Lost in translation. What better phrase to sum up M. Night Shyamalan’s efforts to bring the beloved Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series to the silver screen? It has been three and a half years since Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies announced the hiring of Oscar nominated director M. Night Shyamalan to produce the live action adaptation, much to the trepidation of Avatar fans worldwide. While Night’s early Hollywood career met with substantial box office success and critical acclaim, his two most recent films (and a third to be released in 2008) were received far less favorably. Many were beginning to justifiably doubt his directing talents, and still more wondered if he had the skills necessary to do justice to the Peabody award winning modern classic. We’ve been following this film since production finally began to ramp up in the fall of 2008; covering every news item, every photo snapped, every interview given, every trailer screened, and we were even lucky enough to have a chance to interview Night himself back in March earlier this year. The cast and crew said the right things, the costumes and sets looked fantastic, the special fx wowed us, and Night had a lot of enthusiasm for the show & seemed to get what made Avatar great. Aside from the much publicized casting issues, things seemed to have been progressing most auspiciously. I was lucky enough to have been invited to the film’s premiere at the Lincoln Center in New York City on June 30th. Having given myself a few days deliberation, I believe I’m ready to submit a critique of the film that will hopefully keep gut-reaction hyperbole to a minimum. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Zuko’
REVIEW The Last Airbender
July 10, 2010Princess Azula Revealed At Last
June 27, 2010
Some of you may have seen a rogue screenshot floating around the tubes with some surprising news, well it’s true. The folks over at Paramount have released The Last Airbender‘s final credit sheet, revealing everyone’s favorite lightning bending psychotic at last: 21-year-old Summer Bishil! Ms. Bishil’s credits include roles in Hannah Montana, Return to Halloweentown, Crossing Over, and the recently canceled CBS medical drama Three Rivers. In 2007, she was picked by Variety as one of their Top 10 actors to watch. Ms. Bishil was also nominated for the best actress Spirit Award for her role in the film Towelhead.
And The Winners Are…
June 25, 2010The deadline has passed, and the winners have been chosen and notified by email! Yes our Simon & Schuster Airbender book tie-in giveaway has officially come to a close. Thank you all for your wonderful submissions, and congratulations to the winners. For those that weren’t so lucky this time, don’t despair. Wii will be conducting another giveaway contest very soon. Until then, feel free to read the winning entrees. It could be you!! (more…)
New Airbender Clips Released
June 25, 2010
TrailerAddict.com posted two new clips from The Last Airbender today. If you’re concerned about spoilers I would not recommend watching. Enjoy and remember The Last Airbender comes out July 1st.
Aang Battling Fire Nation Soldiers
Zuko and Katara Fighting
New Momo TV Spot!
June 21, 2010At long last we get our first glimpse of live action Momo in motion in the newest TV spot!
And some classic Katara & Sokka bending shenanigans at the end too.
Aang Finds His Dæmon
June 18, 2010
Film blog Daemon’s Movies recently released 29 new photos of The Last Airbender, including some really cool behind-the-scenes shots! Things are really beginning to ramp up as we draw ever closer to the July 1st release date! More tv spots have been released in the past few days than I can count, and I really don’t know where to begin!
That being said, please excuse me if I’m tardy with news & such. Between a hectic work schedule, and taking care of my father during and after his surgery, it is going to be hard to keep the site up to speed. Rest assured that Charles will do his best to fill the void.
Anyway, enjoy the pics! (more…)
Airbender Tie-In Books Giveaway!
June 16, 2010
Last Airbender Film in association with Simon & Schuster publishing is very excited to announce that we will be holding a giveaway contest! Five lucky winners will receive one of the following Last Airbender movie tie-in books:
- The Last Airbender Movie Novelization by Michael Teitelbaum
- Trial By Fire by Micahel Teitelbaum
- Battle of the North by Brian James
- Avatar’s Return by Irene Kilpatrick
- Aang’s Destiny by Emily Sollinger
One ridiculously lucky grand prize winner will receive all five books!
There is however a catch. What you thought you’d get something for nothing? To enter the contest, shoot us an email describing your favorite Avatar: The Last Airbender thing. Anything! Your favorite character, place, story, bending element, music, merchandise, experience, whatever! You don’t have to write a novel, but the more amusing it is the better your chances. I will choose the six best entries, which will be published here at the conclusion of the contest.
The giveaway ends June 24. Good luck!
EDIT : For anyone having issues with email or perhaps just looking for an easier way to enter, we now have a submission form here . – C. Carver.
REVIEW The Last Airbender Prequel: Zuko’s Story
May 20, 2010
Prince Zuko. The name alone conjures a flood of wildly varying thoughts and emotions from fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender: disgraced, enemy, friend, nephew, son, brother, betrayer, teacher….Zutara. What most fans can agree on is that the scarred prince is one of the deepest and most compelling characters to be found in the acclaimed Nickelodeon television series, and that fact has not been lost on the creative minds behind the forthcoming live action adaptation. Speculation has run wild since Del Rey Manga, a division of publisher Random House, announced a Last Airbender tie-in manga at Comic Con 2009. That tie-in was eventually revealed to be a prequel featuring everyone’s favorite “hot man.” Officially released May 18, we’ve now had our chance to sit down and absorb every panel of Zuko’s Story. Does it reveal any titillating new insight into Aang’s complex enemy? Read on, but beware spoilers!
MTV grills Dave Roman on Zuko’s Story
May 17, 2010Our friends at MTV, after tremendous fan response to a preview released earlier this week, have managed to sit down with Dave Roman for an enlightening Q and A session.
MTV NEWS: How familiar were you with “The Last Airbender” before taking on this project? You worked at Nickelodeon Magazine for a while, so I assume you were pretty familiar with Aang and Zuko already…
DAVE ROMAN: I was actually there when the TV show first started. Whenever there was a new show on Nickelodeon, if it was successful enough we would do a comic based on the show for Nick Magazine. Those were usually just one- or two-page comics. So I was working with the creators of the show, Mike [Dante DiMartino] and Bryan [Konietzko], specifically Aaron Ehasz, who’s the head writer on the show. We specifically wanted to do comics that were really canon — comics that fit into the continuity of the show and you could actually pinpoint what episodes these comics would fit between and stuff like that.
Be sure to catch the rest of MTV’s Q and A here.
Amazon.com has Zuko’s Story available for purchase here. Be sure to get yours, and tell us what you think!
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