ARTHUR CHRISTMAS Three stars - 2011 Sony/Aardman

The stereo was gorgeous... you could practically feel the fuzz on Arthur's sweater, and the scene with him in his letter-filled room with lighting only from his electric slippers was one of the highlights. Unfortunately, the movie was stupid- and worse: not funny. Characters not engaging, designs uninspired. Struggle to stay awake... Luckily the movie was preceded by a nicely produced 3D music video starring Justin Bieber doing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Awesome drumkit!

PUSS IN BOOTS 3D Four stars - 2011 Dreamworks

The quality of CG animation just keeps improving. This offshoot was not quite in the SHREK league, but very entertaining with lots of laughs (the leche lick scene is a classic). The egg character (Humpty Alexander Dumpty) was good, but there seemed to be a lack of other strong characters (the villians were just not that ominous). The 3D was just right, and some scenes were exquisite.

The THREE MUSKETEERS 3D Four and a half stars - 2011 Summit Entertainment

What is wrong with critics? They loved Caves of Forgotten Dreams and hated this amazing film? Paul W.S. Anderson crafted an exciting, funny and visually stunning 3D film which paralled his great work with last year's Resident Evil. This director embraces stereo- his sets, action and props utilize 3D like no other live action director I've seen. From the opening title sequence over the dimensional maps, through the hyper-real hyper-stereo recreations of olde England and France, to the stunning airship battles- there was never a dull moment. Some scenes were so visually sumptuous, I can't wait to get the Blu-Ray 3D so I can linger longer (one particular shot with the heroine looking into multiple mirrors was especially memorable). The characters were really well done- the English king was hilarious, as was the servant Planchet... and Milla is amazing. Great sets, costumes, FX. Great fun.

DOLPHIN TALE Three and a half stars - 2011 Warner Bros.

OK, it was schmaltzy and predictable... But how can you go wrong with a dolphin, great kids and a very sweet story? Have to admit succumbing a few times to this tear-jerker. The 3D was fine, though I really noticed the beamsplitter rivalry issues. Some nice computer graphics were added to a sequence about designing the artificial tail, and the remote helicopter flying into the audience was fun. Overall, better than expected.

FINAL DESTINATION 5 Three stars - 2011 New Line Cinema

It's beyond comprehension how people can laugh when they see gruesome and graphic deaths. Even though these are "fake", we are still confronted with the most horrible human violence that the human mind can conjure. How is this enjoyable? How can we not be scarred by this pure bloodlust? Isn't there enough real horror? OK, rant over: My friend wanted to see it, so I went... The title sequence with the breaking glass was really fantastic, and the bridge collapse (don't think that's a spoiler!) was quite well done. Overall, the 3D was very good, and humor to make some of the deaths a bit less "real" (the movie is really about making each death as suprising and nasty as possible). For this genre, it was well produced, and the dialogue was not horrid. Aside from the vicarious thrill and disgust of watching someone viciously wasted, it was tolerable- and shot in 3D.

TRANSFORMERS: Dark of the Moon Three and a half stars - 2011 Paramount

Am I looking for a strong storyline in a movie like this? On the contrary, I expect a cinematic roller coaster ride, and I got it! The action was non-stop, the cg phenomenal. The scenes with the building falling over was mind-boggling. Rumor is that the live action was shot in 3D, and the cg was converted (the opposite of normal). I have a real hard time believing this- there was SO much stereo detail in the Transformer machines... They're certainly doing some amazing things with conversions, and maybe a lot of it is some kind of hybrid. Certainly looking forward to the "behind-the-scenes" DVD extras where the stereo work is revealed "in depth". But as each studio seems to have propriety workflows, I doubt this will happen anytime soon. But back to the movie: though it would have been hard to find scenes to cut, I think the film would have benefitted from a shorter than 2.5 hour running time. Just too much of a good thing! Nonetheless, the movie seems to have set some box office records and has bolstered studio confidence in the stereoscopic format.

THE SMURFS 3D Three stars - 2011 Sony Pictures

Ok, I was embarrassed to go to see Smurfs. I was never interested in the comic, but am always interested in merging live action and cg stereoscopically. I was pleasantly surprised that the movie was better than expected... The stereo was wonderful, and I couldn't believe the live action was converted! There were so many details that seemed like they were impossible to pull off in a conversion. However, in reading up post movie, it seems they ran multiple passes on various scenes in order to be able to get reflections and other otherwise impossible stereo effects. I'm not clear on the technical details, but whatever they did was impressive. And the movie was actually tolerable, with Hank Azaria as the over-the-top villian. This is a movie that might be worth picking up on Blu-Ray 3D just to study the stereo more closely... how DID they do it?

HARRY POTTER and the Deathly Hallows Three stars - 2011 Warner Bros.

I had no plans to see this 2D-3D conversion, but somehow I missed the correct time for Transformers, and this was the only 3D option (CARS 2 is already gone!). I'd missed "Part 1", so some of the plot was a bit fuzzy, but there was enough magic and mayhem to enjoy. As for the fake 3D, it worked sometimes and sometimes not so much. The question is: is it worth seeing a fake 3D movie over a 2D version? I guess it is, though I'm constantly distracted by thoughts of how they did it: How did they separate the wisps of hair from the background? The computer graphics look really look, they must have been generated in 3D!? Why did they leave the background so flat in this scene? Is this stereo, or is my brain imagining the parallax?

KUNG FU PANDA 2 Two and a half stars - 2011 Dreamworks

How can I give a good review to a movie that seems to lag, that seems like it just won't end? Yes, the animation was beautiful and the stereo was on the money. But the characters were uninteresting, the "heroes" didn't feel like a team- the story/dialogue left me cold. (Gee, the goose is not the Panda's real father!?) It's always a bummer when a "comedy" is not funny, and this was not (ok, there was one line where I did crack a smile: "false advertising"). The main concept of the fat panda being a kung fu master is painfully dumb, so the entire premise just doesn't work. I did enjoy the dream sequences that were like 3D cel animation, and the peacock had some exquisite sequences. Though there were other moments of beauty, but I was glad when it was over...

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN (4) Three and a half stars - 2011 Disney

Good to see JD in actual 3D (unlike Alice in Wonderland) alongside Penelope Cruz and Keith Richards! This may be the weakest film in the franchise, but the 3D is good (even some gratuitous swords in your face) but nothing spectacular. One memorable effect employed parting some giant leaves (which canvassed the screen), but overall the stereo was routine- even the end credits were fairly straightforward. However, several scenes were visually spectacular and the story and characters interesting enough... you can't go wrong with beautiful (and possibly deadly) mermaids in 3D! (Interestingly, I didn't notice any polarized retinal rivalry that I generally see with live action- due to beamsplitter... I wonder how they avoided it?)

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS One half star - 2011 Creative Differences

Are critics insane? "A fascinating triumph"? "Blows you away with it's beauty"? This film is about a few dozen drawings, most of which are rudimentary sketches... we linger on these for SUCH a long time- not once but over and over. I understand the historical significance of these prehistoric cave drawings, but a little goes a long way! Add insipid talking heads jabbering on about artistic baloney... and an albino crocodile that may one day contemplate the meaning of the cave drawings (!?). Never mind the 3D, which was generally horrible! Seems most of it was converted, some painfully/laughably poorly done. Are people really so blind as not to see the backgrounds stuck to people's heads? Do we even know which cave painting walls show their true forms (which is the point of the 3D)? And much of the "real" stereo was way too strong- I saw headache inducing infinity separation of several feet on the screen in several shots. Even much of the "normal" 2D was dreadful! Outdoor footage (no excuse for non-professional cameras here) that were shaky, noisy and poorly hand held... I've never seen anything this bad outside of Youtube. Nevertheless, this is the film that the NY Daily News compliments "it's exquisite use of 3-D"? The Chicago Tribune exclaims "The 3-D is beautiful"? LAWeekly contends "One of the few justifiable recent excursions into 3-D". And the Boston Herald hails: "What 3D film technology was invented for". 95% critic approval (Rotten Tomatoes). Very bizarre. So, is this bad 3D movie that critics seem to love good for 3D? I guess we'll see...

RIO Four and a half stars - 2011 Blue Sky

Were there laughs? Yes, there were laughs! Was there great 3-D? Yes, it was utilized wonderfully with flying things, cages and doggie drool. The birds and other animals were beautifully designed, but the ICE AGE guys didn't do nearly as well with the humans- character design was pretty basic- even the clothing looked sprayed on and plastic. Otherwise, this was a colorful and fun romp though Brazil's party town during crazy Carnivale (and having been to Carnivale in Sao Paulo, I can say they did an astonishing re-creation of that fanatical celebration.)

MARS NEEDS MOMS Two 1/2 stars - 2011 Disney

The word that came to mind while watching this film was "convoluted". Oh, sorry... I should start with what I liked: the main character, "Gribble", was a really well-executed human cg character. And, there was one funny line in the movie, at which I actually "LOL" (laughed out loud) as did the one other adult in the audience (something about zombies). OK, now I can mention the inane story, inexplicable romance and mediocre characters. Oh, and not funny. If you're looking at your watch during a film, can't be good.

CARMEN 3D Two stars - 2011 RealD/Royal Opera House

Interesting to see that RealD is now producing films as well as the presentation hardware and glasses! This is not an easy film to review: basically, it's a recorded stage show. If you don't like this opera (turns out I didn't), how can you like the film? But even if you like the opera, we're reviewing a 3D movie here. Basically, it was a pretty simple capture from various angles. Not very interesting cinematography! And as it's a stage presentation, the sets are not nearly as detailed or interestingly lit or as varied as in a "real" movie. Technically, I saw some vertical misalignment right were the aligned subtitles were, which caused some discomfort in reading. Fellow stereophiles seemed to love this film, but I didn't.

GNOMEO AND JULIET Two 1/2 stars - 2011 Touchstone Pictures

How could I expect a good movie with such a terrible title? The trailers didn't look promising, but there were some good reviews... I hoped to be pleasantly surprised. I wasn't! The movie was pretty much as bad as expected. Character design and art direction were good enough, but there were no laughs, not even a chuckle. There was a groan, however, when the smashed hero was actually a smashed teapot! Duh! No great characters. The 3D was fine for the most part, but what's up with all the flat clips (mostly during the flamingo sequence)? And the Elton John songs seemed to be forced (oh, I see that he's Executive Producer! Duh!).

JUSTIN BIEBER Never Say Never Three stars - 2011 Paramount Pictures

Would not have gone to see this, of course, if it weren't a 3D movie- and even then it was iffy. But my friend Rob has a daughter who was keen to see it. Turned out, however, that it's really NOT a 3D movie. Maybe 5-10% was stereo (I'm not counting the flat shots with a floating caption!). We did see the "director's FAN cut" which added a lot of (2D) footage, but it was really fallacious to call this movie 3D. That said, I actually enjoyed the film since this kid is really pretty phenomenal and seems to be taking his total adoration and huge success in stride. The film nicely lays out his meteoric rise, and there was one really nice 3D segment involving hundreds of YouTube videos...

DRIVE ANGRY Three 1/2 stars - 2011 Summit Entertainment

OK, I wasn't going to see any more "fake" 3D movies... but, like Alice in Wonderland, I thought the CG would be real stereo and I was interested to see if the conversion would be better if more time/effort was involved. The big problem is that I am constantly distracted from enjoying the film trying to figure out what 3D looks right, what's weird, and what CG looks like real 3D. There was quite a bit of live action that looked quite ok, most people would not notice the difference. I saw occlusion, which is good- but I also saw places where there should have been but wasn't. Not quite right 3D goes by quicky, so it's hard to nail down (until I look at the Blu-Ray 3D in slo-mo). Even well done, the fake 3D just doesn't have the magic that comes about in reflections and transparencies that just can't be faked. And it seemed that a LOT of effects (like the snow, and some mist shots) were added in post, in stereo (which is also good). In fact, in the credits I saw 4-5 people listed as doing stereoscopic work! In any case, it was an enjoyable film... the young boy actor was phenomenal, and the effects were good (especially the painting that becomes alive!).

YOGI BEAR Two and a half stars - 2010 Warner Brothers

Saw this right after Tron, and I was struck as to how much better the stereo was! Too bad it was such a dumb movie! One of those "comedies" which could not even crack me a smile (ok, there was one actual chuckle: the line was "He was open!"). I was really amazed at how well the stereo CG characters were integrated into the stereo live action... really quite seamless. The animation and art direction were good, and the characters were beautifully transcribed from the original 2D cels. Unfortunately, the story and dialogue were just anemic. The Roadrunner short before the feature was no rib tickler, either.

TANGLED Five stars - 2010 Disney

Disney has really outdone themselves with this spectacular re-telling of the Rapunzel story. Naturally the stereo was a huge advantage, but I don't believe I've ever seen a Disney film that I've enjoyed more. This is pure, classic Disney at it's best! The star of this movie, for me, was the art- it was just so perfectly realized in SO many dimensions. The design, the sets, the character work, the flawless animation- it moved me. Disney is not supposed to do that! It was funny, bright and sharp- not dumbed down. The bar scene alone was worth the price of admission, yet there were so many. The mime. The mirror. The detail! So rich in detail! You could pull almost any frame from this movie and have a beautiful still... but some were just exquisite. And a nice finish with the Ronald Searle- like drawings... Is this really the same crew that made the lame Chicken Little just five years ago? The only thing I didn't like about this movie was the title- feel free to fire that guy! Otherwise, a fine piece to add to Walt's legacy.

MEGAMIND Five stars - 2010 Dreamworks

I liked Pixar's (2D) The INCREDIBLES, and loved the recent (3D) DESPICABLE ME, but I really loved MEGAMIND! I went in skeptical, but was quickly won over by the hilarious gut-laugh script (improv?), wonderful characters, spectacular animation, meticulous art direction and, of course, world-class stereoscopic rendering. When a movie just fills you with joy for 96 minutes, how can it be anything but 5 stars? Often, the visuals would elicit an audible WOW- how about that water cascading over the nighttime city street? The invisible car (stereo made it brilliant!)? The skybound giant Megamind head made of balls? The water swirl complete with rainbow? Does superhero/villian flight look amazing in stereo? If there is art greater than this, I don't know what it is.

Jackass 3D Two stars - 2010 MTV

I really didn't plan to go, but a really good review on one of the 3D Movie blogs as well as an A- rating on Yahoo (as well as a friend who wanted to go) prompted me. Stupid college pranks were expected, but I did not expect the crudity to sink to such gross levels. I'll spare the details, but farts, feces, urine and vomit were prevalent- as well as lots of testacle bashing. The fact that this "entertainment" is actually popular is shameful. The reason I gave it any stars at all is that the 3D in the beginning and ending sequences was actually spectacular, and included amazing slo-motion shots. The bulk of the movie had a variety of 3D quality (including a fair amount of 2D) but the content was the very definition of vulgar (and it wasn't fake).

ALPHA and OMEGA Two and a half stars - 2010 Crest Animation

This was more like Saturday morning cartoon fare than theatrical release material. The stereo was ok, but not good enough to keep me awake during this predictable and unfunny animation (ok, some people in the theater laughed occasionally- what do I know?) I was not impressed with the character or set designs, though the end credits did manage to stir up some creativity.

RESIDENT EVIL: Afterlife Four and a half stars - 2010 New Legacy Film

Possibly the best stereoscopic camera work in a live action film I've seen. Seems every scene was art directed with 3D in mind, and there were lots and lots of great scenes! Memorable ones include the plane flying into the side of the mountain (in frozen bullet-time, which was used extensively and brilliantly throughout), the small plane flying through burned out LA, the big hammer zombie fight in the shower room with spray, the white pod room with flying sunglasses, aerials over Alaska, zombies lunging their quad suckers (lots of great zombie scenes) at us, and plenty more. The violence was non-stop, but it wasn't the nasty, gruesome type (see Pirahna 3D)... and the women, though sexy, weren't sexual. If there was a bit more character development and humor, I think this would have been a five-star film. Highly recommended for great real stereo.

PIRANHA 3D - 2010 Dimension Films

This film gets NO stars... not only is it not a real 3D movie, but it's a horrible movie. It's Girls Gone Wild meets Saw (ok, I haven't seen either of those, but... now there's a Saw 3D coming. Must I see it?) How low is it that we enjoy near and fully naked women being horribly maimed? Oh, I forgot... it's supposed to be funny! Yeah, the floating penis was just hilarious. (What is the target demographic, I have to wonder??) Probably the worst candidate for stereo conversion (crowds of beach goers, crowds of man-eating fish, bubbles, seaweed, etc) some of the 3D was passable, but so much was less, and much less. The sad part is that so many people are not noticing the bad stereo or the bad taste. (Currently at 75% on Rotten Tomatoes Toastometer, with Resident Evil at 22%. Go figure.)

STEP UP 3D Two stars - 2010 Summit/Touchstone

As big fans of the TV show "So You Think You Can Dance", my wife and I were looking forward to this film. Initially I had to wonder if it was a conversion, but I saw polarization retinal rivalry, so it had to be a beamsplitter rig (turned out to be a Cameron/Pace). But something(s) seemed wrong, and distracting about the 3D... mostly, I saw compressed heads/faces and lots of cardboard-y layering. Were there also sync problems? The high speed dance sequences were not smooth to me... frame rate? Though there was some interesting use of 3D in the dance contests, I would have to say overall that the 3D was not an enhancement, but an impairment. Was it the convergence? I did see vertical mis-alignment, but not horrible. A lame story and insipid dialogue added up to a movie I looked forward to ending. On the other hand, my wife enjoyed it- and didn't complain about the 3D. What do I know??

DESPICABLE ME Five stars - 2010 Universal/ Mac Guff Ligne

Really didn't know what to expect, but was overwhelmed by this fun and different movie. For me, it had it all: sweet story, refreshing characters, great pace, fantastic stereo, superb animation! Where did these guys come from?? There was an avalanche of "WOW" moments, brilliant sets (the bank, the amusement park, both villians' lairs), and loads of laugh out loud lines. I had to wonder if I could give this the same grade as Toy Story, but I just couldn't think of any faults. The three guys that went with me also loved it- so I'm not crazy! We had to guess that the 2D version didn't include the fun "through the window" bits during the end credits~

TOY STORY 3 Five stars - 2010 Pixar/Disney

(Preshow! First, let me mention that this was the first time seeing RealD with the Sony 4k digital projection system... WOW! They've solved a major 3D projection problem: motion judder. Motion was so much smoother than standard 2k systems! Also, there were 3D ads for the first time- called "First Looks". The brilliant Samsung 3D TV ad we've seen on TV ["Dedicated to Wonder", where the guy takes a cube of water out of a huge aquarium] was here in 3D, even more brilliant!)

Pixar short: "Day and Night" Yet another wonderfully imaginative and unique animation, merging classic cel animation technique with modern cg imaging, beautifully capitalizing the stereo effect. Loved it. (Not to mention I did a live action stereo short about six years ago with the same title!)

Toy Story 3: I knew going in that this was going to be a Five Star movie, and they sure didn't let me down! Story, animation, lighting, color, character, humor, music, oh- and stereoscopy... ALL absolutely top-shelf. Did I say funny? Two routines that stand out were the Ken wardobe sketch, and the "El Buzzo" transformation. The only flaw I saw was the "2D" video setup at the beginning was a bit long... otherwise, Pixar managed to create yet another superb Toy Story for the ages. The detail and intensity of the "landfill from hell" was unexpected... I loved the resolution. Perfect! Thank you, Pixar, for lifting me so high for a few hours!

Not having known much about these sports, I was really blown away by the BALLS these guys have! Absolutely, totally nuts. This has got to be exceptionally difficult action to follow- but they really did a good job with the 3D, despite what seemed to be some sync errors and frame judder. Much of the movie was intercut with 2D, but that didn't bother me much, it was almost a respite. The CG sections were imaginative and fun, and there were plenty of fun effects: slow motion, hyper, frozen multiple exposures, even floating x-rays showing the dozens of injuries sustained by one particular athlete. The film could have been a bit shorter, though the final skateboard competition didn't leave me sleepy at all!

G-FORCE 3D Two and a half stars - 2009 Disney/Sony

Forgettable and not funny, with characters that were less than cute (though the mole was, well, interesting!). Adequate 3D animation, but no laughs were elicited from this reviewer in this collaboration of Disney and Sony (soon to be a video game!). The live-action looked to be completely converted from 2D, and though I'm amazed they can do it as well as they do, it still never looks quite right (the average theater-goer will likely never notice). It's like colorizing a BW film: even though you can do a pretty good job, but it's not going to look quite right (and stereo is WAY harder to pull off)! Compositing had to be a nightmare, but was well-done... and a new, clever trick I'd never seen utilized was that objects would often "break out" of the frame top and bottom. Congratulations on some technical breakthroughs, too bad the movie was a bore.

ICE AGE: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Four and a half stars - 2009 Blue Sky

Started out slow, but turned into an hilarous, incredibly well-animated cg 3D film. The juggling choreography of Sid (one of the best cartoon characters in recent memory) and his eggs was spectacular, in the finest tradition of the master Warner Bros. animators. The scene going into the cave where they all breathe in the "vapors" (with very helium-like symptoms!) was brilliant. Scrat and his new girlfriend were funnier than ever in 3D (which was very well done, I saw no problems). Huge laughs throughout the movie, with the new (stereo-blind) character "Buck" adding a lot of hilarity. This was the first film I've seen with Master Image 3D glasses, apparently a Korean competitor to RealD...

UP Two and a half stars - 2009 Pixar

Am I a curmudgeon, like the star of this movie? Unlike the rest of the world, I really didn't like this Pixar release very much. The story was, well, schmaltzy. The characters were not endearing (the kid was ok) and character design was less than stellar (ok, I did like the "happy" dog, but the Ed Asner character's square head just did not appeal to me at all!). As far as the storyline being believable, it wasn't! OK, I can buy steering the house with sails, sort of... but after the little kid takes over, they somehow come down in the exact spot in South America (oh, the GPS!)?? The house somehow stays afloat even after a huge number of balloons are systematically popped (and with the huge bird on it), only to finally settle in the exact spot promised to the deceased wife? Dog collars that allow dogs to speak (and understand!) English? The old guy pulls up the dog, the bird, and the kid (though he needs a cane!)? I could go on... On the stereo imaging, I found no problems, but neither did I find any clever use of 3D... I'm not looking for "in your face" stuff, just some special moments which capitalize on the third dimension. I'm always amazed by the craftsmanship of Pixar animation, but this is probably one of my least favorite offerings. (It will probably get an Oscar!) Oh, the opening short "Partly Cloudy" was ok... it elicited a few laughs. My favorite part of the showing was the preview for TOY STORY 3!

BATTLE FOR TERRA Three stars - 2009 Snoot Entertainment

NOTE: This movie was viewed in the XpanD "active" glasses format. Only a handful of theaters are currently showing this system, which I found to be ghost and flicker-free and maybe a little darker than RealD... I also noticed some color desaturation, maybe 30%. The glasses were just covered in fingerprints, and I was told after the film that they just don't clean the glasses very much! Otherwise, the XpanD format works very well.
For a "no-name" computer animation production, I found a lot to like about this movie. Although the writing was barely tolerable and the quality of the animation merely mediocre, the stereoscopic aspect was done suprisingly well. Many of the scenes were very well composed for z space (certainly the flying aliens and spaceships had a lot to do with it, but even the views inside Mala, the lead alien's apartment, was nicely set). There were no "in your face" 3D effects (this was a re-render of a 2007 2D animation) which I didn't miss at all. Sound design was also suprisingly good, but cloth simulation was painfully non-existent!

CORALINE Four and a half stars - 2009 Laika Entertainment

Having done still stereo photography of stop motion sets years ago, I was really excited that someone was finally animating in 3D. Coraline utilized lots of digital post processing and some cg, and the results is one of the best stop motion animations I've ever seen. The sequences in the "other" world are just stunning- surreal and fun. Before going to the "other" world, I thought the 3D effect was quite thin, but once through the portal, the effect became strong, but not obtrusive (except for one shot of the "other" dad's hands off the piano, which was totally appropriate- and one good "in-your-face" shot in expected!). I wondered if it would have been more impactful if the real world was totally 2D (or if Henry Selick, the director, thought of that and rejected the idea). Though I really enjoyed the clean, crisp digital projection, I realized that I still prefer full computer animation. Though stop-motion has a wonderful, unique look, it is limited in what can be done compared to pure cg, which is practically unlimited. But what they did do, fantastic.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D Two stars - 2009 Lionsgate

The trailers and ads were brilliant, the live action 3D was decent, but I am not a fan of a film that is proud of it's "graphic brutal horror, violence and grisly images throughout"... especially potent in 3D. Isn't there enough murder and brutality in real life? (This was my first Dolby 3D film: the projection was quite dark- it wasn't just the movie).

BOLT Five stars - 2008 Disney

Is there anything better than a great stereoscopic cg movie, well presented? Just about every artform is represented: painting, sculpture, music, animation (dance), storytelling and if you're lucky- humor. There is so much to rave about in this film- from design to lighting to story to characters to action to... having fun with Hollywood movie making! And the breadth of detail is just astounding! The animal fur, the iridescent feathers of the pigeons, the iron bars on the bridge... the list goes on, and the digital stereo brings it all out so vividly. Disney finally got it right, with a lot of help from Pixar, it seems. 3D-wise, it was just great- with so many beautiful reflection/transparency effects... specifically the hamster "ball" (which was brilliant on so many levels)! "Rhino", the hamster, was utterly hilarious (whoever thought "I'll snap his neck" could be one of the funniest lines ever?!). The treatment of the travel across the Waffle map was a treat in itself. I enjoyed it just as much the second time I saw it, and I'm sure I would again.

FLY ME TO THE MOON Two and a half stars - 2008 nWave Pictures

Though there were some nicely designed CG sets, this movie would have been dreadful in 2D. Mediocre design/animation, lame script (one line was almost funny) and forgettable characters. The 3D looked pretty good throughout, overlooking the extreme parallax and infinity at the window. But the RealD system kept ghosting from being a problem at all. Images looked bright, steady, crisp. The recreation of the Apollo 11 spacecraft and moon landing were the highlights of the film (though the human characters were only tolerable).

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH Two stars - 2008 Walden Media/Warner Bros.

If this were a 2D movie, it would be among the worst movies I've seen. Luckily, the 3D was well done! As a saving grace, there was a funny antique stereoscope reference... too bad the scope was missing the crosspiece! Otherwise, amongst the awful direction and dialogue I did get one laugh, perhaps you'll know where. This was yet another 3D movie with a T-Rex for the kids... and several unnecessary "screen poppers". Those will look great on the 2D screens! I went on opening night, and to my surprise there was applause at the end... perhaps the 3D actually saved it.

U23D Four stars - 2008 National Geographic Entertainment

First time I went to a 3D film in two different formats... I'd already seen this in IMAX. There was less ghosting in the RealD version, but there was more ghosting in this theater (Woburn, MA) than the one that I'd seen Hannah Montana in (Framingham, MA). This screen was curved- not sure if the silver surface was less than optimal at this theater...? This time around I really appreciated the artistic use of layering compared to the Hannah concert. I had to go out twice to get the manager to crank up the music! Apparently in a multiplex the volume can be problematic if it bleeds into the next room! (IMAX doesn't have that issue.) There were a few spots of 2D I noticed, but it really didn't matter- with the myriad of layers, the 2D/3D interplay was just fine. Pity promotion is minimal, the theater was almost empty on Sunday night's showing. This is an historic 3D movie... very exciting, indeed.

HANNAH MONTANA 3D Three stars - 2008 Disney

This movie was not easy to sit through having recently seen U23D! She's cute enough, but the bubble gum music was appealling mainly to girls under 12! The stereo was well done, including a couple of really nice (cg?) effects- the guitar player throwing the pick at the camera, and the drummer bouncing his stick up to the overhead camera. Pyrotechnics and confetti shots worked great... nice opening credits as well. A few closeups of the star onstage exhibited way too much distance parallax. It was great to see the stereo camera rigs, especially the "spider boom". I didn't mind the 2D cutaways of the behind the scenes shots... made the concert seem more special (though I'm sure it was done purely for technical than aestetic considerations!). This film really showed off the quality of the RealD system- concert footage is going to be high contrast, yet I saw virtually no ghosting, as opposed to U2 at IMAX, where I saw lots of ghosting.

MEET THE ROBINSONS Three stars - 2007 Disney

Spectacular 3D! Loved the opening Disney "signatures" and the rain sequence, but unfortunately I found the characters, as well as the character design, disappointing (with the exception of the villian). The cg models looked like talking plastic dolls complete with plastic hair and plastic clothes, and I found myself unengaged in the story. There were some bright spots, like the puppet wife (great idea, visually wonderful but not all that funny) the spray paintings and the dinner scene... but without the 3D I would have been seriously bored. (I think the last Disney movie that had a real laugh for me was Aladdin). One chuckle did escape over the hypnotized frog ("...master") but I was irritated by several references to the boy's invention being "all shiny", which it clearly wasn't...?? Disney's lame robot reminded me of the amazing Blue Sky ROBOTS- and how I'd wished that would have been in 3D! One odd tech glitch: during the food fight scene the entire pictue seemed to go very grainy for 30 seconds or so... Also, this is the third local RealD screen I've seen- the first not to exhibit the silver spray blothiness I'd detected on the other two.

MONSTER HOUSE Four and a half stars - 2006 SONY Imageworks

Great! A well done cg film that really shows off the quality of the RealD system. Much more parallax than the previous release (CHICKEN LITTLE) but not so much as to be uncomfortable. Even my wife enjoyed the entire film even though I had to drag her to see it! I saw zero ghosting and the circular polarizer freedom nails this stereo projection system as the best ever for large audiences. The movie was well written with excellent human cg characters... story lent itself beautifully to the stereo treatments. The script had plently of laugh out loud jokes for the adults and the visuals were unlike anything seen before in 3D. Sony scored big with this feature- I think they're certainly giving cg king PIXAR a run for their money!

THEME PARK 3D

PHILHARMAGIC Four and a half stars

DisneyWorld Magic Kingdom

Dual 5p 70mm film 30x150 screen. 6k xenon lamp Projectors at 90 degrees.

The theatre features a beautiful gold procenium embossed with dimensional musical instruments. As we don our "opera glasses", the curtain opens. Shortly after the film begins, Donald Duck loses control of the musical instruments- suddenly all goes to black: Big eyes open and a 3D match lights, and we are treated to a Beauty and the Beast rendition of "Be Our Guest" in PANORAMIC 3D! (Actually, the wide center of the screen is stereo, the extreme sides are 2D... the film seams show, but not terribly). The procenium has discretely disappeared as have the side curtains. This clever format eliminates the stereo window problem (at least on the edges, where it really matters)! The entire film is computer-generated in flawless Disney fashion. When an apple pie flies into the audience, we also SMELL the pie! (This is the only olfactory effect I know of at any 3D film). There is a lovely underwater scene with Ariel, a Lion King sequence featuring some imaginative 3d animated design, and a flying carpet scene with Donald jettisoning through the villas. There are the usual spritzings, which people seem to like, but I can do without them! I was surprised that they went with film for this very new attraction... there were already several sections that exhibited extreme wear. I'm a sucker for good cg, and the 3D is used very effectively in this film.

HONEY I SHRUNK THE AUDIENCE Three and a half stars

DisneyWorld Epcot Center

This film tries to make it appear as though the 3D image is a real stage set up for an Inventor of the Year award presentation- everything appears as life size. They even go so far as to have a "video assist" tv monitor off to the left side for close ups (2D, of course) of the primary actors. The glasses are our "safety goggles"- we need them, since the crazy inventor (Rick Moranis) crashes his flying machine into the neon sign above and 3D shards fall into the audience. A ray gun that is supposed to shrink luggage inadvertently points at the audience- now suddenly we are looking at people on the stage as giants... all we see are their feet and ankles. The impression is that we, the audience, have become tiny! This notion is reinforced by what appears to be a child's fingers holding the edges of the screen, supposedly the exterior of the box that the audience is sitting in! The child gently puts us down, and the "giant" actors have to get down on the floor to speak to us. Finally, we are enlarged to "normal size', but the coup de gras is that the dog has also become enlarged- unfortunately the 3d composite is poorly done. Otherwise, a very clever idea for 3D. There are some cg effects used to good effect, but they do look old. I wonder how they shot the huge stage set- everything looked perfectly straight, no wide angle distortion was noticeable. Also starring Eric Idle.

SHREK 4D Four stars

Universal Studios CA and FL

Digital Projection

This is the first theme park digital stereo projection, and the format was extremely impressive! They call it 4D because of the special seat effects (wind and water) but it should be because they use four digital projectors! Apparently, the use of two projectors for each eye is not only brighter, but smoothes out pixelization (aliasing). The image was spectacular! Bright, crisp, clean, and rock steady! Without glasses it was clear that alignment was perfect throughout, something I don't think I have ever seen in film 3D. Of course, the animation was all digitally generated, and as such they are able to control 3d effects very well. However, at the CA park the water effect left big 3D droplets on my 3D glasses! The storyline wasn't particularly fun or funny, but the 3D was phenomenal. NOTE: The anaglyph DVD (Shrek 3-D) looked suprisingly good on a digital monitor.

IT'S TOUGH TO BE A BUG Three stars

DisneyWorld Animal Kingdom

The highlight of this 3D film is the opening: the curtain has a pattern of butterflies on it, and as the film begins they surprisingly spring to life and fly off the curtain! (Sorry if I spoiled it for you~). We meet all the regular computer generated characters from A Bug's Life, including a large animatronic model of the evil grasshopper. Cute enough, but nothing exrtaordinary (except for the bug shaped glasses).

THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN Five stars

Universal Studios Islands of Adventure

This is the only 3D ride film I've been on (I know there are others), but it absolutely HAS to be the best. We're talking about 13 different 3D screens and plenty of effects. Right off the bat the computer generated Spiderman hops out of the screen ONTO the front of the ride car- you see, hear and feel it. The screens are virtually invisible, as they so seamlessly mesh with the physical environment which appears to be New York City. A bridge along the wall merges with the screen bridge, we are later in a huge sewer pipe looking into the 3d sewer pipe with Spiderman as a giant water villian comes up behind him and reaches for us- naturally we get a little wet. A pipe is hurled at us and we are knocked along... Another villian tries to torch us with a heat gun, and we feel it! An awesome effect happens when we appear to be rising between skyscrapers, we see it in 3d in front of us, aided by the lit building windows on either side of us slinging quickly downward... it appears that we are tipped over the edge of a skyscraper- all the buildings are sideways! Suddenly we are in a freefall toward the ground- thank goodness Spiderman's web catches us just in time and all is well. Incredible 3d, great effects and total interaction makes this a MUST SEE. The engineering is a marvel... this is as good as it gets.

TERMINATOR 3D Five stars

Universal Studios

This is the only 3d film I know of to integrate live action and animatronics along with the 3d film... they did a spectacular job! The original cast is utilized, and James Cameron is co-director. Film production is top notch, and cg integration works seamlessly. The film starts out on the center screen, and later envelops us as two side screens open up for surround 3d! One of the highlights is when Arnold rides his motorcycle right through the screen and literally into the audience! Of course, it's now another actor playing the Terminator, but it works surprisingly well. Lots of live action sequences in the audience make this 3d attraction another MUST SEE. (note: on the Terminator Special Collector's DVD set, there is a whole chapter on the making of Terminator 3D. Highly recommended!)

HAUNTED LIGHTHOUSE 4D Two stars

Sea World CA

Mostly live action, with a few cg sequences when the ghost kids turn into wacky gremlins that spice up this otherwise fairly dull offering. In this showing there was even a section around five minutes long that reverted to 2D! No one at the venue could tell me whether this was a permanent or temporary phenomenon. The best part of the film is the opening sequence which effectively brings to 3d life the illustrations which I assume accompany the book by R L Stine.

MUPPETVISION 3D Three and a half stars

DisneyWorld MGM

Early live action of the popular Jim Henson creations... some "in" 3D jokes makes it fun. The highlight of this presentation is a Miss Piggy sequence where she blows bubbles into the audience, and 3d bubbles mix with real bubbles in the audience space. Great effect! Otherwise, the usual cornball, cute Muppet hi-jinks.