Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Reel Facts & Opinions

FACT: With the (goddamn) 3D version of THE LION KING raking in over $100 worldwide and still climbing, Disney (apparently with nothing better to do), is planning on releasing four of its classic films in the 3rd dimension. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST will open in January 2012, FINDING NEMO in September 2012, MONSTERS INC. in January 2013, and THE LITTLE MERMAID in September 2013.

This makes the (goddamn) 3D schedule fairly beefy over the next few years. James Cameron is releasing TITANIC in GD3D in April 2012 (just shy of the 100th anniversary of the sinking), and George Lucas will begin releasing his STAR WARS saga, in order in February 2012, beginning with EPISODE I.

OPINION: As stated, neither Disney, Cameron, or Lucas has anything better to do but play around with this cursed fad; no new stories to write, no new ideas to film. But if we have to deal with this, and we do…

The 3rd dimension is all about depth; it only works if the filmmakers kept depth in mind when they were filming on set, or rendering an artificial environment (of course, all fillmakers should be doing that no matter what the hell dimension they are shooting for). This docket of films offers some, but not a lot of eye-popping opportunities. Like the chandelier/dance scene in BEAST, the large door-room scene in MONSTERS, INC., and several wide exterior-shots in NEMO.

Moving right along…Lucas’ pod-race in EPISODE I, along with the final space battle offers great opportunities of depth. Cameron’s TITANIC holds less opportunities, but that initial low-angle shot of the Titanic’s wrecked bow coming out of the darkness might be pretty darn cool.

As great as (goddamn) 3D may be in large scenes, it suffers horribly when the going gets intimate. Will the 3rd dimension add anything to Jack and Rose floating in the ocean, or any bedroom scene in MONSTERS? The answer is (goddamn) no. At that point the stupid glasses become an annoyance, and things feel better off if you only had to put the blasted things on during certain parts of the movie. Of course that’s an even bigger pain in the arse.

Every one of these films that are being released with the added dimension were big money-makers in their day, and each hold a place in our culture, and in our hearts. Any one of them can and would do very well in a digital 2D release. Certain films seem made for the big screen, and every one of these upcoming releases fall under that category. Let them stand on their own.

What say you?

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