Runner 2049, Ex Machina, Arrival, etc, etc. in the time of MCU, not ot mention lots of quality tv series scifi.

Arrival and Ex Machina are pretty low-budget affairs when put up against the likes of virtually any MCU film. Most studios will not invest substantial money in non franchises in the current superhero climate.

Blade Runner 2049 is arguably a flop, considering its $150 production budget and sub $300 WW gross.

TV in general is great and in my opinion better than ever, sure, but Cameron is clearly talking about cinematic, theatrical experiences.
 

Tfritz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,527
It's pretty much a strawman argument. We've gotten Blade Runner 2049, Ex Machina, Arrival, etc, etc. in the time of MCU, not ot mention lots of quality tv series scifi.

In Cameron's case, the last time he did something resembling serious scifi was Abyss, and the script of Strange Days. A great director, but not perhaps the best guy to talk about this.

That's really the wild part isn't it. He's not some nobody, he's a powerful and influential director who has made hit after hit after hit. Moreso than most folks, he's in a position to be the change he wants to see. He could have been out there making The Real Sci Fi He Craves and people would line up in the streets for it.

Arrival and Ex Machina are pretty low-budget affairs when put up against the likes of virtually any MCU film. Most studios will not invest substantial money in non franchises in the current superhero climate.

...so were Arrival and Ex Machina bad sci fi films because they didn't have MCU budgets? Sorry, I'm not really following your response here.
 

KalBalboa

Member
Oct 30, 2017
8,041
Massachusetts
It's not like the MCU is preventing other films from being released...

I mean, super hero movie budgets and focuses are inarguably taking away from other films being made, so I think you're incorrect.

Movie studios only have X amount of money and there are only so many profitable weekends in a year. A terminal amount of movies can be made and the ratio of comic book films is higher than ever.
 
Oct 29, 2017
1,100
It's strange seeing my two favorite creators pitted against each other.

My entire top 10 most entertaining movies of all time consists of James Cameron's movies, Christopher Nolan's movies and Marvel's The Winter Soldier and Black Panther.
 

Bronx-Man

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,351
I mean, super hero movie budgets and focuses are inarguably taking away from other films being made, so I think you're incorrect.

Movie studios only have X amount of money and there are only so many profitable weekends in a year. A terminal amount of movies can be made and the ratio of comic book films is higher than ever.
Literally not one word of this makes any fucking sense.

Did Iron Man 3 cause Snowpiercer to never get made? Did the $200 million spent on Guardians of the Galaxy prevent Interstellar from existing?
 

KalBalboa

Member
Oct 30, 2017
8,041
Massachusetts
Literally not one word of this makes any fucking sense.

Did Iron Man 3 cause Snowpiercer to never get made? Did the $200 million spent on Guardians of the Galaxy prevent Interstellar from existing?

See, this is a strawman argument.

I never said those specific movies weren't funded because of super hero movies. I said the budgets of time and money result in movie studios having to decide between what projects to make and comic book films are, of course, the safest bets right now.

And let's not act like Snowpiercer and Interstellar were considered commonplace in the box office when they arrived. They are celebrated and noted for being atypical releases in the landscape of modern movies.
 

Bronx-Man

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,351
See, this is a strawman argument.

I never said those specific movies weren't funded because of super hero movies.
Everytime someone posts examples against your claim that superhero movies causing big budget sci-fi films to not be made, you handwave it away as strawmanning or it doesn't count because it didn't make as much money as the biggest blockbusters out there.
 

Contramann

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,405
The internet's hive mind influence is a little frightening, isn't it?
Well it's not one giant one but yeah some can be. What's interesting is also how selective some of those memes can make people think. The similarities between Moana and Pocahontas is downright ridiculous but I challenge you to find as many people who think that's a valid criticism for that movie as people who apply the same for Avatar.
 
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KalBalboa

Member
Oct 30, 2017
8,041
Massachusetts
Everytime someone posts examples against your claim that superhero movies causing big budget sci-fi films to not be made, you handwave it away as strawmanning or it doesn't count because it didn't make as much money as the biggest blockbusters out there.

Arrival, Snowpiercer, and Ex Machina are not "big budget."

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Now look at, say, Ant-Man.

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I'm not hand waving anything. Calm down.
 

mjc

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
5,908
I mean, super hero movie budgets and focuses are inarguably taking away from other films being made, so I think you're incorrect.

Movie studios only have X amount of money and there are only so many profitable weekends in a year. A terminal amount of movies can be made and the ratio of comic book films is higher than ever.

Disney isn't exactly scraping budgets together for their movies. Neither is WB. Weak argument.

And for the record, BR2049 was my movie of the year last year. People need to quit being so butthurt over comic movies.
 

ElBoxy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,276
I mean, super hero movie budgets and focuses are inarguably taking away from other films being made, so I think you're incorrect.

Movie studios only have X amount of money and there are only so many profitable weekends in a year. A terminal amount of movies can be made and the ratio of comic book films is higher than ever.
There's plenty of weekends not dominated by Marvel and DC. Maybe Studios need to be smart on when to release their movies.
 

DJChuy

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
5,290
I mean, super hero movie budgets and focuses are inarguably taking away from other films being made, so I think you're incorrect.

Movie studios only have X amount of money and there are only so many profitable weekends in a year. A terminal amount of movies can be made and the ratio of comic book films is higher than ever.

But hasn't it always been like this? Blockbuster movies getting the more attention and bigger budget as opposed to other riskier projects. And it's not like the MCU is making other films fail. Blade Runner failed without any competition from comic book films.

Besides, it's only one studio funding the MCU. It's not taking away from other films' budget. Just don't release a film the same week a MCU movie releases.
 

KalBalboa

Member
Oct 30, 2017
8,041
Massachusetts
Meanwhile, Mad Max: Fury Road was made for $150 million.

Did you watch Fury Road when it was in theatres?

Sure, I loved it, but that example wasn't example presented yet, was it? I mean, if you're going to try and made the thread so personal and all and then claim Snowpiercer was "big budget."

At any rate, Mad Max not being made wasn't really the crux of my posts. It was that people like Cameron are afraid big budgets are going to going to the same comic book well at a questionable frequency. Of course other films are being made, but again: Mad Max was commended for being a bit of a rarity and a standout film. It was profitable but not exactly a MCU hit.

Movie studios are businesses. If they see comic book films generating the most bang for their buck they'll see the risk aversion and go for cape films more and more (like they have) and Fury Roads less and less (like they are).

There's plenty of weekends not dominated by Marvel and DC. Maybe Studios need to be smart on when to release their movies.

Of course, but I think Cameron's concerns stem from there being fewer weekends available for non cape films.
 
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Oct 29, 2017
1,100
Well it's not one giant one but yeah some can be. What's interesting is also how selective some of those memes can make people think. The similarities between Moana and Pocahontas is downright ridiculous but I challenge you to find as many people who think that's a valid criticism for that movie as people who apply the same for Avatar.
You can play up similarities between any two movies as long as you hand pick what you're comparing.

The recent meme that The Shape of Water and Paddington 2 are the same movie was very funny and effective using selective picking, but that doesn't make it true.
 

SBit

Member
Feb 25, 2018
138
He's right tho.
Interstellar was 2014.
Martian was 2015, and I wouldn't even call it sci fi in the traditional sense.
Arrival wasn't particularly big budget.

Superhero movies are more like escapist fluff fantasy movies to me so they dont scratch that itch at all. Okay for 1 viewing and that's it.
 

Contramann

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,405
You can play up similarities between any two movies as long as hand pick what you're comparing.

The recent meme that The Shape of Water and Paddington 2 are the same movie was very funny and effective using selective picking, but that doesn't make it true.
Sure this is true you can play up similarities between anything. But Moana-Pocahontas similarities are again pretty heavy. You have Native Girl from a pre-Colonial society who is the village chief's daughter that is slowly seeing her role as the Chief's daughter deciding her future against her own personal wishes while a grandmother figure gives her advice to believe in herself and follow her dream. She has a big song about water that's a metaphor for freedom. Then they both have antagonists that have a big thing about treasure and do a song about being shiny.

I very recently watched Pocahontas and came to this realization pretty quickly that Moana really is just a better version of that movie. Then I learned Lindsay Ellis made a video that said more or less something along those lines and detailed that the similarities went even deeper than I had noticed.

Anyways, the point isn't that I think Moana is a bad movie because it copies Pocahontas, but that it's not at all a valid standalone criticism to say a movie is similar to another. Avatar being similar to any another movie doesn't automatically mean it's a trash movie or bad by any means.
 

Gonzalez

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,679
The absolute disrespectful comments here towards JC are without a doubt the meanest comments I've read here since the last JC thread. This man revolutionized, and reinvented the modern blockbuster. He deserves every right to criticize MCU, Thor, Vince Russo, and his brother.
 

Merc_

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,569
The absolute disrespectful comments here towards JC are without a doubt the meanest comments I've read here since the last JC thread. This man revolutionized, and reinvented the modern blockbuster. He deserves every right to criticize MCU, Thor, Vince Russo, and his brother.
Sure, and people are free to criticize him right back. Just because he's had a large impact on the film industry himself doesn't make his word unassailable.
 

GraveRobberX

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,056
I love Cameron and the world building in Avatar, but dude is coming off very pretentious

These so called Avengers film have been carrying the heavy load for movie theaters

Remember before Iron Man started this whole thing, there was concern that movie theaters were going to go the way of brick and mortar or mom and pop shops, cause ticket prices were escalating and technology advancing for home viewing really was going to be the downfall

Then the movies became go to movies to watch, then became Events for certain merging titles
Hell Hollywood without CBM right now would be in dire states
 

Contramann

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,405
Sure, and people are free to criticize him right back. Just because he's had a large impact on the film industry himself doesn't make his word unassailable.
Well some people are less criticizing and more saying "Shut up old man! What do you know? All you did was remake Fern Gully!" I wouldn't say they are anything but disrespectful.
 

Gonzalez

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,679
Sure, and people are free to criticize him right back. Just because he's had a large impact on the film industry himself doesn't make his word unassailable.
The man has spent the last two decades giving his mind, and body to absolute classics. I see no reason whatsoever for people to go after a well respected veteran who is defending his art form from a corporate giant, and their cookie cutter films.
 

mjc

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
5,908
The absolute disrespectful comments here towards JC are without a doubt the meanest comments I've read here since the last JC thread. This man revolutionized, and reinvented the modern blockbuster. He deserves every right to criticize MCU, Thor, Vince Russo, and his brother.

Things change, and people can have bad opinions.
 

Tfritz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,527
The man has spent the last two decades giving his mind, and body to absolute classics. I see no reason whatsoever for people to go after a well respected veteran who is defending his art form from a corporate giant, and their cookie cutter films.

He's spent the last decade working on the Avatar Cinematic Universe though? Seems a bit premature to label them as "absolute classics" when they haven't even been released yet.
 

Deleted member 3815

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,633
If James Cameron thinks that the MCU are science fiction movies then he clearly hasn't watched them and his statement just comes out as him being bitter that they are popular.
 

shintoki

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,339
He's right tho.
Interstellar was 2014.
Martian was 2015, and I wouldn't even call it sci fi in the traditional sense.
Arrival wasn't particularly big budget.

Superhero movies are more like escapist fluff fantasy movies to me so they dont scratch that itch at all. Okay for 1 viewing and that's it.
BR2049 broke the streak. Martian, Gravity, Interstellar, Arrival. A more realistic scifi in the fall kept doing good.
 

Einchy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
42,659
The man has spent the last two decades giving his mind, and body to absolute classics. I see no reason whatsoever for people to go after a well respected veteran who is defending his art form from a corporate giant, and their cookie cutter films.
Lol @ "defending his art". I had no idea the MCU was attacking his art.
 

Scullibundo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,741
A part of me feels like Cameron is secretly superstitious, and he says these kinds of things to drum up stupid, petty hate, because people sharpening their knives before his releases has been part of so many of his resounding successes.

Maybe Cameron HAS to have people willing him to fail, in order to set the perfect conditions for him to succeed. Like Hal in that Malcolm in the Middle episode, creating his perfect bowling conditions every time.