This is like Rosa Parks, or Tiananmen Square, but of the movie world. Our distaste for post-conversion 3-D has been thoroughly documented on The Movie Mash over the past several months. As it seems that most big-name movies are either being shot in 3-D or post-converted, I don’t want to write a new story everyday chronicling that “Movie X” and “Movie Y” are going to be in the third dimension. It’s tedious, and I’m sure a lot of you are tired of hearing about it. But this story is the first we’ve heard of a director flat-out refusing the studio’s wishes of having their movie converted to 3-D, and I feel like it’s something that needs to be shared.

In a story from the LA Times (via FirstShowing) the new Nightmare on Elm Street director, Samuel Bayer,was adamant in his belief that movies shot in 2-D should be shown in 2-D, and why he resisted the pressure from Warner Bros. and New Line to post-convert the film:

“Some high-profile filmmakers have been famously concerned about conversion, which takes footage that was shot in 2-D and turns it into 3-D. When New Line initiated several conversations about converting A Nightmare on Elm Street to 3-D, we pushed back. This was shot in 2-D and was meant to be shown in 2-D. Just like I don’t want to see a lot of great movies remade, I don’t want to see a lot of them in 3-D.”

God bless you Mr. Bayer. I salute you! Some of you may be wondering how a director would be able to resist the studio mandate on his first movie, well Michael Bay had some influence on the final decision. As some of you may know, Michael Bay has been openly skeptical on the 3-D post-conversion process. Nightmare on Elm Street, like the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday the 13th remakes, were produced by Bay through his production company. So you can bet that when Warner Bros./New Line execs were talking to Bayer about post-conversion, Bay stepped in and said, “Nah.”

Hopefully there will be more stories like this one, where filmmakers are openly denying the studio execs’ desire for post-conversion 3-D. It’s the only way that we won’t have the awful visuals that come as a result, like with Clash of the Titans. Unfortunately, a Hollywood Heavyweight like Michael Bay won’t be able to step in every time.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

This past week Dallas held its annual Dallas International Film Festival. Three-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Wally Pfister was presented with the prestigious Star Award for his contribution to movies. Pfister has become Christopher Nolan’s go-to Director of Photography, working on all of Nolan’s films. Cinematical caught up with Pfister for an interview after a screening of Memento, where Pfister also gave the lucky attendees a sneak-peek at Inception; the same three-minute footage that was shown at ShoWest in Las Vegas last month.

Nolan has been openly skeptical on the current 3-D craze, as he thinks that using 65-70mm film to be the most immersive and high-quality way to make movies. As most of you know, several key sequences in The Dark Knight was shot using 70mm film via IMAX cameras. Remember that breathtaking opening shot where the camera zooms in on the downtown skyscraper before the bank robbery sequence? It was jaw-dropping.

Nolan and Pfister could only use IMAX cameras on certain scenes that had no dialog as they are notoriously loud, heavy and expensive. The Dark Knight experiment with the technology has long-been rumored to have been a test for the eventual use of IMAX cameras to film Batman 3 entirely in the format.  Here’s what Pfister had to say about that:

“What Chris and I have talked about is doing something cool and something interesting,” Pfister said. “[Director] Brad Bird was [saying] ‘you’ve got to shoot the whole thing in IMAX!’ I was like, yeah, I’ve talked to Chris about that.”

As for 3-D, Pfister and Nolan are on the same page. The cinematographer said that he had used a 3-D camera on The Dark Knight for one shot, just to try it out, but it seems that it’s not quite his style:

“I did it for one shot of The Dark Knight because he said, you have to say you did it, and literally I had this strapped to my shoulder and I was carrying it. But I think Chris is game for doing something interesting like that, Lord knows that the 3-D fad might pass by the time that summer comes around.”

With the shooting in 3-D/post-conversion controversy, and the President of Warner Bros. saying that all future DC Comics adaptations will be in 3-D, Nolan and Pfister are standing strong and staying true to the way they want to make Batman 3:

“But I know one thing about the film that Chris is adamant about is that he wants to shoot on film,” Pfister said. “He doesn’t want to shoot on video, and I’m the same way.”

So, like I exclaimed in the title of this post, THANK GOD! Even if it’s their new business model, why would Warner Bros. want to tamper with something that’s perfect the way it is? Batman 3 is going to destroy the box-office, even if it was shot with Ashton Kutcher’s Coolpix camera. Nolan has the power and clout to say “NO!” to the WB execs who desperately want Batman 3 to be in 3-D. I think it’s quite easy to guess that if they had to choose between Nolan and 3-D, they’d choose Nolan in a heartbeat.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Browsing the internet a few weeks back I stumbled upon some very interesting Star Wars news. The first bit of reading involved George Lucas’s comments following his screening of Avatar. Lucas was impressed with the magnitude of what James Cameron was able to accomplish with the project and the integration of the third dimension (via Access Hollywood):

I’m happy it’s so successful, and worked very well in 3-D, haven’t been a big fan of 3-D, but that movie definitely improves in (the field of) 3-D. We’ve been looking for years and years and years of trying to take ‘Star Wars’ and put it in 3-D. But, [the] technology hasn’t been there. We’ve been struggling with it, but I think this will be a new impetus to make that happen.

So what does this mean for Star Wars fans? From what I read above it translates to Lucas & Company 3-D-ifying the old Star Wars instead of making new movies featuring the newest Hollywood fad. I do not want to sound like a fan who does not appreciate Lucas products, but another re-release of Star Wars? Loyal fans have seen all six Star Wars movies so many times, replicating scenes from any movie is no tough task. Let me be the first in saying, “We DON’T want new-old Star Wars!”

Seriously Lucas, how much longer are you going to sit on your aging fat ass and pretend like you are only capable of making six Star Wars movies in your entire lifetime? If he really is this great filmmaker and creator of all things holy in the galaxy far far away, why isn’t there anything new in the works, besides the computer animated show/movie? The first three films in the trilogy (I,II,III) could not have entered the cinema landscape with anymore criticism, especially The Phantom Menace. Critics hated Episode I for so much more than just a bumbling moronic Gungan. I personally didn’t hate Episode I, but didn’t love it (I did cherish Darth Maul).

With so many considering the newest Star Wars installments below par, can the legacy really be tarnished aside from a new project being a complete epic failure? And if Lucas is such a great filmmaker, that shouldn’t even be possible considering Star Wars is his element.

Lucas could make the life story of Jar-Jar Binks and I bet the movie would rake in hundreds of millions. Profit obviously is not the problem, because anything in theaters with Star Wars in the title will bank. Is Lucas being a wimp because he can’t live up to the pressure of making movies as good as he did three decades ago?

I have not personally read any of the countless Star Wars novels in existence, but I have heard of plenty of good story lines from fans who have. There are a plethora of other great characters in the Star Wars universe that would work well for more cinema. Why not a narrative about Leia and Han’s children restoring the balance to the galaxy? The Emipre can’t possibly of vanished instantly. Just because the second Death Star was destroyed, is that the end of the Sith? Seriously George, let’s invent some new content instead of cramming old stuff down our throat again, but this time… “in 3-D.”

After the atrocity known as Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull that Lucas helped write, who would have thought he would ever write for movies again. But currently Lucas is working on a film with promise called Red Tails, a story about black fighter pilots in WWII known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Lucas is taking on an executive producing role as well as the writer of the story, but not the actual screenplay.  The film is slated to drop in 2010 and stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrance Howard.

Ok, back to Star Wars. I am happy to announce that new Star Wars content will be coming out in the form of a documentary called The People vs. George Lucas. The official site describes the film as “a no-holds-barred cultural examination of the conflicted dynamic between George Lucas and his fans over the past three decades.” The two trailers for the documentary can be seen here, and here.

This is definitely going to be a movie I want to see. Any person who examines culture in the past 30 years would be hard pressed to not see the impact Star Wars has had on the global landscape. This film dives into all things Star Wars, but from a cultural standpoint. The two trilogies have been woven into the fabric of society, and this film analyzes the enormous effect it has had. Unfortunately, this movie is not likely to get a wide release in theaters. Surely we will have to wait for a DVD release or a torrent download (just kidding, pirating is illegal!).

Lastly, I just wanted to quickly highlight some of the great Star Wars content there is to be found on the wonder that is the internet. Any true fan will be dazzled at some of the light-saber battles there are to behold. Some fan created videos bring the duels into our force-less galaxy while others tell stories intensifying Star Wars characters like this amazing production surrounding the negated but ruthless Darth Maul. In this particular video, you can see how hard these die hard fans worked to pull this short story together.

My favorite light-saber duel found is one no Star Wars fan should miss. This epic battle takes place in a parking garage, but there are literally hundreds of other fan creations online. Type light saber into YouTube and see what you get.

Before I go I wanted to make Star Wars followers aware of a die hard fan’s amazing video critique of The Phantom Menace. After seeing this critique from RedLetterMedia, I will never look at the film in the same way. Granted I do not hate it as much as this guy, he brings up great point after great point pulling the audience to the conclusion of: “What was Lucas thinking?” Even though the video is 70+ minutes long, it has 1.5 million hits and I guarantee it will forever change your perspective on The Phantom Menace. No Star Wars fans should miss this legendary breakdown of Episode I.

So MASHERS, what should Lucas do now? Do want to see the original six Star Wars made into 3-D spectacles? Or are you like me, and want some new original content?

What Do You Think? Discuss.

I know what you’re thinking and no, the picture above is not a joke. The Jackass boys have another disgusting and bone-crunching movie in the works for their third installment of the…God am I actually saying this?…Jackass franchise. And not only has Johnny Knoxville confirmed that he, Steve-O, Chris Pontius and the rest of the gang are hard at work on Jackass 3, but just yesterday he reported that Jackass 3 is going to be in…you guessed it, 3-D.

Now I love the Jackass boys. I’ve been laughing hysterically at their idiotic stunts since their show premiered on MTV years ago, but is 3-D really a necessary or good element to add to a film where guys are peeing into each others mouths? Do we want to see Steve-O’s vomit in 3-D after he eats a 3-D turd? Knoxville candidly cited Avatar as their inspiration, saying:

“We’re going to take the same 3-D technology James Cameron used in Avatar and stick it up Steve-O’s butt. We’re talking stupid to a whole new dimension.”

Just off the heels of Cameron’s ground-breaking epic blowing away audiences in the third dimension, Hollywood is scrambling to find ways to convert their current and future projects to a 3-D format.  Recent reports say that Warner Bros.’ upcoming Clash of the Titans remake is currently re-shooting a lot of scenes and might be converted for 3-D. It was just reported today that Iron Man 2 is NOT going to be converted to 3-D, ending Marvel’s three-month deliberation on the matter. But the fact that studio suits even considered  converting to 3-D, speaks volumes to where Hollywood is headed. And now that the amazing technology that Cameron & Co. used to create Avatar will most likely be available to other filmmakers, will all or a significant portion of movies to come be in 3-D? I hope not.

The reason why Avatar was such an epic experience for myself and millions of movie goers is because we have never seen a 3-D film like it before. Sure there have been 3-D films throughout the years, but none with the cache, swagger and impact as Avatar. It is an event film. Something that comes around once every few years or even once in a life-time. Now, if every movie gets converted to 3-D,  epic blockbusters like Avatar will not have any cache, swagger or impact because our movie diets will have already been saturated with 3-D.

I know this is impossible and not ever going to happen, but if I had it my way, I would only to have two films per year that were in 3-D. One in the winter around Christmas time and one during the height of blockbuster season in July. That way, we would not be jaded by the 3-D effect and those films would be event/experience movies that would bring a lot of people to the theaters. Maybe my attitude will change as more and more films are made for 3-D this year and next year. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

What are your feelings about 3-D? Do you think every movie should be in 3-D? Some? None?

What Do You Think? Discuss.