In Contention

Tag: 3D

  • Wenders on why ‘Pina’ needs 3D

    Since seeing the film in February, I’ve been something of a broken record saying that Wim Wenders’s marvellous performance film “Pina” — which has been drawing rave responses at Toronto, and was recently submitted as Germany’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar — single-handedly restates the case for 3D, a technology that any number of recent Hollywood blockbusters have tarnished somewhat.

    While even the most well-executed 3D narrative films have hardly depended on the gimmick for anything more than bonus effect, 3D actively enhances the audience’s understanding of the subject in “Pina,” where movement patterns and spatial deconstruction in the late Pina Bausch’s choreography are brought to the fore, replicating the immediacy and interactivity of live performance.

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  • Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba

    Disney held it’s big premiere for “The Lion King 3D” today at The El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, fit with live African bongo music, a green carpet (made of fake grass) and a “Hakuna Matata” dress code. Not a bad way to spend an early Saturday afternoon, and I’ve been looking forward to this for a little while now, I must say.

    First thing’s first: the 3D. It’s actually quite wonderful. I was struck by how much the conversion had to work with, as there is a lot of depth built into the film as is. Whether it’s the foreground/background of the ants and zebras in the prologue, the use of Red-billed Hornbill Zazu in flight or just the opportunity to lend striking separation in sequences like the pulp Nazi-inspired “Be Prepared” number, there was just a lot of opportunity to make the 3D effective. That’s always helpful.

    The movie, for me, is a perfect one, and my favorite animated film ever. I’ve always been taken by it’s story, taking cues from Shakespeare and painting one of the studio’s most indelible, thematically potent gems. I haven’t seen it in a theater since the summer of 1994, and I was choking up five minutes in.

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  • Del Toro, Cameron to take on Lovecraft’s ‘Madness’

    At Comic-Con, director Guillermo Del Toro announced that one of his next projects would be a remake of Disney’s “The Haunted Mansion.” Del Toro would be co-writing and producing, though, not directing (and boy did that news get a split reaction from movie-goers).  He said his next directorial gig would be announced shortly, and today, we get the answer.

    Mike Fleming reports at Deadline.com that the “Pan’s Labyrinth” helmer will be a 3D adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness,” a project he’s been circling since he set it up at DreamWorks in 2004.  Now Universal has stepped in to breathe life into the film once more.  But that ain’t the half of it.

    As mentioned, it’ll be a 3D film.  With that in mind, James Cameron has come aboard as producer, making this instantly an event film to anticipate, given the scope of Cameron’s 2009 3D ground-breaker “Avatar.” I still think one or two event films along these lines every year would have more impact than blindly converting various 2D titles and muddying the waters of potential for 3D filmed entertainment.

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  • Christopher Nolan speaks out on 3D

    Even with “Inception” still unseen, media and fans alike are hopefully positioning Christopher Nolan as both the artistic and commercial savior of the Hollywood blockbuster in this dreariest of summers. So his views on the lingering point of contention that is 3D strike me as more pertinent than most. And while lofty names from Scorsese to Herzog are boarding the bandwagon, it seems that Nolan — for the time being, at least — remains a sceptic.

    Writing for the LA Times, Geoff Boucher details a Q&A with Nolan that he hosted this weekend, in which the director dwelt on the industry’s current favorite fad, and indirectly alluded to pressure from certain quarters to make the next “Batman” instalment in 3D. At this stage, however, he finds the technology lacking:

    It’s all based on all the visual-effects technology, you know, that we’re currently most engaged in with match moving, so forth, and rendering 2-D imagery into a 3-D space. … On a technical level, it’s fascinating, but on an experiential level, I find the dimness of the image extremely alienating.

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  • AMPAS does the 3D thang

    Don’t panic, they’re not instituting a new Oscar category for Best Achievement In Three Dimensions. (Yet.) But they are acknowledging the ubiquitous trend with a three-part showcase titled “Getting Perspective III: Exploring the Craft of 3D Movie Technology.” Taking place every Tuesday evening between June 22 and July 6, the showcase will comprise panel discussions, demonstrations and screenings devoted to the technology.

    The first part, “Virtual 3D,” will be dedicated to digitally-created 3D, covering key-frame animation and performance capture, amongst other things. The director and effects magician of “G-Force” — no less — will be on hand to further the discussion, so miss it at your peril.

    Part two, “Photographed 3D,” will cover the technology in a live-action context, touching on documentary, stop-motion animation and post-production, with guests including “Coraline” DP Pete Kozachik. The showcase will close simply with a screening of the landmark, self-explanatory 2008 concert doc “U2 3D” — well worth a look from a technical standpoint, whether you’re a fan of the band or not — with an accompanying discussion with the film’s director, DP and editor.

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  • Ebert versus the third dimension

    By now, you may have read Roger Ebert’s lengthy nine-point diatribe against 3D in Newsweek — it has certainly generated a substantial amount of online conversation in the last few days.

    On the face of it, as a declared 3D agnostic myself, I should be pleased with the article: when a “Clash of the Titans” proves the technology a potential artistic liability as emphatically as “Avatar” suggests the opposite, 3D needs to be both argued for and argued with.

    I fear Ebert, however, has slightly let the opposing side down: his piece is impassioned and sincere, but for every viable point he makes — and there are several — there’s another that is short-sighted, obstinate or just tautological: however much you may agree, it’s difficult to accept “it adds nothing to the experience” and “it’s a waste of a dimension” as separate claims in a serious argument, as opposed to simple whining.

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  • Scorsese and Herzog venture into 3D

    If you can’t fix it, you’ve got to stand it. And so it is, apparently, with me and 3D.

    As I’ve written before, I’m not a big fan of Hollywood’s favorite rediscovered gimmick. As a gee-whiz novelty — expertly embellishing the odd genuine event film like “Avatar” — it works a treat. As a now-regular moviegoing ritual — awkwardly grafted onto dreary blockbusters like “Clash of the Titans” and “Alice in Wonderland,” making them even more invasive and exhausting than they need to be — it’s rapidly becoming an irritant. And until some genius fashions 3D glasses that can fit comfortably over an existing pair of spectacles, I’ll remain hostile.

    Clearly, however, I’m going to have to find a way to love the third dimension, as it continues to seep outside the effects-driven blockbuster box, and even into the arthouse. The gentrification, if you will, of 3D took a forward leap this week with the news that both Martin Scorsese and Werner Herzog will be shooting their next projects in 3D.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: Cash of the ‘Titans’

    *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Alright. “Clash of the Titans” is the number one film at the box office with a weekend take of $61.4 million. Is that a tally worthy of the Gods? Simply put, in my opinion, no. Let’s set aside the 3D for a second and just pretend that isn’t a factor. Three years ago, “300” was able to debut with $78.4 million in the wastelands of March with arguably less recognizable source material and no recognizable star power. On this very same weekend last year, “Fast & Furious” opened to $72.4 million, setting a new record for the month of April and proving that huge grosses can come on any weekend in any month.

    The budget on “Titans” was huge and Warner Bros. spent a small fortune hastily adding 3D at the last minute to try and soullessly suck out a few more bucks. In the shortest of short term, this may have worked, but the word of mouth has been atrocious and a lot of it has to do with the 3D so I expect this to drop like a rock and barely finish around $125 million. With overseas markets, that’ll be enough and yet another lifeless remake earns its stripes thanks to you (if you saw it).

    Far more impressive, is the $30.2 million start of “Why Did I Get Married Too?” Tyler Perry’s movies have been the height of consistency, with his Madea titles earning $30 million plus and his Madea-less dramedies earning in the low $20 million range. Now he’s bucked the trend and proved that he doesn’t need a fat suit to register huge numbers. Seriously, there’s nothing harder than opening a drama about adults to $30 million. And that is why Lionsgate is changing their name to Tyler Perry’s Lionsgate.

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  • 9/23 Oscarweb Round-up

    Hugh Jackman at the 81st annual Academy Awards• Hugh Jackman speaks out on his Emmy win and whether he’d return as Oscar host. [Vulture]

    • “A Serious Man,” Colin Firth the big winners in a Toronto critics poll. [indieWIRE]

    • Mary Pilon sits down with activist and star of “The Cove,” Ric O’Barry. [Speakeasy]

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  • 9/3 Web Round-up

    Oprah Winfrey• When will Quentin Tarantino do away with the filmic pretense and capitalize on his true original talent and potential? [The Film Stage]

    • Patrick Goldstein gets cock-blocked by Oprah Winfrey. [The Big Picture]

    • Anne Thompson spotlights 10 hot titles waiting to be bought at Toronto. [Thompson on Hollywood]

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  • 9/2 Web Round-up

    Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man• “A Serious Man,” a glossary. [Focus Features]

    • Peter Knegt writes up 10 things the fall fests could tell us about the awards season. [indieWIRE]

    • Julian Fellowes talks Robert Altman eight years after “Gosford Park,” bringing back memories (old school Oscar Central readers know). [The Wrap]

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  • Continuing the 3D debate

    AvatarEarlier this month, I wrote a piece detailing my wariness about the current 3D vogue amid the various claims being made that it will alter life (or at least cinema, which for many of us is the same thing) as we know it.

    Now, with “Avatar” Day having stoked anticipation for James Cameron’s purportedly “game-changing” film in some quarters — and significantly dampened it in others — the debate about the technology’s value carries on.  I expect the film’s run-up and eventual release will provide plenty more occasion for alternately sceptical and enraptured opinion pieces about the trend.

    I’m still in no position to comment about the potential (or otherwise) of “Avatar” — even if I had wanted to attend “Avatar” Day, given that I was in a tent in rural Wales at the time, the opportunity escaped me. I subsequently watched the trailer online, only to be informed (perhaps a little defensively) by others that the images only really popped in 3D.

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  • The economics of 3D … and why I don’t care

    CoralineI’m going to sound about three times my actual age for saying this, but I’ll say it anyway: I could not care less about 3D.

    I know it’s important, I know it’s fun, I know it’s the future. I know all this largely because almost 20 years ago, a group of cheery traveling 3D promoters visited my elementary school in New Jersey, and told the packed assembly exactly the same thing.

    “Hey, 3D! Yay, 3D! Everybody see in 3D!” they sang, before showing us some jazzed-up motocross footage in the third dimension. Does anybody else remember sitting through the same demonstration?

    I wasn’t thrilled then, and while I’m aware of the massive leap and bounds the technology has made since I was 7 years old, I’m not particularly thrilled now. I like a gosh-wow gimmick as much as the next man — a stupid part of me wishes I’d lived through Smell-O-Rama — but once the novelty of items popping off the screen settles in, I find 3D a dispensable accessory: an extra “D” doesn’t amount to a lot of beans in the cinematic departments I really care about — writing, storytelling, performance.

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