Canada gifted the world James Cameron on 16 August 1954. It was perhaps not an entirely positive act.
Cameron co-wrote and directed three films I like a lot: The Terminator, Aliens, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. And he wrote and directed The Abyss. The director’s cut has a whole lot to like in it. I am most definitely not not not talking about that cringe ending with the space aliens putting humanity on trial. But all the stuff about Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio’s relationship is great.
Then he made True Lies. That’s a mess of a film. It’s a miracle it works as well as it does. But my main takeaway is that Art Malik deserves so much better than parts like this. But he is great in the role — very funny despite the material being so broad. All you really need to know is that Owen Gleiberman really liked it!
True Lies was a bad sign. But Titanic? I lost all hope. Run to the lifeboats!
I’m not saying Titanic is a bad film. I just don’t like that kind of film. I found it tedious. And I found Avatar tedious. I haven’t watched Avatar: The Way of Water. And I’m not planning to watch the upcoming third and fourth films. I figure these are just being made so James Cameron can do more ocean exploration. (Actually, I quite liked the opening of Titanic with the undersea footage; I only started hating it when I saw Leonardo DiCaprio’s face.)
James Cameron could make fun films again. I assume so anyway. But people love the films that I don’t. Anyway, he has better things to do now!
I should note that I think Cameron is something of a dick. Listen to the commentary track for Terminator 2. He does it with co-writer William Wisher. Cameron is an ass — acting like the Great Man he thinks himself to be. And Wisher is there, knowing Cameron can (and doubtless would) destroy his career should he be anything but a servile omega. This is, in general, the way that Hollywood works. It’s a toxic place overrun with people who believe the nonsense mythology. Cameron would have a smaller ego if he had single-handedly cured cancer.
So let’s watch his first film as director, Piranha II: The Spawning. Given it was unsuccessful, Cameron distances himself from it, claiming, “I was replaced after two-and-a-half weeks…” I assume that’s a lie. Many people contradict this. But it does seem to be the case that he was blocked from editing.
Image cropped from Avatar: The Way of Water Tokyo Press Conference: James Cameron & Sigourney Weaver by Dick Thomas Johnson under CC BY 2.0.
It’s wild that people have gotten cranky at you for saying Hollywood power mongers are, sometimes, also, giant dicks. Isn’t that basic knowledge? I’d generally assume that as a default for anybody with power.
I was more talking about people not in Hollywood. Independent producers can be way worse than people in Hollywood. And some fans can be very protective of them. My take is: love the films; hate the assholes.