It's almost like a Shakespearean tragedy the way that I continuously go to the the IMAX 3D theatres almost every weekend, and still every single time, the ticket lady tells me that Avatar is sold out (not to mention that she gives me that elitist look like I'm an idiot for even trying to get tickets 20 mins before the show).Seriously though, it's been what, 8 weeks since it was released on December 18th? And still I can't get in to watch it? Wow.. It really must be something.
Now, I can admit that I'm infamous for planning to go to theatre about 1 hour before-hand, and actually ending up leaving for the theatre with about 25 mins to spare, just barely getting there 5 mins before the start time. But I've given it it's due diligence. I did't even try to catch the movie in it's first month as I knew there would be no hope. But then every weekend after that I've been trying and still getting disappointed..
This weekend was no different. My girl and my buddies and I saw that the Woodbridge IMAX 3D theatre had a late night show at 11:30pm on Saturday night, so we figured that it is the burbs, it's a late night show for a 3 hour movie (ending most likely around 3am), and it's about 8 weeks after it was released, so we definitely shouldn't have any problems getting in to see it. So, we planned to leave earlier, but ended up getting there with 3 mins to spare before it started. We got someone to run inside and confirm that it wasn't too packed (how naive we truly were), and our "scout" that we sent in called and said that it was sold out.. Sold out!! After 8 weeks, this movie is still sold out!!!
In actuallity, we weren't surprised.. It had happened to us 3 times already, so, we'd already accepted that it was a possibility.
Now, I know some of you are thinking, "well, why didn't you order the tickets online ahead of time?".. You know what, I actually tried to do that this time. I went to the website, I selected the movie, and unfortunately none of the times shown for it were highlighted in Blue (blue meaning tickets could be purchased online). So that wasn't even an option for us!
"Why didn't you just go to any theatre and watch it? Why did it have to be IMAX 3D??", you ask. Well, that's the thing about this movie. The way that it was made, makes it absolutely necessary to watch it in IMAX 3D to get the full experience (see the poster provided above on the right, notice the "Experience in IMAX 3D"..). Now, I've heard from many friends who've watched it in other theatres and also not in 3D, and they said it was great. But, if you know IMAX, then you know that it's a next level experience. And for this 3D Movie -with supposedly new technology in the 3D realm, I have to see it on the biggest screen available. Don't you agree?
Maybe I'm just a movie fanatic who really believes in getting the best experience possible when sitting down to watch one. I can admit to that and I'm sure my girl would agree that I'm like that as well.. As I'm the type to want to watch Batman Begins
again, before I watch the Dark Knight
in the theatre. Or wanting to watch Austin Powers
1
and 2
again before watching Goldmember
in the theatre. Or wanting to watch all Lord of the Rings
again, instead of just watching the 3rd one on it's own. Same goes for all of the other Trilogies like the Matrix
, Star Wars
(double trilogy) and etc. Even before the new Star Trek
movie came out, I made my girl sit through ALL of the Star Trek
movies before we could go and watch it in the theatre. (And she loved them, so I wasn't in too much trouble afterwards). Dude, it's so bad, that I need to watch Transporter
1 and 2, before I'll watch Transporter 3... As even though I've seem them all before, I need to watch it in order so that I have the proper backstory and history required to get all of the jokes and comments... Yes yes, I am anal in that respect... (and no, I didn't just say I take it anally, for all of my sick bastard buddies out there reading this... You know who you are!!!).Anyway, on our ride back home, we had a quick talk about Avatar, and why it's so impossible to watch it still.
The obvious point that came out was that James Cameron
is a genius. Yes yes, that's all we've been hearing for about a year now, but, I don't know if you've heard it from our twisted perspective.You see, what James Cameron did here in actuallity was get passed the current demise of the Movie Industry. With numbers in the theatres slumping, people just weren't getting anything more out of going to the theatre to watch a movie, than they did in waiting to buy the DVD and watch it at home.. Or pickup a Pirated Version from Pacific Mall... Or even download the cam or screener versions from those torrent websites..
You see, with Avatar, that suddenly was not enough.. Going 3D actually gave the theatre some kind of use, as watching 3D at home versus watching 3D in Imax 3D really makes a huge difference. So this was one thing that would actually get us into the movie theatre... Unlike the many other movies that have come out.
How exactly would one watch a 3D CAM version downloaded illegally from the Internet? It's just not possible.
This is the Genius that I give James Cameron credit for. He made going to the theatres actually necessary for his movie. And that's why he's making Billions while other huge blockbuster movies still suffer at the box office.
Anyway, hopefully one day I'll be able to actually see this thing in IMAX 3D... I'm truly dying to watch it.
I've heard all of the reviews, and the various accusations about it in regards to it being racist, or pro/anti army and yada yada... But at the end of the day, I'm not really interested in watching it for that. I truly want to watch it to see how far 3D technology has come in Movies and in Storytelling in general. I want to see whether it was a critical part of enjoying the movie, or if it was just a cosmetic thing made to make some chase seens look crazier..
From what I remember in watching some 3D movies in the past (like that Michael Jackson movie in 3D when I was kid and etc.), is that you watch the movie, and then all of a sudden, you are instructed to put on the 3D glasses so you can see some special effects. I truly hope that it's more than just that.
Also, I'm curious as to how I'll feel in having to where those 3D glasses for almost 3 hours, and whether that will impact my enjoyment of the movie.
Anyway, I will try again this weekend if I have time. Watch for my comments on it afterwards.
--jackandcokewithalime
PS: And to all of those people who complain that James Cameron is an Arrogant prick.. Yes, I agree, he is. But aren't many geniuses arrogant pricks at times? I know I am -just kidding!! Relax.. Given that he's Canadian (though Arrogance really isn't a stereotypical Canadian quality), I forgive him.
(Image taken from:http://youritlist.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/imax.avatar.smaller-398x590.jpg)
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