One week, Two films, 3D

This week I donned 3D wayfarers to experience two contrasting uses of 3D film technology, which is currently enjoying a modern high-tech revival. 3D films are not new, but the technology now at directors' disposal makes for potentially groundbreaking cinema and a new way of enjoying movies... or does it?

THE Final Destination is the latest from the franchise that made us re-evaluate the safety of every day objects. I would be lying if I said that I hadn't enjoyed previous Final Destination films. The car crash in Final Destination 2 was well realised and truly frightening, and guessing the death has always been a favorite game of mine. I cannot help but think that four Final Destination films is a bit excessive, but I also cannot really blame them as it’s such an easy blue print for printing money.

Perhaps then, the use of 3D would in fact revitalise the series and add a new dimension (other than the third one) to the systematic slaughter of a band of ‘lucky’ survivors. Unsurprisingly, The Final Destination 3D actually just jumps on the bandwagon and any use of the third dimension seems like an afterthought. The fact that only certain scenes take ‘advantage’ of the 3D technology is actually distracting. There are only so many incoming spikes or flying nails that I can handle before the novelty really wears off. I was slightly disturbed to realise that I actually craved even more gruesome deaths for certain characters, but I can only blame films like this and Saw for desensitising my gag reflex. The explosion in the cinema was fun, and shows that the makers of Final Destination know exactly what they are doing, and really don’t care, as long as the audience winces sufficiently with every skewered eye socket and mangled limb. The Final Destination does exactly what you would expect, so there’s no point complaining… unless they make anymore.

In stark contrast to Final Destination, I also had the pleasure of watching Pixar’s newest future classic, Up. I am already a huge Pixar fan, and bar the blip that was Cars, I have proclaimed each successive film to be my new favorite and a work of genius. Up is no exception, and is a perfect example of how 3D technology can add to the storytelling of a film. The story had as much depth as the 3D background and the animation looked as remarkable as you would expect. Pixar are a consistent ray of high definition light in the computer-animated genre, which is being ever muddied by the glut of studios trying their hand at animation.

Up manages to create a believable world that you immediately feel apart of. Only Pixar can squeeze so much emotion from a simple scene setting montage, and from the first moments of the film you are drawn into the emotional highs and lows of the central characters. You could physically feel the hearts of fellow cinemagoers warming, behind their 3D glasses, as every scene progressed. The grumpy widower and chubby Boy Scout had seemed like unlikely heroes, but somehow Pixar made it work.

Pixar decided to steer clear of the obvious gimmicks of 3D filmmaking, and for this reason has shown the potential legs that 3D films may have. Maybe we will all be investing in our own designer, prescription 3D glasses before long?

Up trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USpI6Jzl3No

First real post: (500) Days of Summer

I have found that laying down my opinions in concrete blog is more of a challenge than it should really be. By writing this blog I am forcing myself to stand by my rants and criticisms as well as the wild praise I will no doubt heap onto some unworthy subjects. This does not sit very well with the social chameleon qualities that I have spent my formative years grooming. No longer will I be able to alter my likes and dislikes according to my current company, and my usually gentle humoring of friends' and family members' love for various subjects will now seem false and patronising. Until I work out how to edit and delete posts I will also not be able to cover up how blatantly my tastes are changed by universal opinion. Had I been writing a blog in year 10 I would no doubt have championed the brilliance of Wheatus. Thankfully, I was too busy on Teen Chat and so my miscalculated review of the next big thing was never committed to the universal scrutiny of the internet. I don't want another "Wheatus". 

For my first blog posting I thought I would play it safe and review a film. I also decided I would give the film a negative review, much easier than putting my neck on the line to praise one.

I went to see (500) Days of Summer with my Architect companion, who has pointed out that I was very quick to dismiss the film and that after only a few minutes in I had made up my mind. She may have a point, but I stand by my review all the same.

 (500) Days of Summer, as the narrator points out, is not a love story, or at least it dresses itself up (in quirky vintage clothing) to not be a love story. Anti-love stories can be far more profound than sickly sweet romance, revealing far more about the dynamics of real-life relationships than any love story ever could. For this part, (500) Days of Summer is not a  typical love story, but it still manages to include the majority of the associated cliches. Love story or not aside, (500) Days of Summer is quick to make it known that it is an alternative romantic comedy. In fact, it has perfected a template for making 'alternative' romantic comedies of which Juno and Garden State would be proud; simply add your own iTunes playlist, preferably with a smattering of Belle & Sebastian, throw in a couple of creative/kooky characters and perhaps deconstruct a couple of rom com sensibilities. The characters will write themselves once you give them a creative profession (architect, check) and define them by their taste in headphones, indie bands and perhaps a pop-philosopher or two.

There were some redeeming features to the film, namely Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is very watchable, sweet and funny. There were also some funny moments, although not nearly enough. I was surprised that I found the current alternative love interest go-to-girl Zooey Deschanel more annoying than anything, but maybe that wasn't really her fault.  

The 2D character development in (500) Days of Summer is best seen in Summer; she believes that love is a fallacy because her parents got divorced. Tom on the other hand is an old fashioned romantic, we are told this is due to spending too much time listening to Morrissey (such depth). The two lead characters have paint by numbers interests and personalities (indie-cool edition), of course he likes old cinema, of course he likes vinyl, of course his favourite place in LA is a park bench with a view. If I was a confused 15 year old, I would lap this up and I am sure that the Smiths will rocket up the alternative 15 year old charts along with the Pixies, vinyl and Alain de Botton. If I had watched films like this when I was growing up, maybe I wouldn't have had to go through my Wheatus phase and I could have been handed an instant shopping list of cool that could be used as the foundation for my current taste. But then again, maybe the process and journey one takes in developing their taste is more important than the final destination.

(500) Days of Summer trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsD0NpFSADM

First post

Having outgrown the micro-blog, I felt it was time to try my hand at an old-fashioned proper blog. At this stage I cannot say whether I will actually ever post anything, but I am currently sailing on a wave of enthusiasm and optimism- so maybe I will.

My main issue when it comes to writing blogs is my own cynical, overly critical view of other people's self-indulgent and banal postings. For every post that I do manage to publish, I will have gone through an excruciating process of self-vetoing and editing, no doubt resulting in diluted paragraphs of inoffensive, but nonetheless self-indulgent piss.

I also seem to have a problem with establishing the correct tone. When I read my own words, they seem to either jar, like hearing my Dad swear, or sound like an impression of someone pretending to write a blog like a real person.

Anyway, my intention is to write about the usual things that people write about: things I like, and things I hate.