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I realise that Avatar is opening on Thursday, but I will be going on Saturday.

James Cameron's first movie since Titanic - $400M cost, and supposedly the "next big advance" in movie making techniques. While I do not believe that, I think that this is THE Movie of 2009, without having seen it yet.

It won't be Gone With The Wind (nothing ever will be), and it sure will be better than Indi 4 (total disaster in many respects) and the Star Trek reboot.

Does anybody else here care?

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

***** MOD HAT ON ******

I thought this vague heading meant you were changing your avatar in 7 days.

********* MOD HAT OFF *********

Glen, not vague - everyone who knows anything about movies understands that Thursday through Sunday will do one or two of the following:

1. Make history
2. Bankrupt Cameron and the backers
3. Make Cameron this much money.

Word on the streets is that number three will come to pass. I have been waiting for two years for this weekend. (And next year Johnny Depp in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland with Australian Mia Wasikowska playing Alice, rather than Sarah Michelle Geller (who does not get bolded)


Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

OK the hype has not hit non Movie fans. Fair enough. James Cameron made a movie called Titanic (people may have heard of this one) in 1996 which grossed $1.8 Billion, and on an unadjusted (for inflation) basis has a gross of $800 Million more than the next best grossing movie of all time, which was one of the Lord of the Rings movies.

He had not made a movie since, and Avatar has been hyped all over the place as the NEW TITANIC/GONE WITH THE WIND. Trust me - it will not be, but for somebody who made a $1.8 Billion dollar movie (theatre gross only, who knows what it has made since), and has not made one since, a lot of movie fans are really looking forward to it, just to see if he can repeat the magic.

This is The Water Cooler forum, and I as I think it has been pretty well established that I am a movie fan, this is where I mostly post about movies.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

I loved about five minutes of Titanic. Kate Winslet. On a couch.

My stepson is a movie freak, so no doubt he'll get in front of Avatar as soon as it's released. I'll post his thoughts here.

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Norm are you going to count down your subject heading for the next six day

For the record i think it will do well at the box office, but it won't break the titanic record.

GUTTERS
your freindly video ezy manager.........

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I AM ALWAYS IN THE MIDDLE
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This is very clever marketing indeed IMHO

Most people in the 50+ range (stampboarders exepted ) wouldn't know an avatar from a wart.

So this is mainly aimed at gens X and Y who have tons of their (and our) money to spend on seeing this hip flick.

I predict a huge, money making film is about to be unveiled

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Tony

I concur. Inflation (one day) will beat Titanic at the Box Office. BTW, have I mentioned that I do not even like Titanic all that much?

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Norm

Glen and I went and saw the Invention of Lying last weekend and they had a trailer for Avatar. I thought it looked like 'Lost' meets 'Apocalypse Now'. Made a mental note NOT to see it as neither of those did anything for me

They also had a short for Paranormal Phenomena which looked absolutely terrifying even though it had a $15,000 budget.

BTW The Ricky Gervais was very funny in places

Well, time will tell if it's a good movie. Besides, if you didn't like Titanic all that much...

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Lover of all things KGVI.

It's the new Blair Witch Project.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Norm, I really hope not!!!

Watching BWP must without doubt be the longest, most boring 70-odd minutes of my life - it was overly predictable, badly written and not even vaguely scary...

...and getting back on track I saw a trailer for Avatar and it looks like a load of overblown pompous drivel to me - I'll ignore the hype and save my money.

(I bet you're glad I'm not a professional film critic!!!).

Gavin, I was talking in the context that an extremely cheap to make movie finished up making $100 Million, and was the first movie to attain internet "word of mouse" fame, rather than "word of mouth" fame.



You may be correct here. It is an "event" movie, and I have very high expectations for it. I hope I am not dissapointed.

Six sleeps to go.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Norm,

Fair point about BWP - an inexplicable success IMHO, but I can't deny it made a huge amount of money.

I hope Avatar is everything you want it to be...

OK! How was it Norm? How would you rate it?

From the shorts on TV it sort of looked like a upbeat cartoon,

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

Well, I saw the movie last night.

SPECTACULAR. is the word. The 3d technology is incredible. I've to admit I was a bit suspicious to a 3D movie quality, but wow!!! What a coup.

The story though is another matter..... Very deceiving, predictable, very american..But i don't regret the 2h30 long entertainment. Also watched it in GOLD Class.

Life got in the way, so I will not be going until after Christmas. (much disappointment). Oh well, at least the crowds will be down and the theatre will not be full. I will enjoy it more that way.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Awww! Never mind it will be better later, I just hope you enjoy it after all the waiting

My elderly retired neighbours saw this movie today and said it is the BEST film they have ever seen, and "all children should be shown this movie".
They wouldn't explain the children comment as they didn't want to give anything away .....

Oh , they also stressed you must see the 3D version, and they were going to go back and see it again as soon as they could.

I guess I'll have to go now and see what has them so impressed

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saw it yesterday... FANTASTIC !!!!!

the 2h30 seemed to fly buy.
The 3D visuals are stunning and I forgot I was watching "computer generated".

Husband and daughter are saying it's their favorite movie and want to see it again.
We took Grandma (70+) as well and she loved it too, wanted to know where it was filmed,

A day later and I can't remember the characters names, so it didn't have the same impact as seeing Starwars for the first time

When more people have seen it I would love to talk about the story some more, and hear peoples thoughts

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Collecting - Stamps, poster stamps and covers that feature Kangaroos.
Wanted: Illustrated Tourist cover of "Waratah Park", Sydney, NSW. Australia

MOD COMMENT:

As the original 7 days and more have passed, I've changed the thread heading - happy to change it back if you prefer...

Gavin

I saw it yesterday, it was just amazing, I think it's a must see for anyone. My one let down was the storyline, but the visual design balanced it out extremely well. I loved the whole setting, it was just so in depth and looked realistic. In cinema it did not seem to be 2 and half hours. And as Skippy said, it didn't have as much of an impact as Star Wars as you cant really remember the characters all that well

But it's still an amazing movie!

Finally - I am going next week, and Gold Class at that (a Christmas present from my son and daughter in law - we are all going). It won't be 3D so I will just have to suffer through it, with a few glasses of red, and some finger food.

Oh well.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

I saw it Gold Class on Saturday night, and thought it was totally awesome. One of the best movies I've ever seen - my wife has named it as the best. The world of Pandora was just stunning, you felt like you were there throughout the movie. And although the plot line was fairly basic, I didn't think it let the movie down that much. It certainly generated enough emotion to my mind, and never lacked pace. Anyway, many great movies have had fairly simple story lines when they're boiled down.

It's interesting that a few people have mentioned not being able to remember character names - I'm the same! Why is that do you think? I wouldn't say it's because the movie lacked impact. I walked out buzzing and thinking about it all the time, and it's been on my mind a lot of the time since, which is always the sign I've enjoyed a movie greatly. Why then in this particular movie do the character names not stay with you? Is it because of all the alien sounding names? I mean I remember Jake and Grace, but not the alien names. Or is it because it's so visually stunning that your brain can't take it all in?

Can't wait to see it again!

Balf

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Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.

While I enjoyed the movie, I saw on the news last night that Avatar is now the fourth highest grossing film of all time.

It's good and it's fun, but that good?

Fantastic movie! Best I have seen for a while. The graphics are superb. Watched the 3D version. Time went extremely quickly (2 1/2hrs). Recommended to young and old.

I saw something about that too.Avatar has grossed 1.85 Billion,and Titanic 1.25 or something like that,
But Titanic was a few years ago,so therefore the Dollar Values are useless its BUMS on SEATS that count,so why do they always go on how many Dollars the Movie has taken,should it not be how many people have actually seen the Movie,

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

As an evolutionary biologist I thoroughly enjoyed AVATAR. As a geeky movie fan -I thought it was GREAT! It is worth seeing another time or two.

Mike

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Mike
Why do we need perforations? Scissors are cheap!

Norm have you been to see it yet

Also being the movie buff that you are was wondering if you would like a video ezy love movies tee shirt

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I AM ALWAYS IN THE MIDDLE
Post your KGV faults on the stampboard wiki.

I've just seen Avatar. WOW

A few months ago I was pretty cynical of talk like "The future of cinema" etc. However, after seeing the movie, it feels like I witnessed the beginning of something new. I think it is comparable to audiences seeing the first "talkie" or the first colour movie. The forest scenes are fantastic. It's an action adventure movie, and sitting 5 rows from the front the 3D effects made it feel like I was in the action sometimes! Once I even flinched when a gas canister was fired at me
Some friends had seen it in 2D, and tonight they watched it 3D and were blown away. I don't understand people saving a few bucks and watching it 2d......that's like going to a concert just to watch and not listen! I've never been to see a movie twice at the cinema before, but I think I will go back tomorrow night!
Yep, a Scotsman paying twice to see the same movie......it must be good

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

I saw it a week or so ago in Village Gold Class - it cost around $A80 including food and wine, and was only in 2D. I am actually going again tonight to see it in 3D.

It has now grossed $US1.6B which means Titanic ($1.8B) is about to be sunk in the next three weeks (if anyone wants to go into the inflation argument, well GWTW is still and always ne NO !!)

To be honest, it is not in my top ten, but it is a great experience, and to me, since it needs to be seen on the big screen, I will see it there a couple of times, and then maybe watch it once or twice when it turns up on Foxtel.

Good, not the best, but CGI which will take movie making into a new era. Just like Citizen Kane took camera work into a new era..

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

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A blog mostly about Scandinavian philately, but also stamp collecting in general and a smattering of other things: Scandinavian Stamps

I saw Avatar on the weekend. The graphics and 3D were good but I found the storyline to be in the same vein as movies acted by Steven Seagal i.e
1. Hero has some sort handicap/alcoholism/inability to fight/small child taken by bad guys.
2. Hero kill a few hundered bad guys including slow mo bullets/ cool martial arts/ death defying stunts
3. Problem solved. Bask in the glory of their greatness.

Sorry I thought it was crap for that reason.

Actually, conceptually I found it far closer to Dances with Wolves and Fern Gully conceptually (with a bit of Asimov's Gaia, and Heinlein' s Waldoes and Jump Suits from Starship Troopers (not the movie version - the book) thrown in for effect. But then, nothing is original, and nothing really has been for hundreds of years. Cameron drew a lot of existing themes together, and created an entire new type of 3D technology to put a (somewhat) new slant on them.

In any event, it has now grossed over $1.8 Billion world wide, and will overtake Titanic as the No. 1 grossing (non inflation) movie of all time today, and probably gross in excess of $2.3 Billion before it sinks.

This will mean that Cameron's last two movies will have grossed over $4 Billion. Does anybody want to buy shares in his next one?

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Yep granted it has made a power of money. But just because it makes money doesn't mean it's a fantastic film.

Maybe with all that money Mr Cameron can purchase the real James Ossuary, instead of producing a film on a fake.

Sandtester72

I don't think it is fantastic, and it is certainly not in my top 10 (which changes from time to time). But it was entertaining enough (for me at least, and several of my children) to see twice. For the record, my top 10 (i.e., the only movies I have ever voted a perfect 10 on IMDB, and in no particular order) are:

A High Wind in Jamaica (1965) 10
Airplane! (1980) 10 NB, released in Australia as Flying High
Captains Courageous (1937) 10
Casablanca (1942) 10
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) 10
Léon (1994) 10
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 10
The African Queen (1951) 10
The Producers (1968) 10
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969) 10

My 9's:

'Breaker' Morant (1980) 9
12 Angry Men (1957) 9
36 Hours (1965) 9
A League of Their Own (1992) 9
Ace in the Hole (1951) 9 AKA The Big Circus
All About Eve (1950) 9
All the President's Men (1976) 9
Almost Famous (2000) 9
Auntie Mame (1958) 9
Avatar (2009) 9
Back to the Future Part II (1989) 9
Balto (1995) 9
Blazing Saddles (1974) 9
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) 9
Cat Ballou (1965) 9
Compulsion (1959) 9
Dead Poets Society (1989) 9
Dick (1999) 9
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 9
Ed Wood (1994) 9
Elmer Gantry (1960) 9
Evil Angels (1988) 9
Exodus (1960) 9
Field of Dreams (1989) 9
Finding Forrester (2000) 9
Finding Neverland (2004) 9
Forbidden Planet (1956) 9
Freedom Writers (2007) 9
Galaxy Quest (1999) 9
Gone with the Wind (1939) 9
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) 9
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) 9
Gulliver's Travels (1996) (TV) 9
In the Heat of the Night (1967) 9
Inherit the Wind (1960) 9
Inherit the Wind (1999) (TV) 9
It Happened One Night (1934) 9
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) 9
Jurassic Park (1993) 9
Klute (1971) 9
Life of Brian (1979) 9
Little Big Man (1970) 9
Man on the Moon (1999) 9
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) 9
Network (1976) 9
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) 9
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) 9
Quiz Show (1994) 9
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 9
Schindler's List (1993) 9
Shattered Glass (2003) 9
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) 9
Starman (1984) 9
Sunset Blvd. (1950) 9
The 39 Steps (1935) 9
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 9
The Caine Mutiny (1954) 9
The Client (1994) 9
The Dark Knight (2008) 9
The Elephant Man (1980) 9
The Great Escape (1963) 9
The Haunting (1963/I) 9
The Lost Weekend (1945) 9
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 9
The Sound of Music (1965) 9
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 9
V for Vendetta (2005) 9
Waterloo Bridge (1940) 9
We Are Marshall (2006) 9
West Side Story (1961) 9
Witness (1985) 9
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) 9

It is a pretty eclectic lot, and I have never looked for a "pattern" of any kind - I just like what I like, and leave others to do the same.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Just for the record, Avatar has now grossed over $US 2 Billion world wide. over $200 Million more that the second highest grossing film of all time - James Cameron's Titanic

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

I mentioned the Dollar Values a few posts back but no one mentioned anything so will try again,
Surely the Dollars that a Film Grosses cannot be the bench mark as to how popular a film is,
because year after year the costs will change dramatically.

I.E. if One million people paid $1.00 each to see a movie in 1950.that movie would have grossed 1 Million Dollars,

but if half a million people paid $7.00 each in 2010 to watch a movie that would gross 3 and a Half Million Dollars,making that a winner over the 1950 movie,
but less people saw the movie,

so the case I am making is for movies to be rated on how many bums on seats NOT how much it made,as prices rise every year then next years big picture WILL blitz AVITAR no matter what it is,
BUMS ON SEATS not dollars in the till,

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

You are dead right MrB, I don't know why they talk money when it should be how many PEOPLE saw the movie.

Just saw that this movie is nominated for 9 Academy Awards

Ron, it's not that easy.

The world has changed so much, and so many more entertainments are available now than when, say, Gone With The Wind, The Sound of Music, Ben Hur and even Jurassic Park were released, that bums on seats is no longer relevant. For these movies (well excepting Jurassic Park), there was really only one way to see them. Go and put your bum on the seat. That's why GWTW was rereleased something like 31 times before it turned up on televsion.

For example, people can now go to the theatre, or wait 6 months for a DVD release, 12 months to get it on Foxtel BoxOffice, or another year and then watch it on free to air television, instead of forking out cash to see it at a theatre. Or even download it from an internet stream, make copies, and distribute them within days of release.

Do you know what the most Downloaded movie of all time is? you guessed right - Avatar

Back in the 1950's, I used to go to the (unlamented) Belmont Pix every Saturday afternoon, regardless of what was on. It's just something we did, because there was not a whole lot else to do. Now there is, and this sort of thing does not happen anymore.

Much of the world is also in recession, so it also shows that this entertainment is attractive enough for masses of people to use limited discretionary expenditure and still put thir bum on a seat.

So, I will produce three lists, none of which are definitive, all very different, and I must say, I have only scratched the surface of what is a very complex and difficult issue to discuss in such a brief post.

List the First. Top Ten Grossing Movies of all time (World)

1 Avatar 2009
2 Titanic 1997
3 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2003
4 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 2006
5 The Dark Knight 2008
6 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 2001
7 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 2007
8 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 2007
9 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince WB 2009
10 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002

List the Second Top Ten Grossing Movies of all time (USA only)

1 Avatar 2009
2 Titanic 1997
3 The Dark Knight 2008
4 Star Wars 1977
5 Shrek 2 2004
6 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
7 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace 1999
8 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 2006
9 Spider-Man 2002
10 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 2009

The only other "meaningful" list (world box office attendance is simply not available for reasons I will go into in another post if you wish) is an inflation adjusted list (USA only), i.e., a guestimate of "bums on seats" based on the cost of tickets over the years and is very different to the above:

1 Gone with the Wind 1939
2 Star Wars 1977
3 The Sound of Music 1965
4 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial1982
5 The Ten Commandments 1956
6 Titanic 1997
7 Jaws 1975
8 Doctor Zhivago 1965
9 The Exorcist 1973
10 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937

(Avatar is currently at No. 21, and will probably finish at No. 15 or 16, which is pretty impressive, considering we are talking about 20,000+ films released since the first MAJOR sound movie - The Jazz Singer. World wide it will be much higher, as over 70% of the revenue Avatar has earned is overseas, compared to a lower 55-60% for most releases. it will finish up in the notional top ten)

Note the age of most of these movies on the adjusted for inflation list. It was a different time, and people went to the pictures far more often, but again this list is questionable for quite a number of reasons, and The Sound of Music may actually be the Number One bums on seats movie for international releases (and I do not even want to investigate Bollywood, the number of movies only released locally in India and the thousands of millions of tickets sold to indian audiences, as I suspect some of them would sink even Titanic)

ETA: I had a longer and much more detailed post on this subject nearly completed and the usual "crash, tinkle, data gone" occured. I will answer any specific questions from this post in (long and boring) detail

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

I guess its a bit like the unemployment figures UNEMPLOYMENT AT 6%

looks a lot more dramatic than reading the headline EMPLOYMENT AT 94%

So its all down to Statistics , and we know how our Pollies like to use them.

But thanks for that in depth answer to my question Norm,it did open up a few more things I had not given a lot of thought to

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

Saw this today while recovering from an appendectomy and can't believe i wasted 2 1/2 hours on a total load of money grabbing, 3d ,BS.

I would not take my daughter to see this in a million years, i wouldnt insult her 3 year old intelligence.

We can take that as a Negative then,

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

No, im glad to have no appendix.

Think ill wait for the dvd shop version.

I saw this last night. Good, but way too predictable.

Eric, the last time I saw an unpredictable Hollywood movie was near 50 years ago, and I wondered who Ilsa Lund would finish up with - Rick or Victor.

I have never forgotten, because:

"You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss....

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

OK, this is thread Necromancy, and I won't apologise for that.

I just watched this again, on TV in 2D and the visuals still stand up as the greatest I have ever seen (well maybe Lawrence of Arabia, which was real, would be an exception).

I accept that the plot is essentially Dances With Wolves in space but anybody who can make a movie which grosses nearly $3 Billion deserves all the accolades he can get, regardless of whether this was just a commercial and not a critical success.

It's still a lot of fun, a couple of years later, just like The Empire Strikes Back was, as the best of the Star Wars series.

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .