Now I like a good bit of arty cinema from time to time and can often be heard bemoaning the amount of crap we are made to suffer through in cinemas, but I do value enjoyability quite highly. This is the reason that James Cameron’s comments earlier this week got to me so much. I don’t like self-important people insulting other, less successful, people’s work for no reason other to boost their own ego.

James Cameron had a good bit of a poke at Piranha 3D for cheapening 3D and turning it into a gimmick. Now one of the producers of this year’s greatest creature feature, Mark Canton, has retaliated in an articulate, brilliant and brutal fashion. One of my highlights is him drawing to attention the fact that Cameron was fired from directing Piranha 2.

I urge you to go to Movieline and read his full statement as it is glorious. If you’re too lazy then I’ve pasted it below. But don’t be lazy and do read the whole thing.

In fact I’ve just re-read the statement and I think it truly has something important to say beyond just the fact that Avatar isn’t the best thing since Citizen Kane. Mark Canton is my new hero.

“As a producer in the entertainment industry, Jim Cameron’s comments on VanityFair.com are very disappointing to me and the team that made Piranha 3D. Mr. Cameron, who singles himself out to be a visionary of movie-making, seems to have a small vision regarding any motion pictures that are not his own. It is amazing that in the movie-making process – which is certainly a team sport – that Cameron consistently celebrates himself out as though he is a team of one. His comments are ridiculous, self-serving and insulting to those of us who are not caught up in serving his ego and his rhetoric.

“Jim, are you kidding or what? First of all, let’s start by you accepting the fact that you were the original director of Piranha 2 and you were fired. Shame on you for thinking that genre movies and the real maestros like Roger Corman and his collaborators are any less auteur or impactful in the history of cinema than you. Martin Scorcese made Boxcar Bertha at the beginning of his career. And Francis Ford Coppola made Dimentia [sic] 13 back in 1963. And those are just a few examples of the talented and successful filmmakers whose roots are in genre films. Who are you to impugn any genre film or its creators?

“Having been deeply involved, as either an executive or as a producer, on Tim Burton’s original Batman and the first Men in Black, as well as 300, and now Immortals, one of the things that has been consistent about all of the filmmakers involved in these landscape-changing global films is that, in each and every case, all of the directors were humbled by their predecessors, their colleagues and by their awareness of the great history of film that came before them. The enjoyment and the immersion of an audience in a movie theatre, as they had and will have with the above-mentioned films, and as audiences are experiencing with Piranha 3D now, comes from the originality and the vision of the filmmaker, and not just from the creation of the technology. You as much as anyone certainly knows that there are many pieces to the puzzle. Going to the movies still remains, arguably, amongst the best communal experiences that human beings can share.

“My sense is that Mr. Cameron has never seen Piranha 3D…certainly not in a movie theatre with a real audience. Jim, we invite you to take that opportunity and experience the movie in a theatre full of fans – fans for whom this movie was always intended to entertain.

“Does Mr. Cameron have no idea of the painstaking efforts made by the talented young filmmaker Alex Aja and his team of collaborators? Clearly, and this one is a good bet, he has no clue as to how great and how much of a fun-filled experience the audiences who have seen the film in 3D have enjoyed. Those of us who have tried to stay in touch with the common movie audiences – the ones who really matter, the ones who actually still go to the theatre, put on the glasses, and eat the popcorn – take joy and pride in the fact that movies of all kinds, including Piranha 3D, have a place in filmmaking history – past, present and future. 3D unto itself is not a genre Jim, it is a tool that gives audiences an enhanced experience as they experience all kinds of movies. I believe Mr. Cameron did not see PIRANHA 3D either with any real audience or not at all. On opening weekend, I was in a Los Angeles theatre with a number of today’s great film makers including JJ Abrams, who actually had nothing short of the fabulous, fun 3D experience that the movie provides. I am fortunate enough to have worked on, and continue to work on, evolutionary movies in all formats from just simple good story telling, which still matters most of all, to CG movies to tent-pole size 3D movies, and genre 3D movies like Piranha 3D.

“What it comes down to, Jim, is – that like most things in life – size doesn’t really matter. Not everyone has the advantage of having endless amounts of money to play in their sandbox and to take ten years using other people’s money to make and market a film….like you do. Why can’t you just count your blessings? Why do you have to drop Marty Scorsese’s or Tim Burton’s names, both gentlemen who I have personally worked with, and who have enjoyed great joy and success with movies of all genres and sizes well before the advent of modern 3D? Then as now, they were like kids in a candy store recognizing, far beyond your imagination, the possibilities of storytelling and originality.

“For the record, before you just totally dismiss Piranha 3D and all, in your opinion, worthless genre movies that actually undoubtedly gave you the ability to start your career, you should know that PIRANHA 3D had an 82% “fresh” (positive) ratting on Rotten Tomatoes on opening day – a web site that all the studios, filmmakers and the public use as a barometer of what makes a quality film.

“We know that Piranha 3D has not achieved a boxoffice that is on the level of many of Mr. Cameron’s successes. To date, Piranha 3D has earned over $30 million around the globe with #1 openings in several countries. And, as the “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes indicates, critics and many, many others have embraced and celebrated Piranha 3D for the fun and entertaining – and even smart – movie-going experience that it is.

“Let’s just keep this in mind Jim….you did not invent 3D. You were fortunate that others inspired you to take it further. The simple truth is that I had nothing but good things to say about Avatar and my own experience since I actually saw it and didn’t damn someone else’s talent publicly in order to disassociate myself from my origins in the business from which we are all very fortunate. To be honest, I found the 3D in Avatar to be inconsistent and while ground breaking in many respects, sometimes I thought it overwhelmed the storytelling. Technology aside, I wish Avatar had been more original in its storytelling.

“We have to inspire, teach and mentor this next generation of filmmakers. It is garbage to suggest that any film or any filmmaker who cannot afford to work to your standards should be dissuaded from following his or her craft by not making 3D movies or not making movies like District 9, for example, which probably cost the amount of Avatar’s craft services budget, but totally rocked it in the movie theatre and in the marketplace. In that case, it was not a 3D movie. But had it been, it certainly would not have been any less original or impactful. The enormous worldwide success of Avatar has been good in all respects for you, your financiers, your distributors and the industry, as well as for the movie going public. Jim, there is a difference between Maestro which is a word that garners respect, and Dictator or Critic which are words better left for others who are not in our mutual boat or on our team. You are one of the best, it is reasonable to think that you should dig deeper and behave like it. Young directors should be inspired by you, not publicly castigated by your mean-spirited and flawed analysis.

“While we are all awed by your talents and your box office successes – and I compliment you on all of them – why don’t you rethink how you address films with which you are not involved? You should be taking the high road that is being travelled by so many of your peers, and pulling with them to ensure that we, as an industry, will have a continuum of talented filmmakers that will deliver a myriad of motion pictures both big and small, with 3D or any other technologies yet to come that will entertain audiences throughout the world. That is the challenge that we face. That is the future that we should deliver.

“Please go see Piranha 3D in a theatre near you.”

As it’s a Bank Holiday I will be lazy and copy and paste directly from the wonderful Movie|Line a quote from James Cameron. Only while they seem to agree with him I find him offensive prickish.

“I tend almost never to throw other films under the bus, but [Piranha 3D] is exactly an example of what we should not be doing in 3-D. Because it just cheapens the medium and reminds you of the bad 3-D horror films from the 70s and 80s, like Friday the 13th 3-D. When movies got to the bottom of the barrel of their creativity and at the last gasp of their financial lifespan, they did a 3-D version to get the last few drops of blood out of the turnip.”

Doesn’t re-releasing a film with a few extra minutes thrown in to make some more money cheapen the medium? How about making preachy film which rips off the plot of Pocahontas, and while nice to look at holds no real substance in dialogue or plot?

I have seen Avatar, Piranha 3D and Friday the 13th 3-D and I know which one I enjoyed the least.

Just when I get over disliking Cameron he pulls me back in!

James Cameron has said that not only is he hoping to re-release an extended Avatar back into cinemas this Autumn but that Titanic is undergoing the 3D conversion for a 2012 re-release. Do the two highest grossing movies of all time need to be back in cinemas? Shouldn’t Avatar let the autumn releases have a chance at making some money instead? Is there any real benefit to somehow making 2D movies 3D?

Grrr argh etc…

Two days ago MTV reported that James Cameron had met with Marc Webb to discuss the 3D possibilities for the new Spiderman reboot. I was going to let it slide but considering Mild Concern’s coverage of both the new Spiderman and James Cameron, and a nudge from @dtdwhedon, it had to get a mention. Obviously Webb is taking on a big project for his second feature, has never dealt with 3D technology before and Cameron is the current expert in the field. For these reasons it makes sense for them to meet and discuss it, I only hope that their discussion goes no further than the technicalities.

Webb has so far shown himself to be a dab hand at dealing with realistic characters, leading with story over flashy visuals, and the more this translates into his next feature the better. I only hope Cameron doesn’t rub off on him too much; I don’t want to see photos of Webb posing with a camera in the next few years.

Also, when are we going to meet our new Peter Parker?

Along with planning an Avatar trilogy James Cameron is set to write a novel based before the first film, Jon Landau has revealed to MTV. The book will detail the back-story of Jake Sully, his colleagues and the Na’vi; clearly there just isn’t enough time in three films to tell the whole story.

Those of us who think Avatar’s major weak point was the core story will, I’m sure, be intrigued to see how Cameron faces the challenge of writing a book; Pocahontas only ever had a sequel, never a prequel. Of course the real target here is true Avatar fans who are hungry to learn all they can about their favourite 3D characters, soon to be represented in black and white text. A definite case of swapping 3D glasses for reading glasses, despite how cringeworthy the sentence may be.

This seems an odd move for a franchise so synonymous with draw-dropping visuals and disappointing storytelling. While I am intrigued by the idea I am unlikely to follow through when the book is published in late 2010.

Vanity Fair recently tasked acclaimed photographer Annie Leibovitz with photographing the creative forces behind the past year’s greatest films, focussing on “the bond between actor and director.” The results can be seen here and show the likes of Meryl Streep and Penélope Cruz posing with their respective directors.

Within the twelve photographs there is one notable exception which you can see above; for some reason James Cameron is posing not with Sam Worthington and/or Zoe Saldana but with his revolutionary camera. I find this particularly odd considering him constantly stating that the acting in Avatar is every bit as real as in a fully live action film, yet here Cameron is almost calling the camera his biggest collaborator. Weird.

Avatar has finally done as predicted and knocked Titanic off the top spot for highest grossing film of all time. Cameron has beaten his own record and will probably be smug forever more. For me this feels like a hollow victory of style over substance, one that tells the studios that fancy effects and endless marketing makes for a guaranteed success. Which perhaps it does.

Looking at the figures a different way, Avatar‘s budget was so massive that it needed a record breaking box office to bring about a reasonable percentage return on the studios investment. If claims of a $500 million total production and marketing budget are to be believed, Avatar only made less than four times the investment it cost. The real winner is Paranormal Activity.

Paranormal Activity was made for a meagre $15,000 and made over $140 million dollars meaning a whopping percentage return on investment of 472,962.70% (as shown here). I’m not an expert on investments but this looks like a case for smaller films with viral marketing to get a bigger return for your money. It is worth noting that the second most profitable movie of all time, based of percentage return on investment is The Blair Witch Project. Obviously not every film can have a micro budget but those that do should not be overlooked as they are far more profitable than effects laden epics like Avatar.