American Morning
'King of the world' James Cameron returns with 'Avatar'
By Jason Carroll
Say what you want about "Avatar." Here's what you need to know about James Cameron. When he decides to tell a story, he's one hundred percent committed. He proved that when we showed up to interview him about "Avatar."
Cameron told me it's a classic adventure much in the mold of "Lawrence of Arabia." That may sound odd for a science fiction tale, but that’s how Cameron describes "Avatar."
"I want to take people to another world, I want to take them out of their daily lives on a fantasy journey," Cameron said. "This is an experiential journey, it's highly immersive and you're gonna see things that you probably haven’t seen other than in your own dreams."
"Avatar" is an expensive dream, costing $237 million so far and counting. It could end up being the most expensive film ever made. Does Cameron feel the pressure? You bet. "I think pressure's good for filmmakers. It makes us think about our audiences and what the audience wants. It makes us in a sense beholden to the audience."
Don't Miss: Watch Jason's full interview with director James Cameron 
And that is where the commitment comes in. When we met up with Cameron he was still tweaking "Avatar," (in fact, he still is by this posting) still adjusting sound and making edits to the film, which opens December 18th.
He gave us behind-the-scenes access, allowing CNN's cameras into an editing session where I watched Cameron do his thing. At one point, Cameron telling the editors how he wanted an explosion to sound. "... if you use explosions with a longer attack and decay, like a BOOOOOM kind of sound, then they all merge in to on big BOOM BOOM BOOM."
The question is, will "Avatar" be a bomb? Some bloggers who have seen the film's trailer say Cameron's giant visioned Avatar's look more like Smurfs. I asked Cameron if that made him nervous. "I think if everybody was embracing the film before the fact the film could never live up to that expectation."
Full interview: James Cameron talks "Avatar"
Director James Cameron sat down with our Jason Carroll to talk about his new film "Avatar." Watch the full interview below.
'Precious' star talks about powerful performance
Two words you'll be hearing a lot together in the coming weeks and months are "Precious" and "Oscar."
There is a lot of buzz surrounding the movie about a teenage girl who faces incredible hardships. CNN's Jason Carroll spent some time with the film's breakout star.
Behind-the-scenes with a new brand of Tim McGraw
By Christine Romans
Tim McGraw, sans trademark cowboy hat, saunters into a Manhattan restaurant and needs to find a place to throw out his gum. Finding none, he finds a clean and shiny teaspoon at a waiter station and neatly tucks his chewed gum into it. As far as I know, no one put it on eBay.
Thus begins our 35-minute sit-down with the country music star, who has a new movie, new album, a tour starting in February, and new management.
McGraw is a country music star who is bent on a “fresh start.” He’s honing his brand for a new dynamic audience. His die-hard country music fans are most-likely to buy his records from Target.
But there is a new, digitally savvy audience online, sampling tracks from various artists and genres. He has signed with Red Light Management, the people behind Dave Mathews Band and Phish, and the tour for his album Southern Voice, will be “different” from anything we’ve ever seen from him.
Has Brand McGraw set the “reset button?”
“I don't know whether it's a reset button as much as it is just an advancement button. It's just time to take this up. We've laid a tremendous platform and it is time to expand from that platform. “
That platform is 40 million country records, three Grammy awards, 10 American Music Awards, 11 Country Music Awards. You get the picture. Where he is expanding most visibly is in movies.
He co-stars opposite Sandra Bullock in "The Blind Side," opening nationwide this weekend. It’s his biggest role yet. On the red carpet at the premiere this week, Bullock told CNN about her country music co-star.
End of the world in 2012?
The upcoming movie '2012' is based on what happens when the Mayan calendar ends. The film predicts chaos on earth in the title year.
Scientists said the idea of the world ending in 2012 is nonsense but that hasn't stopped the doomsday chatter.
Jim Gargin, the chief scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center spoke to T.J. Holmes on CNN's American Morning Friday.
The Legend Lives On: "This Is It" premieres
For Michael Jackson fans, today is a thriller. That's because the pop star's documentary "This Is It" premieres around the world today.
It includes hours of never-before-seen rehearsal footage of Jackson in action. Fans in L.A. got a sneak peek last night. Our Kareen Wynter was there and takes us to the red carpet.
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