3D Movies

Ask yourself this: "are 3D movies sufficiently good enough to warrant doing this to yourself?"

Nobody looks good in 3D glasses (although I am hardly a fine example of good looks spoilt). Thank God it's dark in the cinema.

Incidentally I shaved off my winter pelt last night. I seem to have acquired an additional chin since mid December. Grumble.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Edited to add: The location provided by the iPhone app is hardly it or O2's finest moment. The post was made from The Carpathia between 80 and 100 miles from where the iPhone suggested. I have the navigation charts here to prove it.

3D Movies

Ask yourself this: "are 3D movies sufficiently good enough to warrant doing this to yourself?"

Nobody looks good in 3D glasses (although I am hardly a fine example of good looks spoilt). Thank God it's dark in the cinema.

Incidentally I shaved off my winter pelt last night. I seem to have acquired an additional chin since mid December. Grumble.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

Edited to add: The location provided by the iPhone app is hardly it or O2's finest moment. The post was made from The Carpathia between 80 and 100 miles from where the iPhone suggested. I have the navigation charts here to prove it.

Don't tell Alice

Yesterday we decided to wander down to the Vue Cinema in North Finchley and watch Tim Burton’s latest offering, Alice in Wonderland in 3D. We missed Avatar¹ and rather fancied seeing a movie with this nascent 3D technology applied to it.

Well, as we already knew, Tim Burton is very much in the same cinematic section as Terry Gilliam. Fantastic imagination, marvellous visuals, splendid performances from (most of) the cast and paper-thin plot with an unsatisfying, preachy conclusion. Over-rated and disappointing, though it doesn’t bore (which is good, particularly considering the bishop-buggering amounts of money they charge to see this film).

We have just come through a 15-20 year period in which major studios have been more than happy to spend three or four dollars on a script so they can throw hundreds on millions at the CGI and other special effects. I had hoped that we might be moving into a period where we could watch movies with good stories and good effects, rather than choose between them. I fear, sadly, that we are now about to move into a second prolonged period whereby the story is subservient to the development of 3D technology, which is so far nowhere nears as clever as they would have you believe, although some bits work very well.

Given the premium hike on cinema prices in the UK at least, that 3D movies involve, I foresee that even my irregular attendance at the movies will reduce further. Or I shall stick doggedly with 2D until someone can convince me that 3D has developed enough to be worth the Timmy Mallet glasses and low-level headache.

If you do go to see the movie, look out for the feather at the end. That’s really good.

At least we got to keep the 3D glasses, so I can look like a fat Clark Kent in the privacy of my own home.




¹Oscars and other awards not withstanding, I was and remain unimpressed by the thought of paying to have to watch an action parable about ethnic exploitation and the evils of cultural imperialism, particularly when this is wrapped up in a paper-thin story with half naked primordial smurfs and corporate greed around the entertainingly and unimaginatively named unobtainium. I can insult my own intelligence without paying someone to do it for me. [/rant]

Don't tell Alice

Yesterday we decided to wander down to the Vue Cinema in North Finchley and watch Tim Burton’s latest offering, Alice in Wonderland in 3D. We missed Avatar¹ and rather fancied seeing a movie with this nascent 3D technology applied to it.

Well, as we already knew, Tim Burton is very much in the same cinematic section as Terry Gilliam. Fantastic imagination, marvellous visuals, splendid performances from (most of) the cast and paper-thin plot with an unsatisfying, preachy conclusion. Over-rated and disappointing, though it doesn’t bore (which is good, particularly considering the bishop-buggering amounts of money they charge to see this film).

We have just come through a 15-20 year period in which major studios have been more than happy to spend three or four dollars on a script so they can throw hundreds on millions at the CGI and other special effects. I had hoped that we might be moving into a period where we could watch movies with good stories and good effects, rather than choose between them. I fear, sadly, that we are now about to move into a second prolonged period whereby the story is subservient to the development of 3D technology, which is so far nowhere nears as clever as they would have you believe, although some bits work very well.

Given the premium hike on cinema prices in the UK at least, that 3D movies involve, I foresee that even my irregular attendance at the movies will reduce further. Or I shall stick doggedly with 2D until someone can convince me that 3D has developed enough to be worth the Timmy Mallet glasses and low-level headache.

If you do go to see the movie, look out for the feather at the end. That’s really good.

At least we got to keep the 3D glasses, so I can look like a fat Clark Kent in the privacy of my own home.




¹Oscars and other awards not withstanding, I was and remain unimpressed by the thought of paying to have to watch an action parable about ethnic exploitation and the evils of cultural imperialism, particularly when this is wrapped up in a paper-thin story with half naked primordial smurfs and corporate greed around the entertainingly and unimaginatively named unobtainium. I can insult my own intelligence without paying someone to do it for me. [/rant]

Stop it now!

Why do people here insist on trying to write “premia” into documents when they mean “premiums”?

It’s not big, it’s not clever and it’s not a word – not in English, anyway.

Stop it now!

Why do people here insist on trying to write “premia” into documents when they mean “premiums”?

It’s not big, it’s not clever and it’s not a word – not in English, anyway.

More Books from The Times

Today, by the way, The Times is doing its book thing again.

This week the theme is children’s books. Today they gave out a free copy of Mary Poppins, for the remainder of the week, the books are:

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland;
The Wonderful World of Oz;
The Jungle Book; and
Black Beauty

Since I am less interested in these, no doubt I shall be able to pick them all up with my daily paper, unlike last week, when for three days there was no Times available in the shop…

More Books from The Times

Today, by the way, The Times is doing its book thing again.

This week the theme is children’s books. Today they gave out a free copy of Mary Poppins, for the remainder of the week, the books are:

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland;
The Wonderful World of Oz;
The Jungle Book; and
Black Beauty

Since I am less interested in these, no doubt I shall be able to pick them all up with my daily paper, unlike last week, when for three days there was no Times available in the shop…