At the end of 2010, we heard plenty of prominent members of the filmmaking industry weighing in on the future of 3D. I think James Cameron put it best when he said something along the lines of “it’s going to be a tool in the arsenal of filmmakers, much like color and sound.” In my opinion, the sooner it becomes a serious filmmaking tool, the sooner it becomes eradicated as a marketing gimmick. And I think we are all ready for the 3D-conversion phase of Hollywood money-grubbing to end.
So, to quote Steven Zeitchick of The Los Angeles Times‘ title, “Why is everyone so on Baz Luhrmann for a 3D ‘Great Gatsby?’” Here’s some of what he said:
“As the Aussie provocateur said at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas — at a panel moderated by our colleague Geoff Boucher; you can watch a video clip here — the director is debating shooting his F. Scott Fitzgerald adaptation using that Z-axis. The logic, as recalled by Boucher (who spoke to Luhrmann at length about the issue), is that when we see a drama on the stage, we’re able to observe various levels of detail through the use of foreground and background. The 3-D format simply allows for the same experience on the screen.
Luhrmann is always shaking up the status quo, so it shouldn’t surprise us that he might try to marry a classic 20th century story with a 21st century format. He also seems to thrive on the negative reaction (which makes the irate, can-he-be-stopped reactions more than a little funny.)
And he clearly loves the grandiose; when we interviewed him about this project a few years ago he said (with appropriate grandiosity) that his ambition was nothing less than a movie that spoke for our gilded age. (‘People will need an explanation of where we are and where we’ve been, and “The Great Gatsby” can provide that explanation,’ he said.) What better way to make that kind of grand statement than to have Nick Carraway and Daisy Buchanan in three dimensions?”
Luhrmann is the perfect director to give the 3D tool on a movie that doesn’t particularly need the tweaking a trial run. Audiences can see it done in his zany style and decide through their money whether or not it should continue to be done. It’s pretty hypocritical for people to go crazy when Luhrmann suggested shooting “The Great Gatsby” in 3D because a similar risk was taken by James Cameron with “Avatar.” 3D was for animation and corny movies to throw things at an audience; it was not for serious filmmaking. Now, thanks to his lead, directors like Martin Scorsese are shooting movies in 3D.
Filmmaking is about advancing the craft, and if we remain stagnant, it will die out and wind up like pottery. I don’t want our great form of art and entertainment to become irrelevant, so YES, I am behind Baz Luhrmann. (If he fails, we still have Fitzgerald’s book and the 1970s movie.)
With 2011 in our sights, many of 2010’s finest moments and achievements are being recapped (see my “
This is a big post. A huge post. So big it had to involve “Avatar.”
Eek, I’m really scrounging for factoids … and not finding much. Honestly, a part of me just wants to say that I caught a really strange pop culture reference in “How Do You Know” today. On Reese Witherspoon’s mirror, there are all sorts of inspirational quotes about courage and other virtues. Then, there’s a quote from KeKe Palmer’s song “Bottoms Up.” You got some swagger, better let ’em know; you got some swagger, better let ’em show. It belongs right next to Shakespeare and Biblical passages.
Yet another part of me wants to tell you that my family’s Christmas tree was dubbed “The Avatar Tree” by me today after these horrific white orb lights we bought from Target make it look like those little dandelion spirits of the forest. My mom and I were going to dismantle the tree and replace them with new lights, but we decided to live with “The Avatar Tree” rather than waste two hours of our life for a tree that would like pretty for a week.
So apparently James Cameron wants our money again for “Avatar.” As if he didn’t make enough on the rerelease in theaters, the first DVD release, and the record-shattering first release. Now, there is “Avatar: Extended Collector’s Edition.” This time, Cameron is so nice he’s even going to include bonus features!
What happened to bonus features? Seriously.
Cinematical brought up an interesting topic – 
“Get Him to the Greek” has received a limited release in Paris, retitled as American Trip, while “Youth in Revolt” has been changed to “Be Bad!”. The former sounds vanilla, though the German version, pictured above, looks better; I prefer the Spanish title, “Todo Sobre Mi Desmadre,” which sounds positively decadent (“All About My Total Chaos?”). But I like the idea of Michael Cera trying to “Be Bad!” (love that added exclamation mark, and the phrase comes straight from the movie). In Mexico it’s known as “La chica de mis suenos” (“The Girl of My Dreams”), which sounds pretty sappy.
I think that after the past 6 months have brought nothing but 3D controversy and argument, maybe “Avatar” will remind audiences of what good use of the technology looks like. Perhaps they will then apply that sentiment and make a ruckus for all the false 3D filling theaters recently. I can dream, can’t I?
Smoking in movies. The MPAA is cracking down on it like Congress is cracking down on steroids in baseball.
I’m pretty obsessed with movies, but I don’t think I will ever go 
A few days ago, I had to run an errand at Best Buy. I thought I would take a “shortcut” through the DVD section and peruse for a good bargain. However, that longer walk took me by the TV section, where the Samsung 3D-TV was featured prominently up front. There were some comfortable recliners to sit in while watching, but perhaps more importantly, they had “Avatar” in 3D on the TV. I mean, how could I not sit down and watch some of it?
Following a series of linked posts the other day, I wound up at this interesting USA Today article: 
Marshall and the Movies 
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