M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender

[Zenshiite]

I just realized that M Night Shyamalan has been signed to do a live action Avatar trilogy... here's the thing, if the cast isn't all Asian this thing **** well better be scrapped. I mean, I've seen some sites with discussion of who should be cast in what roles and I'm seeing stuff like "Liam Neeson for the Fire Lord." What??? You've got to be kidding me with that garbage...

[NJM]

M Night hasn't made a half-decent movie since Signs. And Signs was only half-decent.

[doug maverick]

those are just rumours and talk, until i see an official press release i won;t believe it. also i dn; think the cast should be all asian it shoul be mixed to apeal to all kids. the two southern water tribe kids are obviously not asian at leas not asian in the sence that you mean. but more inuit(escamo) looking. but anyway its just hear say

[Sicilian Tofu M]

Sokka's Master preview enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr42F3B-akM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jzC8kAqzl24

[Zenshiite]

I don't think Katara or Sokka look Inuit. Their clothing perhaps, but not their features.

By the way, how great are the waterbenders from the swamp? Rednecks in Avatar.

[NJM]

Rednecks in Avatar.

They represent RBSD.

[doug maverick]

I don't think Katara or Sokka look Inuit. Their clothing perhaps, but not their features.

By the way, how great are the waterbenders from the swamp? Rednecks in Avatar.

really they look very native american/ inuit to me the skin tone the hair cuts. all be it from like the 1600's like natie to me. but yeah i would love to see a mix of races as long as they don't make the blacks the fire nation. this isn't 300 now. but again i don'tthink its going to be made and if it is its notgonna be with m night. speilbergs been wanting to do a martial arts/ samurai style film for a while maybe he'll do it.

[Zenshiite]

really they look very native american/ inuit to me the skin tone the hair cuts. all be it from like the 1600's like natie to me. but yeah i would love to see a mix of races as long as they don't make the blacks the fire nation. this isn't 300 now. but again i don'tthink its going to be made and if it is its notgonna be with m night. speilbergs been wanting to do a martial arts/ samurai style film for a while maybe he'll do it.


Speilberg would probably stick some aliens in for good measure, like he did with Kubrick's AI.

It would have to a largely Asian cast, the Water Tribes are pretty Asian... especially the Northern ones. Air Nomads are clearly Shaolin monks that do ba gua, and the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom are super traditional Chinese Confucian socieities.

[doug maverick]

well they can always change things for films.

[doug maverick]

this episode was awesome and probably going in my top five favorite episodes. finally get to see sokka kicking ass. and that sword is the ****.

[Zenshiite]

this episode was awesome and probably going in my top five favorite episodes. finally get to see sokka kicking ass. and that sword is the ****.

Yep, great. It was nice to see him starting to crack under the pressure of being around benders all the time and never being able to do anything particularly extraordinary. That would definitely get to a guy, especially if you're the oldest of the troupe.

[doug maverick]

the best scene was to see iroh get deasel as hell

[Zenshiite]

the best scene was to see iroh get deasel as hell


You mean when the guard was like "you're a disgrace, look at you you fat slob" and then dude drops his pillow/pad out and takes off his robe and dude is all jacked?

yeah, that was cool.

[Sicilian Tofu M]

this is cool, I think its a cartoon of Sifu Kisu what do you think?
http://www.harmoniousfist.com/kstar.html
http://www.avatarspiritmedia.net/characters.php?id=259

[Zenshiite]

this is cool, I think its a cartoon of Sifu Kisu what do you think?
http://www.harmoniousfist.com/kstar.html
http://www.avatarspiritmedia.net/characters.php?id=259

I'd say he was definitely inspiration for that character. Who was great, by the way.

There was also implications of a secret society with the white lotus medallion that he presented to Sokka, which was also worked into the main design on the gates of his residence. I'm interested in seeing that pan out.

[NJM]

There was also implications of a secret society with the white lotus medallion that he presented to Sokka, which was also worked into the main design on the gates of his residence. I'm interested in seeing that pan out.

The inspiration for the White Lotus society must be the Black Dragon Fighting Society! Which means the white lotus medallion must be the key to unlocking the secret of the Kata Kisu, Prance of Death.

[Lokhopkuen]

The inspiration for the White Lotus society must be the Black Dragon Fighting Society! Which means the white lotus medallion must be the key to unlocking the secret of the Kata Kisu, Prance of Death.

The White Lotus is actually a secret society of gentlemen who feel martial strategy and it's associated physical cultivations belong to the world, not to any one tribe. Now the Kata Kisu, Prance of Death is a very secret technique taught only at the Harmonious Fist for $45,000 a pop. Video tape is an extra $25....

Who's in? How many you want?

Also the Sokka sword is for sale. $15K,

PaN Dao's Sword is a 300 year old antique $25K

&

The Pan Dao sword displayed in the weapon's shop is only $14K. Also we got John Takeshi's head on a spike complete with pink Shaolin Ninja headband. We pay you to take it 'cause it's startin' to reek back at Ashida Kim's library on
mt. Kimchi>>>>>!!!!

Sifu need a new pair of gung fu shoes!!!!!:D

[doug maverick]

yesterday's ep was another good one. and as i said the show looks like its getting darker

[Zenshiite]

yesterday's ep was another good one. and as i said the show looks like its getting darker


More grown up too. There was a bit o cleavage last night.

Zuko's having some issues...

[Sicilian Tofu M]

I don't know who's are better Ty Lee's or the old twins lol

[NJM]

I don't know who's are better Ty Lee's or the old twins lol

A little out of your age range, don't you think? :eek:

[doug maverick]

yeah man keep it in your pants its a kids show for petes sake:D

[Sicilian Tofu M]

just being funny...I'm sorry It was wrong I know.

[doug maverick]

i know man i'm just ribbing ya

[Zenshiite]

Am I understanding correctly that Zuko is somewhere around the age of 16? So I'm guessing Tylee and Azula are like 17-20.

Did I mention I about puked when the old ladies took of their robes?

[Sicilian Tofu M]

Avatar and the fireload is on youtube in 3 parts but its squished, can't post a link because I can't get on youtube at work.

[NJM]

Avatar and the fireload.

I remember pulling that prank on people's doorsteps as a kid. You see we'd ring the doorbell, then...

[Sicilian Tofu M]

I found a better site its got to chapter 8
http://www.watch-avatar.com/

[Zenshiite]

Avatar and the Firelord was GREAT!

Especially Iroh's revelation to Zuko!

Sadly, I'm not too pleased with the new voice actor. No one can quite match Mako(RIP).

[doug maverick]

sounded verysimilar to mako not dead on but similar. i'm happy with it. i hope he teach's ang fire bending

[Zenshiite]

Tofu M, I tried downloading Chapther 7 from watch-avatar and I am not getting any video. You had problems with it?

[Zenshiite]

whoa... Chapter 8 is CRAZY. Prepare for some new waterbending fellas!

[Sicilian Tofu M]

I got it from Veohtv directly. so does that site I like it.

[doug maverick]

episode 7 was good, but episode 8 was awesome not to give to much away but katara learn how to pull water from everything, even air. ep nine was kinda of a let down.

[Sicilian Tofu M]

#9 was just a good silly ep that showed ang is a 8year old human boy.

#10 comes out today!!

[Zenshiite]

9 is hilarious.

I feel strange watching the episodes before the come out state-side. Like, why does the UK get them so early and we are like 3 episodes behind them? Weird.

[doug maverick]

yeah i can't wait to see 12-13. look awesome. oh yeah and its true M. night shamalamadindong is doing three feature films at least he wants to.

[Wildwoo]

yeah i can't wait to see 12-13. look awesome. oh yeah and its true M. night shamalamadindong is doing three feature films at least he wants to.

Starts production July 2008

[Wildwoo]

Wow I just watched all the way up to 314 The Boiling Rock a two part episode!
I love this show!:p:p

[doug maverick]

so does that mean that 12-13-14 are out

[Wildwoo]

so does that mean that 12-13-14 are out

I don't think so, no I was hanging with Sifu Kisu when he screened them for a few of us.

[doug maverick]

just saw ep 12 freaking awesome. who would have thought that zuko would be angs fire bending teacher i always thought it would be iroh

[Zenshiite]

Me too, but I think we'll be seeing Iroh along the way too. No doubt he'll have some hand in Aang's fire-bending instruction. Afterall, he taught Zuko. Maybe Zuko will just be a crap teacher, or maybe there's something Zuko's not learned.

Either way, great episode. Lots of dramatic potential with Katara too.

This show is getting so much more mature, I find it truly impressive. One of the best things out there.

[doug maverick]

well zuko doesn't know how to lightening bend so there is still alot he needs to learn. i wonder what is the highest form of airbending. with fire its lightening, with water its blood bending and with earth its metal bending but what about air. i hope the next 9 or so eps left explain that.

[Sicilian Tofu M]

I don't think so, no I was hanging with Sifu Kisu when he screened them for a few of us.

PLEASE, GIVE US SPOILERS. I hear chapter 13 is called " The Big Joker" and its about breaking Bumi out, by ether Iroh and Jeong Jeong or the avatar and gang for further training, I've seen 2 versions

[Wildwoo]

PLEASE, GIVE US SPOILERS. I hear chapter 13 is called " The Big Joker" and its about breaking Bumi out, by ether Iroh and Jeong Jeong or the avatar and gang for further training, I've seen 2 versions

I won't spoil it 'cause a certain unnamed Sifu will lump me up, but you are warm. No bumi though.

[Sicilian Tofu M]

I won't spoil it 'cause a certain unnamed Sifu will lump me up, but you are warm. No bumi though.

No bumi Crap,I understand Thanks.

[Zenshiite]

Ah, we'll just watch it when it airs in the UK later on this week. ;)

Then next year when it airs in the US too.

[doug maverick]

basically. even thou this is the last season which sucks. and then we have to wait for m night shamalamadingdong to mess it up and add stupid twist. like actually katara is descended from angs brother and is his super great grand niece(oh what a twist!) or that ang is not the real avatar but Zuko is(oh what a twist!)

[Zenshiite]

^I hope Shyamalan doesn't mess this up. I'd hate to see him try to pull one of his famous "bizarre" twists with Avatar. Like I said before, this thing should pretty much be cast of all Asians. It would be stretching it to do otherwise, in my opinion. Especially if, as in this season so far, Katara and Sokka are going to be passing for Fire Nation people... while their culture seems Inuit at times, they couldn't pass for Fire Nation if they weren't Asian. The Fire Nation is definitely Asian to the max. Same with the Earth Kingdom.

Are we certain this is the last season of Avatar? I mean, in theory there come be some reason they'd have to do a book 4: Air.

[Sicilian Tofu M]

If you look up avatar comic con 2007 on youtube, theirs a 7 part panel Q&A deal, in it thay say thay most likely will have more seasons, but it will be a totaly diffrent storyline.

[doug maverick]

^I hope Shyamalan doesn't mess this up. I'd hate to see him try to pull one of his famous "bizarre" twists with Avatar. Like I said before, this thing should pretty much be cast of all Asians. It would be stretching it to do otherwise, in my opinion. Especially if, as in this season so far, Katara and Sokka are going to be passing for Fire Nation people... while their culture seems Inuit at times, they couldn't pass for Fire Nation if they weren't Asian. The Fire Nation is definitely Asian to the max. Same with the Earth Kingdom.

Are we certain this is the last season of Avatar? I mean, in theory there come be some reason they'd have to do a book 4: Air.

all asian cast in big budget hollywood movie. sorry bu but thats a no go. hollywood has to apeal to the mass's and the mass's won't see an all asian film even if it is in english(and except for CTHD they haven't)so you shouldn;t hold your breath on that one. **** goku isn't even japanese(even thou he is an alien so he shouldn't be japanese).

[Zenshiite]

all asian cast in big budget hollywood movie. sorry bu but thats a no go. hollywood has to apeal to the mass's and the mass's won't see an all asian film even if it is in english(and except for CTHD they haven't)so you shouldn;t hold your breath on that one. **** goku isn't even japanese(even thou he is an alien so he shouldn't be japanese).


They'd have to significantly rework the entire mythology and setting of Avatar to do it without it being largely Asian cast.

What's DBZ got to do with this anyways?

[doug maverick]

They'd have to significantly rework the entire mythology and setting of Avatar to do it without it being largely Asian cast.

What's DBZ got to do with this anyways?

and they will i just got heads up that, m nights first script was declined, because it needed to be reworked. trust me the cast doesn;t have to be largly asian to work or to make sence. trust me when i say it won;t happen. Dragon ball is the biggest ****ing animation in the world, hands down withoiut a shadow of a doubt. and if they are not going to make that largly asian although there are a few they will not make a nick cartoon largly asian. botom line it comes down to money this is a potiential 100 million dollar project and they're gonna want it to apeal to everyone.

[Zenshiite]

American racism sucks balls. If any minority has gotten the short end of the stick in Hollywood it's Asians.

Arabs/Muslims too.

I think DBZ is going to suck. I can, however, see that not being entirely Asian. The manga/anime itself isn't very clear on that. Avatar, however, is quite clearly very Asian. The only non-Asian character in the show so far has been the Indian guru dude... and technically he's Asian.

[doug maverick]

actually its dragon ball and i think its gonna be pretty good its gonna be a total defferent film in context of the anime but i think its gonna be good. as for avatar it is not clearly asian as katara and saka clearly look inuit to me.

[Zenshiite]

No way dude. Katara and Sokka pass as Fire Nation kids in Book 3, they couldn't do that if they weren't Asian.

Are you saying the movie isn't DBZ, but Dragonball? Like, as in, the origin manga/anime based on Journey to the West? How many movies in the next couple years are we going to get based on that one? At least 2 with this and Forbidden Kingdom...

[doug maverick]

No way dude. Katara and Sokka pass as Fire Nation kids in Book 3, they couldn't do that if they weren't Asian.

Are you saying the movie isn't DBZ, but Dragonball? Like, as in, the origin manga/anime based on Journey to the West? How many movies in the next couple years are we going to get based on that one? At least 2 with this and Forbidden Kingdom...

well forbidden kingdom is sorta like a sequal to journey to the west. as it deals with the search for the monkey king. dude they didn't pass as fire nation they passed as colony people get that straight.

[doug maverick]

**** dude you paying cash relax it'll come out in due time just be patient.11 was dope thou. can't wait to see 12 13 14 heard they get better.

[Avatar-Omega]

**** dude you paying cash relax it'll come out in due time just be patient.11 was dope thou. can't wait to see 12 13 14 heard they get better.You can already watch Chapter 12: The Western Air Temple on Youtube, Livevideo, Veoh, Stage6 or Dailymotion... :-D and Chapter 13: The Firebending Masters will be online Friday night...

[doug maverick]

i meant to say 12 was out. yeah i saw it good ep

[Avatar-Omega]

i meant to say 12 was out. yeah i saw it good epHeh okay.. Yea it was great..

[Sicilian Tofu M]

I have a problem, its been pointed out to me that in the episode "The Swamp" where the waterbender is explaining what the tree shows in the visions, he states (not a quote) it shows people we lost, miss ect. Ang saw Toph because "time is a illuseion(sp)" of course she will be his teacher and all, but the tree wasn't trying to tell ang who to look for, because the tree doesn't know time it was showing Ang someone he will miss that will pass, everyone else shown was dead, I think Toph will die in the show, I don't want it to happend but its logic to me once I watched again while thinking about, what the waterbender says, what ang said in the section was focused on figureing out why he didn't know her it didn't conflict with the waterbender. am I insane?

[Zenshiite]

It could happen... but that'd be a terribly dark twist to the show. Having one of the main kids whacked and all.

Hu/Hugh is that waterbender's name... and I took that whole think kinda like Yoda telling Luke the Force would show him the past, the future and old friends long gone. Just sorta telling him that it's something beyond his current mode of comprehension.

[Sicilian Tofu M]

Thanks man, most people I talk to about it wouldn't even think about it, and the show had characters die before. I don't want it to happen because toph is #1, in my book if she does I hope "its a good day to die" for her.

[doug maverick]

toph is my favorite character but hey i can see it. my favorite character in the naruto manga died so now i have efffection for any character.

[NJM]

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Son, I think we need to have a little chat.

[doug maverick]

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Son, I think we need to have a little chat.


lol. hey the naruto managa is hot **** the anime. and after jeraiya died i have NO(thats what i meant to say) effection for any character.

[Zenshiite]

The Pervy Sage dies? ******. I liked him.

[doug maverick]

The Pervy Sage dies? ******. I liked him.

yeah ma nhe went out like a hero. fighting the leader of akatsuki who may or may not have been a former student of his. who is the most powerful ninja walking.

[Zenshiite]

See, I need to get up on Naruto. I've just been catching bits and peices on Cartoon Network... but there's a website with the Japanese version up to season 9 or 10. I've yet to read the manga at all. Too much to catch up on almost. Maybe I should give it a shot though.

Pervy Sage cracks me up.

[Zenshiite]

13 is up at http://www.Watch-Avatar.com ! It's great.

[doug maverick]

so after thriteen where you see a more mayan type culture do you still think that if they make a film it's gotta be largly asian.

[Zenshiite]

Hey, I'll admit those dudes were definitely giving a Central American native vibe. Still very Asian in many ways though.

I'll be ****ed if they were to start turning protagonists into Caucasians though... that would be typical Hollywood BS. And I'm white as a lily. There's not been any Caucasians in the Avatar world yet.

I was looking at some stuff in the children's section at Barnes & Noble this evening and found a bunch of Avatar stuff. Books called the "lost scrolls" that tell legends and myths about the nations and elements. Some stuff about the Earth Kingdom, untold tales or something like that. A manga type book that was actual stills from the show with word balloons. They've done that one with the Star Wars movies too. Plus there's this young reader's series called "The Five Ancestors" that has absolutely nothing to do with Avatar but everything to do with kung fu that I'm interested in. It seems like a retelling/revisioning of stories about survivors of Shaolin Temple burnings.

[doug maverick]

Hey, I'll admit those dudes were definitely giving a Central American native vibe. Still very Asian in many ways though.

I'll be ****ed if they were to start turning protagonists into Caucasians though... that would be typical Hollywood BS. And I'm white as a lily. There's not been any Caucasians in the Avatar world yet.

I was looking at some stuff in the children's section at Barnes & Noble this evening and found a bunch of Avatar stuff. Books called the "lost scrolls" that tell legends and myths about the nations and elements. Some stuff about the Earth Kingdom, untold tales or something like that. A manga type book that was actual stills from the show with word balloons. They've done that one with the Star Wars movies too. Plus there's this young reader's series called "The Five Ancestors" that has absolutely nothing to do with Avatar but everything to do with kung fu that I'm interested in. It seems like a retelling/revisioning of stories about survivors of Shaolin Temple burnings.


well i'm black as night. and i know how these hollywood people think. they gonna make ang white, think about it they got the two biggest stars in china in one movie and they still put an unknown caucasian in the movie. they're afraid they've been afraid and they alays gonna be afraid. they only want to make money and the kids who watch this movie are not gonna gripe if ang is white.

[Zenshiite]

I know doug, and that ish ****es me off to no end. It's like sticking Jet Li with DMX in one of the worst movies of all time. Jet Li alone could have held a movie like that. Look at the One, as bad of a film as that was... you didn't need a big hip hop star to bring people in. They were like "whao, Jet Li!" Same with most of Jackie's movies before Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon(both of which I enjoy immensely). I saw Jackie movies long before either of those and I wasn't even really into kung fu yet.

Nick should have given Avatar to some Hong Kong dudes with a Hollywood budget w/ no Hollywood BS.

[doug maverick]

hong kong dudes witha hollywood budget. yeah not happening. but you can make it without a hollywood budget look ar storm riders still the best wuxia pien in the last 15 years.

[Zenshiite]

True, too bad the kung fu was the fakest part of it.

[doug maverick]

True, too bad the kung fu was the fakest part of it.

thats true

[Avatar-Omega]

---------------Book One: Water---------------

01. The Boy in the Iceberg
02. The Avatar Returns
03. The Southern Air Temple
04. The Warriors of Kyoshi
05. The King of Omashu
06. Imprisoned
07. The Spirit World
08. Avatar Roku
09. The Waterbending Scroll
10. Jet
11. The Great Divide
12. The Storm
13. The Blue Spirit
14. The Fortuneteller
15. Bato of the Water Tribe
16. The Deserter
17. The Northern Air Temple
18. The Waterbending Master
19. The Siege of the North - Part One
20. The Siege of the North - Part Two

---------------Book Two: Earth---------------

21. The Avatar State
22. The Cave of Two Lovers
23. Return to Omashu
24. The Swamp
25. Avatar Day
26. The Blind Bandit
27. Zuko Alone
28. The Chase
29. Bitter Work
30. The Library
31. The Desert
32. The Serpent's Pass
33. The Drill
34. City of Walls and Secrets
35. The Tales of Ba Sing Se
36. Appa's Lost Days
37. Lake LaoGai
38. The Earth King
39. The Guru
40. The Crossroads of Destiny

---------------Book Three: Fire---------------

41. The Awakeing
42. The Headband
43. The Painted Lady
44. Sokka's Master
45. The Beach
46. The Avatar and the Firelord
47. The Runaway
48. The Puppetmaster
49. Daydreams and Nightmares
50. Day of the Black Sun Part One: The Invasion
51. Day of the Black Sun Part Two: The Eclipse
52. The Western Air Temple
53. The Firebending Masters
54. The Boiling Rock - Part One
55. The Boiling Rock - Part Two
56. The Southern Raiders
57. The Ember Island Players
58. TBA
59. TBA
60. TBA
61. TBA

]

[Sicilian Tofu M]

http://www.avatarspirit.net/ New future clips and trailers.

What episode did the Pervy Sage die in? Ep 55 just came out, and he was in a episode while Kakashi was in the hospital, not to far off.

[Zenshiite]

http://www.avatarspirit.net/ New future clips and trailers.

What episode did the Pervy Sage die in? Ep 55 just came out, and he was in a episode while Kakashi was in the hospital, not to far off.

I think doug was talking about in the fan translated mangas.

Where are you getting those doug?

I started watching the Shippudden episodes when I realized that basically seasons 6-9 are just anime filler that was never in the manga.

[doug maverick]

i go to bleachexile.com (http://www.bleachexile.com) they have a whole **** load of manga

[Sicilian Tofu M]

Avatar 314 & 315 is out
http://www.watchavatar.cc/

[Zenshiite]

Finally! Good episodes too.

[Sicilian Tofu M]

Thank you I love this show! Especially since my little girl begged me to watch it daddy please, please and now wants to learn my kungfu because of the bending I am so in to it now. We can not wait for new episodes. Hey my wife just told me she saw something on the late news about the Avatar martial arts choreographer passed away tonight.

Same here with the family, but I got my boy to watch it. As soon as I get home, I'll IM him on myspace to see if he replys, he's not that old. I hope its a mistake. What news show was it?

[Wil-Hung]

From Part 2 - "Day of the Black Sun" to Part 2 of "The Boiling Rock" are all available at your local Blockbuster. Well worth the wait, I might add - very enlightening.

[Wil-Hung]

my second favorite martial-arts related animated series (my first being History's Strongest Disciple: Kenichi.) And no, it's not Disney. Otherwise, it would be shown on the Disney channel, instead of Nickolodeon.

Where can one find this Kenichi character, what channel, time, etc.

[doug maverick]

you going to have to download it illegally or go buy an overpriced box set. cause this thing is still not licensed in the U.S.

[doug maverick]

just watched the two hour finally and i got to see awesome. the final showdown between and and the firlord wreaked of awesomeness. when ang spared him at the end it reminded me of challenge of the masters. the whole story was great. still some loose ends that will hopefully be tied up with the three one hour specials that are set to come out. and there's the live action version but i'm not really looking forward to it. because m.night shamalamadingdong is set to write and direct all three film.

[Sicilian Tofu M]

just watched the two hour finally and i got to see awesome. the final showdown between and and the firlord wreaked of awesomeness. when ang spared him at the end it reminded me of challenge of the masters. the whole story was great. still some loose ends that will hopefully be tied up with the three one hour specials that are set to come out. and there's the live action version but i'm not really looking forward to it. because m.night shamalamadingdong is set to write and direct all three film.

I haven't herd of 3 one hour specials,(that would be great) if you don't mind where did you here it?

[sean_stonehart]

just watched the two hour finally and i got to see awesome. the final showdown between and and the firlord wreaked of awesomeness. when ang spared him at the end it reminded me of challenge of the masters. the whole story was great. still some loose ends that will hopefully be tied up with the three one hour specials that are set to come out. and there's the live action version but i'm not really looking forward to it. because m.night shamalamadingdong is set to write and direct all three film.

It was good. I wanted to see more of Uncle.

[Zenshiite]

just watched the two hour finally and i got to see awesome. the final showdown between and and the firlord wreaked of awesomeness. when ang spared him at the end it reminded me of challenge of the masters. the whole story was great. still some loose ends that will hopefully be tied up with the three one hour specials that are set to come out. and there's the live action version but i'm not really looking forward to it. because m.night shamalamadingdong is set to write and direct all three film.


Wow. Great wrap up to the series. I'm glad the creators had the integrity to tell the story that needed to be told and not drag it out longer than was necessary. Perfect, just perfect.

[Lokhopkuen]

Same here with the family, but I got my boy to watch it. As soon as I get home, I'll IM him on myspace to see if he replys, he's not that old. I hope its a mistake. What news show was it?

Wow I'm dead? Kool!:D

[Sicilian Tofu M]

Wow I'm dead? Kool!:D

That day I knew it was false info because looked to see when your Myspace page was last updated. Glad the old man isn't dead yet.

[Sicilian Tofu M]

Wow I'm dead? Kool!:D

That day I knew it was false info because I looked to see when your Myspace page was last updated. Glad the old man isn't dead yet.

[Lokhopkuen]

That day I knew it was false info because I looked to see when your Myspace page was last updated. Glad the old man isn't dead yet.

I'm not old just seasoned.:D

[GeneChing]

Maybe it's just me but I always pictured more of them to be Asian... :rolleyes:


First Look: The Cast of The Last Airbender (http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/12/10/first-look-the-cast-of-the-last-airbender/)
Posted on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 at 4:17 am by: Peter Sciretta

Entertainment Weekly reports that M. Night Shyamalan has found the cast for The Last Airbender, the live-action adaptation of the popular Nickelodeon anime-inspired series Avatar.

Karate star Noah Ringer (discovered in a Texas open casting call) will play Aang, the Avatar (the spirit of the planet manifested in human form), the last surviving Airbender and a monk of the Air Nomads, a race of people with the unique ability to manipulate the air around them. He is assigned with the task of keeping the Four Nations at peace.

Jackson Rathbone (Twilight’s Jasper Hale) is in talks to play Aang’s friend Sokka, a warrior of the South Pole’s Southern Water Tribe, a race of people who can control and manipulate water.

Nicola Peltz (Deck the Halls) has been cast as Sokka’s fourteen-year-old sister Katara, the last remaining Waterbender of her entire Tribe.

Pop/R&B singer Jesse McCartney is in talks to play the Fire Nation’s evil prince Zuko. Exiled from the Fire Nation by his father, Zuko is sent to capture the Avatar in order to restore his honor and right to the throne.

The Last Airbender is being targeted for a July 2nd 2010 release.

[bakxierboxer]

Wow I'm dead? Kool!:D

No, it's not Kool.

[bakxierboxer]

I'm not old just seasoned.:D

You could say that.......

How the heck did I miss this thread?
Oh.... I guess it's because I usually give this sub-forum a "pass".......

[doug maverick]

well you know that's hollywood gene, me personally i would have had a moxed bunch, different races across the board. and its interesting that m.night went with what i think maybe an all white cast.

[Zenshiite]

I think the movie is going to be the biggest piece of crap with that cast. It's going to make no sense unless they start changing the cultural trappings of the whole world of Avatar drastically.

Jesse McCartney as Zuko? Seriously? The Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom are the two most Chinese things in the whole show. And a karate kid to play a character whose bending is based on bagua... insanity.

[ittokaos]

It could work out fine. They will be trained correctly after all. Considering that the kid playing Aang has prior training , it shouldnt be too hard to fix his movements. They should have been looking for dancers. They are easier to teach.

[doug maverick]

100% agree with ittokas dancers make for better screen fighters, especially street dancers.

[SimonM]

I have one thing to say:

M. Night Shamylan persistently brings the suck.

I look forward to seeing this in the "marked down for quick sale" bin at Blockbuster.

[doug maverick]

on that we agree, he peaked with the sixth sense and has yet to find a new niche on which to continue.

[Zenshiite]

I am heartened to know that the the Avatar fanbase is engaged in a letter writing campaign directly to Paramount Pictures expressing their disgust at the obvious racism of the casting choices for this movie.

[冠木侍]

on that we agree, he peaked with the sixth sense and has yet to find a new niche on which to continue.

I liked The Village actually. What is a shame is the fact that most of his movies have no replay/rewatch value.

Sixth Sense is an exception in my opinion.

I have yet to watch all of Avatar. I wonder if the live action movie would be better left to an HK director....? I think so. The martial arts aspect would really shine on the screen. The casting choices leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

[Zenshiite]

I think Sammo could direct the crap outta an Avatar movie. He could choreograph it, and be Uncle Iroh too.

We need another little dude like Xie Miao to play Avatar. Anyone know of any little kids that have played Shaolin monks recently and have good kung fu?

Heck, I'd rather see Donnie Yen play Zuko than Jessy McCartney and Donnie is clearly too old for that part!

[TenTigers]

Hoy Lee's kids and Calvin Chin has a wunderkund in his school wo would be great. They should have held casting calls at Kung-Fu/Wu-Shu tournaments, but NOOOOOOOOO...

[Zenshiite]

So, does anyone know if the creators of the show are ****ed about this at all?

Who knows if wushu kids could even act, the dancers suggestion from doug makes perfect sense in many cases. What I don't get is why they are using all these "beautiful" white kids rather than kids that might be better for the part.

If there was ever an argument against these casting decisions outside of it obviously being quite racist... it's that the believability of the whole thing goes out the window when you've got a bunch of Anglos wearing East Asian clothing, doing East Asian martial arts, writing East Asian pictographs and eating East Asian food in traditional settings for such things. Spouting East Asian philosophy no less.

Are they going to take all of that stuff out and end up with yet another Euro fantasy?

I say fire M. Night... hire Tsui Hark and Sammo and do this thing up Fant-Asia style.

[GeneChing]

Wannabe Asian? Pull your hair up and get a tan...

Jan 15 2009 8:04 AM EST
'Twilight' Star Jackson Rathbone Hopes To 'Show His Range' In 'Last Airbender'
Actor says his character in the upcoming M. Night Shyamalan film is 'less serious than Jasper.' (http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1602757/story.jhtml)
By Larry Carroll

WEST HOLLYWOOD, California — "Twilight" star Jackson Rathbone is a busy guy these days, between getting ready to film "New Moon" in March and a side gig as lead singer/ keyboardist/ guitarist/ bass player/ everything else for his band 100 Monkeys.

Nevertheless, the fast-rising actor/musician is still finding time to catch some air.

"I'm focusing mostly on music and another movie I have coming up," the 24-year-old actor told us about the high-profile gig he recently landed after one of Hollywood's most iconic directors recruited him. "We're going to be working on 'The Last Airbender' with M. Night Shyamalan, so that's very exciting."

The "Sixth Sense" director is hard at work adapting the popular cartoon about an "Avatar" hoping to save the world through a mix of martial arts and elemental manipulation. "It was great. They flew us all out to Philly," Rathbone remembered of his audition. "I got to meet the other castmembers that they hired on. I got to read with them, even. It was a blast. It was a great chance to get a free trip to Philly and get a chance to meet M. Night. He's an incredibly nice guy, and I think we hit it off pretty well, and now I get to play Sokka."

A young warrior of the Southern Water Tribe, Rathbone's Sokka will accompany his cinematic sister Katara (Nicola Peltz, "Deck the Halls") as they help the heroic Aang (newcomer Noah Ringer) take on evil. Jesse McCartney is also reportedly onboard. "It's a fantastic show," Rathbone said of the Nickelodeon animated series. "I've always loved that kind of deep, mythical fantasy. It's got a lot about the four elements: water, fire, earth, wind. It's just really cool. It's a really interesting series and such a cool character. I've always liked the show, and I thought it would be fun.

"For me, it's a great chance to show my range a little bit more," Rathbone added, comparing Sokka to his "Twilight" character. "It's a chance to do something a little funnier. Something less serious than Jasper."

Due in theaters in summer 2010, "Airbender" has already begun to face a bit of controversy over the casting of white actors like Rathbone, Ringer and McCartney to play Asian characters — a concern the actor was quick to dismiss. "I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan," he said of the transformation he'll go through to look more like Sokka."It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit."

He's also excited to work with Shyamalan on what's not only being envisioned as a trilogy, but also as an eagerly anticipated departure from the director's typical "thriller with a twist" flicks. "I think 'Airbender' has a lot of suspenseful twists as a TV show, but I think it's something he's really looking forward to, for expanding his own horizons," Rathbone said. "He has kids. How many films has he made that his kids would be able to watch? So I think it's really great that he's making a family film. I have a sister; it's exciting to make a film that my whole family can enjoy."

So, soon enough, Rathbone will put down his banjo-lele and pick up a badass sword.

"It's just an action-packed, epic film," he beamed. "I'm starting to do martial-arts training, which is going to be so much fun, and we're doing a lot of interesting work with the green screen. It's such a mythical world. We get to go to Asia, go film abroad. It's just going to be such a blast."

Check out everything we've got on "The Last Airbender."

[SimonM]

Good grief!

[doug maverick]

wow that was some real racist **** that little kid said. and shame on M. night for co-signing that cast, he should no better.

[Zenshiite]

I hate this movie more than I already did...

I'm sticking with the show.

[GeneChing]

From Josh Whedon's Dr. Horrible

10. NOBODY'S ASIAN IN THE MOVIES (http://drhorrible.com/commentary.html#nobody)
Music and Lyrics by Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon
Performed by Maurissa Tancharoen

I WROTE ALL PENNY’S LINES AND HER SONG, YOU KNOW
I EVEN SANG HER PART UP ON THE DEMO
BUT WHEN IT’S TIME TO CAST THE SHOW
DID THEY WANT SOMEBODY YELLOW - HELL NO

NOBODY’S ASIAN IN THE MOVIES
NOBODY’S ASIAN ON TV
IF THERE IS A PART THERE FOR US
IT’S THE GROUPIE IN THE CHORUS
THAT’S ME

I BEGGED AND I PLEADED PLEASE DON’T PASS ME BY
THEY SAY, HEY GIVE US A HAND
GO STAND IN THE BACK WITH THAT FAT GUY
MY ROLE, THOUGH BE IT BRIEF, AT LEAST
IT ISN’T VIET CONG, IT’S COMIC RELIEF

NOBODY’S ASIAN IN THE MOVIES
NOBODY’S ASIAN ON TV
IF THERE IS A PART THERE FOR US
IT’S A NINJA, A PHYSICIAN
OR A GOOFY MATHEMATICIAN
OR A GROUPIE IN THE CHORUS
THAT’S ME

WHO DO THEY WANT BEFORE THEY WANT AN ASIAN?
A MEXICAN
WHO DO THEY WANT BEFORE THEY WANT AN ASIAN?
A BLACK
WHO DO THEY WANT BEFORE THEY WANT AN ASIAN?
A PERSIAN, OR A CAJUN, OR AN INDIAN
OR AN AMERICAN-INDIAN PLAYED BY A MEXICAN
OR IF YOU’RE LUCKY SOMEONE ASIAN
LIKE ME

Jed:
But Maurissa, movies couldn’t even be made without Asians.
We need them to play the parts we’re not willing to.

Maurissa:
You’re right, Jed!

WITHOUT THE ASIANS IN THE MOVIES
WITHOUT THE ASIANS ON TV
WHO’D PLAY THE GOOFY MATHEMATICIAN
THE COMPUTER TECHNICIAN
A WISE OLD HEALER FROM JAPAN
A SHORT BUT WEALTHY BUSINESSMAN
SELL KOREAN GROCERIES
DO YOUR LAUNDRY THANK YOU, PRREASE
WE’RE THE VICTIMS OF A CRIME
WE’LL BE LOVING YOU LONG TIME
IF YOUR MOVIE IS A BORE JUST
WATCH THE GROUPIE IN THE CHORUS
THAT’S ME

Maurissa:
I guess my parents will be proud of me after all.

Jed:
What does your dad do again?

Maurissa:
Oh! He’s a nerdy, funny scientist.
the youtube version. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNmzegQUtFA)

[SimonM]

DR. Horrible is the 2nd best musical ever made.

The best being the Evil Dead musical.

[golgo]

wow that was some real racist **** that little kid said. and shame on M. night for co-signing that cast, he should no better.

What did he say that was racist?

[Wil-Hung]

It seems as though the target audience will be a younger demographic over here. It will BOMB in Asia, but will probably be a big hit here with lots of Wire and CG. I HATE WIRE in MA movies. I'm upset about it, but being a 45 year old new Hung Ga student (started 3 yrs ago) I am NOT the targeted audience. My main problem with it is that's exactly what they did with David Carradine 30+ years ago with the tv show "Kung Fu". While it was a hit, picture for a minute how much more superior that show would have been if the original actor had played the role. For those that don't know, that would be Mr. Bruce Lee. If the setting is ancient China, I'm thinking the actual filming should be done there and maybe, just maybe, the leads should be indigenous to the setting. I know, I know... that's just crazy talk.

[golgo]

For those that don't know, that would be Mr. Bruce Lee. If the setting is ancient China, I'm thinking the actual filming should be done there and maybe, just maybe, the leads should be indigenous to the setting. I know, I know... that's just crazy talk.

Well... this is a cartoon set in a made-up world with made-up peoples, so you might have a little bit of difficulty doing that. However, since the world seemed to have been largely based on asian cultures, I am not sure what their current line of thinking is. I for one will wait until I see the movie to pass any judgements on their casting choices.

[Lokhopkuen]

I want to say something so bad............................................... .................................................. .................................................. .......................:eek:

[GeneChing]

We've been waiting to hear from you on this. ;)

[doug maverick]

It seems as though the target audience will be a younger demographic over here. It will BOMB in Asia, but will probably be a big hit here with lots of Wire and CG. I HATE WIRE in MA movies. I'm upset about it, but being a 45 year old new Hung Ga student (started 3 yrs ago) I am NOT the targeted audience. My main problem with it is that's exactly what they did with David Carradine 30+ years ago with the tv show "Kung Fu". While it was a hit, picture for a minute how much more superior that show would have been if the original actor had played the role. For those that don't know, that would be Mr. Bruce Lee. If the setting is ancient China, I'm thinking the actual filming should be done there and maybe, just maybe, the leads should be indigenous to the setting. I know, I know... that's just crazy talk.

you hate wires in kung fu movies? **** you must hate every martial arts film that has ever been made, cause they all use wires, every last one of them. yes even the tony jaa films.

anyhoo, im not gonna prejudge this film until i see it. however im very disapointed in M. night, seeing as how under represented asian are in film, he should have known better, and to golgo the reason why i said it was racist was because the kid was unknowingly talking about being in yellow face.

[Zenshiite]

I want to say something so bad............................................... .................................................. .................................................. .......................:eek:


Please do say something.

Also, what the frack is wrong with M. Night that he can't not shoot a film in Philly?

Hmm, Asian themed fantasy film... let's shoot in Philadelphia!

[Lokhopkuen]

We've been waiting to hear from you on this. ;)

Signed a non-disclosure but some of you are SO right & you don't even know:rolleyes:

[GeneChing]

Oh bummer. Oh well, we understand that. We'll just have to get you lit sometime and dish in private. ;)

[Lokhopkuen]

:D:D:D:D:D
okay, I'm coming over!
:D:D:D:D:D

[doug maverick]

Signed a non-disclosure but some of you are SO right & you don't even know:rolleyes:

**** those NDA's **** them to hell.

[Zenshiite]

Man, there needs to be a smiley for smashing your head on the wall...

I really want a statement. ****ed non-disclosures...

[Shaolinlueb]

i think i know who is in the top running for action choregrapher for this movie.

[Lokhopkuen]

i think i know who is in the top running for action choregrapher for this movie.

I'm not involved with the project.
I have a copy of the script.
I've hung out with this dude (http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q69/lokhopkuen/DSC07814_1-1.jpg),
nice guy.

My new philosophy is "F U C K Hollywood" :D

[Lokhopkuen]

just watched the two hour finally and i got to see awesome. the final showdown between and and the firlord wreaked of awesomeness. when ang spared him at the end it reminded me of challenge of the masters. the whole story was great. still some loose ends that will hopefully be tied up with the three one hour specials that are set to come out. and there's the live action version but i'm not really looking forward to it. because m.night shamalamadingdong is set to write and direct all three film.

How'd you know about those?

Bad news though. Nope, nada, zilch.

Animated AVATAR IS OVER

[doug maverick]

How'd you know about those?

Bad news though. Nope, nada, zilch.

Animated AVATAR IS OVER

because i'm doug maverick, if you read any of my post you'll find film info that nobody is suppose to know about but i know, cause nothing goes down without me, no cartoons, no features, nothing, if a short film is shooting in a park by an 8 year i want in. lol, ok i had my "king of new york" moment. but seriously they're not going to do them aw man that blows big time. see now im getting ****ed, so im gonna have to see this "yellow face" m.night shamalama film in order to get my avatar fix, which i should be jonzing for after i burn a whole in the dvd's i got.

[GeneChing]

Spearheading the protest on Airbender is Saving the World with Postage (http://aang-aint-white.livejournal.com/) which is pushing for a letter-writing campaign.

A new casting call is being held tomorrow in at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA. If you're interested, contact lastairbendercasting@gmail.com 215-574-7878. Applicants are asked to "dress casually OR in the traditional costume of your family's ethnic background." ;)

[doug maverick]

Spearheading the protest on Airbender is Saving the World with Postage (http://aang-aint-white.livejournal.com/) which is pushing for a letter-writing campaign.

A new casting call is being held tomorrow in at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA. If you're interested, contact lastairbendercasting@gmail.com 215-574-7878. Applicants are asked to "dress casually OR in the traditional costume of your family's ethnic background." ;)

thats interesting, i have a feeling they might recast the entire film. if they not gonna make it all asian they should at least use different races. studios are like children sometimes you have to tell them right from wrong. sometimes you have to spank them. they honestly dont ****ing know. look at their so called analyst who have been way off the mark in film projections for the last three months. films that were slated to flop have been hits, for example tom cruise's valkyrie which was slated o open at like 15m but opened at 35m i think. i can go on an on. the reality is they are out of touch with the people and have no idea what the public wants. except warner bros. and maybe sony.

[Zenshiite]

Interesting. I'm not going to hold my breath that they'll actually overhaul the whole thing.

I want the main cast changed, but I have a hard time believing that'll happen.

I mean, seriously... what would they do about Uncle Iroh? You put that Teen Idol mag dude as Zuko and cast an Asian man to play the role of traditional bearded Chinese mentor dude as his uncle you're going to have not credibility.

Suddenly you go from having a lily white cast of main characters to having to have nearly all the supporting characters be similarly lily white in order for the main characters to even make sense. Then what?

**** foolish if you ask me.

[sean_stonehart]

Spearheading the protest on Airbender is Saving the World with Postage (http://aang-aint-white.livejournal.com/) which is pushing for a letter-writing campaign.

A new casting call is being held tomorrow in at the Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA. If you're interested, contact lastairbendercasting@gmail.com 215-574-7878. Applicants are asked to "dress casually OR in the traditional costume of your family's ethnic background." ;)

A sombrero, leiderosen, toga & kilt??? I don't think they've got a spot for me there...

[Wildwoo]

I'll tell. Sifu:p

This movie will suck in the the way that only M. Night can make a movie suck:eek:
The problem is not with Night who is actually a decent director, the problem lays in the people he has surrounded himself with always promoting their own self interest to the point of sacrificing the quality of all of his films! I know first hand since I was part of the crew on "The Happening" which sucked so hard videos on the shelf next to it move closer by the pull of gravitational suck-i-ness!

One of my classmates who happens to be one of the creators of the show had a very disrespectful falling out with my teacher by minimizing his involvement with the show in interviews and media then proceeded to back door f u c k Sifu over as "punishment" after Sifu called him on the carpet!

(Sifu we who watched from the sidelines KNOW you were the heart and soul of the essence and success of that show.)

Also I must add that the weasel d i c ks behind the scenes tried to milk Sifu for consultation materials. Sifu answered questions, wrote outlines and overviews for filming and training and the moment when he asked about contracts and a solid written deal they brought in their friends and friends of the stunt coordinator (who is not a martial artist) and the good old boy club rolled along in full effect while they lead him on with empty promises. Somewhere in that time line he told them to Go Fork themselves:D

Animated Avatar was based on the movements of traditional Chinese gung fu. The film will be choreographed and the actors trained by people who wouldn't know Chinese Gung Fu if was bitting them in the neathers.

Legal Disclaimer:
The above is all hearsay only. Mind you all who read here Sifu never told me any of this but the senior students talk, I listen and at one point my Sihings were going to get together and correct Bryan. The C o c k breath never sleep.:rolleyes:

Hollywood? LOL!

Sifu I am at your mercy:o


I'm not involved with the project.
I have a copy of the script.
I've hung out with this dude (http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q69/lokhopkuen/DSC07814_1-1.jpg),
nice guy.

My new philosophy is "F U C K Hollywood" :D

[Lokhopkuen]

Dude do you ever think?

WTF?!?!?

[Zenshiite]

Uh oh....

Somebody's going to be in trouble next class...

[Lokhopkuen]

Uh oh....

Somebody's going to be in trouble next class...

He didn't have to wait for class:rolleyes:
The above is a very distorted re-telling of an unrelated series of semi factual hear says.
He doesn't know what he is talking about.

[Wil-Hung]

[QUOTE=doug maverick;907097]you hate wires in kung fu movies? **** you must hate every martial arts film that has ever been made, cause they all use wires, every last one of them. yes even the tony jaa films.
QUOTE]

Sorry for the overstatement, I dislike Crouching Tiger hidden Dragon "wire" theatrics and Jet Li's "The One". On the other hand, IMHO, Fearless, Fist of legend, Kiss of the Dragon, etc... use a tolerable amount of wire. Sorry to stir you up. That's how I feel. Obviously most peole like it b/c it is used so much. I don't believe I'm correct in this opinion, I just don't like it.

[Zenshiite]

He didn't have to wait for class:rolleyes:
The above is a very distorted re-telling of an unrelated series of semi factual hear says.
He doesn't know what he is talking about.

Well, whatever happened... sorry it did.

Too bad we can't get the real dirt...;)

[doug maverick]

im not one to pre-judge any film before i see it. but this film is really shaping up to be something aweful, i mean lets make a serious drama about the last black man on earth and put johnny depp in the lead role in black face since its all like that(wait scratch that with J. depp in the lead that might be a good movie, lets say keanu reeves). i mean this is just bad for hollywood, and if they do go through with it, there is going to be a huge fallout over this film.

[Zenshiite]

Definitely.

Sad really, because this could be a huge movie.

If you think about it, it's also a major step back. Look at the last wuxia flick that Hollywood did, and aside from minor quibbles people have... did right. The Forbidden Kingdom. That had a white kid in it as a main character, but that movie was marketed with Jackie and Jet. The American kid was nowhere to be seen in trailers and definitely not on posters.

Plus, they shot in China. Avatar the Last Airbender should follow that example, not what we are seeing right now.

[doug maverick]

well you know the more people talk about it, and argue about the more things change. cause studios actually have a staff of people who peruse the internet to see what fans of a certain comic book or tv show are saying. its been a proven fact over the last couple of years that the so called analyst have literally lost touch and dont know what people want. they are putting lots an lots of money into this film, if they think there will be a hint of trouble trust me when i say they will overhaul the entire cast. it has been done plenty of times.

[Zenshiite]

Then I'll keep *****in' about it.:D

[doug maverick]

thats right, lets raise some hell...get this film either changed or shelved. first time im 100% against a film(funny that its a kids film that i should even be concerned with,lol).

[Zenshiite]

Yeah, weird huh?

I never would've thought I'd want to stop a movie being made of a franchise I like.

[GeneChing]

Asian Pop is an S.F. Chronicle column by Jeff Yang. I've posted links to his stuff before.

'Avatar' an Asian thing- why isn't the cast? (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/29/DDMU15ICE4.DTL&hw=avatar&sn=001&sc=1000)
Jeff Yang
Thursday, January 29, 2009

When is an Asian cartoon not an Asian cartoon? The answer to this Zen dilemma is at the heart of the latest high-octane kerfuffle clogging the Intertubes - one that's pulled into its vortex two of the most celebrated Asian American creators in comics: Gene Yang, National Book Award finalist for his graphic novel, "American Born Chinese," and Derek Kirk Kim, whose work has won comics' most prestigious laurels, the Xeric, Ignatz, Eisner and Harvey awards.

That's because the two happen to be passionate devotees of Nickelodeon's animated TV series "Avatar: The Last Airbender." The show completed its third and final season last year only to have the cable network green-light a live-action, big-screen adaptation, which was greeted with both anticipation and anxiety by the show's burgeoning fan base.

Last month, with the unveiling of the film's principal cast, the fans' worst fears were realized, prompting self-proclaimed "Avatards" - chief among them 'toon titans Yang and Kim - to launch a protest that's generated torrents of both support and criticism.

The whole controversy might be trivial if it weren't for the fact that "Avatar" is a genuine pop-culture sensation, acclaimed by critics, adored by fans and, yes, wildly profitable.

One reason Asian Americans such as Yang and Kim have been drawn into the show's orbit is that it has hit it big despite - many would say because of - its richly Asian-inspired setting. The core ideas are drawn from Hindu, Taoist and Buddhist philosophy; its character names - Aang, Katara, Toph Bei Fong - incorporate Chinese, Japanese and Southeast Asian phonemes; and its visual identity is modeled on traditional Asian iconography.

So when the core cast of the "Avatar" movie was revealed, hard-core fans recoiled - not because the actors are mostly unknowns, drawn from open auditions across the country, but because, well, they're white.

This is far from the first controversy regarding the casting of Asian roles with Caucasian actors. Last year saw an outcry over the "whitewashing" of "21," the film about blackjack prodigies whose real-life counterparts were a group of Asian American MIT undergrads. But for fans of "Avatar," this casting is an even greater affront, not least because the show's primary target audience is 6- to 11-year-olds - kids who may not know the specifics of its references but are undoubtedly aware of and attracted to its cultural origins.

"These are kids growing up with manga," Kim says. "They're not only comfortable with Asian concepts, they're fascinated by them. To think that they won't come to a live-action version unless it's cast with white actors - that's really a shockingly ignorant viewpoint. These kids aren't watching Jackie Chan movies and thinking, 'Yikes! I wish he were a white guy!' "

But here's where the plot begins to snarl. "Avatar" isn't meant to mirror existing Asian history, imagined future or mythological canon. It's clearly set in an original fantasy world - invented by two white Americans, Bryan Konietzko and Mike DiMartino. Many of the voice actors for the original series are white as well. And though the actors selected for the big-screen version are white, the director who chose those actors is one of the few top-tier Asian American filmmakers in Hollywood, M. Night Shyamalan.

It's an object lesson in how hard it is to maintain claims of authenticity and cultural ownership in a world where boundaries are rapidly beginning to blur. If it's all right for white guys to come up with an "Asian" story and even voice it behind the scenes, why is it not all right for white guys (and girls) to portray that story onscreen?

But there's more to the argument against the casting of "Avatar" than a claim to racial justification. In fact, it's arguably a more powerful case than the one against "21." The creators of the series have stated that the show was designed from the ground up as an elaborate homage to the culture, ideas and artists that they revered, an "epic, Asian, martial-arts fantasy/action/adventure/comedy/drama" celebrating the likes of anime legend Hayao Miyazaki.

The movie "21" was a reimagining of real life, not a documentary, and thus free to remake truth in the pursuit of what its producers thought was commercially viable. By contrast, the "Avatar" movie is being presented as a direct translation of its source material - which by definition demands adherence to the series' internal, spiritual truth.

It's hard to imagine the "Harry Potter" films working with characters that don't visually fit the books' British boarding school sensibility. "And I don't think it would've been true to the spirit of 'Lord of the Rings' if the movie hobbits had Asian features, given the strongly Anglo-Saxon tradition of those books," Yang notes.

In short, these casting decisions ring false to the show's spirit; the very spirit that has transfixed millions of young fans and brought legions of Avatards together into a passionate community.

"What frustrates us most is that you had this amazing opportunity - you've got a nation of fans who love this quintessentially Asian story," Kim says. "This could have broken down every barrier in the business, proving you can have an all-Asian cast and score three blockbuster successes. Instead, we just get three more chances to cringe."

[Zenshiite]

Right on.

I can't believe they are casting white kids in the major roles in this movie... and better(worse) yet, holding extras casting calls in Philadelphia of all places for people to populate a decidedly East Asian fantasy world. It's obviously not going to be an even primarily Asian-populated background world as the show so obviously is.

This is along the same lines of turning the 2003 RPG video game of the year Jade Empire into a movie and casting it with a white cast outside Sir Roderick(the only white dude in there, intended to be an obnoxious Anglo character that poopoos Chinese philosophy and martial arts with silly European superstitions of the time and his rifle, ultimately always killing his intellectual and martial "inferiors"). Jade Empire draws very specifically off Chinese cosmology and pantheons.

It's stupid to turn the world of Avatar into a world of primarily Europeans on the big-screen for the same reason it would've been stupid to populated it with animated Europeans... it just doesn't fit. Same reason why Jade Empire's world isn't populated by Europeans.

[Shaolinlueb]

so i finally saw an episode of this. i think it was the 3rd episode of the first season. it was alrite.

[Zenshiite]

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1603949/story.jhtml

More stupidity.

[Lokhopkuen]

Best Television production produced for children
Avatar: The Last Airbender -- Nickelodeon

Annies (animation awards)

[Zenshiite]

Awesome.

BTW, Jesse McCartney is now officially out of the movie and Dev Patel(Slumdog Millionare) is now cast as Zuko.

Interesting. Though, still a bit odd if you ask me. At least he's got a black belt in TKD though.

[doug maverick]

patel was great in slumdog. good casting choice i think he'll do well. its cause of your protesting zen. but seriously did i not tell you casting changes were coming.

[Zenshiite]

Yeah, at least they got the right continent this time.

What I don't get is like... they've hired a guy from Twilight... he's going to keep being in taht series of movies. There's his success.

You can't tell me there are equally unknown East Asian-American actors that could use the break, and use the break in a film based on a cartoon based upon their cultural heritage. Makes no ****ed sense.

[Zenshiite]

You know. Having just watched The Forbidden Kingdom again... first of all, many of the supporting actors in that movie would be perfect for Avatar characters. I can't really think of anything I'd want to put Jackie or Jet in in Avatar, thus why I say the supporting cast.

Collin Chou could easily be perfect for Firelord Ozai.

Liu Yi Fei I think would be a better fit for Katara than the girl they cast in the role.

I really think Paramount should've looked to TFK for ideas as to how to do Avatar. Like, for instance, shooting on location in China. As I understand it, right now they are looking to shoot in PA near Philadelphia since M. Night seems to be afraid to do anything away from home. Another major reason to fire his ass and get someone who can shoot a fant-Asia film and actually knows the genre.

[GeneChing]

After Slumdog, Patel can almost call his shots...except for the fact that it's hard for Indians to find roles in Hollywood. :o

Honestly, if Airbender wanted to be multi-racial, Shyamalan should have lifted a page from Peter Brook's The Mahabharata. That was a classic of Indian literature and Brooks went with a multicultural cast to give it this air of universality and it totally worked. It was a brilliant adaptation.


‘Slumdog’ Star Dev Patel Joins Jackson Rathbone For ‘The Last Airbender’ (http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2009/02/02/slumdog-star-dev-patel-joins-jackson-rathbone-for-the-last-airbender/)
Published by Elisabeth Rappe on Monday, February 2, 2009 at 10:56 am.

Dev PatelDev Patel is on his way to becoming a real millionaire. According to Variety, the “Slumdog Millionaire” star has just signed onto M. Night Shyamalan’s live-action adaptation of “The Last Airbender.” (Shyamalan has dropped “Avatar” from the title in order to avoid confusion with James Cameron’s sci-fi film of the same name.) He’ll be joined by Twilight’s Jackson Rathbone, and newcomers Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, and Jessica Jade Andres.

Patel is playing Zuko, a member of the Fire Nation and one of the villains of the series’ fantasy world. He’s replacing pop star Jesse McCartney, whose tour dates left him unable to commit to the film or its boot camp.

Rathbone dodged a similar scheduling conflict — he is signed to reprise his role of Jasper in “New Moon,” but was able to negotiate his appearences in both films, though his “Avatar” role is unspecified.

While Patel and Rathbone might be the biggest names of the film, it’s Ringer who will be the star. He’ll be playing the lead role of Aang, the reluctant hero and Avatar of the title. He nabbed the part after uploading an audition video of himself performing martial arts to Shyamalan’s website.

Peltz (”Deck the Halls”) will play Katara the Waterbender, who frees Aang and aids him on his quest, while Andres (”Gossip Girl”) will play Suki. Production will begin in mid-March in the exotic locale of Greenland, and will hit theaters on July 2, 2010. If all goes well, it will be the first in a planned trilogy.

[Zenshiite]

Wait a minute... that article says Rathbone's role is now unspecified... before he was supposed to play Katara's brother Sokka.

I wonder if we won't see this whole cast scrapped. Jessica Jade Andres has been about the only person cast thus far I can say I feel really fits the look of the show.

[doug maverick]

again this is what i was telling you. hollywood is spending its own money now, not just barrowing from the banks cause the banks arent lending a hundred million dollars anymore. so if they get a scent that this movie might be a flop they will change the whole thing.

[Zenshiite]

You know, so far the only thing I've seen that connect M Night to this franchise sentimentally is his daughter wanting to dress up like Katara for Halloween. Which is great and all... but don't you think it makes more sense to get people involved that actually share a knowledge and love of the material this show pays homage to?

The Forbidden Kingdom is about the best relevant example here, because it's origins lay in a very similar situation as Avatar. You've got the creator/writer that practices kung fu and loves Asian culture and cinema. Then you've got the production team that was brought in to craft the vision. In the case of the TV show, you've got Koreans doing the actual animating and everything... but the folks involved in writing and directing and producing all have a love of anime and kung fu flicks. Then you do this movie and you put M Night in? The dude hasn't even had a non-white protagonist in any of his films.

I'm actually starting to think that M Night's just as white-washed mentallhy as the casting decisions were. Plus, I've seen nothing with him talking about how much he loves Hong Kong cinema and Fant-Asia films... which Avatar quite obviously IS in so many ways. M Night's known for not liking action, in fact. So why should this dude have gotten hired? Just because he's got a big name? He's made 6 movies, the last 3 of which have been total flops and not liked by the critics. And yet, they are not only having him direct this picture... but write it as well! I just don't see the point of this guy being involved. Does he really have that much clout in Hollywood? No one said to themselves "maybe we ought to get someone who knows the background and inspirations for this franchise to direct the movie?" We haven't even heard who the action choreographer is going to be yet, to my knowledge. Who is attached to do the kung fu? From some of the stuff above, I get the impression that Sifu Kisu isn't involved... so again, who is working on this in that department?

Fortunately they aren't even shooting yet, there's potential for the cast to be scrapped in order to do this thing up the right way. I was looking on Derek Kirk Kim's blog earlier and he's managed to dig up the casting calls for the principles... all of them say they are looking for "Caucasian or other ethnicities" while the open casting call didn't specify Caucasian at all for the extras. So it would seem that there was never really any intention of hiring Asians for those roles.

Anyway, here's Derek Kirk Kim's blog entry:


Saturday, January 24, 2009
Diggin'
I've been doing some digging the last few days, and it all seems to point to what we suspected. I don't think there was ever any real intention of casting Asians for the lead roles in this movie to begin with. (I know, shocking.) These were the original casting calls:

AANG: 12-15 years-old, Male, Caucasian or any other ethnicity. We are looking for a young man to play the lead role in a motion picture franchise. He must be athletic and graceful with an ability in Martial Arts (not necessarily extensive experience, but at least an aptitude for it). Kids with experience in gymnastics, dance, or sports could also be good. He is a young adventurer and should seem like the type of young man who will grow up to be heroic.

KATARA: 14-17 years-old, Female, Caucasian or any other ethnicity. She is Sokka’s younger sister. She is a headstrong and determined girl with a real sense of idealism. She believes in herself and feels that she can play on the same team as the boys. She is beautiful, intelligent, passionate, feisty, and has a real sense of adventure.

SOKKA: 16-20 years-old, Male, Caucasian or any other ethnicity. He is Katara¹s older brother. He is intelligent but awkward, and very funny (although not necessarily intentionally so). He aspires to greatness, but he tends to doubt himself. He is always one to be swayed by a pretty girl.

ZUKO: 16-20 years-old, Male, Caucasian or any other ethnicity. He is a brooding, intense young man who wrestles - not always successfully - with being good. Regaining his honor is a driving impetus for him. He is extremely handsome and is the type of dangerous boy every girl falls in love with. Athletic and/or martial arts experience is a plus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzx3SkvqSok&feature=related

I wonder how many Asian Americans even showed up for the casting call. I'd be willing to bet there would have been many, many more if the casting call had been "Asian or any other ethnicity." It's just mathematically improbable: Even Paris -- seen in my previous post -- a starting actor, seems almost there, and he's just one kid on YouTube. Among the millions of other Asian Americans, they really couldn't have found 4 of them just as talented as those white actors to play these roles?

I think the following is just as telling. Here's a recent casting call for extras that's happening today (in bold is what I'm focusing on):

Casting folks are looking for extras to play soldiers, martial artists, dancers, gymnasts, athletes and families - specifically physically fit people from 18 to 65 years old. The open call will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Bullies restaurant at the Wachovia Spectrum. You're asked to dress casually or in the traditional costume of your family's ethnic background. Info: lastairbendercasting@gmail.com or 215-574-7878.

Hm. That's interesting. I wonder why they didn't include that bit in the casting calls for the four main characters. I wonder why they didn't include "Caucasian or any other ethnicity" for this extras call. Everybody, together now!

And for those of you who keep harping on about how the decision wasn't based on race but about making money and thus not racist, here, I'll let the always articulate Mr. Neil Babra explain it to you: "I wish that Hollywood would be a meritocracy for actors, but unfortunately, it views Asian faces as less attractive and less marketable, and that often trumps acting prowess. That's fundamentally racist, because evolutionary biology shows that their human consumers don't actually find people in other races less attractive without social dissuasion, which the studios are responsible for exacerbating."

Just because your intentions aren't racist, it doesn't mean you can use racist practices to achieve your goal. Some of you seem to be really misreading this part -- I didn't call the ones responsible for this casting racists in my essay, I called their actions racist and discriminatory.

Furthermore, even if they had no racist intentions, the end result ("Yellow Face" in this case) is racist. Among other things, it implies that white people are better at playing Asians than Asians.

Also, and most importantly, if the movie's great, it'll be a hit whether the cast is Asian or not. So why not do what's right and cast Asians in Asian roles?

[GeneChing]

The more I think about it, the more I like Patel in the role. He'd bring the attention of a different audience to a martial arts film, and that's always good. Of course, if the film sucks, the deal is off.

Dev Patel's martial arts role (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gST5OiQ9uFeXNYVgD3-buDqiYnyQ)
1 hour ago

Dev Patel may owe his part in the forthcoming M Night Shyamalan film to his martial arts experience.

The Slumdog Millionaire star has been offered a role in the Sixth Sense director's next film, which is based on a martial arts cartoon.

Dev said: "It's based on a Nickolodean cartoon called Avatar so we're in talks about that. It's all CGI and martial arts.

"It sounds like a good project. I love martial arts like Bruce Lee and Jet Li and I'd love to try something physical."

Before finding fame in Skins and then Danny Boyle's Slumdog, Dev was awarded the bronze medal at the Taekwondo 2004 World Championship in Dublin - something which he said may have helped him land the role.

"I haven't had time to keep up with it but hopefully I can get back to my local club and get a beating," he said.


After ‘Slumdog,’ Dev Patel Gets Role in Shyamalan Film (http://www.indiawest.com/readmore.aspx?id=885&sid=5)
By LISA TSERING
indiawest.com February 05, 2009 03:10:00 PM

Dev Patel keeps a tuxedo at the ready these days, as the 18-year-old British actor makes an appearance on the red carpet at awards shows seemingly every other day. Patel plays Jamal Malik, an impoverished Mumbai chaiwallah-turned-crorepati in Danny Boyle’s Oscar-nominated “Slumdog Millionaire.”

But Patel is also in the news this week after the announcement Feb. 1 that he had accepted a starring role in M. Night Shyamalan’s next film, “Avatar: The Last Airbender.” The film, which will start production next month in Greenland, is a live-action version of the hit Nickelodeon cartoon series and will be produced by Paramount Pictures.

“I went for an audition for Shyamalan way back, before I did ‘Slumdog,’” Patel told India-West from Los Angeles Feb. 2. “Shyamalan saw me in ‘Slumdog,’ and he really liked me, and I just got a call from him, saying I’d be great for the character. I’d love to do it.”

Patel will play Zuko, a member of the Fire Nation (the lead characters correspond to the four elements). He will join “Avatar’s” cast for a boot camp before shooting begins, to familiarize them with the martial arts moves.

“Because I’m so new to the business, I’m so glad to learn. After doing a very performance-oriented role in ‘Slumdog,’ this one is an action flick, with lots of CGI [computer generated imagery],” said Patel. “I do want to hone in on this, and express myself physically.”

“Avatar” will draw upon Patel’s own expert martial arts skills — it isn’t widely known that the actor has a black belt in Tae Kwondo.

“I used to teach ‘Little Dragons,’ 7-14 years old,” he laughed. “I was the first junior black belt in my academy.” Patel also won a bronze medal in the 2004 Tae Kwondo world championships.

“I used to train three times a week, and each session was two-and-half hours long,” he said — but that was before the “Slumdog” shoot, followed by a hectic schedule of film festivals, promotion and awards. “Now I’m getting a bit rusty.”

Traveling to Mumbai to shoot the film with Danny Boyle was itself a life-changing experience for Patel, especially as a diaspora Indian learning about his home culture.

“It sounds really cheesy, but it was very empowering and enlightening,” he told India-West. I really felt that I found a piece of myself.

“I went to India once before, when I was around 7 years old, to a family wedding in Gujarat. I was too young to absorb anything. But it was amazing destiny that I got cast in this film.

“I went to Mumbai — which is a totally different world from Gujarat — and I went with a passionate film crew. They showed me places I’d never get to see on holiday. I feel so much fuller, and more whole, and very proud of who I am now.”

Patel explored the slums of Dharavi and Mahim to get into character. “It really helped me to break through my preconceived notions of what I thought life in the slums would be like,” he said. “We associate slums with people who pity themselves and live in abject poverty, but really, they’re very functional places, very powerful. In a slum with a population of two million people, every person there has a vote. They’re like cities within cities.”

“Slumdog” was only Patel’s second acting gig. His first acting job was playing an oversexed British teenager in the BBC series “Skins.”

Patel read Vikas Swarup’s novel “Q&A,” on which the film is based, and saw the lead character in a new way. The protagonist of the novel is an orphan named Ram Mohammad Thomas, whose unlikely name allows him to fit in wherever he needs to.

“The script and the book were very different,” said Patel. “Simon [screenwriter Simon Beaufoy] told me that Ram Mohammad Thomas had a name that made him special, in a way. But we wanted Jamal Malik to be an absolutely average Joe. We wanted him to be a nobody, a rough diamond, that if you saw him in the street you wouldn’t notice anything special about him.”

Working opposite Bollywood legend Anil Kapoor was a dream come true for Patel, who said he grew up watching Hindi films in Britain. “When I learned I’d be cast opposite him, I was starstruck,” he said. “It’s great for a new actor like me to watch and learn from him. He was great. He’s so good at playing Prem, this sort of over-the-top guy who plays the crowd — his oxygen is the crowd’s love for him.

“We had a big contrast — I wanted to make my character very understated and soft-spoken, and to overcome this beast that was Anil Kapoor.”

“Now, when I walk down the street in L.A., Indians come up to me and say, ‘We’re proud to be who we are now, because of this film.’ When I hear things like that, it’s very nice.”

Patel has gotten used to the five-star hotels, the popping flash photography and the standing ovations, but, he says, “I think I am grounded, hopefully. I contstantly feel like a very lucky, blessed kid to even be a part of this project. I worked really hard to impress Danny every day on the set. I was close to a mental breakdown, because of the pressure I was under at 17.

“I just want to hang out with my school friends, and listen to music. Just the normal teenager stuff,” he chuckled.

[Zenshiite]

You know, the funny thing is... alot of fans are speculating that M Night cast Patel as Zuko so that he can cast himself as Iroh.

[dajanerz]

Hi - i'm new to the forum. I have a kung fu family. I used to practice taiji until I needed back surgery... my husband trains/teaches wing chun. My 12yr old son, my older brother and my sister and her 3 boys practice Northern Shaolin. :)

I've been lurking and keeping up with the Airbender news and Zenshiite asked about the stunt coords...

IMBD posted them the other day:

Stunts
Erik Betts .... stunts
Jon Braver .... stunts
Ben Cooke .... fight coordinator
Christopher Leps .... stunts
Ming Liu .... stunt performer
Mark Rounthwaite .... fight coordinator
Philip J Silvera .... stunts
Gary Ray Stearns .... stunts

I've also read the rumour about MNight giving himself the role of Iroh.
If I was not a fan of the show, I would probably watch the movie. However that is not the case.

I wonder when this movie comes out with its own fans (ones who have never seen the show, movie only) what will they think when they watch the animated version? :(

Anyways - any of the names above sound familiar? Better yet, any of the cast sound familiar? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/fullcredits#cast

[doug maverick]

i know phil sylvera, good guy, good martial artist too.

[Zenshiite]

^Will that translate on screen? Any of the other people involved got roots in Chinese martial arts? Aside from Ming Liu that is, I understand she's been a long time Hong Kong stunt person.

[doug maverick]

phil is a stunt man, for a long time now. go youtube him or something check his stuff out.

[Lokhopkuen]

Hi - i'm new to the forum. I have a kung fu family. I used to practice taiji until I needed back surgery... my husband trains/teaches wing chun. My 12yr old son, my older brother and my sister and her 3 boys practice Northern Shaolin. :)

I've been lurking and keeping up with the Airbender news and Zenshiite asked about the stunt coords...

IMBD posted them the other day:

Stunts
Erik Betts .... stunts
Jon Braver .... stunts
Ben Cooke .... fight coordinator
Christopher Leps .... stunts
Ming Liu .... stunt performer
Mark Rounthwaite .... fight coordinator
Philip J Silvera .... stunts
Gary Ray Stearns .... stunts

I've also read the rumour about MNight giving himself the role of Iroh.
If I was not a fan of the show, I would probably watch the movie. However that is not the case.

I wonder when this movie comes out with its own fans (ones who have never seen the show, movie only) what will they think when they watch the animated version? :(

Anyways - any of the names above sound familiar? Better yet, any of the cast sound familiar? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0938283/fullcredits#cast

Erik Betts is good as an acrobat ( we were on Power Rangers a million years ago) I hear he's recovering from an injury, Ming Liu is his wife or girlfriend, solid Wu Shu and a good stunt player.
Philip J Silvera I had never heard of until Jose Rodriguez (associate producer) mentioned he was hiring him. Jeff Habberstadd is the top dog as far as stunt coordinator on that show. I liked his work in Jarhead and Unbreakable. Originally they wanted Jeff Imada on board looking for some "Borne Identity" style fights but I'm not sure what happened there. With 150 million for a budget I don't see how they could f u c k it up but stranger things have happened in film.

[doug maverick]

Erik Betts is good as an acrobat ( we were on Power Rangers a million years ago) I hear he's recovering from an injury, Ming Liu is his wife or girlfriend, solid Wu Shu and a good stunt player.
Philip J Silvera I had never heard of until Jose Rodriguez (associate producer) mentioned he was hiring him. Jeff Habberstadd is the top dog as far as stunt coordinator on that show. I liked his work in Jarhead and Unbreakable. Originally they wanted Jeff Imada on board looking for some "Borne Identity" style fights but I'm not sure what happened there. With 150 million for a budget I don't see how they could f u c k it up but stranger things have happened in film.

superman returns-250million dollars= ****ing two hours of boring trash.

miami vice=200million dollars=the worse dialogue in the history of film.

[Zenshiite]

Plus, there's pretty much everything that M. Night has done since Unbreakable that hasn't exactly been great.

[Shaolinlueb]

Plus, there's pretty much everything that M. Night has done since Unbreakable that hasn't exactly been great.

which mean 2 of his 8 movies have been good? thats a sh*tty track record. lady of the water was good i thought.

[doug maverick]

the only m.night film i liked was sixth sense, and this amex commercial he did. other then that, eh....

[Jimbo]

As unpopular as it was, I kinda liked Lady in the Water, though I thought M.Night Shyamalan's ego went way overboard on that one. At least the actors had some personality in it. In most of M. Night's films, the actors have to act like they're sleepwalking zombies.

I thought Sixth Sense was so-so, but the rest of his films are no good. Especially his last one, The Happening. I kept giving him the benefit of the doubt, but after The Happening, I won't be going to see anymore of his films.

[Zenshiite]

So I just watched Tropic Thunder and I'm now wondering why Brandon Soo Hoo... the little kid that played the leader of the drug gang... wasn't cast as Aang.

[doug maverick]

maybe cause he wasnt offered he role or he didnt go for the role. who knows seriously. i seriously think the entire cast is about to be scrapped anyway, because they were holding auditions up here in queens ny, looking for asian kids between the ages of 10-13. which means we may have a new avatar soon.

[Zenshiite]

Haha, seriously?

I have absolutely not confidence in the movie... I just want to buy the series on dvd is all.

[Shaolinlueb]

doug why don't you go try out for the fire lord guy?

[GeneChing]

It's three pages - this is only page 1. You can click the link for the rest...


In Va., Casting About For Mongolian Actors (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/01/AR2009030102088.html)
By Dan Zak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 2, 2009; Page C01

Hollywood searching for Mongolians in Northern Virginia . . .

An odd premise, but it explains why a casting director is draping a beige smock over a cute Mongolian American boy in an apartment building in Rosslyn.

"We'll make you look like a warrior," the casting director with dirty-blond curls tells the boy. She holds up a camera and says, "Now don't smile."

"Smile!" calls the boy's father, who was born in Ulan Bator.

"No, he shouldn't smile," a casting assistant tells him. "They don't like people to smile because it's not how you really look."

On Saturday, a casting team was bouncing around Arlington -- home to several thousand Mongolians -- seeking potential members of the Earth Kingdom, a tribe in the animated TV series "Avatar: The Last Airbender," which director M. Night Shyamalan (known for gotcha-ending thrillers like "The Sixth Sense") is turning into a live-action film.

What do members of the Earth Kingdom look like? Like they're from Mongolia. Or Cambodia or Laos. Something like that. Exotically Asian, at least. Like they could be an extra in a movie that's based on a series that's inspired by many Eastern traditions, from Japanese anime and Tibetan Buddhism to kung fu cinema and yoga.

"Night doesn't know what it is he wants, but he'll know it when he sees it," says DeeDee Ricketts, the casting director. At the least, it's a chance for locals to get on the set of a major motion picture. But this is Shyamalan, so there's a twist.

In December, the lead "Airbender" characters of Zuko, Aang and Sokka were filled by a trio of young white males: pop singer Jesse McCartney, newcomer Noah Ringer (a karate **** from Texas) and "Twilight" star Jackson Rathbone.
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Those character names again: Zuko, Aang and Sokka. Played by a Jesse, a Noah and a Jackson.

"I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan," Rathbone told MTV.com, presumably just before his publicist sat him down for a chat about political correctness. "It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit."

But the only thing some fans will suspend are their plans to see the movie when it opens in summer 2010. Forums online including LiveJournal have spearheaded letter-writing campaigns to object to the casting. More than 2,000 people have joined a Facebook group titled "Save the 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Movie from an All-White Cast."

[Zenshiite]

Man o man. This Dee Dee Ricketts just sounds worse and worse the more I hear about her.

[GeneChing]

...but the colorization of Avatar is a new one on me. :rolleyes:

Four more land 'Airbender' roles (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i68061ff8eae6a6377eae1f6e889f06b2)
M. Night Shyamalan's pic based on anime-inspired series
By Jay A. Fernandez

March 15, 2009, 05:50 PM ET
Aasif Mandvi, Shaun Toub, Cliff Curtis and Keong Sim have joined the cast of M. Night Shyamalan's "The Last Airbender" for Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.

They join Noah Ringer -- who plays the title role -- Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone and "Slumdog Millionaire's" Dev Patel in the movie based on the popular anime-inspired Nickelodeon TV series.

The live-action feature is being produced by Shyamalan, Sam Mercer and Frank Marshall. The shoot is scheduled to begin in this month for a release on July 2, 2010.

In the film, the four nations -- Air, Water, Earth and Fire -- are in turmoil as the Fire Nation wages war on the others. Aang (Ringer) is the lone Avatar who can manipulate all four elements and possibly restore peace to their world.

Mandvi is set to play the Fire Nation's Commander Zhao, Curtis will play the Fire Lord Ozai, and Toub is Uncle Iroh, a retired Fire Nation general. Sim will play Earthbending Father.

Shyamalan has signed to shoot the first feature in a planned trilogy, to which Paramount has budgeted $250 million. The martial arts-heavy series is set to film in Greenland and Vietnam.

Curtis ("A Thousand Words") and Toub ("Iron Man") are repped by Abrams Artists Agency, Mandvi ("The Daily Show With Jon Stewart") is repped by Endeavor and Sweet 180 Management, and Sim is repped by Judy Boals in New York.

[SimonM]

Hold on...

Aasif Mandvi is playing the badguy?

This might be such a titanic piece of crap that it's worth watching.

I'm trying to picture the sparkling eyed daily show jokester as a cruel villain...

and I'm completely failing.

[doug maverick]

well he film has already started shooting in philly, i'm training most of my stuntmen friends in bagua zhang, for the big battlke at the end of the film, because water is bagua, not tai chi in this film. i heard in the second part the earth kingdom is suppose to be mostly people of african american decent and the fire will be people of indian or middle eastern decent. idk how this film is going to turn out, but i hope at least the action is decent.

[SimonM]

I just know enough about Mandvi's acting style to question if he will be able to keep a totally straight face. His style tends to include a certain self-recognition of the rediculousness of the premises he participates in.

And he's is a comedian.

Don't get me wrong, I think he's an excellent comedian. I'm just uncertain of his fitness for playing a martial arts villain.

It'd be about as bizarre as Hulk Hogan playing a serious dramatic part.

[Zenshiite]

Definitely not seeing this one. If they are lucky I'll got see it at the 2 dollar theater after it's left all the other theaters...

Sounds to me like they are butchering the whole Avatar world here.

[SimonM]

Well let us not forget:

At the end of the day one of America's most consistently awful directors is at the helm of this movie.

M. Night Shamylan has yet to make a movie I've liked.

Now, mind, I haven't seen them all and it is possible that I would like Unbreakable. But still...

The guy is directorial poison to everything he touches.

[Zenshiite]

^Indeed.

Actually, I hope it's an epic fail of the sort that Hulk was... and that someone with some cajones says "we screwed that movie from the beginning, let's do it right this time" and they do it all over again.

I know, I know, the chances of that happening are basically nil... but I'd still like to see it happen.

[Wood Dragon]

From what I saw of the show (I used to watch it on my PC, while doing paperwork), it was a "Asian/Oriental-inspired" world/universe, filled with people of "nonspecific" ethnicities (some looked caucasian, some asian).

The culture was "asian", not the people (plus they could control the elements, so it's not like they're actual humans).

So, while it may be a bit stupid to cast the live-action with caucasians from wall to wall, it is also not correct to do it the other way around.

There is a middle ground that fits the original story. Especially given the desire for inclusiveness in a kid's movie.

Seriously, though: Philadelphia? Yeah, that place just screams "Fire Kingdom". Recast the Director.

[Raipizo]

Pretty cool fight scenes though i think was a good show. It had some unique fighting styles.

[Zenshiite]

From what I saw of the show (I used to watch it on my PC, while doing paperwork), it was a "Asian/Oriental-inspired" world/universe, filled with people of "nonspecific" ethnicities (some looked caucasian, some asian).

The culture was "asian", not the people (plus they could control the elements, so it's not like they're actual humans).

So, while it may be a bit stupid to cast the live-action with caucasians from wall to wall, it is also not correct to do it the other way around.

There is a middle ground that fits the original story. Especially given the desire for inclusiveness in a kid's movie.

Seriously, though: Philadelphia? Yeah, that place just screams "Fire Kingdom". Recast the Director.

That's probably the biggest fault of the entire film. Why the hell would you get a director who rarely works outside of the Philadelphia area for any of his movies?

Honestly, I couldn't care any less about this movie anymore.

[doug maverick]

while the film is being shot in philly it is not based in philly. they actually have a huge sound stage where they built the sets and let me just say it looks amazing. also they are shooting scenes in ice land, to represent the northern water tribe.

[dajanerz]

Here's your first look at Noah Ringer as Aang and Dev Patel as Zuko.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2009-05-21-airbender-first-look_N.htm

There is so much fail to the images and journalism in this article.

[Lokhopkuen]

http://www.spike.com/video/last-airbender/3193349

Looks kindda cool.

[冠木侍]

http://www.spike.com/video/last-airbender/3193349

Looks kindda cool.

Not bad but part of it reminds me of Warriors of Virtue...:D

[Lokhopkuen]

I was talking about the special effects from ILM.

[Lokhopkuen]

That's probably the biggest fault of the entire film. Why the hell would you get a director who rarely works outside of the Philadelphia area for any of his movies?

Honestly, I couldn't care any less about this movie anymore.

They didn't "get a director" M. Night bought the rights......

[冠木侍]

I was talking about the special effects from ILM.

No doubt. Those were good as well but I just hope they portray the bending accurately (based upon the cartoon). Your featurette on the DVD was pretty **** cool I must say sir.

I think I finished the series in a week sometime last month or so after hearing so much talk about it and never being able to catch it regularly on television.

Right now, everyone can't stop talking about how M. Night is probably going to massacre this version but the trailer provided sheds some hope that this movie might be worth a watch.

[sean_stonehart]

I saw a sneak peek the other night of the M Night's version... unknown kid as Aang, but in a cape & cowl doing stick work (not all flash either, but it wasn't bagua) & a couple of pics of Dev Patel as Zhuko.

[doug maverick]

yea we all saw that stuff a few days ago when it dropped. the staff work looks kinda sloppy in my opinion. but the ilm effects look dope.

[AdrianK]

I want to see some SPM in this movie, it looked pretty badass in the show, lets see if they pull through with it in the movie too.

[Zenshiite]

The ILM effects, as expected, look fantastic. The staff work was waaaaay weak.

[Lokhopkuen]

The ILM effects, as expected, look fantastic. The staff work was waaaaay weak.

Giggle:D

One of the reasons the animation was so successful was the amount of time and detail we spent on using traditional martial essences as the model impetus for the "elemental bendings".

My student who was one of the creators really dedicated himself to internalizing the basics before he even ever approached me to work on the project. Then he proceeded to give me complete oversight on everything to do with the martial art.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROUeRhNJdTU)
I did a couple of consultations for preproduction and had a meeting with the director (who i liked) I outlined a strategy for the film. I explained there are no short cuts in training Gung Fu so I insisted on 6 months to a year to train the actors and drill them in some basic skill sets until they would at least be able to appear to manifest the proper geometry's, initially they agreed:

But then!

The "stunt coordinator" suddenly became a Martial Art Master :D

plus they got hung up on the casting for way too long from what I heard.

Now I'm hearing people are so surprised that a caucasian kid was cast as the Asian lead?

SHOCKING NEWS!!:eek:

Kindda like the Kung Fu TV Series when David Carradine beat out Bruce Lee for the lead. I mean goodness we all know David Carradine. was by far superior in the martial arts compared to Bruce Lee, go figure:rolleyes:

[Lokhopkuen]

I want to see some SPM in this movie, it looked pretty badass in the show, lets see if they pull through with it in the movie too.

What is SPM?

[Wildwoo]

So tell me if you still like the guy after you read this?:rolleyes:


Exclusive Interview: 'THE LAST AIRBENDER' WRITER-DIRECTOR M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN GIVES iF THE SCOOP ON THAT OTHER 'AVATAR' FILM
After a decade long stint scaring the crap out of audiences, the filmmaker makes a movie specifically targeted for kids with this adaptation of the popular animated series
By EMMANUEL ITIER, Contributing Writer
Published 6/29/2009


On June 15, iF’s dutiful reporter Emmanuel Itier visited the Philadelphia set of THE LAST AIRBENDER, the latest film written and directed by scaremaster M. Night Shyamalan.

There is one big difference this time out. He’s trading his horror-suspense roots for something the whole family can enjoy. Based on the popular animated series AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, the feature film focuses on a 12-year old boy named Aang (Noah Ringer) who must find a way to keep peace between the four elements of the world (Fire, Earth, Water, Air) during a 100-year war in which the Fire Nation has ruled.

The following is our exclusive interview with the talented director about his current project set to hit theaters July 2, 2010.

iF MAGAZINE: What was the plan with this film and what were you trying to achieve, to re-invent yourself?

M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN: I have always wanted to develop a long mythology based franchise like THE LORD OF THE RINGS. I always thought about it, but I had, until now, never found a good one where I could also add a little bit of my personal vision. I really wanted to find a franchise where my accent could be complementary to the piece. So this was the best thing that could have happened is that I didn’t have a real agenda, but I was on the look for it and waited for the perfect situation.

I was offered other franchises, but passed. And then this one came from my own family – it was suggested by my children who loved the TV animated series. When I saw the cartoon I thought it was so well thought out in term of mythology. It had Buddhism, and martial Arts, and CGI [and it was] character based. And so I thought we could do a great job by using ILM and do something with lots of emotions and texture. I knew we could do something that wasn’t going to be just a great treat for the eyes, but also for the mind and the soul. This is my approach when it comes to getting into this type of material, to approach it through the characters and keep it grounded. It has also deeper issues at its core, it talks about Genocide and Balance, and the connection to the Planet. And you know from my other movies that I’m interested with these subject matters -- it’s an important movie, not just a blockbuster summer movie.

iF: Are you going to push for the political tone in this film as we’ve seen in your other films?

SHYAMALAN: Well, there is a lot in the mythology. What I did was remove anything that was too slap-sticky and cheesy -- the stuff that was there for the very little kids, but wouldn’t work in a live action feature like the **** jokes. I grounded the thing a little more. I grounded Katara’s brother for example [played by Nicola Peltz] and it brought a great new overall tone to the whole movie. But the political tone is for sure intact and the one about a culture who is in an industrial revolution and use their way in their belief system and then decide “we don’t need to follow the old way of thinking, the old way of seeing God”. And the movie focuses on a higher power and the spirit world. And so this culture decides that we can make our own machine and be our own God -- it was there in the cartoon, but more affirmed in our movie.

iF: The movie feels a little bit like it was inspired by the art of Hayao Miyazaki?

SHYAMALAN: Well, I’m a huge and giant fan of his work and I had the chance to meet him and go to his studio when I did my last promotional tour for THE HAPPENING. My favorite is SPIRITED AWAY. He is amazing, but to be honest, the film was more influenced by martial arts movies in general. What is funny is that you can see so many influences in the cartoon with scenes almost copied entirely from martial art movies,:rolleyes: but I wanted the live action film to be truly original with action scenes you had never seen before. I’m a huge martial art freak. I even have a Bruce Lee statue in my office!

iF: What was the biggest challenge for you before and during the making of this film?

SHYAMALAN: It’s been a great on-going experience both as a director and a human being. You know, I’m a complete control freak. I love the idea of controlling everything that is in the composition of every single frame and I feel pain if I look at a frame and it’s not perfect. But with this movie, where there are so much factors going on, it taught me to let go and not be in such a control freak mode. It’s two and half times compared to my other movies. It feels like I’m a student again and I’m learning new things, new tricks and for me this is the way to get a great movie, when you’re a student again. You learn again and you’re open to everything again. I think I have become a much better director with the process of filming THE LAST AIRBENDER and not controlling 400 extras and all the action scenes. But in a way I’m scared to death because it’s such a huge endeavor. I hope this film will find its own personality and that the whole world will appreciate it.

iF: When did you realize, “wow, this is an insane film!”?

SHYAMALAN: Right away when we were filming in Greenland. It was great filming over there and if I had the all money in the world I would have filmed this movie on location around the world -- but that would be so expensive. It was great shooting in Greenland, in the tundra and to see the actors moving. It felt so real. This is when I realized this was an amazing movie. Also, when I saw the army coming in the village I was overwhelmed by the size and the scope of this film.

iF: Can you talk about casting for this film?

SHYAMALAN: It was a real trick to find the perfect cast, because not only did I need excellent actors, but also great action driven fighters. There are so many fight scenes in this film, that this was a cruel experience to locate and find the right team of actors and actresses. I was so lucky to have this young actor Dev Patel [who plays Prince Zuko]. He is now known worldwide due to the success and Oscars for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. He is so vulnerable and so strong at the same time and this was the perfect mix to play Zuko. I had auditioned him for the role before the Oscar success and I wasn’t sure if I could get him after, but he wanted to be part of this film and I’m blessed. He is like a man-child and this is perfect. Another blessing was to find Noah Riger who plays Aang, the Avatar, the principal hero of our movie. He is a young 12-year-old and a true martial arts expert with several titles. He teacher encouraged him to send us a demo tape and we were blown away by his presence, his grace and his technique. And after we sent him to be trained a little bit as an actor we knew we had found the perfect Aang. He is so similar to the Aang in the cartoons and with this great cast I was then able to build a natural structure for the movie itself. When you look at the whole TV series, you can see clearly the three movies I want to create as live action adaptations. Also this is great to be able to incorporate all along the clear philosophy that lies at the core of this mythology and how each element, Air, Earth, Water and Fire are so important as a balance for yourself.

iF: How does this compare to the STAR WARS trilogy?

SHYAMALAN: Wow, this is hard to compare it to STAR WARS. STAR WARS is true religion to me. I can understand what people who are into religion feel when I think about STAR WARS, but if I can make a comparison, it is with the notion of “journey” both trilogies have. THE LAST AIRBENDER is truly the journey of this young maverick boy, Aaang. His journey is similar to the one of Luke Skywalker.

iF: The movie is about the balance of the four elements, what element do you identify to and why?

SHYAMALAN: I think AIR is my element, because I always try to do things with the minimum amount of effort. I like things clean and simple.

iF: What do your children think about this film?

SHYAMALAN: They totally dig it and they were great advisers at telling what to do or not to do.

iF: Will there ever be a sequel to UNBREAKABLE?

SHYAMALAN: Well, I’m not sure where all the pieces of the puzzle are these days. Sam [Jackson] is Mister Comic Book and doing bigger things. Bruce [Willis] is hard to reach and what kind of movies he wants to do. But, hey, who knows -- maybe one day we’ll figure it out.

[doug maverick]

i dont know whats ur beef with the article, i mean im not a fan of m night. but it seemed fairly simple and straight forward. he is right the cartoon does look like it lifted whole scenes from kung fu movies....so i dont know why you highlighted that part. maybe you can go into further details.

[doug maverick]

Giggle:D

One of the reasons the animation was so successful was the amount of time and detail we spent on using traditional martial essences as the model impetus for the "elemental bendings".

My student who was one of the creators really dedicated himself to internalizing the basics before he even ever approached me to work on the project. Then he proceeded to give me complete oversight on everything to do with the martial art.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROUeRhNJdTU)
I did a couple of consultations for preproduction and had a meeting with the director (who i liked) I outlined a strategy for the film. I explained there are no short cuts in training Gung Fu so I insisted on 6 months to a year to train the actors and drill them in some basic skill sets until they would at least be able to appear to manifest the proper geometry's, initially they agreed:

But then!

The "stunt coordinator" suddenly became a Martial Art Master :D

plus they got hung up on the casting for way too long from what I heard.

Now I'm hearing people are so surprised that a caucasian kid was cast as the Asian lead?

SHOCKING NEWS!!:eek:

Kindda like the Kung Fu TV Series when David Carradine beat out Bruce Lee for the lead. I mean goodness we all know David Carradine. was by far superior in the martial arts compared to Bruce Lee, go figure:rolleyes:

i had quite a few friends work on this film as stunt actors, and "featured martial artist" and they all made alot of shall i say comments....about said stunt coordinator.

[Lokhopkuen]

i dont know whats ur beef with the article, i mean im not a fan of m night. but it seemed fairly simple and straight forward. he is right the cartoon does look like it lifted whole scenes from kung fu movies....so i dont know why you highlighted that part. maybe you can go into further details.

The martial art movements (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nLZ-4fZ1QI)in the animated series are all from my teacher's training curriculum related to Northern Shaolim, Hung ga Tiger and Crane, iron thread, palm change bagua, yang tai chi and nothing to do with any martial art films.
Some homage was given in various scenes to martial art popular media by the writers and creative staff but that had nothing to do with me.

[rizzol0219]

In that article M Night started talking about Spirited Away and stated the film was influenced by martial arts movies in general. (WTF) Spirited Away has absolutely no martial arts in it what so ever. Then he talks about the cartoon scenes (Spirited Away or Avatar?) looking like they were copied from martial arts movies. M Night is claiming he wants the Airbender movie to have action that no one has ever seen before. Well he is doing a **** poor job at that. The teaser trailer portion when Aang is training in the temple looked rather mediocre, slow with no power. Hmmm I never seen a martial art movie with someone training in a temple before. That is really unique. (Sarcasm)

I really like the promotional photo of Noah holding his staff above his head with a ****ed up looking gong bu and a costume that he looked like he stole off a toddler at Shaolin. Obviously done by a photographer who doesn't know how to photograph martial artists.

[rizzol0219]

What is SPM?

Southern Pray Mantis?

[aktionmancer]

watching the series, i could really see how big kung fu movie fans the writers were.

biggest nod to HK kung cinema is when Aang and Zuko go into the mountains to search for the two Masters.

they turn out to be dragons, thought to have been hunted down to extinction.

the names of the two dragons:

Run

and

Shaw

referencing the Shaw Brothers studios ( all four named Run: Run De, Run Run, RunMe, RunJe)

of course Shaw Brothers studios brought us pretty much ALL the kung fu fighting films produced in the 70s

[AdrianK]

What is SPM?

Southern Praying Mantis.
I haven't seen much of the series. I've seen clips of Toph using it. And I saw the episode where she's introduced, she uses it as well. It looks kick-ass in the cartoon. Hopefully they use it in the movie.

[Lokhopkuen]

watching the series, i could really see how big kung fu movie fans the writers were.

biggest nod to HK kung cinema is when Aang and Zuko go into the mountains to search for the two Masters.

they turn out to be dragons, thought to have been hunted down to extinction.

the names of the two dragons:

Run

and

Shaw

referencing the Shaw Brothers studios ( all four named Run: Run De, Run Run, RunMe, RunJe)

of course Shaw Brothers studios brought us pretty much ALL the kung fu fighting films produced in the 70s

Ren and Shaw.:rolleyes:

[aktionmancer]

Ren and Shaw.:rolleyes:

well, ive also seen it spelled Ran and Shao,

but W/E dude, I KNOW WHAT I HEARDZ! :D

[Lokhopkuen]

You'd know better than I :D

[Lucas]

i just saw the preview for the live action movie this past weekend. looked interesting. it promted me to start watching the series, finished the first episode yesterday. pretty intertaining stuff.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Does it have anyhting to do with the cartoon?
Doesn't look like it...

[dirtyrat]

Does it have anyhting to do with the cartoon?
Doesn't look like it...

The movie will be called "The Last Airbender" rather than "Avatar: The Last Airbender" to avoid confusion with James Cameron's upcoming film entitled "Avatar".

[Lucas]

im not too sure. i dont have a grasp of the cartoon yet.

[Lucas]

ive watched about 6 episodes so far. really diggin the show now. its great to see all the animated CMA in there.

[Lucas]

just watched the episode with the double tiger hooks. hella cool.

[sanjuro_ronin]

The movie will be called "The Last Airbender" rather than "Avatar: The Last Airbender" to avoid confusion with James Cameron's upcoming film entitled "Avatar".

Cool,
Saw the trailer for the first time, very nice looking.

[sanjuro_ronin]

So I got the Avatar series, season 1, last week and me and my little one saw it all already !!
She loved it, she wants to be an air bender !
LOL !
I already picked up season 2 :D
And yes, its seems that I am an earth bender :p

[sanjuro_ronin]

We are finishing up Season 3 already :(
And mi wife loves the series as much as me and the little ones.
One problem, when its over, now what?
Any suggestions for another series as cool as Avatar?

[dirtyrat]

We are finishing up Season 3 already :(
And mi wife loves the series as much as me and the little ones.
One problem, when its over, now what?
Any suggestions for another series as cool as Avatar?

My boys feel that you would be hard-pressed to find another series as cool as Avatar

[Lokhopkuen]

We are finishing up Season 3 already :(
And mi wife loves the series as much as me and the little ones.
One problem, when its over, now what?
Any suggestions for another series as cool as Avatar?

My team has pitched a few new ideas to Nick and Disney but at the height of the recession no one was willing to green light any new projects. I hear things are getting better. Are they?

[sanjuro_ronin]

My boys feel that you would be hard-pressed to find another series as cool as Avatar

Yeah, I hear you !



My team has pitched a few new ideas to Nick and Disney but at the height of the recession no one was willing to green light any new projects. I hear things are getting better. Are they?

Kisu, up here in Canada things are well, not worse and there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel, the problem is that we are so dependant on the US that unless you guys wake up and smell the river, things just won't get better for a while.

[Lokhopkuen]

Yeah, I hear you !




Kisu, up here in Canada things are well, not worse and there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel, the problem is that we are so dependant on the US that unless you guys wake up and smell the river, things just won't get better for a while.

I'm so consciously ill-informed I didn't know there was a financial Crisis until most of my students disappeared :eek: I'm making a Canookian Exodus. Will you sponsor me and my refugee family and student???
You'll hardly know we're there:D

[sanjuro_ronin]

I'm so consciously ill-informed I didn't know there was a financial Crisis until most of my students disappeared :eek: I'm making a Canookian Exodus. Will you sponsor me and my refugee family and student???
You'll hardly know we're there:D

You are of the correct pigmentation for refugee status up here !
LOL !!

[GeneChing]

The new posters have been released - see 'The Last Airbender' Stills (http://movies.yahoo.com/photos/movie-stills/gallery/1799/the-last-airbender-stills#photo0)


M. Night Shyamalan had a sense about 'Airbender': 'This would make a killer movie' (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2010/01/m-night-shyamalan-had-a-sense-about-airbender-this-would-make-a-killer-movie.html)
January 27, 2010 | 5:19 pm

Rachel Abramowitz memorably wrote about M. Night Shyamalan in 2008 when he revealed quite a lot about the liberating power of, well, failure. Now she spoke with him again for this Hero Complex update on the filmmaker's upcoming film "The Last Airbender."

And now for that other "Avatar" movie...

For M. Night Shyamalan, it was his then 7-year old daughter who hooked him on the Nickelodeon series “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”

“She made us watch as a family and all four of us were hooked, “ Shyamalan said. “I was like, 'This would make a killer movie. And my wife who really has been kind of in neutral about my career was insane about it. Insane about it: ‘You have to do it. This is it. This is the one.' ”

M Night Shyamalan by Jennifer S Altman Ever since he shot to stardom with his film “The Sixth Sense” in 1999, Hollywood has tempted Shyamalan with franchise offers including, he says, an overture about directing the first “Harry Potter” film. He turned down all the other offers, but “Airbender,” with its fusion of Eastern philosophies and martial arts grabbed him. The series is set in a world where the four ancient elements -- fire, earth, water and air -- can be manipulated by a select group of magical humans who are known as "benders."

The brutal firebenders, known as the Fire Nation, are intent on world domination and the only thing standing in their way is 12-year old Aang, the last of the airbenders, who also happens to be the Avatar -- the only one who can wield all four of the elemental groups.

Not unlike a pre-teen, martial-arts version of the Dalai Lama, the fun-loving Aang is charged with keeping peace in the universe. Now comes Shyamalan’s big-screen adaptation “The Last Airbender” (no surprise, the film will drop "Avatar" from the title because of the success of a certain recent film with a smiliar title), the first of a planned trilogy.

Airbender on Nick

The movie hits theaters on July 2 and stars Noah Ringer as Aang, Dev Patel (of “Slumdog Millionaire") as the evil Prince Zuko. Nicola Peltz and Jackson Rathbone portray Aang’s trusty comrades-in-arms.

The 39-year old Shyamalan, once the boy wonder of Hollywood, is coming off a series of disappointing films, including “Lady in the Water” and “The Happening,” and this is the first time he’s directed a film based on pre-exististing source material. The filmmaker is taking on an adaptation for the first time because he found himself drawn to the Buddhist philosophy that underlies “Airbender.”

“Aang himself needs to find balance to be the Avatar and to master each of these elements," the director said. "We get to see the process of someone mastering themselves through the three seasons to get to peace.”

Shyamalan sees similar spiritual motiffs in “Star Wars” and “The Matrix."

“In the first 'Matrix,' you realize that what you’re seeing is all false," Shyamalan said. "Those are really ancient ideas. Basic old, old religion. This has that as well. So if you go on the journey and you’ll feel that epiphany on top of a great roller-coaster ride. It’s going to be something.“

-- Rachel Abramowitz

[Lucas]

im glad they switched it to just 'the last airbender' when everyone was talking about this avatar movie, i thought for the longest time they meant the airbender.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Still have my doubts about the casting...

[doug maverick]

they didnt really switch it to the last airbender...it was always the last airbender.

[Lucas]

they didnt really switch it to the last airbender...it was always the last airbender.
well i mean dropping the avatar. its always been the last airbender but that was, from what ive seen like this; AVATAR: The last airbender

now its just The Last Airbender. unfortunate imo because he is an avatar....

[Zenshiite]

^They've been referring to the movie as "The Last Airbender" for quite some time. Years, in fact, because they knew there was the concurrently developing Avatar by Cameron, and I think there was some discussion about some legal complications even. Since I heard the movie was really moving forward it's just been called "The Last Airbender" sans the "Avatar."

Also, I'm still not happy with the casting... especially because of the whole white messiah thing going on here yet again. I could probably have squared myself with the white washing of Katara and Sokka despite them being obviously non-white in the show had they not white-washed Aang. To me it's even more important and insulting that yet again a world full of non-white people is being saved by a white messiah. That just really really ****es me off. That's no slight on the kid playing Aang, it's a slight on Hollywood and even the ingrained biases of Shyamalan that he's comfortable repeating that motif and furthermore... making the nemeses of the white messiah Indian and Persian.

[iron_silk]

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3013707776/tt0938283

so I don't have a real stake in this whole changing the racial skin colours (which is simply wrong in so many ways ... same thing happen to a wondeful book which was turned into a mini-series- "Earthsea")

I just hate the linked pic...to me the stance and pose is all wrong.

[Lucas]

oh i see what you mean Zenshiite. I guess I havnt seen much in regards to the movie, I've only Netflixed the series, so thats the extent of my knowledge on the airbender.

That picture is....silly looking to say the least.

Someone Tibetan would have been awesome for that role.

[Tao Of The Fist]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtUhz0SRc-I

Showing some Vegas love for homeboy Perris Aquino... a very talented kid. He needed acting lessons, but other than that he would've made a great Aang.

Someone said something about the supporting actors from Forbidden Kingdom being in Avatar, that would've been a great idea... M. Night, you disappoint me so.

*CORRECTION: THE LAST AIRBENDER, MY APOLOGIES TO JAMES CAMERON FANS...*

[iron_silk]

Dragon Ball - live action movie was another sorry excuse.

Yeah I know some people feel that for Goku being "white" is only right, but why make some asian and not others...especially when we have viable asian main characters whom have starred in American movies already.

And this is merely on top of the fact it's just simply a terrible movie.

At least M. Night has done have decent movies before...whatever I'm just rambling on and on

[Lucas]

The Dragon Ball thing bothered me too. Its all just excuses to avoid casting an Asian lead.

Look at the cartoon. He has black hair and black eyes just like the 'asian' characters. He married an asian woman. his name is very asian sounding to me. The cartoon was developed in Japan. I wonder what the original artists saw in his head when he first was drawing the young Goku. Did he see a little white boy who just happened to have black hair and eyes who landed with an arguably asian master. or a small asian looking boy with a tail who landed with an arguably asian master and learned martial arts.


i know common sense has been failing humanity these past several years, but CMON!

[iron_silk]

The Dragon Ball thing bothered me too. Its all just excuses to avoid casting an Asian lead.

Look at the cartoon. He has black hair and black eyes just like the 'asian' characters. He married an asian woman. his name is very asian sounding to me. The cartoon was developed in Japan. I wonder what the original artists saw in his head when he first was drawing the young Goku. Did he see a little white boy who just happened to have black hair and eyes who landed with an arguably asian master. or a small asian looking boy with a tail who landed with an arguably asian master and learned martial arts.


i know common sense has been failing humanity these past several years, but CMON!

I know some people would make the case that since Goku is an "alien" (keep in mind it was only introduced in Dragon Ball Z and NOT the original Dragon Ball)

but there have been characters in the comic book that was clearly not asian but more white....like people he met when fighting the Red Army or one of the 3 robots #15 I think was clearly red or yellow hair and the facial structure is definitely not asian.

That's right facial structure....I mean ...you see the difference

just to be fair....it's equally wrong to Asian dude...slap blonde hair on them (you know what I'm talking about...it's just not right)

[Lucas]

ya its really weird. i dont see why it is even a big deal, i would think by now people are over that sort of thing. i suppose not yet, but we are starting to see a shift in the right direction, which is nice.

but ya the white, or black people in dragon ball were always pretty obviously NOT asian at all. lol.

[Lokhopkuen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtUhz0SRc-I

Showing some Vegas love for homeboy Perris Aquino... a very talented kid. He needed acting lessons, but other than that he would've made a great Aang.

Someone said something about the supporting actors from Forbidden Kingdom being in Avatar, that would've been a great idea... M. Night, you disappoint me so.

*CORRECTION: THE LAST AIRBENDER, MY APOLOGIES TO JAMES CAMERON FANS...*

Perris is a cool kid and don't worry you'll be seeing him in some up and coming projects.
He and his family came down to LA and spent the day with me working on some fun stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnlyPJkB5Ys

[Lokhopkuen]

The new posters have been released - see 'The Last Airbender' Stills (http://movies.yahoo.com/photos/movie-stills/gallery/1799/the-last-airbender-stills#photo0)

I've some friends that tell me the film is in BIG TROUBLE in LITTLE PHILLY:rolleyes:
Paramount is not happy with dailies and reshoot after reshoot has been demanded (shhhh! You didn't hear it from me):rolleyes:

[Lokhopkuen]

just watched the episode with the double tiger hooks. hella cool.

Why thank you;)

[doug maverick]

I've some friends that tell me the film is in BIG TROUBLE in LITTLE PHILLY:rolleyes:
Paramount is not happy with dailies and reshoot after reshoot has been demanded (shhhh! You didn't hear it from me):rolleyes:

well ive mentioned...a bunch of my friends worked on this film in various capacities both in front and behind the cam. on the first unit and the stunt crew...and from what im told this movie is gonna suck big time. and im not surprised to be honest.m.night was the wrong director for this project...not to mention casting and all that nonsense. its sad because this could have given cma a nice little bump if it was successful.

[Zenshiite]

^It's bittersweet for me to have my suspicions confirmed.

Maybe someone will say "hey, let's just redo this thing the right way."

Call Samo Hung, we need an Uncle Iroh.

[Lokhopkuen]

THAT would be awesome!

[Lokhopkuen]

well ive mentioned...a bunch of my friends worked on this film in various capacities both in front and behind the cam. on the first unit and the stunt crew...and from what im told this movie is gonna suck big time. and im not surprised to be honest.m.night was the wrong director for this project...not to mention casting and all that nonsense. its sad because this could have given cma a nice little bump if it was successful.

Yea buddy it was my intention to play CMA way up would it were I had my way.
I wanted to train the actors for an extended period in the basics of gung fu then eventually plug them into a teacher specializing in the disciplines associated with the four nations but alas those people have their heads so far up their own poo-shoot they don't even know what color the sky is much less which way is up LMFAO!

Way to go Jose r. you myopic (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myopic) lying little parasite you;)

[sanjuro_ronin]

Yea buddy it was my intention to play CMA way up would it were I had my way.
I wanted to train the actors for an extended period in the basics of gung fu then eventually plug them into a teacher specializing in the disciplines associated with the four nations but alas those people have their heads so far up their own poo-shoot they don't even know what color the sky is much less which way is up LMFAO!

Way to go Jose r. you myopic (www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myopic) lying little parasite you;)

Common sense in movie making ???
Jou crazy man !!

[Zenshiite]

So is it safe to assume that the martial arts behind the four bending styles are not preserved?

Such a disappointment.