Legend3D’s iconic footage in “Hugo”

November 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

After much praise for the use of 3D in Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo,” San Diego-based 2D-to-3D conversion company Legend3D announced on Tuesday that the company was the primary one responsible for restoring, colorizing and converting to 3D three key sequences depicting early 1900s cinema: Georges Méliès’ “A Trip to the Moon” and “The Merry Frolics of Satan,” and new footage of Ben Kingsley in his role as Méliès.

Most of “Hugo” was shot using 3D camera rigs but for the those three sequences, the Legend3D team, which recently colorized and converted the iconic four-minute sequence of the classic Harold Lloyd silent film “Safety First,” first prepared the source material in 2D, using restorative techniques to stabilize and accentuate the image quality while still retaining the vintage “look.” This material was then converted to 3D to match the overall depth of Scorsese’s native photography.

Rob Legato, visual effects supervisor on “Hugo” previously worked with Legend 3D on “The Aviator.” “Their 2D-to-3D conversion not only exceeded our very high expectations, but their fast turnaround and innate creative attention to detail produced take-one finals every time.”

“Applying VFX and conversion work to some of the first ‘visual effects’ scenes in the history of cinema … this was intrinsically fun,” said  Jared Sandrew, VFX supervisor at Legend3D. “The footage is inherently playful, which made it really come to life when introducing another dimension.”

– By Scott Hettrick

Filed Under: 3D news

Five 3D films in Turkey Day Top 8

November 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Five 3D movies ranked among the top eight top-grossing films of the holiday weekend, including two new releases, one of which enjoyed 75% of its revenue from 3D.
While Summit’s “Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1″ remained the leader, and was followed by Disney’s new “Muppets,” Warner’s “Happy Feet Two” in 3D and in IMAX repeated in third place with more than $18 million for a two-week domestic haul of nearly $4 mil.
The two newcomers: Sony’s “Arthur Christmas” collected $17 million over the five-day day weekend at 3,376 screens, 53% of which was from 3D showings, according to BoxofficeMojo.com, and Paramount’s “Hugo” generated $15.4 mil. from just 1,277 screens, thanks to 3D, which accounted for 75%  of that total.

Relativity Media’s “Immortals” 3D stayed strong in 7th place, growing its three-week domestic total to nearly $69 mil., while an eighth place finish for Paramount/DreamWorks’ “Puss in Boots,” also in 3D and IMAX, grew five-week grosses to $135 mil.

There are three more 3D movies coming in December, beginning with the Chipmunks “Chipwrecked” on Dec. 16, followed by Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tinin” on Dec. 21 and “The Darkest Hour” on Dec. 23.

– By Scott Hettrick

Filed Under: 3D news

Arthur Christmas a Go; Hugo a slow-go

November 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Thankfully, two of the finest demonstrations of 3D this year come to theaters this Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 23, 2011) in “Arthur Christmas” and “Hugo”:

* “Arthur Christmas“ is easily the more broadly enjoyable of the two. It’s hard to imagine anyone not finding this clever twist on Santa Claus charming and delightful.
The computer-animated family film from British production company Aardman, traditionally known for stop-motion films such as “Wallace and Gromit” and “Chicken Run,” has delivered an unexpected holiday gift for Sony Pictures Animation.

The story follows three generations of the Claus family trying to come to grips with the transition of leadership to the next in succession. With the current Santa (Jim Broadbent) of retirement age and showing signs of slipping, the likely next-in-line is eldest son Steve (Hugh Laurie), who has been preparing for the day for years with his high-tech mechanization and military style management of the entire North Pole process, including a super-sonic sleigh. But the even older GrandSanta (Bill Nighy) favors the traditions of his day and the passion of his younger unassuming and nerd-ish grandson Arthur (James McAvoy).
It all leads to a slightly predictable but nonetheless amusing scenario in which young Arthur finds himself trying to save the day using his Grandsanta’s dilapidated sleigh led by the few surviving reindeer to reach the chimney of a young girl who was inadvertently bypassed by Steve’s digital distribution.

Director and co-writer Sarah Smith, with the assistance of Sony Pictures Imageworks, uses the 3D to good effect in almost every shot. While it seldom pushes off the screen very much, the depth and space between objects close and far is palpable throughout, especially in scenes depicting the factory command center full of tiered rows of elves, and the aerial shots from the perspective of the sleighs.

* “Hugo“ is full of heart and a loving tribute to one of the original pioneers of cinema, Georges Méliès of turn-of-the-century France. The film, set in a train station in 1930s Paris, takes awhile to build up a head of steam and feels more like a period European film for its long-ish running time of more than two hours.
But the sweetness and sentimentality of the story about an orphaned young boy trying to complete the dream of his father while secretly keeping the giant station clock tower properly wound up, is sincerely conveyed by director Martin Scorsese and the cast of Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, and Chloë Grace Moretz.

Even more impressive is Scorsese’s use of 3D, which greatly enhances the impact of the story, subliminally drawing the audience in visually, as it should. He also uses 3D to create more obvious dynamic effect, starting with the first scene in which the camera moves at a fast pace through the station, past the trains, and between the crowds to immediately establish the setting and the feeling of the hustle and bustle far more effectively than could be done in traditional 2D.
Likewise, 3D provides a far more dramatic visualization of the enormous vertical scale and scope of the station clock tower to initially enhance the sense of detachment of Hugo from the swarms below, and later to emphasize the scope of his view of the Paris skyline, and finally to create a heightened sense of fear and suspense during a chase to the top of the staircase.
Even Méliès’ iconic film “A Trip to the Moon” gets a tantalizing 3D makeover, as well as impressive colorization.

– By Scott Hettrick

Filed Under: 3D to See, 3Debut

Spy Kids 4 best Rodriguez 3D

November 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Innovative digital filmmaker Robert Rodriguez has been shooting and releasing his movies in 3D since 2003, starting with the old anaglyphic system and colored glasses in theaters and on DVD in “Spy Kids 3D: Game Over” and 2005′s “Adventures of “Sharkboy and Lavagirl.”

“Spy Kids: All the Time in the World” ($39.99 four-disc set from Dimension Films via new distributor Anchor Bay on Nov. 22), is the fourth installment in the gadget-heavy Spy Kids franchise and the most effective 3D yet.
This time spy mom Jessica Alba starts out very pregnant in the midst of a high-speed chase while keeping her unaware husband posted on her increasing labor pains. It continues in that hyper-reality mode as the emphasis once again shifts to her spy kids and their friends and dog who all employ super high-tech weapons and tools that could previously be demonstrated only in cartoons like “Inspector Gadget.”

Kids and their parents know what to expect here (except maybe the voice of comedian Ricky Gervais as a talking dog), and this “Spy Kids” once again delivers, this time with the enhancement of a 3D quality that truly adds a new dimension to the gadgets and the fun.

Bonus features include the usual array of deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes featurettes, including a funny interview with Gervais in the recording studio.

– By Scott Hettrick

Filed Under: New Blu

3D Blu Bolt leads Chicken, Robinsons, G

November 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

On the heels of the recent quality Blu-ray 3D release of the 2006 theatrical 3D conversion of “A Nightmare Before Christmas,” Disney, one of the earliest and most pro-active studios in 3D and Blu-ray, is releasing a quartet of its earliest theatrical 3D films to Blu-ray this week (Nov. 8):

* “Bolt 3D” ($49.99 four-disc combo) is not only the best of this group but also the best Disney animated movie in nearly a decade when it was released in 2008 — it deserves a sequel, at least for Blu-ray. The story of a TV hero dog actor that has to perform heroic feats in real life to save his young girl owner, is clever, cute, funny, and filled with very impressive action sequences and more, all enhanced on this Blu-ray 3D:
–  Terrific and impactful use of 3D in an amazingly dynamic and exciting opening chase scene, and in numerous sequences throughout such as on a train and in an alley.
– Elaborate and detailed backgrounds and settings showcased brilliantly here in Blu-ray HD.
– Hilarious hamster comic relief character called Rhino who gets a starring role in a so-so animated short in Blu-ray bonus features.
– Fun theme song and music video “I Thought I Lost You,”  and charming in-session video with Miley Cyrus and John Travolta singing duet (when Cyrus was still charming).
– Plethora of solid traditional Blu-ray-only bonus features, including making-of, deleted scenes, interactive game (that needs better instructions for play on a laptop)

* “G-Force 3D” ($44.99 three-disc set) is the Blu-ray and 3D version of Jerry Bruckheimer’s 2009 family live-action and computer-animated action/comedy featuring high-tech gadget-wielding guinea pig would-be spies.
– Fun, if a little silly.
– Short (88-minutes including several minutes of credits).
– Stellar voice cast: Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Jon Favreau, Penelope Cruz, Tracy Morgan, and Steve Buscemi.
– 3D shows far more depth here than in theaters and has many brief sequences of flying rodents, breaking glass, etc., that successfully break the frame and appear to pop out of the screen.
– Enjoyable bonus features (Blu-ray only), especially in-depth “Cine-Explore” picture-in-picture behind-the-scenes; two mini-docs with Bruckheimer, director Hoyt H. Yeatman, Jr., and his 11-year-old son; and three music videos: “Jump” by Flo Rida featuring Nelly Furtado, “Ready To Rock” by Steve Rushton, and “Go G-Force.”

* “Chicken Little 3D” ($44.99 three-disc combo) brings the industry’s first digital 3D theatrical film from 2005 to Blu-ray 3D. The modern twist on the classic children’s cautionary tale is only 81-minutes and not particularly memorable but the 3D is solid as showcased here. There are a handful of typical bonus features here, including audio commentary by the Barenaked Ladies, a sing-along, music video by the Cheetah Girls, and a making-of filmmaker Q&A.

 * “Meet the Robinsons 3D” ($44.99 three-disc set) is a 2007 theatrical release that was the last of Disney’s string of so-so movies of the early-to-mid 2000s, but which features decent 3D that is also showcased well here. The Blu-ray-only bonus features are average — a “Kids of the Future” music video featuring the Jonas Brothers is a sign of the times — and include a standard-def  featurette about inventions.

– By Scott Hettrick

Filed Under: Blu Pick, New Blu

Cameron’s new 3D on OWN

October 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment

James Cameron is shown in production on a 3D theatrical film of a Cirque du Soleil show at the Mirage resort in Las Vegas in the new episode of “Visionaries: Inside the Creative Mind” on OWN TV, which premiered Sunday night (DISH Network carries the HD version of the network, not DirecTV).
Cameron also is shown at a Los Angeles studio shooting a new 3D demo for theater owners of an enhanced 3D format on a Medieval set featuring actors in a sword fight.
The illuminating segments are part of an entire hour of the new OWN weekly series in which Cameron describes his personal and professional background and his approach to his groundbreaking work. Cameras follow him from awards ceremonies to meeting with small groups of environmental activists.
The following is an outtake from the program featured on the OWN web site in which Cameron and Schwarzenegger discuss the origin of “Terminator,” followed by a 5 1/2-minute video of an extended scene from the program. (So far there does not appear to be any repeats scheduled, but surely there will be in the near future.)



– By Scott Hettrick

Filed Under: 3D news

3D “Cars 2″ One to Consider

October 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A tip of the tractor to Disney-Pixar for producing an original 3D cartoon short exclusively for the Blu-ray 3D of “Cars 2” (Tuesday, Nov. 1, $49.99 for 5-Disc combo pack with 3D Blu-ray disc, two 2D Blu-rays, DVD & Digital Copy)

A lot is riding on Disney-Pixar’s “Cars 2,” so to speak.
Pixar chief John Lasseter used to denegrate Disney animated movie sequels, except for his own “Toy Story 2,” especially those that Disney premiered first on DVD. But in the past few years he not only greenlit “Toy Story 3″ and the upcoming prequel to “Monsters, Inc.,” this year he released “Cars 2″ and is building an entire theme park land (Cars Land) at Disney Resort’s California Adventure based on the franchise.
Lasseter even has a “Cars” spin-off called “Planes” set to premiere first on Blu-ray in 2013, and has produced a couple handfuls of Cars Toon shorts for the Disney Channel and theaters that are available on a separate Blu-ray set called “Mater’s Tall Tales.”

The new “Cars 2″ Blu-ray 3D  features promotions for that “Planes” production, and it looks great in 3D and appears as if it will be great fun as well.
Likewise, the new theme park attraction also gets a big plug here — in 2D, not 3D — and also looks to be a very fun theme park land, especially Luigi’s Flying Tires levitating ride that offers a nostalgic revival of the 1966 short-lived Disneyland Flying Saucers attraction.

Other most notable bonus features:

* “Air Mater,” exclusive new Cars Toon 3D animated short that appears to be a transitional production to bridge “Cars” with the upcoming “Planes,” with tow truck Mater sprouting wings and flying with an aerial acrobatic team of jets. Whatever drove the creative concept, the outcome is very entertaining, the 3D is quite effective, resulting in a fun cartoon that should appeal to all viewers.

* A 3D trailer for the studio’s upcoming 3D animated theatrical release “Brave” is enticing.

* Toy Story Toon “Hawaiian Vacation,” the six-minute 2D animated short that preceded “Cars 2″ in theaters is a fun cartoon depicting the gang of toys working together to try to create a faux island getaway for Ken and Barbie while house-bound during the dead of winter.

* Full menu of “on-location” featurettes, from Tokyo to London and many points in between, offer fun behind-the-scenes shorts and a couple of unmarked surprises as well.

Interestingly, the “Cars 2″ movie itself, depicting the lovable collection of automobile personalities in an overseas adventure, is probably the least interesting element of this entire set. The primary challenge for the viewer, particularly younger kids, is that the story is far too ambitious, mixing in multiple plot lines involving the strained relationship between Mater and Lightning Queen, a complicated international spy ring conspiracy revolving around a duplicitous oil corporation pretending to be promoting alternative fuels, Mater’s inadvertent complicity in that mystery, and Mater’s budding romantic relationship with a femme fatale motorcar.
As is typical for Pixar movies, the 3D is very subtle to the point where it feels superfluous, except for the enjoyably intense opening scene depicting a boat in the unlikely setting of a dark and turbulent ocean.
Even if the story isn’t as fun and engaging as we are used to from Pixar movies, the extravagant locations are visually dynamic and the movie has moments in which it draws knowing humor from Mater dealing with the customs of overseas cultures, especially in Tokyo.

– By Scott Hettrick

Filed Under: 3Debut, New Blu

Blu-ray 3D Toy Story 1, 2, 3

October 23, 2011 By 1 Comment

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is offering 4 1/2-hours of Woody, Buzz, and the entire Toy Story gang in 3D at home for the holidays for the first time via Blu-ray 3D ($49.99 each or $100 for all three).

Disney-Pixar did 3D conversions of the original “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2″ that were released theatrically as a double-feature in 2009. The following year  the company released the first made-from-scratch 3D installment in the series when “Toy Story 3″ was released theatrically in summer 2010.

Although Disney already released elaborate Blu-ray editions of all three films, none were offered in Blu-ray 3D until now. All three movies are being released Tuesday, Nov. 1 in four-disc and five-disc combo sets for $49.99 each, which each also include the previous Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy versions — “Toy Story 3″ includes a second Blu-ray disc of bonus features. For those who already have all those previous iterations, Disney has gratefully offered a 3D Trilogy set that includes only the three Blu-ray 3D discs of each movie for a $100 retail price — Amazon.com has priced it at less than $68, making it a very reasonable cost of less than $23 per disc.

Each 3D disc includes impressive 3D trailers for upcoming 3D animated Disney studios, “Brave,” and Pixar’s made-for-disc spin-off of “Cars” called “Planes” in 2013.

Curiously, and disappointingly, the delightfully clever Oscar-nominated 3D short, “Day & Night,” is not included in 3D on the “Toy Story 3″ disc.
It is, however, included on the 2D Blu-ray bonus disc, as are numerous behind-the-scenes programs and interactivities including a fun trivia game with questions specific to “Toy Story 3″ or to all three movies in the series.

Click the following for a review of the “Toy Story 3″ Blu-ray edition.

This is one of the few movie series that many felt improved with each new installment. While I would not argue strenuously against that opinion, I enjoyed “Toy Story 2″ more than the most recent installment, which is also terrific but features several scenes that are suprisingly intense.

Pixar’s very subtle approach to 3D remains in evidence here. While the 3D on some movies is accentuated for home display, all three of these films offer little more than a slightly greater sense of depth, with the 3D only really noticeable in a handful of scenes.

Click the following for a complete review of the theatrical film “Toy Story 3.”

– By Scott Hettrick

Filed Under: 3Debut, New Blu

Real Steel real deal at IMAX

October 11, 2011 By 1 Comment

“Real Steel” may be susceptible to criticisms of a sappy story that borrows from every Rocky-type movie from “Karate Kid,” “The Champ,” and “Iron Giant,” to several installments in the Rocky series itself, but that didn’t make the formula any less appealing to a new generation of young boys and their fathers this past weekend, especially at IMAX theaters.

The DreamWorks Pictures release distributed by Disney’s Touchstone Pictures was not only far and away the #1 movie of the weekend with $27.3 million in the U.S., it also pummeled its way to $3.2 mil. on 270 IMAX screens, according to IMAX, which is more than 12% of the overall domestic gross and, according to Hollywood.com Box Office, a September/October record at IMAX theaters.

The movie, set about 15 years in the future and featuring an irresponsible  father (Hugh Jackman) and his estranged but precocious son (Dakota Goyo) struggling to build a new relationship while building a robot that becomes an unlikely champion of bot boxing, generated a total of $4.4 mil. at IMAX theaters worldwide, including $1.2 mil. in 62 IMAX screens overseas where the movie grossed $22.1 mil.

Greg Foster, IMAX Chairman and President of Filmed Entertainment, said the forecast for the movie is especially strong since it has yet to open on nearly half of the overseas IMAX screens.

The script is way too precious, the movie way too long at well over two hours, there are way too many blatant product placements, and Goyo is nearly as melodramatic as Ricky Shroder was in the 1979 “The Champ,” but it’s clear why this movie appeals to that target demo, and Jackman and the robot action are both enough fun to keep parents and less discriminating audiences entertained.
And, of course, all of the large-scale boxing action looks even better on the large-format IMAX screen.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’ 3D “Dolphin Tale” also appealed to the family audience with another $9.1 mil. as it swims towards $50 mil. in U.S. theaters.

Still another family film, this one also in 3D, “The Lion King,” clawed its way to another $4.6 mil. even after the release of the Blu-ray 3D version of the movie this week, roaring to a total of $86 mil.

– By Scott Hettrick

Filed Under: IMAX news, IMAXout

Disney unleashes torrent of 3D classics

October 4, 2011 By 1 Comment

Quickly exploiting a good thing, Disney and Disney-Pixar will release 3D versions of “Beauty and the Beast,” “Finding Nemo,” “Monsters. Inc., and “The Little Mermaid” in theaters in 2012 and 2013.

The announcement comes on the heels of an $80 million run over the past three weekends in U.S. theaters for the 3D version of “The Lion King,” which caught the entire industry off-guard and is now expected to spark a resurgence in the viability of 3D in general and especially for classic makeovers such as the previously announced 2012 3D re-releases of “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” and “Titanic.”
The Blu-ray 3D version of “The Lion King” hits stores this week.

Ironically, after a disappointing performance in late 2009 of a double-bill of 3D conversions of “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2″ in advance of the premiere of “Toy Story 3 in 3D,” Disney’s planned theatrical re-release of a 3D version of “Beauty and the Beast” in early 2010 and was delayed a couple times and is now going straight to Blu-ray 3D this week (and it looks every bit as good, if not better than “The Lion King”). “Beauty” had a brief theatrical showing exclusively at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood last month as a promotion for the Blu-ray 3D release.
Now the 1991 movie that has grossed $380.4 million worldwide and was the first animated film ever nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture will be released theatrically after all on January 13, 2012.
(Disney also announced today that all three “Toy Story” movies will be released on Blu-ray 3D for the first time Nov. 1.)

Next up for theaters will be “Finding Nemo” in 3D on September 14, 2012. The 2003 Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature was the second highest-grossing film of that year with $867.6 million worldwide.

The studio will try again to use a 3D version of one of its films to promote the sequel when it releases a 3D version of “Monsters, Inc.” January 18, 2013, prior to the debut of “Monsters University” (actually, a prequel) in 3D on June 21, 2013. The original grossed $526.9 million worldwide.

A 3D version of “The Little Mermaid,” which won two Academy Awards and has grossed $228.9 million worldwide will premiere that fall on Sept. 13, 2013.

“Great stories and great characters are timeless, and at Disney we’re fortunate to have a treasure trove of both,” said Alan Bergman, President, The Walt Disney Studios. “We’re thrilled to give audiences of all ages the chance to experience these beloved tales in an exciting new way with 3D – and in the case of younger generations, for the first time on the big screen.”

– By Scott Hettrick 

Filed Under: 3D news
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