Did I Just Lie To James Cameron? Full Interview + My HONEST Avatar: Fire & Ash Review
Fred Asquith On FilmShow Notes
This week on FoF it’s an AVATAR SPECIAL:
I take you behind the scenes of my first ever junket interviewing James Cameron for Avatar: Fire and Ash in Paris, from Eurostar chaos and five-star hotels to the surreal nerves of waiting outside his hotel room and finally sitting down with one of the greatest living directors.
I break down how the whole thing came together, play you our full 4-minute chat (including talk of height, kickboxing, performance capture and AI making movies), and then give a spoiler-free review of Avatar 3, why it’s my favourite of the trilogy so far, how the Fire Na’vi and Oona Chaplin completely change the game, and where I think it lands on box office, Oscars chances, and whether Cameron will even come back for more, plus some thoughts on what this all means for the future of the franchise.
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TIMESTAMPS (00:00) Agenda (01:18) We didn’t get nominated for Best Podcast?? (01:50) CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! - JAMES CAMERON BEHIND THE SCENES (02:51) How did this opportunity come my way? (03:35) You have to submit questions in advance (04:05) I will never take a trip like this for granted (06:03) Is french cooking better than the rest of the world?? (07:58) SO much prep, SO little time (10:06) You don’t know if you will ACTUALLY do the interview until it begins (10:55) Some questions that didn’t make the cut (13:20) Rushing on the morning of the junket + my smelly breakfast (14:30) Why is it in a hotel (15:06) No idea where I was going, nervous (15:35) Intimidating, nervy vibes and giant green room (16:46) A fascinating clash of energies hahaha (18:02) Getting called to see James, build up (19:26) As soon as I saw him in the flesh, I relaxed (20:22) Initial small talk, hoping it got filmed - JAMES CAMERON INTERVIEW! (21:04) The full junket interview - BEHIND THE SCENES CNTND (25:04) I felt a bit disappointed afterwards (28:29) The intimidating countdown clock behind James Cameron’s head (29:32) I FIST BUMPED JAMES CAMERON (30:11) The Fancy Premiere and my 59 Canapes (31:05) James Cameron didn’t hear me, his best friend, screaming for him - AVATAR: FIRE & ASH REVIEW - no spoilers (31:18) I’m in a difficult position to be open about my opinion here, BUT (32:59) Incredible action set pieces (33:34) The visuals, technologically speaking, are insanely good (34:24) It’s photo-realistic to a boggling degree (35:00) Seagulls sound like seagulls (35:12) Why I prefer this to Way of Water - EDGE (37:00) Oona Chaplin’s incredibly performance has reshaped my whole perspective on performance capture (38:36) Sam Worthington is SO famous hahahaha (39:00) Caveats begin - the logic of the world doesn’t always add up (39:30) A criticism of the visuals (if I should be so bold) (43:06) All the Avatar movies lack humour (44:15) It IS long. But it gets away with it. (45:00) More of the same, but the BEST version of it. (46:23) Summary, Star Rating and Letterboxd Review (47:04) DISCLAIMER - AVATAR DISCUSSION POINTS (47:27) Will this movie make another $2billion at the box office? (49:26) Will it get any Oscar attention? (50:17) Will James Cameron come back to Pandora? - (51:25) A thank you to you all. (51:43) COMING UP ON FOF!
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This week on FoF we sense a sensible review incoming of the new Jane Austen adaptation Sense & Sensibility. I dive into the performances, cinematography, and whether I felt it landed the emotional plane at the end. I also give a quick nod to Babystar which is a movie I think is worth your acknowledgement. We finally return to the Voice Note Hot Take well and give our favourite listener Thomas some new recommendations - including my favourite film of all time There Will Be Blood. Timestamps below.