Monsters Vs Aliens, and 3D in General

[PoolMan]

Determined to see a movie last night, but beholden to my promise to Darth Madler not to see Wolverine without him, I went out and caught Monsters Vs Aliens 3D last night.

I brayed like a donkey. Way funnier than it had any right to be.

I was curious about two things. One, did anyone else actually go see this? Cause it was dang funny ("I taste ham!").

Two, what do you guys think of the recent push towards 3D? We went and saw Coraline a few weeks ago as well, and aside from a couple of moments, I thought the 3D was used really effectively and not obnoxious, like I expected. One thinks of 3D as a kitschy "feature" of 80's movies, but it's come a long way.

What do you think?

[Rett Mikhal]

I think the 3D in Beowulf was the only reason I didn't ask for my money back. Sure, the movie was childish, cliche, over the top, ridiculous, and absolute box office gold for a 13-year-old, but MAN was that 3D impressive. You even forget you're wearing the glasses and swear the crew just put candles floating in the movie theater. I'm waiting for the day a 3D-effect laden first person shooter game comes out. Won't that be amazing.

Also, it doesn't seem far fetched to go back and make older movies 3D. I think that would be an interesting DVD feature. Just imagine that scene in Ghostbusters when they shoot the streams AT the screen. Sure, it might be absolute novelty but it isn't SUPPOSED to be anything else. You're not going to see a chandelier sticking out in the middle of the theater and interpret it as a metaphor for the labor crisis in Russia, it's just there and it makes you feel like you are, too.

That's my two cents. For the record I think those family friendly and clean comedies are actually sometimes funnier than the raunchy ones, and far better than 90% of raunchy stand up comedians aside from a few. I show no shame and neither should you admitting I quote the Penguins from Madagascar daily.

[DTH]

I really enjoyed this movie and loved the homages

Having seen similar 3D technology at IMAX a few years ago, I was curious how it would translate to a "standard" cinema screen. I was very, very impressed and actually thought that the 3D tech was much more sophisticated than a fad.

I'm not sure whether it will be the "wave of the future" but it certainly made the ticket price more bearable.

But then that is really the point of cinema, no? To give you an experience you cannot have at home... in this day and age of 50" plasma screens with surround sound and blu-ray... cinema HAS to keep one step ahead of the home entertainment scene.

Is 3D the answer? Possibly, at least for the next few years.

If only my local multi-screen had digital screens! Grrr.... guess that's what I get for living in a "historic market town" and NOT a city

[PoolMan]

I would agree, DTH. The theaters have to do something to make themselves worth going to, and 3D might be a more solid option than it would seem historically.

I'd argue, of course, that it's not an option for every film out there. It wouldn't be appropriate for certain kinds of movies (dramas) or useful for others (general comedies), but for the action movie and CGI crowd, it's a much more impressive perk than it used to be.

I'd say CGI stands to get the greatest boost. After all, it's as simple as rendering the movie from two, very slightly different, perspectives to represent the viewers eyes. I imagine converting an entire live action movie into 3D is a huge task.