Tri-Dimensional
As another holiday season is upon us, the big retail machine kicks into high gear. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone, but the shopping season is still in mid swing. Every year there's a hot new item, usually in the tech field that gets touted as the must have gift of the season. This year, it seems one of these items are 3D Televisions and Blu-ray players.
Almost a year ago, James Cameron's Avatar hit theatres and made huge bank at the box office and was critically acclaimed as being brilliant and the future of cinema. The movie featured a brand new 3D world that immersed the audience. Too bad the story and plot didn't do the same.
For all its technological glory and critical success, Avatar was basically a retelling of Fox's 1992 Animated film, Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest. This glaring fact aside, Avatar's main impact was on Hollywood. As I've stated numerous times, Hollywood has lost all originality. Since Avatar was released at the end of 2009, around 25 movies have been released in 3D in 2010, with an estimated 30+ slated for release in 2011.
3D films have been around since the 1920's, with the peak period of 3D film making occurring between 1952 and 1955. The genre largely died off after that time and wasn't reborn again until the early 1980's. It wasn't really until 2003 that 3D hit the mainstream again with any impact. From 2003-2008 there were 13 3D films released and then the explosion hit in 2009, seeing 12 3D films that year, including Avatar. Now it seems like every new movie that is coming out is in 3D and this to me is a huge problem.
3D movies have always been a novelty and a gimmick, but now they're becoming the rule. The tech doesn't add anything to the story, just makes things look different by placing an emphasis on what your eyes gravitate towards. I saw Avatar and Jackass in 3D in the theatre. I've since seen Avatar in 2D in my home on HBO and I can say the lack of 3D didn't make the movie any more or less enjoyable. I'm sure the same would hold true for Jackass. Besides, then entire concept of 2D is misleading. You can still see depth and 3D in a 2D film. 3D films just take that to a whole new level.
This big Hollywood and tech push towards all things 3D is ruining entertainment. 3D movie tickets cost more because the movies cost more to make. 3D TV's which have just begun to hit the market, are ridiculously expensive, not to mention, who the hell wants to wear glasses to watch TV in their own home? And like LED TV's, which are experiencing an assortment of technical problems, I'm certain people who jump on the early 3D sets will experience their own issues as this technology is still relatively new and unstable. LCD's and Plasma's had their issues when first introduced to the mainstream market, but now, after years of refinement and improvement, they're incredibly stable and dependable technology.
I really hope that all this 3D film nonsense is just a passing fad, but something tells me it might not be. I'm tired of paying 10 dollars for a movie ticket and until there's a method of watching these movies without glasses, count me out.
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