TITANIC is not just a movie—it’s a phenomenon, an event, and a colossus—but it could have easily swerved in another direction. I vividly remember the period right before James Cameron’s wildly expensive 1997 epic about the legendary luxury liner tragedy came to shore. Amidst all the hype and speculation, a lot of pundits were predicting a whole other type of disaster than the one the film documented: A bomb!
I have a couple friends who love B movies, gorier the better. So unsurprisingly they saw PIRANHA 3D and couldn’t stop talking about it (spoiler alert: dismembered male member flying at your face…in 3D). In case you were wondering, James Cameron hated it. Apropos, the National Geographic blog “dislike films that vilify animals—even a species…
In April, I took note of James Cameron’s efforts to stop the building of the Belo Monte dam on Brazil’s Xingu River. Actress Sigourney Weaver (a co-star in Cameron’s AVATAR) joined Cameron on one of his trips to Brazil, and has now collaborated with Amazon Watch, Movimento Xingu Vivo Para Sempre (Xingu River Forever Alive Movement), and International Rivers to produce a 10-minute video (above) showing the probably impact of the dam project on indigenous people in the region, biodiversity, health, and even climate change (which were outlined in the previous post).
Is blockbuster producer/director and self-proclaimed “king of the world” James Cameron powerful enough to take out a dam single-handed? Well, no… but the creator of AVATAR has apparently been moved by his own film’s exploration of “the destruction of the natural world by expanding industrial interests, and the consequent impact to Indigenous populations.” Since February, Cameron has become passionate about stopping the building of the Belo Monte dam in Brazil, and has joined with indigenous leaders and activists to protest the opening of the bidding process for the project (set to begin on April 20th).
James Cameron with his wife Suzy Amis on the red carpet before the Oscars
Maybe I’m just getting too old and cynical for the Oscars. Heh. When you see Joan Collins out every night, you do start to wonder – what the sam hell is going on? This post will be briefer than the lasts as, well, baby is hungover. Yes, I know. AGAIN. There does seem something so wrong about Oscar week in LA. The abundant narcissism and back slapping is fricking hilarious (“Good Job! That movie you made was awesome! Forget curing cancer – you are the best person alive! Especially because you are so rich and pretty!”).
While I’ve seen the below image passed around the Internet for few weeks now I’d be remiss not to post to SUNfiltered. As James Cameron’s Avatar continues to dominate box office records on its way to possibly unseat Titanic as the biggest grossing film in world history, this little note may connect the dots if…