Piranha 3D vs Piranha BD

August 20, 2010 By 1 Comment

You can watch “Piranha 3D” in theaters and/or the original “Piranha” on Blu-ray Disc at home this weekend.

Scott Hettrick

Scott Hettrick

The good news is that you will have a good time either way. Both are so over-the-top and preposterous that despite the buckets of blood and body parts — or because of it — they are simply lots of good fun.

Interestingly, the new “Piranha” is not so much a remake since there is almost nothing in common between the two movies except the name of the title character and a climax in which the lead actor makes a heroic dive underwater into an enclosed area and is yanked out by a rope around his waist that is attached to a speedboat. But even those final outcomes are very different. Oh, and the 3D, but it is so subtle it would have been better without it so the picture would be brighter (the “3D” tag isn’t even included in the on-screen title). Actually, it could have been way better in 3D if the filmmakers had pushed post-production conversion separation a lot further into the audience.

The new piranhas are CGI prehistoric creatures unleashed from a buried lake; the original piranhas-on-a-stick are mutant genetic military experiments gone bad.

One of the many bikini babes in "Piranha 3D" tries to rescue the villain as he is being eaten by prehistoric piranhas.

The new “Piranha” takes place during a spring break party on a desert lake; the original takes place on a lake in the woods used by kids at a summer camp and a community picnic.

The new “Piranha” wallows in the numerous opportunities to show young naked women in party-mode, in peril, or doing a lengthy underwater bikini-less ballet for a “Girls Gone Wild”-type producer as if they were performing for the opening titles of a James Bond movie that didn’t bother obscuring any of their body parts in silhouette or otherwise (it’s actually a very beautiful sequence). The original film mimmicks the opening of “Jaws” by briefly showing a young lady nude when she ill-advisedly goes skinny dipping at an abandoned research center at night, but mostly features children thrashing and screaming in the water instead of bare-chested ladies getting their torsos lopped off.

The new “piranha” doesn’t seem to be trying as hard as the original to build much tension, unlike many tongue-in-cheek horror movies that can still keep you on the edge of your seat, such as “Scream.” But the new cast is far superior to the original and supplies enough credibility to keep you engaged more than most low-budget exploitative horror movies — Elisabeth Shue, Steven R. McQueen (grandson of Steve McQueen), Ving Rhames and Christopher Lloyd, along with a cameo by Richard Dreyfuss reprising his Matt Hooper character from “Jaws.” But ya gotta love the casting of Keenan Wynn (“Dr. Strangelove”) and “Leave it to Beaver’s” Richard Deacon (Mr. Rutherford) in the original.

Blu-ray Disc of 1978 original Corman Cult Classic.

Shout Factory’s recently released Blu-ray Disc of the 1978 version directed by Joe Dante under the banner of Roger Corman’s Cult Classics offers multiple enjoyable extras, particularly an audio commentary by Dante and producer Jon Davison, who recall Corman telling them to keep credits short or people would wonder why it took so many people to make such a low-budget movie, and a 19-minute retrospective featuring interviews with Corman, Dante, the creature makers, and others. There are also bloopers and deleted scenes, original trailers and TV and radio spots from Corman’s New World Pictures company, and additional scenes added to the network TV version.

– By Scott Hettrick

Filed Under: 3Debut, Hettrick, New Blu

3D not fading; it’s been adopted

August 12, 2010 By 4 Comments

Early this year media pundits were declaring that 3D was revolutionizing the industry.
Now those same people are declaring that it was only a novelty that is already fizzling out.

Scott Hettrick

Scott Hettrick

As usual, neither is true and both are exaggerations and over-simplifications of the natural evolution of the format. 3D is not dying; it is maturing.

When the first couple of movies with sound and the first couple of movies in color bombed at the box-office, those prone to superficial assessments back then no doubt dismissed sound and color as merely passing fads. It’s as if once a new technology is introduced, every film using that technology must be a major hit or the technology will be blamed rather than the movie. That’s as ludicrous as pinning the disappointing performance of “Charlie St. Cloud” on the fact that it was filmed in traditional 2D instead of 3D.

And how come those journalists who were quick to point out that the 3D percentages of box-office grosses have dropped from 71% on “Avatar’ and two-thirds of movies like “Alice in Wonderland” to 45% of “Despicable Me,” didn’t use that same barometer when claiming that the weak opening of “Step Up 3D” confirmed that the plug is being pulled on 3D. In fact, more than 80% of the grosses for “Step Up 3D” were from 3D ticket sales.

Click for more information about this upcoming iHollywood Forum program.

Once again, the truth is too nuanced or not sexy enough for quick-hit pundits looking for a headline, a quote, and a booking on a TV program. Only responsible and knowledgeable reporters like Carl DiOrio at The Hollywood Reporter took the time and responsibility to note that there are many factors contributing to the decline in overall boxoffice for 3D movies and the percentage each generates from 3D. First and foremost is the limited number of 3D screens which becomes a critical issue when multiple 3D movies are released at once, as is happening now with four major studio films released in the past six weeks, and all those shortly after the summer’s biggest 3D movie, “Toy Story 3″ was still in theaters. (By the way, TS3 is now the biggest animated film in history and 56% of those grosses came from 3D, according to Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com Box-Office — you want to dismiss 56% as being small when that represents more than half a billion dollars?)

Do the math: the fewer available 3D theaters, the smaller the percentage of your overall gross.

Further, as I pointed out in an interview with Patrick Seitz of Investor’s Business Daily, the loss of IMAX in the equation has been a major factor. The chain that consistently accounts for a disproportionate percentage of all 3D business of any release (7% – 12%) due to its lure of the most rabid movie aficionados and its higher-than-average ticket prices, has not showcased any of the last four 3D releases and was contractually bound to bail out on “Toy Story 3″ after only two weeks in order to present “Inception.” 3D represented 59% of TS3′s record-setting opening weekend grosses when IMAX was in the mix.

The bottom line, as I told Patrick, is that 3D has already become mainstream to the point that people are continuing to show that they will pay a premium price to see quality 3D, as was clearly evident with more than 80% choosing to see the very good 3D in “Step Up 3D.” And I have no doubt that the 3D percentage for upcoming films such as “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” and “Tron: Legacy” will be back up near two-thirds or more. But moviegoers will not pay extra to see poor quality 3D; they won’t go see a movie they wouldn’t otherwise see just because it’s in 3D; and they won’t wait to see a movie in 3D if it is not available in 3D when they want to see it but it is showing in 2D.

And none of that has anything to do with the consumer losing interest in 3D technology. Just the opposite; it means that a 3D movie is being judged by the same standards as any other movie.

And that’s how it should be.

– By Scott Hettrick

Filed Under: Hettrick

I Step Up: 3 3D films in 11 hours

August 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Having been on vacation to the Cayman Islands, where I didn’t stumble across a single movie theater — 3D or otherwise — in the tropical Caribbean British Isles paradise boasting more registered businesses than the 54,000 residents

Scott Hettrick and finned Cayman friend.

Scott Hettrick and finned Cayman friend.

(granted, I didn’t look real hard to find a dark movie theater as opposed to basking in the sun of Seven Mile Beach or enjoying the clear 85-degree waters with friendly stingrays), I decided to quickly catch up on the deluge of new 3D movies immediately upon my return.

The trio of 3D movies (plus a new 3D cartoon) I saw within 11 hours began at 10 a.m. Saturday with back-to-back showings viewings at my local multiplex of this weekend’s new “Cats & Dogs: The Return of Kitty Galore” from Warner Bros. and Universal’s recently released “Despicable Me,” followed Saturday evening by an advanced screening at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood of Summit’s “Step Up 3D,” being released this Friday, August 6, by Disney.

Only one of the movies was a big disappointment, but moreso in terms of the movie itself than the 3D. None of the films pushes the 3D effects off the screen into the audience as in a traditional IMAX large format documentary, which I will continue to insist must happen to avoid accelerating audience ambivalence to 3D, but some utlize the technology much better than others within the current short-sighted pervasive strategy of simply increasing the perception of depth into and beyond the screen as looking through a window:

* “Step Up 3D“: First and foremost this movie is great fun, features terrific dancing and enjoyable new lead actors and dancers (and familiar fun dancers like Twitch from “So You Think You Can Dance?”), all within the context of a very basic and familiar plot, for which you willingly overlook the credibility potholes common to all such movies featuring dancer gangs/competitors.
Billed as the first feature-length dance movie in 3D, director Jon Chu uses the 3D very effectively, not only with the dances choreographed to accentuate visual depth but also in shots of characters with the New York skyline in the background and most every otherwise routine interior shot. He even finds creative use of 3D during the closing credits — the text and graphics, not the overly long footage of dancer on a chair dancing with his hands aimed at the lens on left side of screen). It’s hard to know whether the occasional blurring of dancers is a result of the 3D or the modern cinematography style that often features blurred images in music videos and even action movie scenes, but those problems are minimal.

RoadRunner3D

First 3D Looney Tunes cartoon: "Coyote Falls"

* “Coyote Falls” (Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoon preceding “Cats and Dogs”): This first Looney Tunes cartoon in 3D from Warner deserves far more attention than it is getting. The new generation of producers have perfectly captured not only the tone of the original Looney Tunes theatrical shorts of the 1940s – 1960s but also the outrageous cartoon violence inflicted on the hapless Wile E. Coyote, which is inexplicably hilarious even if socially incorrect. All of that is accentuated brilliantly in the three minutes of 3D here, especially with all the aerial shots of the coyote looking down steep canyons to the road runner below.

* “Cats & Dogs: The Return of Kitty Galore“: This four-legged 007 spoof sequel to a poor original doesn’t offer much more entertainment value than its predecessor or similar recent films featuring talking CG animals on spy missions such as “G-Force,” which is why none of the others have performed well and why this one opened with only about $12.5 million this weekend. There were only a handful of kids and parents watching this kids movie in my theater Saturday morning on the first weekend in release compared to the nearly full auditorium to see “Despicable Me” on its fourth weekend.
The 3D is serviceable at best but offers nothing distinctive and is one that would understandably make customers regret paying the extra $3 for the 3D, but more disappointed that they paid any of the ticket price.

* “Despicable Me“: There’s a reason this CGI animated movie that is not from Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, or Fox has grossed nearly $200 million. It’s very clever, very funny, and it features one of the best consistent employments of 3D in an animated movie despite many complaints that the 3D is superfluous. In fact, the 3D is very obvious and enhancing to the visual enjoyment of the movie.
And there are several insider visual references, including an NBC logo positioned near a Jumbotron video display (NBC owns Universal), a sign on the door of “The Bank of Evil” reads “Formerly Lehman Brothers,” and the main character’s name (Gru) during a disco dance sequence on a very slightly altered Blu-ray Disc logo that now reads “Gru-ray Disc.”

– By Scott Hettrick

Filed Under: 3Debut, Hettrick

Maximum Movie Mode to the Max

July 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Kevin Smith and Warner Home Video have figured out a way to use Blu-ray Disc to get me to like movies that otherwise hold little appeal.

Scott Hettrick

Scott Hettrick

While it’s not real new, WHV’s Maximum Movie Mode feature has evolved into the most-desired feature on a Blu-ray movie and the best value-added element to the core HiDef video image.

I saw “Clash of the Titans” in the theater in 3D and 2D and did not have much interest in seeing it again on Blu-ray since I was unimpressed with the 3D in theaters and disappointed by the nearly monotone colors of either drab brown or pale blue in 2D.

Not only is the image much more colorful and bright on HiDef Blu-ray, but the use of the Maximum Movie Mode feature to automatically overlay in-production footage, interviews with star Sam Worthington and other cast and crew, and even trivia, engaged me in the movie itself far more than when I saw it in theaters. In fact, having seen it on Blu-ray, I can say I like the movie a lot more now than before.

Click for more information about this upcoming iHollywood Forum program.

It’s only the second time I’ve ever said that about a movie, the first being only a week earlier.

Kevin Smith took MMM to such an entirely new level with the July 20 Blu-ray release of “Cop Out,” which he directed and edited, that he even changed the name of the feature to MCM – Maximum Comedy Mode. The innovative fun starts instantly with Smith visually embedding himself in the opening WB logo so that the “Warner Bros. Pictures” ribbon wraps around him.

It would appear that the effusive Smith, who has an encyclopedic knowledge and passion for movies, is in paradise here with all the features of MMM at his disposal. It’s the perfect platform for someone known for being unable to contain himself. Here, Smith can replicate himself so that one of his incarnations can cut off his original on-screen host self from rambling and then orchestrate the image of the movie on one picture-in-picture screen to fast-forward to a scene later in the film to explain the appearance of an actress during an early scene in the movie on another part of the split screen. He also frequently freezes the movie you’re watching to play outtakes, extended scenes, and alternate cuts of those same scenes to explain his editing choices and allow us to enjoy funny stuff that didn’t make the cut for various reasons.

It’s all technically impressive, a little frantic, and all so entertaining and fascinatingly informative at the same time, that even though his infectious enthusiasm extends the running time of the movie by nearly an hour, I wound up having way more fun with this 2 ¾ hours version of “Cop Out” than simply watching the 107-minute theatrical version. And, like “Clash of the Titans,” I am now a far bigger fan of “Cop Out” than I was before seeing it on Blu-ray in Maximum Comedy Mode.

– By Scott Hettrick

Filed Under: Hettrick

Cure for upgrade fatigue

July 18, 2010 By 1 Comment

What is “upgrade fatigue?”
It’s the notion that consumers who recently upgraded to digital or HiDef television sets might not be eager to run back out to the “big box store” and buy a brand new 3D-capable television along with a new 3D Blu-ray player, and some rather expensive glasses to go with it. The cost of the glasses alone can be real money if you have some friends over to watch a movie or a sporting event.

Lowry_headshot480x600

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.

Filed Under: Guest blog

ESPN 3D Derby grand slam

July 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The most memorable shot of the 2010 Home Run Derby at Angels Stadium Monday was not a blast over the fence by an all-star slugger but a line drive directly towards the lens of a 3D camera on a pole behind the pitcher.

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.)

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That’s one of the many enticing aspects of 3D in general and 3DTV specifically. The depth perception provides an experience that virtually takes you to the spot of the camera and makes you feel as if you are standing right there. I can guarantee that if you were standing next to the camera you would still have jerked your head back (and probably fallen down) — I can guarantee it because the pitcher standing just in front of and below the camera did the same thing. And unlike us, he had a net screen in front of him for protection. The only screen we had was the plasma or LCD we were watching.

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

Filed Under: 3D event, 3D Q&A, Hettrick, Video Gallery

5 biggest events in 3D Sunday

July 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Seven months ago in the pre-”Avatar” world, no one would have imagined this weekend, when, for several hours on Saturday and Sunday, five of the entertainment and sports industries’ biggest events would be playing in 3D simultaneously on TVs and in theaters.

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

Filed Under: Hettrick

NASCAR 3D lacks depth

July 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

NASCAR and 3D fans (not sure how much of an overlap there is between the two) had to wait 90 extra rain-delayed minutes before witnessing and experiencing the first-ever race in 3D from Daytona Saturday night (July 3).

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

Filed Under: Hettrick

Shout it out: Beaver’s back

July 2, 2010 By 1 Comment

In 2005 Universal Studios released the first season of “Leave it to Beaver” on DVD with an optional collectible lunchbox, followed in 2006 by the second season.
BeaverCollection150x206But the remaining four seasons were never released until now. Shout! Factory struck a deal with Universal and this week released the entire “Leave it to Beaver: The Complete Series” ($199.99) in a 37-disc boxed set including all 234 black-and-white episodes and a bonus disc featuring several hours of extras.
Seasons 3 & 4 are also available separately for $39.97 each.

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.

Fourth season set sold separately.

Shout! Factory's fourth season set sold separately.

Scott Hettrick

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

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

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

Filed Under: Hettrick

First 3D Blu-ray not Cloudy at all

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I was ready to be underwhelmed by my experience with the first Blu-ray 3D title to be released to stores Tuesday (June 22), Sony’s “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

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.

Cloudy3DThe 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

Filed Under: Hettrick, New Blu
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