Why Ebert Hates 3-D

Hello, this will be my first post. I have been reading threads on this forum maybe three times a week for, well, maybe two weeks. Reading this thread in it's entirety convinced me to create an account and give my feedback.

I completely agree with the article by Roger Edert. What good would seeing Philip Seymour Hoffman in 3D do? Or Edward Norton (other then possibly him as Bruce Banner. Though it would just be gimmicky.) or how about Robert Downey Jr, you can go on and on.

Only reason I bring this up is that there is no reason to see great actors performing extraordinary acting performances under the direction of a visionary director with a poetic script in 3D! There is not one, unless you want to see Philip Seymour Hoffman's forehead jump out at you, or maybe Juno's pregnant belly in 3D when Jason Reitman is forced to re-release Juno in 3D...

I digress on how obviously stupid it is to have nearly all films in 3D. The assumption that it is in fact a grand idea only comes from a place of greed that has pushed Hollywood and it's films into a pool of laughable storytelling.

My main point is going to be on Jame's Cameron's Avatar. I've only seen two of his films, Titanic (it's crazy the things a girl can make you do isn't it. On a plus side, it put me to sleep.) and Avatar.

Avatar was the first 3D film I've seen that I can remember other then one or two when I was a toddler. The only other one I've seen since then was Clash Of The Titans which was a total rip off. Garbage, garbage, and more garbage. (Other then Liam Neeson as Zeus and the scene's with the Gods, it was garbage.)

Okay so Avatar's story was not one hundred percent original, other then the planet created, all the creatures created which were done in this way: Take from one animal, and another, take the shoulder plate from him, and the jaw bone from this one and put them together. Yeah, it was all done to look like the creature moved properly and seemed real.

Nothing original other then the creation of plant life and a whole language! Yes, Na'vi is actually a full language (nearly full it lacks a few things which are being created now.) that Jame's Cameron assisted a Linguistics professor on creating.

Now Na'vi is being taught in a few universities in linguistics studies, to help students comprehend the complexities of languages through a language that is not fully constructed, they can assist in it's construction and learn from it.

If you don't call that much precision and attention to detail, that much stress and time consuming creation art, then I think you mine as well call a generic out of the factory chair, art!

I am Canadian, and from my perspective I think it's great to have the true American tale retold in this way. No extensive apology has been made to my knowledge from the American government much less the American people to the Native's who were massacred in a nation wide genocide that took place and is fundamentally ignored in America's history classes.

I say this not from a judging standpoint, I am Canadian. Though we did not partake in such a massive genocide as the Americans, many Native's were slaughtered and we did mistreat them in our own ways which have been apologized for. In my view not enough and just as in America we are not taught the full effects and stories of our past human rights violations.

Another merit to the story is outsourcing of military personnel to contractors, corporations who want money and nothing else. This was not the military as I once saw a movie reviewer say it was. It was ex-military personnel working for a company that was gathering materials for energy or whatever purposes from Pandora for Earth.

Whatever the cost.

Sounds a lot like the Tar Sands of Alberta, Canada which is the dirtiest oil (bitumen) known to man, that takes thousands of gallons of water to produce even one barrel of oil, that has risen the cancer rates all around where it is mined. The list does go on and on.

Or the off shore oil rigs in both America and Canada that have massive consequences when a spills happen and they happen every single day on a small scale. That adds up! Do some research on something called dead zones and tell me that has no merit.

Read between the lines, isn't that the real beauty of storytelling? How one story unravels many more, and many more for each individual as we all perceive things differently, we all interpret differently.

One last point, what is the original form of storytelling? It sure as hell was not dialogue or script. It was imagery, it was painting. Avatar makes you fall in love with the Na'vi people and the planet Pandora simply off of the amazing visuals.

In the case of Cameron's masterpiece (avatar.) it isn't simply 3D imagery, visual effects, a cheap gimmick. It is part of the story, and part of how he tells it. Can images of a city or of Niagra falls make you fall in love with that specific place?

Yes, but the way Cameron does it breaks boundaries, it is unique, it is special, and it is indeed, art.

Just as the art world pollutes art, Hollywood has polluted Avatar, and perhaps polluted Cameron as well. However, hasn't it polluted every one of you? Aren't you all discussing the merits of the film, basing it off of box office sales?

We have the story of mans chase for dirty energy at any cost, destroying people's livelihoods (such as throwing a farmer's family off of there family farm in order to get to oil or coal. (Happens in Canada daily.) and destroying the environment. We have the story of North America's history embedded in a fictional fantasy wonderworld.

We have the story of wounded human turned Na'vi hero, a story of inspiration, perseverance, dedication, and eventual success. No matter how you wrap such merits, they will come true for people who look past the hoopla and sit it aside long enough to absorb it all in.
 
Thank you, DJPW. Though you and I disagree on the merits of 3D, at least you and I see eye-to-eye on the story in "Avatar"

I'm not using the box-office take as a measure of success, or proof that the movie is awesome. I'm only citing it's box-office results as a real-world example to show that there are indeed many people who love this movie, and not just because it's beautiful to look at.

And wridingrlm, I'm sorry, I don't say this intending to be a jerk, though I'm sure that's how I come off. But you truly have no idea what you're talking about if you think a movie can make $2.7B as a result of advertising. If that were the case, we'd have two or three $2.7B movies every year. "Avatar" was a non-sequel; it was not based on any pre-established story, like say, a popular children's book; It had virtually no star-power. It had lots of advertising power, but it didn't even open to really big numbers, and it has been clearly established that advertisings' greatest influence is in the opening weekend. And yet, it somehow demolished every box office record you can think of. All that over a movie that's merely pretty to look at?
 
"I'm not using the box-office take as a measure of success, or proof that the movie is awesome."



From earlier posts --

"I'm sorry, but you are absolutely clueless about analyzing box office results if you think "Avatar" made 2.7 Billion dollars because of advertising."

"What you really want to look at is the way a movie sticks around. I don't mean to patronize anybody, but just to make sure we're all on the same page -- if a movie has a long shelf-life, it's said to have "legs"."


"It did not make $2.7 billion dollars because of advertising. If you think that's the case, I'm sorry but you have no clue about analyzing box-office results."




:lol:

I know, I know, it was the fab story which made everyone run to the theater, not the visual effects and advertising.
 
I changed my avatar for you, wridingrlm. Hehe. : )

I'm not going to repeat what I've said, cuz well, you seem to be reading my posts with dilligence anyway. You've taken what I've said out of context though. Big $, in and of itself, isn't a reflection of a quality movie; I think we can agree on that. But that doesn't mean you can't look deeper into exactly HOW a movie came to make a bunch of money. There are trends you can follow that indicate whether a movie made a bunch of money because of advertising (huge opening weekend) or because of strong positive word-of-mouth (long legs). Just read the last paragraph of my most recent post. If that doesn't clear it up for you, well then there's just no talking to ya on this particular subject.
 
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Wow, I step away for awhile...:lol:

Maybe this is one of those films that, as has been alluded to, had a number of angles:

Big name director
Lots of PR/Advertising
A story which resonated with people(not saying everyone liked it, but obviously a number of people did-btw I did not know about the Native Canadian element-and I'm Canadian! shame on me!;))
Revolutionary visual effects/3D
Word of mouth
Long Legs

Here's how I think it wound out: The movie got a lot of early press before it's opening (Cameron/15 years in the making, suggestions of some real advances in filmmaking). This gets the people's curiosity up. So, Media had a hand in building it. It builds to a cresendo. The film comes out in 3D, movie has huge opening weekend, Media plays more on picture effects/3D/Story. At this point, the people tell their friends, and media rolls with it. Lather, rinse repeat. Obviously it started resonating with people, they liked the story combined with the visual effects/3D. This carried the long, long legs of the film.

Dark Knight made 500 million. Was that because Ledger died? Like above, I thought it originally got the curiosity up to get people to see the film, but it was a story that people liked and resonated with. I still remember Robert Downey when asked about Dark Knight, compared to Iron Man "**** DC" he said. He then went on a rant about one shouldn't have to "think" during movies,-it was actually comical :lol:



BTW, what were the reviews of Avatar when it was released on DVD? Was there any comment, positive or negative, about the 3D effects on the small screen?
 
I'll tell you what, I haven't looked "forward" to a film in a long time. And this one I've been waiting to see produced for over 20 years. The original is what inspired me to push into a career in technology. It had best live up to my expectations. And, yes, I will see it in IMAX 3D. :):

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104001/

As for Avatar on Blu-ray, I skipped it. I am waiting for the November release with the special features. I did see bits and pieces of it, though, at my local Best Buy, and it does look stunning on the "small" (73" diagonal) screen.

Review here (and a funny one at that :lol:):

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2915/avatar.html
 
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Cracker Funk - you have my full support my friend!

I think the arguments you have put forward are intelligent and just, and i happen to agree with you completely.

3D is a way of making money. 3D makes the cinema experience different, new and exciting (not that it wasnt before and yes films were great in "2D" blablablabla i've heard it all before and i agree). 3D makes pirating harder. 3D makes people want to get back into movie theatres, with all those things and keeping in mind that it's showBUSINESS i am in support of the new generation of 3D.

Also to the guy who said 3D is available to us, yes correct it is, but its less available to us than conventional filming methods.
 
3D unhealthy for young children, warns Nintendo


According to Nintendo boss Reggie Fils-Aime, entering the next gaming dimension might not be a great idea for all players.

Speaking to Kotaku during the E3 2010 conference, Fils-Aime warned that very young children shouldn't play 3D systems -- including the company's upcoming 3DS handheld, which boasts full 3D visuals without requiring special glasses.

"We will recommend that very young children not look at 3D images," he told the site. "That's because, [in] young children, the muscles for the eyes are not fully formed... This is the same messaging that the industry is putting out with 3D movies, so it is a standard protocol."

Fils-Aime believes children "under seven" should avoid using 3D technology. That could prove problematic for Nintendo, a company bursting with kid-friendly brands destined to act as showpieces for their 3D-enabled portable. The good news? The 3DS isn’t solely a 3D device; players can use a slider to toggle the intensity of the 3D effect. Turning 3D "off" renders the image in traditional flat 2D.

The 3DS, which is due out by March of next year, enjoyed rave reviews by the lucky few who experienced it firsthand at E3. Nintendo hopes the device will ultimately take the wind out of 3D leader Sony's sails, although Sony boss Kaz Hirai


Link - http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/3d-unhealthy-for-young-children-warns-nintendo/1402971



Very interesting if true for movies too.
 
While I thought Avatar was great, I was extremely pissed off that nobody ever looked at its message, no matter what you thought of it.

I dislike the green part of the movie (probably because going-green has become propaganda now) but I still thought it had a message.

I remember hearing from a friend "I didn't pay attention to the movie the first time because of the effects. Then I saw it again and I paid attention and though 'Hey, this is a cool movie.'"

People really do make me laugh.

However, the film should never have been made in 3D, if you ask me. I thought the film was actually better in 2D without the 3D gimmicks, even if they weren't played out in a gimmicky fashion. In fact, I thought it looked more realistic than in 3D. I'm probably in the minority, but that's the experience that I had.
 
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