July 22, 2008
Nickelodeon's popular animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender may have ended, but obviously the fever isn't over yet. Aside from the planned trilogy of live-action films that will be directed by M. Night Shyamalan, the first of which is currently in production, the press' attention has again given the cartoon glowing reviews.
Last Saturday's finale, “Sozin's Comet”—actually the series' last four episodes shown together—was praised for its balance of fun for children and adults, much like how its main character Aang attempts to keep balance in the world. “This is complicated stuff, the reconciliation of religion and violence, and it's beautifully rendered,” The New York Times said. “[It's] simple enough for Nickelodeon fans and subtle enough for their parents, with humor to puncture the pomposity inherent in the heroic genre.”
July 19, 2008
The wait is over! Fans who have been looking forward to the conclusion of Avatar: The Last Airbender can now witness the final fate of the four nations as Nickelodeon presents a riveting two-hour Avatar television movie, which airs tonight at 8pm ET/PT.
Following Aang's futile attack against the vicious Firelord Ozai during the "Day of Black Sun," he will finally face his mortal enemy and seal his destiny in the final showdown between Aang and Firelord Ozai in the episode called "Sozin's Comet."
July 16, 2008
Avatar: The Last Airbender fans have been waiting months, but the day is almost here. In the US, Nickelodeon began airing one new episode a day starting on Monday, leading up to the long awaited Avatar two-hour series finale, “Sozin's Comet.”
Already we are halfway through the Avatar: The Last Airbender week long event. “The Western Air Temple” was aired Monday night, and yesterday was “The Firebending Masters.” Tonight will be a special hour long Avatar episode combining both parts of “The Boiling Rock” – an episode that will prove to be a critical turning point before the big, series ending battle on Saturday.
July 10, 2008
Next week, the remaining 10 episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender will air each night, ending with what should be an explosive two-hour series finale on July 19. It has been over three years since Avatar: The Last Airbender began airing on Nickelodeon, and over time the show has grown from a deceptively simple kid's adventure series to one of the best American animated series ever.
In honor of Avatar's impending series finale, we here at BuddyTV sat down and racked our brains to list our top 10 favorite Avatar episodes. The choices were tough, since nearly every episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender is packed with humor, action and heart – but even in a sea of awesomeness, some episodes rose to the top.
June 17, 2008
For someone used to network TV, the almost haphazard scheduling of Avatar: The Last Airbender has been more than a little confusing. Nickelodeon has aired seasons of this show with extensive breaks between episodes, and then waited months and months between seasons. For a show aimed at a younger audience with a short attention span, this doesn't seem like the wisest plan. Especially since Avatar: The Last Airbender isn't a Spongebob Squarepants, which has nothing resembling an overarcing story and can air reruns forever without anyone much caring.
Avatar: The Last Airbender and its coherent, specific story arcs is a tale best seen beginning to end, and finally the end of the series – its last few episodes before its conclusive finale – will air in just a month. Strangely, the current schedule is that the last episodes will be aired straight through during the course of one week, an odd choice after the lengthy and painfully long schedule the show previously endured.
June 10, 2008
M. Night Shyamalan's new R-rated thriller The Happening is hitting theaters this Friday, and as he makes the rounds to promote the film he's getting hit with a lot of questions about the upcoming live action Avatar: The Last Airbender movie. Currently the flick is being called simply The Last Airbender so as to not conflict with director James “Titanic” Cameron's upcoming movie Avatar.
Shyamalan has reportedly been working closely with Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko to craft the movie, which he plans to be the first of a trilogy with each movie following one season of the series. Though Shyamalan has long received criticism for his particular brand of storytelling and for the films that followed his smash hit The Sixth Sense, the news that the original Avatar creators are involved and that Shyamalan seems to have huge respect for the story is encouraging news.
June 4, 2008
As Uncle Iroh might tell us, patience is a virtue. But patience as an Avatar: The Last Airbender fan can only last so long before we just want Nickelodeon to hurry up and air the last few episodes already.
Good news, Avatar fans. If you haven't yet heard, the remaining half of Book 3: Fire is coming to American TV in just six weeks. Though several episodes beyond the mid-season two parter "The Day of Black Sun" have aired outside of the US, and a few of those are already out on DVD, come July 14 Nickelodeon will finally air the last ten episodes of the series.
May 14, 2008
Fans would be thrilled to know that Avatar: The Last Airbender has made enough waves in the entertainment industry to have a film adaptation to its name. In fact, they’d be happier to know that M. Night Shyamalan, the man behind the success of the film The Sixth Sense, has enlisted his talents for the making of the live-action film adaptation, which is set to be released on July 2, 2010. According to Variety, the production team has titled the film “The Last Airbender,” dropping the “Avatar” to avoid confusion with James Cameron’s upcoming flick of the same name, which is set to be released in December 2009.
Avatar: The Last Airbender was inspired and influenced by Japanese filmmaker Hayao Mizahaki, whom Shyamalan believes is one of the greatest storytellers in the world. Shyamalan adds that “In 'The Last Airbender,' I see an opportunity to make a live-action version of a Miyazaki film.”