A Pause for Cantankerousness

I am often in favor of technology. For example, I have in the past publicly stated that I would like to have the internet plugged directly into my brain (although possibly I stated it on some other blog).

Other times I fear technology, as in the case of killer robots.

In a third situation, there are certain technologies I merely regard as useless, finding them to provide no significant benefit to the average person. (By which I mean me. Believe me, I am very average in many ways. Two eyes, two ears, four limbs, etc., etc. A visiting alien would have a lot of trouble telling me apart from any of the other 6 billion human inhabitants of this planet.)

One such technology, and indeed one technology that I think should go die in a ditch, is 3D movies. I am over 3D movies, people who make movies. Let's move on, OK?

It was an entertaining novelty at first, but lately it's just everywhere and I grow weary of it.

Sure, if you made your movie on purpose to be 3D and to take full advantage of the 3D technology, it can make for an interesting visual element that, I suppose, adds a certain something to the overall film experience. It's not something that I really find to be necessary to the experience, or something that really enhances my understanding of the story or anything, but yes, film is a visual medium and adding another visual dimension is something to do. Fine.

But a lot of times, people who make movies, it seems as if you're just making a regular old movie, and then 3D-ifying it, and that really does not add anything in particular to the experience for me, and sometimes is just distracting, and sometimes, I swear, makes the overall film look worse.

To sum up, if your movie is not specifically designed to be a super-lush visual spectacle with every dimension carefully considered, I am not very interested in seeing it in 3D.

3D usually is not as seamless and enveloping as you say it is (yes, it does make my eyes tired), and I wear regular glasses so putting 3D glasses on top of them is annoying.

Finally, and in my opinion most damningly, there is almost no movie I've seen in 3D about which I would say "yeah, 3D really added something vital to that movie--I wouldn't have wanted to watch it in 2D."

The exception would be Avatar, the big 3D poster film, and that's only because it was in fact designed to be a super-lush visual spectacle, so that was the main reason I watched it in the first place. And even there, 3D wasn't something I felt strongly enough about that I would bother to watch it again.

Note as well that I am particularly uninterested in 3D televisions.

Also, people who make movies, you'd best stay off my lawn.

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