I know there have been a few threads on the subject on 3D cinema already, but I'll hope you'll forgive me as I rant a little.
I've never been particularly impressed by gimmicky ideas. The eye toy did nothing for me, the gravity gun in HL2 got dull for me very quickly, the Wii, touch screen technology, apps, all of that "look what we can do now" stuff left me yawning. The latest thing to do this to me is 3D cinema. It's not a new idea after all, 3D films were wowing audiences in the 1950s, and then again in the resurgence of the 80's. We've gone from the old blue and red to polarised glasses and films are raking in the profits. My problem with all this, is like with all gimmicks, something is sacrificed for the benefit of the novel experience. With the touch screen we got a million apps, but lost the easy to use functionality of a cell phone. With 3D cinema, to fully use the technology, content seems to have taken the bullet for the greater good, or for profits in this case.
The last few films I saw, were: Up, Book of Eli, Alice in Wonderland and the Clash of The Titans. Of these, I don't think Book of Eli was in 3D, so we'll discount that for now. There are two things these films had in common:
1: They were all in 3D, obviously.
2: There was an awful .lot of travelling in them.
Of the three films the one I enjoyed most, was Up. I thought about it, and I've come to the conclusion that I liked that one the most because is was supposed to be about travelling. The whole premise was that the old man was making his journey. The other two simply involved travelling scene after travelling scene with a little action to break it up. I'm sure many people marvelled at the twisted woods in all their 3D glory, and loved the multi layered mountains, and the complex city of Argos, but I'd prefer a bit more story. If I wanted to look at scenery, I'd go on a road trip. I've seen clips of Avatar, and it looks to be the same story; "look at our fancy scenery, the close bits actually look close. Look at our waterfalls!". Even the trailers showed more films in 3D about people going somewhere. More 3D scenery. There was one about owls, going somewhere for some reason, which is fine, since that's what owls do I suppose, fly around. Even the latest Shrek seems to about getting back to wherever he was.
The other thing that annoys me is how obvious it all is. The trailers for Titans was all about sticking spears into the screen, and other things from that front-on angle. I like some variety in my films but most of all I value a good plot, and a decent script. I personally hope this whole fad with 3D cinema goes away, or at least becomes more subtle soon, as I'd like to go and watch a decent film again.
So that's the end of my sort-of-rant. To prompt you into some sort of discussion, what do you think about the 3D cinema trend? Are there any other gimmicks that you really hate? Maybe there are some you like, against your better judgement.
I've never been particularly impressed by gimmicky ideas. The eye toy did nothing for me, the gravity gun in HL2 got dull for me very quickly, the Wii, touch screen technology, apps, all of that "look what we can do now" stuff left me yawning. The latest thing to do this to me is 3D cinema. It's not a new idea after all, 3D films were wowing audiences in the 1950s, and then again in the resurgence of the 80's. We've gone from the old blue and red to polarised glasses and films are raking in the profits. My problem with all this, is like with all gimmicks, something is sacrificed for the benefit of the novel experience. With the touch screen we got a million apps, but lost the easy to use functionality of a cell phone. With 3D cinema, to fully use the technology, content seems to have taken the bullet for the greater good, or for profits in this case.
The last few films I saw, were: Up, Book of Eli, Alice in Wonderland and the Clash of The Titans. Of these, I don't think Book of Eli was in 3D, so we'll discount that for now. There are two things these films had in common:
1: They were all in 3D, obviously.
2: There was an awful .lot of travelling in them.
Of the three films the one I enjoyed most, was Up. I thought about it, and I've come to the conclusion that I liked that one the most because is was supposed to be about travelling. The whole premise was that the old man was making his journey. The other two simply involved travelling scene after travelling scene with a little action to break it up. I'm sure many people marvelled at the twisted woods in all their 3D glory, and loved the multi layered mountains, and the complex city of Argos, but I'd prefer a bit more story. If I wanted to look at scenery, I'd go on a road trip. I've seen clips of Avatar, and it looks to be the same story; "look at our fancy scenery, the close bits actually look close. Look at our waterfalls!". Even the trailers showed more films in 3D about people going somewhere. More 3D scenery. There was one about owls, going somewhere for some reason, which is fine, since that's what owls do I suppose, fly around. Even the latest Shrek seems to about getting back to wherever he was.
The other thing that annoys me is how obvious it all is. The trailers for Titans was all about sticking spears into the screen, and other things from that front-on angle. I like some variety in my films but most of all I value a good plot, and a decent script. I personally hope this whole fad with 3D cinema goes away, or at least becomes more subtle soon, as I'd like to go and watch a decent film again.
So that's the end of my sort-of-rant. To prompt you into some sort of discussion, what do you think about the 3D cinema trend? Are there any other gimmicks that you really hate? Maybe there are some you like, against your better judgement.
