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Sony and Disney Partnering on 3D Blu-ray for 'Alice in Wonderland'
Filed under: Disney, Tech Stuff, Home Entertainment, Movie Marketing
Did you like Tim Burton's re-conflagrated 3-D Alice in Wonderland? Yes? No? Either way, you have to admit one thing -- it looked amazing. And it'll look even more amazing on Blu-ray.As reported by Nikki Finke's Deadline blog, Walt Disney Studios has partnered with Sony to market their 3-D products, starting with Blu-ray releases of Disney's Alice and the animated comedy Bolt for the holiday season.
In flawless press-release speak, Disney's Lori MacPherson said, "We are excited to partner with Sony on 3D offerings and to offer consumers their first chance to experience one of 2010's top 3D films and the amazing spectacle of Wonderland in their very own homes."
Their innovative, comprehensive marketing concept is this -- if you buy a new 3D Bravia HDTV (retail price: $2,900-$4,699). you'll receive a copy of either Bolt or Alice in 3D (retail price: Somewhere aroung $50).
I suppose if you were planning to spend around $3,000 for a television anyway, it's a nice bonus to get a movie for free. Of course, if you have that kind of money to drop on a TV, there's something wrong with you if that's where you decide to save a few bucks.
So what do you think? Would a free Blu-ray disc tip you towards Sony's 3D television? Have you tried out the new 3D TVs and are they cool? Is starting your 3D library with a Disney film likely to make you think warm thoughts about the rest of their catalog? How effective a marketing ploy is this, anyway?
Explore the Secret Life of Buildings in Wenders' Latest
Filed under: New Releases, Tech Stuff, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Venice Film Festival
I would never associate German director Wim Wenders with 3D. His beautiful film Wings of Desire is deeply emotional visual poetry -- not the words I'd use to describe a 3D film I've seen by any stretch of the imagination. Those in Italy for the 67th Venice Film Festival can hop a train to Lausanne, Switzerland to take in Wenders' 3D film installation, If Buildings Could Talk . The director has combined cutting edge technology, the futuristic design of the Rolex Learning Center, and a lyrical narrative to explore how buildings communicate with their inhabitants.
Do 3D Movies Deserve Higher Ratings?
Filed under: Box Office, Tech Stuff, Politics
We're all well aware of the subtle and subjective art of the cinematic rating system. Remove a word here, take out an innuendo or slip of the nip there, and suddenly that risque adult fare becomes palatable for familial audiences. But here's a new goodie to consider: With the rise of 3D, will we start seeing the same film receive different ratings between the second and third dimension, and what will that mean for the ever-important box office take?It seems that overseas in Sweden, the country's Board of Film Censors doled out two different ratings for Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. The 2D version was rated G, meaning everyone could see it without adult supervision, while the 3D version was rated PG, requiring adults to accompany tykes under the age of 7.
'Piranha 3D' Producer Responds to James Cameron's Anti-Piranha Statements
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy, Tech Stuff
The other day convicted egomaniac James Cameron decided to publicly chastise Piranha 3D and deem it a project that's cheapening the 3D experience. But he wasn't just irked that the new and popular horror flick would remind the masses of old school 3D experiences that he described as "bottom of the barrel;" he felt that the new release was tainting the 3D "renaissance" he helped create, and name-dropped Martin Scorsese and the upcoming Tron: Legacy as examples of the people and types of fare worthy of the third dimension.It was only a matter of time before the other side weighed in, and now Piranha 3D producer Mark Canton has written a rather lengthy, and accurate, rebuttal.
Scientists Using Motion Capture to Help with Autism, Couples Therapy
Filed under: Tech Stuff, Newsstand
Remember 2004 when Robert Zemeckis brought us The Polar Express and we recoiled at the disconnect between motion capture and the final product? The animation was more human than hand drawings, but still quite artificial. For many audience members, it wasn't life-like enough. But the technology has come a long, long way over just a handful of years. In a post-Avatar world, it can be pretty darn realistic, and offer up characters who almost seen real. In fact, now it's more than just the art that's painted onto the captured movement.Motion capture technology is finding itself useful outside of Hollywood. Instead of being a wall between animation and human reality, researchers are using the technology to measure human behavior.
Does Pulp Fare Like 'Piranha 3D' Cheapen 3D?
Filed under: Tech Stuff, Newsstand
Earlier today you caught some rather hypocritical gems from James Cameron, who was doing the press rounds prior to Avatar: Special Edition arriving in theaters this past weekend. First, his opinion that DVDs are wasteful was balanced with Avatar seeing 3 different DVD releases in the course of a year. But that happens all the time in Hollywood, and is a decision that stretches beyond Cameron's control. (Though one would hope that he'd at least fight the idea.) But then there was another goodie. Though he told Vanity Fair that "I tend almost never to throw other films under the bus," he went on to not only chastise Piranha 3D, but say that it's "exactly an example of what we should not be doing in 3D."Cameron continued:
This from the man who, in the same interview, said: "People just get a little bit too full of themselves."It just cheapens the medium and reminds you of the bad 3D horror films from the '70s and '80s, like Friday the 13th 3D. When movies got to the bottom of the barrel of their creativity and at the last gasp of their financial lifespan, they did a 3-D version to get the last few drops of blood out of the turnip. And that's not what's happening now with 3-D. It is a renaissance -- right now the biggest and the best films are being made in 3-D. Martin Scorsese is making a film in 3-D. Disney's biggest film of the year -- Tron: Legacy -- is coming out in 3-D. So it's a whole new ballgame.
Will 'Spider-Man' Become the First 3D Movie You Can Watch Without Glasses?
Filed under: Sony, Tech Stuff, Exhibition, Home Entertainment, Comic/Superhero/Geek
What's the most annoying part of 3D movies? The glasses, right? Especially for my bespectacled friends out there. I know that if I didn't wear contact lenses I'd probably like 3D movies a whole lot less. Well, Sony and Toshiba are reportedly in a race to develop quality 3D technology that you can watch with bare eyes, though they seem to be concentrating on this benefiting television screens. There are some pricing and tech issues, but there's no reason to think at least an expensive model will be ready in a few years, perhaps just in time for Sony to market its product as a tie-in with a 3D Blu-ray release of its Spider-Man reboot.Don't expect to see that superhero movie in the format without glasses on the big screen, though. Given how long it took (and is still taking) for theaters to convert to digital 3D-capable screens, I don't see the industry going too crazy for any further advances requiring more costly equipment upgrades. Not anytime soon. So the big issue here is that 3D TVs will keep improving and adapting to consumer satisfaction while cinemas will have to deal with what they've recently invested in for a long time. And people will have another reason to stay home: the 3D in their living room will be better and more comfortable.
Framed: 300
Filed under: Action, Critical Thought, Tech Stuff, DIY/Filmmaking, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Columns, Images, War
Welcome to Framed, a column at Cinematical that celebrates the artistry of cinema -- one frame at a time.
Zack Snyder's 300 is a divisive film -- a title loved by fanboys and action junkies who hail it as one of the best movies of the past decade, yet looked down upon by other cinephiles who find all the growling dialogue and super slow motion hard to take seriously. One thing nearly everyone can agree upon is that it's a film with a very unique visual look.
Filled with hyper-stylized colors and computer-generated imagery, 300 is literally a comic book brought to life. Frank Miller's graphic novel is recreated with exacting detail in some sequences, which is at least part of why the comic crowd loves the film as much as they do.
Unlike most installments of Framed, this one isn't so much about how the director and cinematographer worked together to get a great shot. 300 is indicative of a newer kind of filmmaking -- one where visual effects supervisors and CGI artists are nearly as important as the cinematographer himself. Regardless of whether or not you think 300 is good, it's hard to argue against it being visually stunning. Even someone who's not a fan of CGI -- like myself -- finds some of the images in Snyder's film absolutely breathtaking. Is it an exercise in style over substance? Definitely -- but that style is still impressive.
Watch This: Kodak Tests Color Film Footage in 1922
Filed under: Tech Stuff, DIY/Filmmaking, Images, Trailers and Clips
The Internet gets a lot of grief for being a repository for porn, incorrect information, and pointless memes designed solely to waste the time of people who should be working -- but it's not all bad. Occasionally, something turns up online that's both historical and educational. Take, for instance, this YouTube clip featuring Kodak testing color film way back in 1922. If you're a film geek/historian, this is very cool.
The four minutes of footage is historical because it was a test of Kodachrome color motion picture film from way back in 1922 -- and the first color feature was still 13 years away at that point. Thomas Hoehn saw the footage at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film and set about having the film scanned and digitized so we could all see it. Hoehn definitely deserves kudos for that. You can read more about the process at his blog.
The clip itself is quite stunning. The colors have an ethereal quality to them that makes them seem almost timeless. Looking at the footage, you know it's old -- but it also seems almost modern on some levels because of the presence of color. Hoehn explains that the "flicker" was the result of different densities in the old film stock and the hand-cranking filming process. They left it in the clip for authenticity's sake.
The piece features several actresses, including Mae Murray, Hope Hampton, and Mary Eaton, as well as an unidentified woman and child all striking poses and modeling costumes. It's like looking through a window into the past
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Check out the clip after the jump and be sure to stop by Thomas Hoehn's blog for more details about this cinematic treasure.
Blame DVRs For The Increase in Online Movie Ads
Filed under: Box Office, Tech Stuff, Home Entertainment, Movie Marketing
It may seem hard to believe, but the way we watch TV is now affecting how films perform on their opening weekend according to an article in today's THR. With the advent of DVR's and online services like Hulu, "time shifted" television viewing is on the rise -- meaning those movie ads that have long been a part of the television viewing experience may not be reaching audiences in the way marketers intended and could be something we see far less of in the future.
Time shifted viewing -- or viewing programs at a different time than they originally aired -- has been around since the advent of the VCR, but the proliferation of DVRs (coupled with how much easier they are to use to record things than a VCR) have made recording programs to view at a later time easier than ever. A recent survey of Comcast subscribers found that 62% of them are using DVRs, Hulu, or VOD services regularly. What this means to film advertisers is that their targeted new release ads airing on a Thursday evening for a Friday release may not be seen until the following week -- making them money wasted in some instances.
Hit the jump to read more about how time shifted viewing is changing movie advertising.
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