Avatar News: Banned in China, 23 Minute Featurette, and Man Dies From Excitement Dan Koelsch, January 20, 2010January 20, 2010 James Cameron’s Avatar tends to attract some pretty strange news. There has already been the report of a woman getting shot during an Avatar screening, and now we have another death related to Avatar. More on this story, plus China banning the film, and a 23 minute behind-the-scenes featurette. After Avatar had the biggest opening in China’s history, the Chinese government has pulled the 2D version of the film from all cinemas, according to BBC News. Why? The official statement from China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television is that the 2D sales were poor (only 1/3 of the total revenue), so this is standard practice. However, not everyone is buying this answer. Critics of the decision are claiming that the film’s message is what caused it to be downsized. The film’s plotline of forcing natives to move for a corporation mirrors the country’s efforts to move citizens in order to build lucrative property. Also, the fact a movie with this message has done so well scares the Chinese government, so replacing with with more Communist-friendly films both supports the government and homegrown cinema. Interestingly enough, in the same part of the world, a Tawainese man died days after seeing Avatar in theaters. The 42 year old man apparently had already had health problems, and his doctor claims watching the movie made the man over-excited and thus caused his fatal stroke. Lastly, Yahoo has a nice behind the scenes featurette on Avatar that’s longer than most at over 22 minutes. Take a look: News Avatar
“Saving Mr. Banks” Review: Emma Thompson’s Charming Cantankerous Energy Stands Out In This Sentimental Biopic December 13, 2013December 13, 2013It’s never easy to write about writers writing about a movie as iconic as Mary Poppins, but in some odd and charming way Saving Mr. Banks accomplished that. In a day an age where Hollywood producers are vying for the vision and the writer’s are losing it, this film is… Read More
Oscar Nominations Announced, Snubs Spark Online Outrage January 25, 2011The biggest award show in Hollywood is drawing closer, and we’ve taken the first big step this morning with the announcement of the nominees for the Academy Awards. Like usual, there are some surprising snubs, but none more so than Christopher Nolan not getting nominated for Best Director for Inception,… Read More
The Buzz: Kutcher Gets a Jobs, Raging Bull 2 Is A Thing, Captain America Survives Avengers, & More! April 6, 2012It’s been a year since our feature The Buzz was last updated, but now we are back and for good this time. The Buzz is a feature in which we round up the Top 3 most-buzzed-about movie/TV stories of the week (in chronological order). Why go through pages of blogs… Read More