Honestly, 3-D isn’t for everybody, and 3-D updates of older (and, in some cases, classic) films has an odd feeling about it. This news is either good or bad, depending on your perspective. The good news, if it’s your brand of whiskey: The first 3-D “Star Wars” movie has a release date of Feb. 10, 2012. The bad news: It’s “The Phantom Menace.” [StarWars]
Roger Ebert is convinced 3-D doesn’t work. To back up his case, he reprinted an e-mail from Walter Murch, the editor of “Apocalypse Now,” “Julia” and “The Godfather, Part III.” Murch basically says that our brains can’t comprehend 3-D, but his thoughts are worth reading if you wonder why this price-gauging method is also cinematically unsound.
Showing a determined resistance to any and all bad ideas, Baz Luhrmann is pondering shooting his “Great Gatsby” flick in 3-D. The dissonance between wealth and class is COMING RIGHT AT US. Sigh.
The new “Harry Potter” movie is going to be a throwback! Warner Bros. announced they are releasing it in a piddling two dimensions, because they can’t afford to give us a real, migraine-inducing moviegoing experience. Well, it’s because they said the conversion couldn’t be properly done in time.
(It’s possible they could have delayed it, but after delaying the last movie from November 2008 to July 2009, they probably didn’t want to go through that again. Also, when they delayed the last movie, they were flush with “Dark Knight” money and set for the year. They didn’t know 2009 would bring surprise hits like “The Hangover” and “The Blind Side,” so they guaranteed themselves half a billion dollars by shunting “Half-Blood Prince” to ’09. This time, besides “Inception” they don’t have any other $200 million earners in 2010. And their remaining slate is “Harry Potter,” “Due Date” and “Yogi Bear.” In other words, they NEED a sure thing, hence not delaying it. The more you know!)
I don’t know about you, but I can’t go back to seeing movies in just two dimensions. I want four dimensions. I want the thing to transport me through time and space and bring me face-to-face with the nexus of the universe. I want Smell-O-Vision. Wait, what are we talking about? Right, the seventh and penultimate “Potter” is due out on Nov. 19, and thankfully, they won’t be moneygrubbing with 3-D.