Interesting point of view, too, on the materiality of the camera. Never saw it that way as I was enamored with its spirit-like movement. And was that creature really ape-like or it’s just me who thought it was a dog?

Many, many people are hailing Avatar as the greatest film they’ve ever seen (at least according to Facebook status updates I’ve seen). Though Avatar was fun as hell to watch, visuals alone don’t make a great–or even good–film.

Beautiful write-up on A Letter to Uncle Boonmee, by the way — I’m working on a short blog entry about it, but about the “materiality” of the camera (as opposed to the spectral presence you write about)…

Found Dan’s quote: “It’s like folklore; it’s a story that’s worth repeating. Originality can be overrated.” No quibble with that regarding Avatar’s sources — which is why the existence of something like Sheena isn’t surprising (it sure looks good though) — but it’s Cameron’s by-the-numbers execution that I found lacking. Other than the visuals, the most exciting element that Cameron brings to that archetypal narrative is the whole avatar business, but it’s way under-utilized in the film itself.

I was going to question as well whether the story really was “worth repeating”, until I remembered that Terrence Malick’s The New World was one of my favorite movies of the last ten years. =)