The 3D debate

No interesting screenings this week, so you’ll get some mid-week movie news today and a DVD review this weekend.

The king of the third dimension, James Cameron, let his light shine this week on Piranha and its use of 3D. In an interview with Vanity Fair, he said it “is exactly an example of what we should not be doing in 3-D, because it just cheapens the medium”. He was not more  specific, but we can safely assume he was talking about the various body parts being thrown at the audience in this one. His comments of course didn’t go unnoticed in the blogosphere and provoked an immediate response from one of Piranha’s producers, Mark Canton (Deadline has his full rebuttal). Mark really rips into Cameron. Unnecessary in my opinion, but his main point is a valid one: go watch this film with an audience, the way it is intended.

Piranha is a genre film, meant to get a visceral response from its viewers. In order to do this it goes completely over the top in serving up sex , blood and of course some nifty 3D tricks. Is it in good taste? No. Does it cheapen the medium? Of course not. It just doesn’t take it as seriously as Cameron does.

Mr. Avatar also makes some comments about natively authored 3D movies versus conversions. There have been some very bad examples of the latter. The 3D remake of Clash of the Titans is the one that immediately springs to mind and which has made people wary of upcoming post-conversions such as Thor. Cameron, being his usual haughty self, claims he will set the gold standard when converting Titanic to 3D. Ah yes, that’s the one we’ve all had our hearts set on.

A surprising voice in the 3D debate this week was that of Werner Herzog. The Toronto Film Festival that starts next week sees the premiere of Herzog’s 3D documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams, about prehistoric drawings in the Chauvet caves of southern France. The Playlist spoke to Herzog who positions 3D as a wonderful “spectacle” but hopes never to see “something like a romantic comedy in 3D”. Wise words. And as a visual spectacle, both Avatar and Piranha have their place.

Artistic debates such as the one between Cameron, Canton and Herzog are interesting, but ultimately irrelevant in Hollywood. Because guess what? 3D saved the summer box office. USA Today reports that attendance this summer was actually at a five-year low, but the extra few dollars for a pair of 3D glasses made it a record summer in terms of total revenue.

In closing, a bit of news about movies I reported on earlier. Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity (Cast Away in space… sorry, Alfonso) is in trouble because Angelina Jolie just doesn’t want to do it and Warner Bros is afraid a lesser lead makes the CGI investment needed for this one too big of a risk (/Film has the complete story). Then there’s Black Swan, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival to rave reviews. Natalie Portman’s performance is already being seen as worthy of an Oscar. And there was an interesting piece in The New York Times about the Arthur remake starring Russel Brand, focusing on the improvisational nature of the production. Earlier, costume-related news had me worried but the NYT set report has eased my mind somewhat about the project.