John D. Lowry, co-founder TrioScopics, Inc.

But wait, there’s more. Blu-ray players don’t handle broadcast, so you’ll need another new 3D box in order to see the football or soccer game – once that 3D box actually becomes available <from systems that don’t already offer it such as DirecTV, Comcast, and AT&T U-verse>.

When you consider today’s economy and that current 3D television sets are priced from $2,500 to $6,000, it’s clear that 3D television equipment buyers need to be in an elite class, certainly throughout this year and probably the next. According to a recent study by NPD Group, roughly three out of every 1,000 TV sets sold in the U.S. during the first three months of 2010 were 3D-capable. Add to this the small number of 3D titles that will be available in the next year, targeting all markets from young children to horror: a mere 20 to 30. Now that is a tough market.

It is true that, as with HD sets, economies of scale will bring prices down eventually. But contrary to the hype created by the consumer electronics industry since January, any change of this magnitude will take time. The best estimates are that it will be several years for the number of television sets in homes to reach critical mass, yet that market penetration is essential to the success of a significant Blu-ray 3D movie launch.

Please keep in mind that I am the last person to be against new and better hardware. Most of my career has been focused on the invention and deployment of new technology. But one of the lessons I have learned many times over the last 50 years is that you have to be realistic about how long it takes for a real, new market to develop. The bottom line: Until that market is large enough to be viable, content owners need an alternative way to make money.

The theatrical 3D market is white hot today. Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and other titles are driving demand for 3D content for the home right now, and the consumer electronics industry sees a new pot of gold to pursue. But the inevitable time required to sell and install that critical mass of 3D equipment in the home means missed opportunities, and a lot of money down the drain for content owners.

The good news is that there are solutions to this market problem that can be implemented today. These solutions do not require a new TV set or new hardware. The demand is there and the technology exists to satisfy that demand. The studios are in the process of understanding this equation. When they see that they can capture some of those potential earnings today, as opposed to waiting for consumers to upgrade yet again, the market will adapt.

For example, there are nearly two billion DVD players in the marketplace. There is no plan on the part of the consumer electronics industry to “upgrade” any DVD equipment. Here is a massive market that already exists — a market that can be served with surprisingly excellent 3D image quality using existing hardware today. If the user’s hardware has built-in up-res to HD capability, the 3D results can be quite amazing.

I’ve been watching consumer electronics markets for a long time. What I’m seeing right now is the cure for upgrade fatigue.

Editor’s note: John D. Lowry, best known for his highly-regarded HiDef film restoration company Lowry Digital that he founded and then sold. His breakthroughs in imaging science have been utilized in everything from Apollo moonwalk images to “Avatar,” earning him numerous patents and awards. He is co-founder of TrioScopics, Inc., which creates the kind of 3D images using current TVs and DVD players that he is advocating above. Lowry was interviewed on video by 3DHollywood.net last November about his background, successes, and TrioScopics.

Actually, there were a couple of hits like that that caused everyone from the director inside ESPN’s production truck in the parking lot to those watching on the first 3D TVs at home to jerk their heads back to avoid the ball that was surely coming out of the screen. I’m certain that thousands of people from Anaheim to Annapolis simultaneously yelled “whoa!” Only upon reflection did any of us realize that ball could not have hit all of us in the face at the same time.

(Story continues below the following video highlights of ESPN’s 3D production from inside the truck to the field and insightful comments from four ESPN producers and executives.)

While the ballplayers were putting on a display of power, the guys at ESPN came prepared to put on quite a display of their own for the first 3D broadcast of the Home Run Derby and first national primetime 3D telecast of a Major League Baseball program. Two production trucks separate from the regular HiDef production trucks, the expertise of 3D guru consultant and producer Vince Pace, twelve 3D cameras — one to shoot super slow-motion at a whopping 1,000 frames per second — and the first or at least most elaborate 3D on-screen graphics. They also had a completely separate trio of announcers who wore glasses to watch a 3D monitor in their booth, same as the guys in the truck.

If you think all of that sounds like a lot of extra expense, it is. And that has not escaped ESPN executives. “We can’t do this for every game,” said Anthony Bailey, ESPN’s VP, emerging technology. In addition to the enormous extra cost, logistics are a bigger immediate concern. Most stadiums don’t have as big of a production compound as Angels stadium and therefore cannot accommodate four trucks just for ESPN.

Logistics and expense are big challenges and question marks for live 3DTV sports. When ESPN was making the transition to HiDef, it was basically only a matter of switching out the SD cameras for HD cameras and getting used to a wider image. Still just one director in the same truck. In the early stages of the consumer transition to HiDef TVs (and still to a certain extent, but less so every day), cameramen and directors were careful to keep primary action and graphics in that portion of the screen that could be seen by non-HD TVs.

But with 3D, everything must be separate. 3D cameras cannot double as HD cameras (for the most part, though sometimes a signal can be pulled from one of the two lenses to use for a standard HiDef feed), and 3D cameras almost always have to be positioned in unique locations in order to create the best perception of depth (in most cases, the lower and closer to the action, the better). An exhibition like the Home Run Derby is well suited to 3D because producers had the flexibility to position cameras in places they could never be placed during a game — that one on the pole by the pitcher and two more small ones right in front of the batter’s box above the ground (not in-ground “lipstick” cameras as Fox uses for 2D games).

But regular baseball games are more challenging, as are football games that require lots of high-angle and wide shots showing a large part of the field but which provide the least perception of depth.

While the camera angles are production challenges that will surely be worked out with time, the financial and logistical hurdles of producing two completely separate productions of the same live sporting event appear to be here to stay, at least for the next year or two, says Chris Calcinari, ESPN’s VP of event operations. Or until the vast majority of consumers convert to 3DTVs.

In the meantime, Phil Orlins, ESPN coordinating producer, says that 3D productions must not only deliver exceptional added value to sports fans through unique 3D camera angles and graphics, but must continue to deliver every production element the viewer currently enjoys in the 2D HiDef broadcast, and at the same high quality, including the separate announcers, a sports ticker, etc.

ESPN executives are still living through the conversion to HiDef since they broadcast their first game in HD seven years ago. But there is reason for optimism. In addition to strong positive response from consumers who have seen the few live sporting events in 3D so far, including recent broadcasts of The Masters and this month’s World Cup carried on ESPN 3D, programming is much more widely available and advertisers are jumping on board more quickly than at this stage of the HD development cycle, according to Sean Bailey, executive VP of Disney and ESPN Media Networks. While only a few regional cable systems carried ESPN’s first HiDef broadcast, ESPN 3D is already offered to nearly 50 million homes through DirecTV, Comcast, and AT&T U-verse. And Bailey noted that four advertisers created 3D spots specifically for the network’s World Cup and Home Run Derby broadcasts. Granted, one was ESPN’s own “SportsCenter” and one was from ESPN sister company Disney Studios for “Toy Story 3.”
ESPN VP, strategic business development, Bryan Burns, says advertisers understand the added value of a commercial in 3D because of the extra visual impact and increased attention the viewer is giving to the 3D spot. There are also unique opportunities for 3D ads that could draw premium prices — think about 3D versions of those ads that pop-up on the bottom of your screen and with graphics such as tickers.

All that’s needed are eyeballs. For that, Bratches says it’s critical that the entire industry work together to create as much 3D programming and as many networks and TV displays as soon as possible for the good of everyone involved. It will be impossible for ESPN to shoulder the entire cost of building the market, he says.

But ESPN has an important proponent in its camp, the president and CEO of ESPN parent The Walt Disney Company, Robert Iger, who told 3DHollywood.net while standing at his seat a few rows behind home plate moments before the All-Star game the following night, “Having seen a lot of ESPN 3D, I’m a believer.”

At least for one night, the network did its best to showcase what is possible with live 3DTV sports.

– By Scott Hettrick

Scott Hettrick

As the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final was being played live in select theaters and on ESPN 3D Sunday and the third place match on Saturday, the first-ever Major League Baseball games in 3DTV were being broadcast — the Yankees in Seattle — and an unprecedented three major movies from three different studios were showing in theaters.

Those three theatrical films were not just showing in theaters, they accounted for three of the top five spots and $100 million over the post holiday weekend July 9-11.

Universal’s first 3D movie, the animated comedy “Despicable Me,” debuted with $56.4 mil. domestically, while Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story 3″ collected another $21 mil. in its fourth weekend to become the all-time biggest Pixar movie with $339.2 mil. and the second biggest Disney movie ever behind the $423.3 mil. of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” according to Hollywood.com Box Office. (The next Pirates movie is currently in 3D production.) Meanwhile, the third 3D movie in theaters this weekend, “The Last Airbender” from Nickelodeon/Paramount, picked up another $17 mil. to surpass $100 mil. in two weeks.

It’s worth noting that there were enough 3D theaters to accommodate all three films even without the crutch of IMAX theaters, which are booked with “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” ($235.4 mil. domestically overall in two weeks without the help of 3D) until this Friday when “Inception” opens in IMAX theaters.

If that wasn’t already a full slate of 3D, on Monday Major League Baseball and ESPN 3D will present the annual Home Run Derby in 3D for the first time, followed Tuesday by the inaugural 3D broadcast of the All-Star game by Fox via DirecTV.

One week earlier NASCAR presented its first-ever race in 3D from Daytona on DirecTV’s n3D channel powered by Panasonic, as well as online.

If nothing else, this ever-increasing barrage lays to rest any question of programming commitment from producers and distributors, and the concern about an insufficient volume of content and big-ticket events to justify the purchase of home 3D equipment.

In addition to the simultaneous World Cup and Yankees game on Sunday, DirecTV subscribers could also choose to watch the IMAX documentary “Deep Sea 3D” on another channel. Not only is there the Home Run Derby and All-Star game on Monday and Tuesday, this week DirecTV is also offering “Journey to the Center of the Earth” in 3D, the IMAX documentary “NASCAR 3D,” and a nature program and Peter Gabriel music special in 3D.

And less than three weeks from now, two more 3D movies will be released in theaters within eight days of each other from July 30 – August 6 — Warner’s “Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore” and Disney’s “Step Up 3D,” with at least one more coming before the end of the summer — “Piranha 3D” from Dimension Films on Aug. 20.

– By Scott Hettrick

Scott Hettrick

When the race, which was broadcast live  online and on DirecTV’s n3D channel sponsored by Panasonic, finally began, it was produced with a different set of cameras, angles, and graphics, all of which appeared to be on a greatly simplified and minimized scale.

Any viewers who were expecting the kind of in-car and under-car angles enjoyed in the IMAX documentary NASCAR 3D or even a typical broadcast by Fox and TNT, were likely disappointed. There were occasional shots in the pits and other locations but most of the race was shown from a distant high angle, where the depth is always most difficult to discern. But as the camera panned to follow the cars speeding by there were moments where the depth was clear, especially when the crowds in the stands came into view in the foreground, or when a vertical pole came into the screen from one side to the other.

Those were hardly the dynamic images one would expect from an auto race but they offered a glimpse of what is to come.

– By Scott Hettrick

Alright, this is not HiDef Blu-ray but all episodes have been restored and remastered so that when viewed on an upscaling Blu-ray player and HiDef TV each looks remarkably crisp, clean, and more vivid than you have ever seen them. And since this is such an iconic and evergreen series, frequently cited as one of the all-time best sitcoms, it’s worth noting anyway. The series employed a then-fresh approach of viewing day-to-day suburbia family life, including tackling some remarkably serious topics, through the eyes of the kids. The collection of characters, including wise-cracking Eddie Haskell, each felt very familiar, and parents Ward and June were mentors for the entire neighborhood, offering wisdom and compassion while struggling with their own challenges of parenting and not afraid to admit their missteps.

Shout! Factory's fourth season set sold separately.

Scott Hettrick

As with all older TV series, watching on DVD and Blu-ray is the only way for purists to see each episode in its entirety, including opening titles and the full closing credits, which is particularly significant for older series such as this when half-hour episodes ran nearly 26 minutes. As much as four-minutes to eight-minutes is typically cut out of each show in syndicated reruns these days to make room for more than twice as much commercial time, and closing credits are truncated and squeezed so that they are virtually unreadable.

Shout! Factory has gone to the trouble to create easy-to-read 12-page printed episode guide pamphlets with each season set and has gone to far more work than Universal in finally offering fans some fun extras. In addition to the original series pilot included in Universal’s Season One set, featuring different actors in the roles of Ward and Wally Cleaver, the bonus disc also includes:

Universal's 2005 Season One set in a collectible lunch box

* What looks like a typical episode of the series but one that is produced by The U.S. Treasury Department as blatant propaganda to promote U.S. Savings Bonds (a similar episode is included on Shout!’s “Father Knows Best” series set).
* Several fun original ABC promos.
* A large color fold-out re-creation of a rare Leave it to Beaver “Money Maker” board game on heavy-stock paper that offers alternative household items to use as game pieces.
* 90-minutes of cast interviews from 2005:
– A 75-minute collection of interviews of each other about the series in 2005 by Jerry Mathers (Beaver), Tony Dow (Wally), Barbara Billingsley (June), and Brian Levant (creator of the 1982 “Still the Beaver” TV reunion movie and sequel Disney Channel/TBS series — stay away from his 1997 theatrical remake; it’s awful).
– A similar 10-minute featurette with Ken Osmond (Eddie Haskell) and Frank Bank (Lumpy) discussing their memories of life during production of the series.
– A 2-minute interview with theme song composer Dave Kahn while in his 90s.

Universal's original Season 1 set in 2005

Although there are some anecdotes in the interviews that may be new to fans – the first two seasons (when the Cleavers lived in the less familiar house on Maple Drive) were shot at the then-Republic studios in Studio City (now CBS Studios at Radford and Ventura); later when shooting on the Universal lot the young boys occasionally rubbed elbows with the likes of Steve McQueen – these interviews not only appear somewhat unprofessionally produced (perhaps like home movies?), but also feel a little rehearsed and not conversational, especially the overdone remembrances and amateur-ish shtick by Osmond and Bank. And the interview with the aged Kahn is so forced and unproductive that it’s uncomfortable.

Slightly more entertaining and spontaneous are Skokus Internet radio’s “Stu’s Show” interviews from earlier this year of cast members Mathers, Dow, Osmond, and Bank included on one disc in each season set.

Launched on the relatively new ABC TV network that was less than 10 years old at the time, “Leave it to Beaver” never ranked among the 25 top-rated shows of the week during its six-year run from 1957 – 1963. But the sitcom went on to become one of the most beloved and popular shows in decades of syndicated reruns enjoyed by generations of viewers, most notably as the backbone of Ted Turner’s local Atlanta independent TV channel 17 in the 1970s when he was one of the first to nationally distribute a network – then renamed TBS Superstation – specifically for cable TV.

Even with only six seasons, the 39 original episodes produced each year represents the equivalent of about 10 – 12 seasons for some modern TV series.

– By Scott Hettrick

Scott Hettrick

The picture on both the Samsung LED 3D TV fed by a Samsung Blu-ray 3D player and the Panasonic plasma 3DTV sourced by a Blu-ray 3D player was perfectly bright, just as crisp and vivid as any 2D HiDef image, and the 3D was very obvious from the first moment and consistently apparent throughout.

The depth and space between objects in the foreground and background in every scene was very obvious, unlike some movies in theaters, and many times the fingers of a character and other objects projected slightly in front of the screen towards the viewer.

And this was in a brightly-lit Best Buy store in Duarte, Ca. where a clerk called Austin was eager to sit with me for quite awhile and test the 3D disc that he had not seen. He had just sold a Samsung 3D home theater system to a customer moments earlier.

His immediate reaction to “Cloudy” was, “This is way better than “Monsters vs. Aliens.” So impressed was Austin that he even called over a couple co-workers to check it out with us.

The 3D in the teaser for “Open Season” jumped out of the screen in the first moments — the blades of grass — and was consistently strong, moreso than the 3D impact in the teaser for “Monster House.”

Austin says the relatively low entry level pricing ($2,500 for 3DTVs) has many customers coming in to shop and buy, and he says today’s customer chose the Samsung because the LED screen is much thinner and the system offered more Internet services.

One area of early concern should be the durability (flimsiness) of those 3D glasses at $150 a pop. Austin said at this relatively small shop alone they have already gone through four pairs of broken Samsung glasses — just from regular in-store usage by customers, particularly kids. And the lone pair of Panasonic 3D glasses on hand had a broken right-side ear-piece. As a result, Austin was initially hesitant to show me the Panasonic system until I told him I didn’t mind holding the glasses to my face for awhile.

There are number of semi-intuitive extra steps to get the 3D version of the movie on the TV, and initial start-up took a bit longer and froze a couple times on the Samsung during loading and while trying to access different program features. But overall, both systems and the disc played fairly smoothly and quickly.

Best of all, the brightness of the image felt even more vivid, and the 3D felt even a little more dynamic than the 3D in some movie theaters.

Perhaps even more telling, the 3D on “Cloudy” instantly sold Austin, who said he was going to try to get a copy of this disc to use as a demo in the store.

– By Scott Hettrick

Scott Hettrick

Although I have seen a handful of live sporting events broadcast in 3D, mostly in theaters, I saw for the first time what a significant difference there is when watching a sports event on TV in 3D side-by-side next to the same program in standard 2D.

Just one example was when Mexico took a shot on goal and the camera was high and to the side. On a Samsung LED TV showing the ESPN HD broadcast I was unable to determine initially whether the ball was heading into the goal or not. When I quickly glanced over to the TV right next to it, a Panasonic plasma showing the same play on ESPN 3D it was immediately clear that there was a significant distance between the ball and the goal posts — the ball was very wide right of the goal. That wasn’t obvious on the 2D TV until the ball went past the goal, and, of course, in the replays.

As with all things 3D, the camera angles lowest to the ground with something or someone in the foreground near the camera offered the best sense of depth but even the full shots of the field were noticeably superior to the 2D version.

The 3D telecast viewed through Panasonic’s companion active-shutter 3D glasses were clear and vivid and provided a much more enticing, enhanced experience compared to the 2D broadcast. That feeling was shared by multiple DirecTV executives wandering in and out of the room in their corporate headquarters in El Segundo, Ca., where I was viewing the event. (Required technical upgrades to view programming in 3D was automatically and seamlessly downloaded a couple weeks ago to the HD receivers of customers but I have not purchased a 3DTV yet.)

One of those DirecTV executives was Romuto Pontual, executive VP and chief technology officer, who pointed out the unique 3D features of the DirecTV HD DVR, which will record any 3D programming as it would 2D programs. Replaying 3D and using the slow-motion is pretty nifty. But he noted that the image automatically shifts to 2D during fast scanning forward or back to make it easier on the eyes. The same goes for when a DirecTV menu is on the screen; the image is automatically converted to 2D until the menu display disappears, to avoid eye strain.

Speaking of eye discomfort, I had none at all despite watching the 3D broadcast for 2 1/2-hours, which was a pleasant discovery after so many people have expressed concern about long-term viewing in 3D (BTW, “Avatar” was longer than many sporting events and no one complained about that).

The inaugural 3D telecast was not flawless; there were periodic moments when the image went gray-ish for a second and then went out of convergence for two or three seconds (the separate images split apart so they became two overlapping blurry images). DirecTV engineers in the broadcast center in Santa Monica reported that this was a glitch coming from the transmission site (ESPN 3D is picking up the coverage from a 3D world feed provided by and produced by FIFA for all 25 matches being broadcast in 3D — complete list below).

And there are other more subtle differences that viewers will notice. For instance, the broadcast, which features its own smaller number of cameras (and its own announcing team), features fewer cutaway shots to close-ups and field level angles. Although this may seem counter-intuitive since close-ups and lower angles are more effective for 3D, too many cuts can be a little more jarring to the eye in 3D, so they say. I didn’t notice any problem with the still significant number of camera shot changes. In fact, comparing to the 2D broadcast, I found I was enjoying the less frantic approach that showed more of the field and players more often, at least for this sport.

I also enjoyed the four 3D commercials from three different sponsors more than those in the 2D telecast, particularly the dynamic and humorous soccer-related ad from Sony showing balls being kicked at the camera. Gillette’s Fusion ad with the floating razor also made good use of the 3D. ESPN’s “This is SportsCenter” ad was amusing but did not use the 3D as effectively as the others. Luckily, since soccer goes without a commercial break during each 45-minute half (plus stoppage time), the same package of commercials being repeated over and over did not get old, as was the case during the NCAA Final Four telecasts.

Perhaps the most effective 3D ads are those Sony banners in the South African soccer stadium itself — “Make believe: 3D” and “Imagine Football in 3D.” Those look just as good in 2D, and anyone watching the games in the stadium or any any type of TV in the world are getting the 3D message.

ESPN 3D is showing one game almost every day of the month-long World Cup and two on July 3. The complete ESPN 3D schedule:

Date                Time (all PT)    Match
Fri, June 11    7 a.m.     South Africa vs. Mexico
Sat, June 12    7 a.m.     Argentina vs. Nigeria
Sun, June 13    11:30 a.m.     Germany vs. Australia
Mon, June 14    4:30 a.m.     Netherlands vs. Denmark
Tues, June 15    11:30 a.m.     Brazil vs. North Korea
Wed, June 16    7 a.m.     Spain vs. Switzerland
Thurs, June 17    4:30 a.m.     Argentina vs. South Korea
Fri, June 18    4:30 a.m.    Slovenia vs. United States
Sat, June 19    4:30 a.m.     Netherlands vs. Japan
Sun, June 20    11:30 a.m.     Brazil vs. Ivory Coast
Mon, June 21    11:30 a.m.     Spain vs. Honduras
Tues, June 22    11:30 a.m.     Nigeria vs. South Korea
Wed, June 23    11:30 a.m.     Ghana vs. Germany
Thurs, June 24    7 a.m.     Slovakia vs. Italy
Fri, June 25    7 a.m.     Portugal vs. Brazil
Sun, June 27    11:30 a.m.     Round of 16 match
Mon, June 28    7 a.m.     Round of 16 match
11:30 a.m.   Round of 16 match
Fri, July 2    11:30 a.m. Quarterfinals
Sat, July 3    7 a.m.     Quarterfinals
Sat, July 3    11:30 a.m.     Quarterfinals
Tues, July 6    11:30 a.m.     Semifinals
Wed, July 7    11:30 a.m.     Semifinals
Sat, July 10    11:30 a.m.     3rd place match
Sun, July 11    11:30 a.m.     Finals

– By Scott Hettrick

Scott Hettrick

Also, some people may have physical problems with 3D, and therefore that will kill any chance of 3D taking hold with the mass population.

And, of course, there’s no way people will wear glasses for the entire length of a TV program or videogame in 3D.

Finally, no one who just bought a new HDTV is going to spend another couple thousand dollars replacing it with a 3DTV.

Conclusion: 3D is once again a passing fad that will not catch hold any better than it has in its past incarnations.

Are you kidding me with all this shallow-minded, uninformed malarky?

First of all, do you really believe that six months after a 3D movie became the top-grossing movie of all-time and was followed immediately by another that also ranks among the all-time top performers, and that after every consumer electronics manufacturer has introduced 3DTVs, 3D Blu-ray players, and 3D videogame systems while programmers are launching dedicated 3DTV channels, that all of that is going to go the way of 8-track tapes, pet rocks, and… previous 3D incarnations?

I’m not saying 3D is going to be wildly successful on every level or that there are not still plenty of issues to be resolved. But make no mistake, 3D is now a permanent part of our lives.

What’s amazing to me is the knee-jerk contrarian responses and comments by some otherwise respectable media and industry executives.

Let’s take each of the doomsayer forecasts one at a time:

• A disappointing 3D movie portends the end of 3D. Are you telling me that every new movie produced in color was a blockbuster? How come no one forecast the end of color films or 2D movies last weekend when “MacGruber” tanked? There will be an equal number of 3D bombs as there are flops in 2D. 3D won’t make a bad movie a good movie anymore than color or sound did, or than widescreen or surround sound did; a bad movie is bad in any format.
• Physical reactions to 3D. A small percentage of people have physical reactions to everything from rollercoasters and airplanes to Pokemon cartoons. That doesn’t mean none of those things ever get produced. Some people get nauseous riding on boats or facing backwards on a train or riding in a car on a winding road. Those people take a Dramamine, drink some wine, or open a window. 3D has been around in various forms for more than a century and throngs of audiences have been enjoying 3D movies in theme parks and at IMAX theaters for decades. Guess what; people who are bothered by 3D don’t spend their time or money watching it! Pretty simple.
• People will not wear glasses to watch a TV program or videogame. Let’s see now; don’t a lot of people wear glasses 24-hours a day to see everything? That’s different, some say; these are special glasses that can only be used to watch the TV program. If you want to answer the phone or do something else, you’d probably want to take them off, and then put them on again to go back to watching the movie. Too much of a pain. Hmmm, that sounds an awful lot like how millions of people use reading glasses specifically to read a book for hours at a time.
• People who just bought an HDTV are not about to buy a 3DTV. This is the most ignorant argument of all. Of course the people who just bought an HDTV will not be buying a 3DTV anytime soon. No one expects them to. Those people are not the first to buy any new technology — they were not the first to buy DVD players or Blu-ray players, and they were not the first to buy HDTVs. The first people to buy 3DTVs will be the same people who bought the first HDTVs more than five years ago. That’s how every new technology works; there are early adopters and gadget freeks, and then rich people who want to be on the cutting edge, and then, in a year or two, the average guy with a little extra money and an interest in sports, videogames, and action movies, and eventually, several years down the road, homes with families where the mom makes these decisions.

Perhaps everyone could try to keep some of this in perspective the next time there is an inevitable and normal bump in the road, rather than treating it as if the 3D industry just ran over an IED roadside bomb.

– By Scott Hettrick

Scott Hettrick

.

But “B” movie veteran Fred Olen Ray’s (”Inner Sanctum,” “Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers”) Retromedia Entertainment, launched in 2001, and distributor Infinity Entertainment Group miss so badly on delivering the goods on every level that this program may have a negative impact on the adoption of 3D on home discs.

.

Here’s why:

• The 3D is not the new Blu-ray 3D but the old school DVD version with the cheesey cardboard glasses with colored lenses.
• The 3D is even worse than normal traditional 3D in this format — almost non-existent; certainly not noticeable
• It’s not even made clear how to wear the glasses, which are pre-folded to make it appear that the red lens goes over the left eye even though the pictures on the box indicate the opposite (the only difference seeming to be a shift in which color is washed out more).
• The 2D version offers a far superior picture.

And just to make it a complete whiff, the 54-minute program — the 2D version has a copyright of 2009 under the title “Sorority Sisters” — isn’t even satisfying in any way on 2D since it’s  nothing more than seven naked women sitting on two sheet-covered couches in a broadly-lit room playing a pretty lame game of Truth or Dare.

– By Scott Hettrick

Scott Hettrick

(Story continues below following 3-minute video interview with Lalas and highlights from the event.)

Unbeknownst to Lalas and most others, as the team prepared for the match several players and the coach were hit with death threats from their countrymen over allegations involving Pablo Escobar.
Playing under stress and without a key player specifically targeted by the threats, Andres Escobar compounded the problem on the field when he made a shocking mistake during the game, accidentally deflecting a kick by U.S. midfielder John Harkes into his own goal.

A week later the soccer star Escobar was gunned down in a parking lot back in his home country.

Lalas was watching the movie for the first time. Immediately afterwards he told HollywoodInHiDef.com/3DHollywood.net that learning about the murder immediately cast a different perspective on the otherwise triumphant feeling by the U.S. team for their historic victory that propelled them to the second round. It was odd waking up feeling like somehow the U.S. played a small role in the murder of a global star soccer player, he said. But, as the film points out, there is reason for Alexi and his teammates not to feel any sense of responsibility.

In fact, the film by brothers Jeff and Michael Zimbalist provides an abundance of important details and context as it expertly interweaves the stories of these two men and their home country that most of us remember from the 1980s as nothing more than the drug and murder capital of the world.

HiDef images certainly heightens the impact but it is the exhaustive number of new interviews blended with a remarkable amount of archival audio and film and news footage, including some with Pablo playing soccer with the team while in prison, amongst other personal movies of the drug kingpin, that creates the biggest and most lasting impression.

“The Two Escobars” is one of the strongest entries in the “30 for 30″ series that has already set the bar high with programs such as Mike Tollin’s look at the first pro football network covered by ESPN, “Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?”

Lalas, who later became general manager of the Los Angeles Galaxy, joined ESPN in 2009 and will be the network’s studio analyst for the entire 64-match World Cup schedule being televised live in HiDef by ESPN from June 11 – July 11.

“The Two Escobars” is one of two terrific new World Cup movies that will inspire great interest in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and the other movie even features a World Cup based in South Africa, but it’s not soccer/futbol but about the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Click here to read my review of the new Blu-ray release of Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” the inspirational docu-drama of the team that helped Nelson Mandela restore pride to South Africa.

– By Scott Hettrick