3D or Not 3D?

I've been talking a lot recently about the trend of films hitting the theaters in stereoscopic 3D. “Monsters vs Aliens” is out now, Toy Story is being remade in “Disney 3D” (which like “Disney DVD” is the same technology with their brand), Ice Age 3 will be in 3D, and I believe “Up!” will be as well. And while Dreamwork’s Jeffrey Katzenberg is all pumped about “MvA” being in 3D, along with “all future Dreamworks animated films,” his own employees pretty much throw him under the bus in this article, stopping just short of calling it a gimmick.



I have to agree. How many times has stereoscopic 3D been tried in theaters and completely failed? I remember seeing “Jaws 3D” (Get it? It's Part 3 and 3D combined. It’s clever.) with my family and even as a kid thinking it was lame.

Thankfully, good ol’ Roger Ebert sums it up far better than I ever could in his review of “MvA” by saying:

I will say this first and get it out of the way: 3-D is a distraction and an annoyance. Younger moviegoers may think they like it because they’ve been told to, and picture quality is usually far from their minds. But for anyone who would just like to be left alone to see the darned thing, like me, it’s a constant nudge in the ribs saying never mind the story, just see how neat I look.

If this is the future of movies for grownups and not just the kiddies, saints preserve us. Billions of people for a century have happily watched 2-D and imagined 3-D. Think of the desert in “Lawrence of Arabia.” The schools of fish in “Finding Nemo.” The great hall in “Citizen Kane.” Now that flawless screen surface is threatened with a gimmick, which, let’s face it, is intended primarily to raise ticket prices and make piracy more difficult. If its only purpose was artistic, do you think Hollywood would spend a dime on it?

Preach on, Roger... preach on.

I also read a quote from Katzenberg in a recent issue of Entertainment Weekly in which he said that he hopes that 3D will give people a reason to go to a theater to see a movie, rather than illegally download it on a computer or an iPod. This despite the fact that box office revenues are at an all time high. Seems to me that people are having no problems finding their way to their local theater.

I've finally found a theater in my neck of the woods that's playing "MvA" in plain old 2D, and I'm pleased as punch. I'll be seeing it there this week. I'll also have to start scouting around once "Up!" is released.

Stereoscopic 3D has died a thousand deaths, and it looks like we'll have to sit through at least another 12 months of releases before it dies again. Until then I'll keep trying to find 2D showings of animated films, or I'll wait for the DVD release.

Am I alone on this?

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